March 5, 2023 Text:  Genesis 12:1-9

Dear Friends in Christ,

A man became a Christian at an older age and loved to tell others about the Lord.  One day at a meeting, he gave a beautiful witness to his Savior.  One person who had heard his words was disturbed by something.  “The man has told us God’s part,” he said, “but he forgot to tell us his part, the part before he was converted.  Tell us more.”

The aged man stood up again.  With confidence he responded, “Friends, I forgot to tell you about my part.  I sure did my part all right.  I was running away from the Lord as fast as I could for 30 years, and the Lord just took me until he ran me down.  I did the sinning.  The Lord did the saving.  And that was all the part I had.”

In our text we have the calling of Abraham.  Another old man – 75 years old – who had worshipped other idols in his past.  God called him and made a change.  You still hear his name today.  It all started here in chapters 11 and 12 of Genesis.  Abraham was . . .

“SEEING THROUGH FAITH”

Again, Abraham’s heritage and lineage was not as a follower of the one, true God.  Martin Luther writes, “If you should ask what Abraham was before he was called by a merciful God, Joshua answers that he was an idolater, that is, that he deserved eternal death and eternal damnation.”

Abraham was commanded by God to leave his country.  This meant a loss of security and protection of law.  We have people in our church this morning who have experienced the same thing.  They left their country of origin.  That takes great trust.

Abraham was commanded to leave his relatives.  The ones he left were the ones worshipping the idols.  This enabled him to be consecrated for service to the Lord.  He got away from the bad influencers in his life.  Verse 5 said he went to the land with “people that they had acquired in Haran.”  Who were these people?  Servants, laborers, and children and relatives of the same.  Luther writes, “Not simply his household but the true and holy church, in which Abraham was the high priest.”

Abraham was to go to the land God would show him.  He went “seeing through faith.”  He did not know his destination.

Have you ever left home and didn’t know where you were going?  Many of us in our marriages have probably done this with our spouses.  Toni and I have done it for each other.  Pack a bag.  It can be fun.  We go because we trust the other person.  Maybe your mom and dad did something similar.  Get in the car.  You do, because you trust.

Abraham knew a few details.  He didn’t know the place, but God gave him seven promises.  “A great nation.”  Israel has become the “holy nation” of God that spans the globe.  “I will bless you.”  God blessed Abraham in so many ways.  His grace and favor were upon him.  “I will make your name great.”  His name is still revered among God’s people.  Abram means “great father” – Abraham means “father of a great nation.”  “You will be a blessing.”  By blessing Abraham, Abraham could in turn bless others.  “I will bless those who bless you.”  Here Rahab the prostitute comes to mind.  She is in the lineage of Abraham/Jesus and the Lord used her for good.  “Who dishonors you I will curse.”  Assyrians, Babylonians, Romans all experienced the fulfillment of this promise.  “In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”  The Messiah came through Abraham to bless the world. 

Abraham knew these seven promises.  He had no idea how they would come about.  He needed to be “seeing through faith.”  In our Epistle lesson for this morning Paul writes, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”  From this calling forward, faith in God would be a part of Abraham.  He builds altars when he reaches destinations.  What was important?  Worship.  Worship keeps us in the faith.

This “blessing of Abraham” continues to be a part of us through God’s grace.  The Messiah, Jesus Christ is, was, and will be a blessing to us.  When we are “seeing through faith” we know how the Lord works in our lives.  We like Abraham have God’s promises.  He forgives when we don’t put Him first.  He calls us to faith – in baptism, the journey began.  He will hold on to us when we stumble and fall.  He will guide the path.  He provides us possessions as we make our way in this world.  He even tells us the destination.  He sent his Son on ahead to be ready for our arrival.  When we get there?  We too will be around the altar of the Lord.  We get a glimpse of that in coming to the communion rail.

The Holy Spirit allows this “seeing through faith.”  Like the spouse or the child, we trust.  We will not be led to the desert when Sybaris is in sight.  We leave behind what holds us back.  We see in Christ our righteousness and the fulfillment of all our hopes.  In receiving God’s blessing, we can in turn bless others.

“And Abram journeyed on.” (v. 9a)  So do we . . . SEEING THROUGH FAITH.

Amen.       

