Christ's Promising Word

Fifth Sunday in Lent
March 29, 2009
Melchizedek
Hebrews 5:5-10

One Grand Week

Holy Week is just one week away. For us Christians it is the most important time of year. And each service that we have is moving and dramatic.

We begin with our Lord’s entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and the reading of the Passion. And we continue with our Lord’s institution of Holy Communion on Maundy Thursday and his saving death on Good Friday.

And then, of course, it all culminates with his resurrection, his wonderful resurrection, on Easter Day. The whole story of salvation is told in one Grand Week.

The Tenebrae, a Service of Darkness

My favorite worship service out of that entire week is the Tenebrae, the Service of Darkness, on Good Friday night. And if you have never been to a Tenebrae, you really need to give this service a try. It is fantastic. I’ve always loved this service from when I was a little kid on.

The service begins in light. And there are 14 candles up here in front around one central Christ candle. But during the course of the service, the candles are gradually extinguished one-by-one. And there is a growing darkness. And you feel in your bones, the falling away of the disciples one-by-one.

And over the course of the service, three sets of lessons are read. The first from Lamentations and Israel’s loud lament over the fall of Jerusalem. And the second from the Gospel of Mark and Jesus’ loud, agonizing prayers in the Garden of Gethsemane.

And the last come from the book of Hebrews including the words that were read as our first lesson. And we hear how through his obedient sufferings and death Jesus has become our great high priest “according to the order of Melchizedek.”

Meet Melchizedek

And as a kid, I always wondered, “Melchizedek? Who in the world is Melchizedek! And what exactly does it mean that Jesus is our great high priest according to the order of Melchizedek?”

Melchizedek is a mysterious figure who pops out of nowhere back in Genesis 14 at the beginning of the Abraham story.

His name means “King of Righteousness” and he is the king of a city by the name of Salem, which like Shalom is the Hebrew word for “peace.” And so, he is the “King of Righteousness” and the “King of Peace.”

And not only is he a king, but he also is a priest of God Most High, whom the Israelites would later know as Yahweh.

And this priest-king by the name of Melchizedek meets Abraham as Abraham is returning from a great victory over a bunch of war lords who had raided the cities around the Jordan River and captured Abraham’s nephew Lot. After the raids, Abraham raised an army of armed men and defeated them all in a surprising night attack.

And on his return Abraham is greeted by the priest-king of Salem who feeds Abraham a meal of bread and wine and who blesses Abraham in the name of God Most High. Whereupon Abraham joyfully gave Melchizedek a tithe, 10% of all his booty from the battle.

Jesus Like Melchizedek

About 2000 years later after the death and resurrection of Jesus, some genius (whoever wrote the book of Hebrews) makes the connection between Jesus and Melchizedek.

Jesus is a lot like Melchizedek. He is the “King of Righteousness” and the “King of Peace.” Jesus is the king. Our king. He was crowned upon the cross.
But he is also our high priest. That is what Good Friday accomplished.

Through his reverent suffering and death, Jesus passed through the “veil,” the “curtain,” the “cloth,” that separates us from God. And Jesus entered the heavenly temple.

And now Jesus takes all of our “loud cries and tears,” our sufferings and our sorrows. And Jesus turns them into prayers. His true, faithful prayer.

And Jesus addresses to the God who can save us all from death. And Jesus is heard. The prayers of Jesus are always heard. Because of his “reverent submission” to the Father’s will.

Jesus is our Great High Priest

Jesus is a priest. And a priest is a “bridge” who allows us to “draw near” to God through his “sacrificial offerings.” But Jesus is no ordinary priest. That’s what it means when the bible says Jesus is “a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” It means that Jesus is no ordinary priest.

Biologically, Jesus doesn’t come from the “normal priestly bloodline.” Jesus is the royal Son of God who comes “before” and who “remains after” any Jewish priesthood, just like Melchizedek did. This means his blood line is far better. His blood comes from God.

And Jesus is the “sinless” Son of God, who does not need to make any sacrifices for his own sins first like any other ordinary priest did. And so, every ounce of his saving energy goes into us and our salvation.

And his loving sacrifice is good “once and for all.” And so, we have no need for any more animal sacrifices and temple rituals like Abraham and his descendents once did. What counts now is our faith in Christ our great high priest.

And Jesus is a “compassionate high priest.” That is what makes him so good at what he does. He has been tempted in every way that we are—yet without sin. And so, he is able to sympathize with us in our weakness.

Jesus is our Compassionate Savior

That’s what struck me as a kid. A teen age kid. This is what made Jesus such a powerful and important figure. There was no temptation, no test, no struggle that I was ever to go through that Jesus didn’t have too.

And so, he could be “gentle” with my weakness, because he has been tested in every way that we are.

