April 7, 2023 – Good Friday Tenebrae Text:  Luke 23:32-34

Dear Friends in Christ,

Were you there?  Were you there when they crucified my Lord…when they nailed him to the tree…when they laid him in the tomb?  We sing it every Good Friday Tenebrae Service as our closing hymn.  Were you there?

Who was there?  Roman soldiers.  It was their job.  They had to be.  None of them realized when they drove nails into Jesus and divided up his clothes that they were fulfilling hundreds of years old prophecies.  It did make a difference to one man, the centurion, who confessed that Jesus was the Son of God. (Mt. 27:54)

Two criminals were there.  They also had no choice.  They were being punished for their crimes.  Both derided Jesus, but then one confessed his sin and Jesus assured him they would be united in paradise. (Lk. 23:41-43)

The Jewish leaders were there to make sure Pilate followed through on his plan to execute Jesus.  They were going to enjoy this.  They got nasty and challenged Jesus to come down from the cross.  

It would be nice if we could say the disciples were there to give their support.  But most of them were not.  John was there along with another disciple as they stood by Mary, the mother of Jesus, who was there.  As she watched her Son die it had to break her heart.

We know who was there, but we ask again:  “Were you there?”  The obvious answer is no.  You and I were not physically there.  But think a little harder and the answer is yes.  You were there.  We didn’t condemn Him.  We didn’t jeer at Him.  We were there because our sins were there.  Jesus carried them there, on the cross He bore the crushing burden of our sin.

Our sin was the reason Christ had to die.  We are no less guilty than the
Roman soldiers or the Jewish leaders or the AWOL disciples.  Look up at that cross.  Look deep inside and examine your heart and compare yourself with Jesus.

A billboard once had these words:  “Real Christians forgive like Jesus.”  Would those words motivate you to forgive?  Remember what Jesus taught – “turn the other cheek,” “not 7 times, but 70 times 7,” “the parable of the prodigal son”.  I am reminded of Jesus’ prayer from the cross:  “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (v. 34).  Jesus asked God to pardon the people who were putting him to death.  Jesus had selfless love.

If I start comparing that to my own life with its perceived slights and petty squabbles, and the hurtful things I have said, it makes me fall to my knees in repentance.  Too many times I have help on to grudges and withheld forgiveness.  If real Christians forgive like Jesus, what does that make me?  If you claim to be a Christian, and are held to the same standard of forgiving like Jesus, what does that make you?  It makes us all guilty, not at all deserving of God’s love.  We need a miracle to be rescued from our sins.

Jesus didn’t look like a miracle worker on this Friday.  He looked weak and helpless.  Bloodied.  Beaten.  Defeated.  The devil had won the day.  

But the celebration was short-lived.  The evil ones had good reason to be afraid.  The Messiah was about to perform his greatest miracle.  To declare his final victory over the devil, to demonstrate his power over death, to announce to the world that news of his demise had been greatly exaggerated and assure you that all your sins have been forgiven, Jesus holds out to you His . . .

“NAIL-PIERCED HANDS”

It was a couple of days after Good Friday, and those disciples who were nowhere to be found on Calvary were now behind locked doors.  They were perplexed about all the happenings of the weekend.  They were in fear of their future.  But then they think they see a ghost, it’s not, it is Jesus.  He brings a message of peace.  He shows them something personal that instantly took away their anxieties.  He showed them his hands.  The nail-pierced hands.

Many scars are not attractive.  For the disciples, these were.  For us, they are.  The wounds remind us of the high cost of redemption.  Jesus took on flesh.  Jesus felt our pain.  Jesus endured the righteous wrath of God in our place.  Jesus prayed for our forgiveness on the cross, and he suffered and died on the cross to earn it.

It is this unconditional, sacrificial love of Jesus that makes this day good.  When your sins condemn you, he intercedes for you.  When Satan seeks to devour you, Jesus will defend you.  When you are feeling guilty, spiritually empty, totally unworthy of God’s love, remember what God has done to save you.  Remember that he will never leave you or forsake you.  Remember that he has ascended into heaven to prepare a place for you.

You are here.  Look up.  Look to the cross.  Look to Jesus.  Look at your living Savior’s nail-pierced hands.

Amen.     