March 1, 2023 Text:  John 13:21-30

Dear Friends in Christ,

King David’s life was filled with more drama than Game of Thrones.  One of his confidants was his nephew Joab.  Joab was fiercely loyal to David when he sent Uriah to the front to be killed so that David could marry Bathsheba.  This loyalty took a U-turn when Joab backed Adonijah instead of Solomon to succeed David as king.  David lamented betrayal when he wrote in Psalm 41, “Even my close friend, someone I trusted, who shared my bread, has turned against me.”

Is there anything that hurts more than betrayal?  We might expect office politics or someone to slam the door when canvassing the neighborhood, but we expect loyalty from our friends.  That is why they are our friends.  If a friend shares a secret, manipulates a situation or steals a spouse, the betrayal burns like the sun.

David wasn’t the first person to be betrayed and he won’t be the last.  Like Joab, Judas was close to Jesus.  He was part of the inner circle.  He broke bread with Jesus. . . and Judas lifted up his . . .

“HANDS OF BETRAYAL”

Since the 1940’s nobody names their child Adolph.  Since biblical times nobody names their kid Judas.  Was Judas instinctively evil from the womb?  Why would he do this to Jesus?  He was evil from the womb but just like we are, and Andrew was or Philip was.  Jesus called 12 sinful men to follow and to serve.  

We know from earlier in the Book of John that Judas was a thief.  As the keeper of the money bag, he took for himself instead of giving the money to the poor.

This love of money was just what Satan needed to get him to change teams.  “You’ve already stolen, how about 30 pieces of silver to hand over Jesus?”  His greed unrepented and unchecked corroded his soul over time, and eventually put Judas’ betraying hands at the table.

Betrayal hurts because it is personal.  Judas’ double life even fooled the other eleven disciples.  They didn’t see the greedy darkness in his heart.  But Jesus knew.  “One of you is going to betray me.”

For many of us when we get together for Thanksgiving or Christmas, we check our baggage at the door.  No politics, no news that we might see differently.  Husband and wife put on the happy face even if a fight occurred the night before.  Siblings clean up their act.  There are certain expectations, and it is a celebration after all.  Jesus is with his disciples having a celebration.  His accusation of a betrayer brings tension.  These men get defensive.  They deny.  They deflect.

My family has seen this tension.  People fought and stormed off to their rooms.  There was silence.  Nobody knew what to do.  Our family of four will never forget that incident.  It made everything uncomfortable.

That is what the disciples experienced.  Tension.  Uncomfortable.  In Matthew it says they “stared at one another.”  Jesus gave no names.  He gave only a clue – “One of you will betray me.”  That set off all kinds of thoughts.  “Is it me?”  “What does he see in my heart?”  “Am I capable of this?” 

Well, are you?  What secret sins are you hiding?  Ever sold-out Jesus for money?  Is there something unrepentant in your life that it is corroding your soul?  Greed?  What is the devil waving in your face?  We are all capable of any sin, if left unchecked or unaddressed.  

As the accusation hung in the air, they are all scrambling to avoid blame.  Peter wants John to ask Jesus who He is talking about.  “It is he to whom I will give this morsel of bread, when I have dipped it.”  Jesus had exercised pastoral care with Judas throughout these three years.  Now He is trying to jar his conscience by calling him out publicly.  He is trying to encourage repentance in Judas.  It is too late.  The public shame will not change his heart.  His hands except the morsel and the betrayal is set.

Judas would go ahead and identify Jesus with a kiss.  It must have hurt.  Jesus went to the cross and uttered these words, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”  God treated Christ as though He had committed Judas betrayal, as though He had turned traitor like Joab.  God banished Christ to suffer hell’s punishment for our greed, our self-righteousness, and for every secret sin we insist on hiding.  They have been punished in full.  They have been paid in full.  “By his wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5)

How could Jesus love Judas?  Well, He did love him and did forgive him.  Judas thought Jesus would return the betrayal.  In an act of unbelieving despair, Judas took his own life.  The Gospel teaches that God doesn’t betray sinners; instead He turned His back on His Son.  He reconciled the world.  Banish the thought that God will banish us for our sins, and don’t let Satan or anyone else convince you otherwise.  God made peace with man in Christ.  Ask not how God could love and forgive a traitor like Judas.  Ask “How could God love and forgive a traitor like me?”  In Christ alone.

Amen.