This week in confirmation we talked about the 6th and 7th petitions of the Lord’s Prayer: “Lead us not into temptation and deliver us from evil.” And I told the kids that youth of today have to face greater temptations and evils than we adults ever had to face as children. What about you? Do you think this is true?

What a great gospel this is to know that Jesus is with us every step of the way. And that there isn’t any temptation of evil we have to face, that he hasn’t already faced for us.

This is what Jesus chose to do upon the cross. To take our world of struggle and lift it up to God in prayer and to have God heal it and change it.

This is what makes Jesus what he is—our high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

© 2009 Pastor Paul Jaster

Third Sunday in Lent
March 15, 2009
Crazy Talk
1 Corinthians 1:22-25

The Cross of Christ is Crazy

The cross of Jesus Christ is “crazy talk.” It makes no sense at all. And Saint Paul is the first one to admit it. He learned the hard way  that preaching “Jesus crucified” is a “stumbling block” to Jews and sheer stupidity and “folly” to the Gentiles. But to those who are called, those who become Christian, the cross of Christ is the “power of God” and the “wisdom of God.”

Each Sunday I come out here wearing the cross around my neck and none of you laugh or snicker. Some of you even come up and say, “Where did you get the beautiful cross?” But what if I came out here wearing a dead chicken around my neck instead. That would look pretty stupid now wouldn’t it?

Or, I go into the mall and I see a young woman behind the counter helping me wearing a golden cross around her neck. And sometimes I want to say to her, “Do you know what that cross really means or is that just a pretty piece of jewelry for you?”

The cross was originally and instrument of torture. It was a tool of public execution. How would people react if instead of wearing a cross around our neck we Christians wore a “hangman’s noose” or a gold plated “electric chair?” Would they gasp in horror? Or, would they simply laugh and say that is so silly?

If a kid did that in school, it would be a security concern and an immediate trip to the principal’s office. Do that at an airport & it will get up extra screening by the TSA.

Go back into the ancient world and nobody would ever think of wearing a cross around their neck as jewelry, for the cross was the most terrifying instrument of death the human mind could manufacture. It was offensive and it was obscene.

Folly to the Gentiles

And the Romans used it to their full advantage to put fear into opposing hearts…and to break the will of conquered nations…and to prove the might of Rome…and to satisfy their lust for violent sport. It was the death of lawless rebels, harden criminals and slaves—a humiliating, degrading and defeating death.

Thus, the word “cross” itself became a vulgar, dirty word never used by educated people in polite speech. In fact, the most detailed account of a crucifixion in the ancient world is the one recorded in our Christian gospels. No other ancient author thought it wise to ponder at any length on such a disgusting topic.

And so, when Paul proclaimed Christ crucified and tried to get his Gentile audience to see Jesus, the Savior of the world, dying for them upon a cross most of them just had to laugh. This man lost his life to Rome. Was there any question who was stronger and more mighty? “Come on, Paul. What kind of fools do you take us for?”

A Stumbling Stone to Jews

And Jews, you might say, were on the other end of the stick. They had seen too many bodies of Jewish boys on crosses to find any glory in it. The cross was a sign of their shame and defeat to Roman armies.

The cross could not become even a sign of their suffering. Their own law, the Torah, said, “Cursed is anyone who hangs on a tree.” The cross was a sign of God’s curse, not blessing.

And so when Saint Paul proclaimed a crucified man as their Messiah his Jewish hearers tripped right over it like they did the stones that characterize their country. Their Messiah would never let himself be killed in such a way. He would drive the Romans out and clobber them with a few crosses of their own.

Saint Paul means it, he really means it, when he says that Christ crucified is a “stumbling block” to Jews and “madness,” sheer madness to the gentiles. That is their reaction to his preaching.

Only a Fool Would Believe Such a Thing

And yet, it was also his experience that Christ crucified is the power of God and the wisdom of God to those who would believe. And he picks no bone about it. Only a fool would believe such a thing.

The fool who knows that most of our problems are caused by our own stupidity. The fool who knows that when we think we are the strongest we are the weakest and that whenever we exalt and glorify ourselves we are headed for a fall.

The fool who has come to realize that wise people have been putting their heads together for many years and the end result has not been so much pooled knowledge as it is pooled ignorance. The fool who is not fooled by much of the foolishness that goes for conventional wisdom in the world.

Let’s face it. Our foolishness is God’s judgment on our sin just as Saint Paul says in Romans 1, “Claiming to be wise, they became fools.”

We have this tendency called sin to think our ways are better than God’s ways. But when God lets us have our way, we end up looking rather silly.

And so should it surprise us that it takes a “foolish” measure like the cross of Jesus Christ, when it is from a foolish mess we must be saved?