April 6, 2023 – Maundy Thursday       Text:  John 13:1-5, 12-17

Dear Friends in Christ,

Have you ever had this experience?  You go into a restaurant – busy, not busy – doesn’t really matter.  But it takes minutes to get waited on.  You don’t get a “I’ll be with you in a minute” or anything.  You just sit and try to stay patient.  Or you go to a retail store and the clerk is on their phone . . . as you wait.  You are a patient in a hospital, and you feel the staff has neglected you.  “Hello, has everyone gone home!”  Or the one we have all faced, the repairman who gives you the three-hour window.  You come home from work and five minutes before the window closes they arrive.

God created people with an expertise in something.  We need someone’s help to help us get through life.  The accountant, the car repair man, the roofer, the dentist.  The world doesn’t work without us serving one another.  When we get good service, we are happy to tell others in person or online.

If that’s the case then maybe you are ready to refer Jesus to your friends and relatives (and maybe your enemies too) when you learn about the kind of service God provides.  In tonight’s lesson, Jesus not only provides great service to His disciples, but He does it for free.  No demand for payment, no excuses, no patronizing.  Jesus serves His disciples with His . . .

“HANDS OF HUMILITY”

Jesus has a lot on his mind this night.  In less than 24 hours He will lay down His life for the sins of the world.  God has laid all things at his feet.  Instead of a dazzling display of the divine, Jesus exercised abject humility.

While Jesus’ mind raced with anticipation the pain and suffering of hell, while He foresaw the cross He would endure, lovingly conscious of the souls He would redeem, His disciples were in a petty argument over who was the greatest.  They were oblivious to the needs of Jesus.  This carries over to the upper room and now no one is here to wash their stinking feet.  Which disciple would step up?  Even in the midst of this silly squabble, won’t one of them get up to wash the Savior’s feet?  Not one of them ever reached for the bucket.

On this Thursday evening, Jesus didn’t opt for a lecture.  He would model what humble service looks like.  He rose from the supper, put water in the basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet.  They even get them dried.  If Jesus had blown a gasket here, we would understand.  His love never wavered.  He didn’t get exasperated.  He handled their pride with perfect patience.  He overcame their arrogance with humble service.

Most of our Christian service falls short because we base it on the behavior of our neighbor.  We shun people we don’t agree with.  Doctors are a little slower to help belligerent patients.  If we make our menu order difficult, we might be treated differently.  Inside our families, we tiptoe around the hothead and walk on eggshells around the opiniated brother-in-law.  Worse yet, we justify our behavior by suggesting they had it coming because they were being obnoxious.  The irony is this.  When we justify our behavior and blame our neighbor, we are the one who are being obnoxious.

If Jesus based His service on the disciples’ behavior, no one gets their feet washed tonight.  No one would have their sins forgiven because Jesus would have never made it to the cross.  Jesus’ humility shines brighter than ours because it’s not based on human behavior.  Jesus’ humility is based on love and grace.  His love is perfect.  He even washed Judas’ feet.

Would Jesus walk out of a restaurant because of poor service?  He didn’t walk out on the disciples, and He didn’t walk out on you.  He came to serve you.  Christ’s obedient death has served you well.  It paid the price for our pride and entitled attitude.  It paid for every shallow and insecure excuse we’ve ever offered God for failure to serve.  “The blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7)

The disciples had a history of missing the point.  If Jesus got up and washed your feet, wouldn’t you feel ashamed?  Jesus wanted more than to shame their pride; He wanted to rewire their attitudes and invite them to use their hands of humility.  “If I then, your Lord and Teacher have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.  For I have given you an example, that you also ought to wash one another’s feet.” (v. 14-15)

Jesus was not superior to the disciples.  He didn’t tower over them.  He stoops to the lowliest of service to show what service is all about.  His service is incomparable, and it is free.  Jesus’ humble death purifies us of our poor service, and Jesus’ perfect humble, hands satisfy God’s holiness and provide us the motive to serve our neighbor.  Then heed Christ’s call and wash each other’s feet.  Love and serve your neighbor, like Jesus did, with humility.  “How can I serve?”  “Who can I serve?”  “If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.” (v. 17)

Amen.  

April 2, 2023 – Palm Sunday   Text:  Mark 11:1-11

Dear Friends in Christ,

That American theologian Billy Joel once wrote in a song, “They say there’s a heaven for those who will wait, Some say its better, but I say it ain’t.  I’d rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints, The sinners are much more fun.”  That is the philosophy of many, even Christians.  So many think that heaven will be boring.  No Xbox or ice cream cones.  We read in our Bibles heaven will be where we worship and sing and praise our Creator for the love He has for us.  Worship?  Praise?  Singing?  Next, you’ll tell me I will be floating on a cloud playing a harp with dull religious people.  No thank you.

Unfortunately these are the same ideas that keep people from praising God on earth.  Easy excuses are found for the weak soul to stay away from God’s House.  Worship is boring.  The Bible is hard to understand.  Who wants to go and sit around bland religious people?

Today is Palm Sunday.  One of the greatest days of worship and praise!  As Jesus’ makes his humble and royal entry into Jerusalem on a donkey all the attention is on Him as King.  The crowds and children are singing their praises.  Though many today would rather go to hell than to find joy in worship, this Sunday we will learn to find joy in raising to Jesus our . . .

“HANDS OF PRAISE”

Many think that praising God can only be done on a pew with soft music.  The reality is that most of the praising of God takes place outside the church building.  The Palm Sunday praise of Jesus took place outside God’s House.  

We have the obedient praise of the disciples.  Jesus gave them unusual instructions about a donkey they were supposed to get.  Certainly they had questions.  “Jesus, how do you know the donkey will be there?  How do you know we can take it without asking?”  They didn’t ask.  They didn’t question Jesus.  They praised Jesus with their obedience.

Our world does not give that praise to God.  They question why God and His Word and His Church have a right to tell us what to do at all.  They question how a loving God can allow such heartache.  They accuse the Bible of patriarchy when it names man the head of the woman and woman the helper of man.  They question why they can’t live together before marriage and why they can’t swear if everybody else does.  

As believers we praise God with our obedience.  Christians obey without questioning Jesus’ authority.  We live good, clean, decent and honest lives outside the church in the world every day.  We don’t just say, “Your will be done.”  We go out and see that Jesus will is done on earth.  This is worship of Jesus which pleases God.

Another way we show praise is to honor our Lord with the stewardship of our gifts.  Look at the Palm Sunday crowd.  One person happily gave the use of their donkey.  Others took off their cloaks and put them on the colt.  Still others spread their cloaks on the road.  Another group maybe having little to give cut down palm branches as a symbol of Jesus’ victory.  They all praised Jesus with their possessions.

Here we are Palm Sunday 2023, and the souls of men and women are dying.  People are pushing farther away from the church and people are going to their graves with no saving faith.  Is that our main concern?  Or do we worry about ourselves?  What about the economy?  Interest rates keep going up.  My share of the national debt is now $94,000.  Can I keep my standard of living?  Can we put our shirt in the dirt just a little so that Jesus and his message of forgiveness can march triumphantly into our hurting world?  Can we not cut a few palms here and there from trees of worldly hopes and spray them in His direction?  Using our hands to praise Jesus with our gifts – that would be great praise for the Savior King.

Another form of praise came from the mouths of the Palm Sunday worshippers.  “And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, ‘Hosanna!  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!  Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!  Hosanna in the highest!’”  When the praise of obedience and the praise of money is there, the praise of mouth will naturally follow.  They were loud and enthusiastic.  Joyous and happy.  Th enemies of Jesus were looking on, watching closely and jealously as these people praise Jesus with their mouths when they weren’t even in church!

Jesus still needs the praise of our mouths, but not just singing in church.  He needs the spontaneous, sincere praise of our mouths out in the world where His enemies are listening.  No souls will be converted by our cursing or arguing.  No one will want to come here if we bad mouth our church or we are always pessimistic and grumpy.  We will praise our King by confessing the faith to the weak and sinful.  We will praise our King by standing up for proper language.  We will praise our King when we are friendly to the visitor at church or the friend we tell we are praying for.  Jesus needs the praise of your mouth, not just here at church, but out in the world, especially in the hearing of His enemies.

You can think heaven will be boring only if you think that praising God is boring on earth.  On Palm Sunday there were two groups.  Those who praised Him.  Those who hated Him.  Lord enter our hearts as King.  May our hands praise you with unquestioning obedience.  You gave your life for us, may we use our hands and the gifts you give to praise you.  Then with the Holy Spirit working in us, allow our mouths to praise you in the world.  Then one day soon we will praise you in heaven, where our praise will be anything but boring.               Amen.      

March 29, 2023 – Lent       Text:  Matthew 27:15-26

Dear Friends in Christ,

Simon Peter was an eyewitness to all of Holy Week.  In Acts chapter 3 he raised a lame man to a healed walker and leaper.  When the Jews saw this, they surrounded him and John.  Peter then said this, “The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus.  You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go.” (Acts 3:13)

It wasn’t the main point of Peter’s sermon that day but it got their attention.  You handed Jesus over to be crucified, “though he had decided to let him go.”  Were you aware of that?  Are you surprised that Peter would say something like that?  Pilate had decided in his mind to release Jesus.  But he didn’t do what he decided to do.  Pilate will always be remembered as the man who sentenced the author of life to death.

What happened?  What made Pilate change his mind?  What can we learn so that we don’t go down the same path?  Matthew is the only Gospel writer who mentions that before he handed Jesus over to be crucified, Pilate washed his . . . 

“HANDS OF SELF-PRESERVATION”

It didn’t have to end this way.  Pilate was given a long list of reasons to release Jesus.  Pilate was amazed that when questioned, Jesus said nothing.  When Jesus and Pilate were alone Jesus said this, “My kingdom is not of this world…you would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above.” (John 18:36; 19:11). No one ever spoke to the Roman governor like that.  Pilate was starting to realize this was no ordinary human being.

If that was unsettling imagine how he felt when his wife sent word, “Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for I have suffered much because of him today in a dream.” (v. 19). 

Pilate was not naïve.  He could see what the Jewish leaders were doing.  He knew they were jealous of Jesus.  Pilate was convinced that Jesus was no criminal.  Pilate should have released Jesus and sent everyone home.  But he didn’t.  First, he passes the buck and sends Jesus to Herod and the Jewish court.  Next option:  a Passover custom, the releasing of a prisoner.  Barabbas gets the pick.  Surely, the leaders will want him condemned and not Jesus.  The plan backfired.  The chief priests and elders work the crowd and get Pilate to release Barabbas.  

Pilate had to be stunned that his plan was not working.  He then uttered these desperate words, “What shall I do with Jesus, who is called Christ?” (v. 22). The crowds answered, “Let him be crucified.”  So Pilate tries reason, “Why, what evil has he done?”  It was too late, they kept shouting, “Let him be crucified!”  “Crucify!  Crucify!  Crucify!”

Pilate tried to keep the peace, but started a riot.  He needed to do something.  He sentenced the world’s only truly innocent man to death but maintained his own innocence by doing this, “He took water and washed his hands before the crowd saying, ‘I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.” (v. 24)

Pilate couldn’t wash away history that night.  Two thousand years later our creeds still confess that Jesus “suffered and was crucified under Pontius Pilate.”  No amount of hand soap will ever make those guilty hands clean.

Pilate wasn’t a Christian; he was a pagan.  He protected his power and authority.  He was an unbeliever who acted like an unbeliever.  Nothing surprising about that.  What is more troubling is when people who know Jesus, who call themselves Christians, follows Pilate’s example.

In the safety of this sanctuary, surrounded by fellow saints, it is easy to sing God’s praises.  Out there it is a different story.  When I’m with co-workers or classmates, when I get together with a group of friends, not all of them are Christians.  Some can be pretty outspoken.  They know what I believe.  They aren’t afraid to question what I believe.  Maybe they even make fun of what I believe.

If we find ourselves in those situations, what do we do?  Say something or clam up?  The opportunity passes and we feel guilty because we did not speak for our Savior.  We then start the excuse machine, “It wasn’t a good time…I didn’t want to get into an argument…I don’t want to lose my friends or my job.” 

On the Last Day Pilate will have to answer for his actions.  But remember this – he didn’t believe in Jesus.  We claim to be his followers.  We have no excuse for not defending Jesus.  Jesus has us clenching when he says, “Whoever denies me before others, I will also deny before my Father who is in heaven.” (Mt. 10:33).  Ouch!

Let’s refocus our praises toward Jesus tonight.  He allowed his enemies to arrest him.  Praise God!  He allowed the soldiers to mistreat him.  Praise God!  He allowed a crooked court to convict him and a weak judge to wash his hands of him.  Praise God!  He allowed himself to be numbered among the transgressors to fulfill prophecy and to pay for the world’s sins.  Praise God!  Jesus allowed his own life to be taken from him so that we might live in his presence forever.  Praise God!  

Amen.