Yet, Was the Cross So Foolish?

And yet, is the cross so foolish? Was it foolish that God should choose the most terrifying of deaths if he is out to save us from our terrifying deaths and the terrible horrors we inflict on one another?

Was it foolish that God should choose a very public form of execution if God wants publicly to display the life he offers as our ransom?

Was it foolish that God should pick the penalty associated with the lower classes and with the most harden criminals of the worst kind if God wanted to show his compassion and solidarity with sinners and to demonstrate that no person is too little and no sin is too great to be excluded from God’s grace?

Was it foolish that God should take the form of a servant and die a slave’s death if he is out to save those who die as slaves to sin?

The Crazy Talk that Lovers Make

The foolishness of the cross is the foolishness of love. It is that “crazy talk” that lovers make. The cross was never meant to impress us with its charm and beauty. It was meant to save us from the ugliness of our sin.

The cross is not a pretty picture. But in that picture we see the face and heart of God. A God who never wearies of our foolishness. A God who never abandons us to our stumbling ways.

Christ crucified is the power that picks us up when we stumble and fall. Christ crucified is the wisdom that brings sanity to our foolish ways of living. Someone once said, “God is a potter; he works in mud.” Well, Christ is a carpenter. He works in wood.

Maybe the cross is “foolishness” and a “stumbling stone” to some, but to us who believe, it is the “power of God” and the “wisdom of God.” It is the sign of our salvation.

2009 © Pastor Paul Jaster

March 1, 2009
First Sunday in Lent 1
Saved through Water
1 Peter 3:18-22a

A Fear Bubble

My mother’s broker called me this week.…to calm my fears, I think. “We are in the middle of a ‘fear bubble,’” he said.

“Just as we had a ‘housing bubble’ and an ‘oil bubble’ and ‘technology bubble’, we are having a ‘fear bubble.’ And one day that bubble will pop,” he said, “and market prices will go back to normal.”

And I started thinking about what he said from the viewpoint of a pastor, and it occurred to me that “fear” is not bad as long as we fear the right thing and not the wrong things.

“We are fear, love and trust in God above all things,” Martin Luther said in his little catechism.

And by “fear,” he meant “fear” as in “every child should have a healthy ‘fear’ of his or her mother.” Where things go awry is when we fear the wrong things rather than the one true God.

Fearing the Wrong Thing

Our reading from 1 Peter picks up on something Jesus said, “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so too will it be in the days of the Son of Man”(Luke 17:26). Jesus was talking about the Great Flood.

And how was it back in the days of Noah? People feared the wrong thing, 1 Peter says. They were either intimidated or they were seduced by earthly powers and by the evil spirits who seemed to be “in control” but who were “out of control.”

And so the bible tells us that “the LORD saw that the wickedness of humankind was great.” And “that the earth was corrupt…and filled with violence.” “And God was sorry that he had made humankind,” that’s what the bible says, God was “sorry.” And “it grieved God’s heart.”

And God said, “I will pop the bubble. And I will wipe out humanity from the earth.” And God sent the Great Flood to wipe everybody out.

God’s Heart is Changed

“But God remembered Noah” and his family. And God waited patiently during the building of an ark, so that eight persons might be saved through water.

Eight. Only eight. The body count of those wiped out was way too high.

And so, God had a change of heart. And God said his great ‘Never again!’ “Never again will I destroy every living thing as I have done.” And God put his war bow in the sky as a sign of that promise. The rainbow.

Which brings us to Jesus, now doesn’t it? What we have instead of that Great Flood is Jesus. That is the point that 1 Peter wants to make.

What we have in place of that Great Flood is Jesus. God pops the bubble of our misplaced fears, not with a flood of water (a flood of judgment) but with a gentle washing of forgiveness and a flood of heavenly grace.

And where that grace begins is not with a change in the human heart; although, by that grace, hearts ARE changed. But rather it begins with a change in the very heart of God. God does not repay evil for evil, abuse for abuse. God repays evil with a blessing. The blessing of Jesus on the cross. His death & resurrection.

Jesus Suffers Once for All

Jesus suffered for our sins once and for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order that he might lead us back to God.

He was put to death in the flesh by a cruel crucifixion. Yet God raised Jesus again in that same bodily flesh to rule in an exalted sphere where the Spirit and power of God is displayed without any hindrance or human limitation.

Not only does Jesus take on our “death sentence” but he also gives to us his “Life sentence.”

A Confidence in Christ

And that gives to us a confidence “in Christ” that changes and transforms our heart in any place and time.

“Do not fear what they fear,” 1 Peter tells us in the verses immediately before the passage that we read today. “Do not fear what they fear. And do not be intimidated! But in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord.”

“Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands an accounting for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence. Keep your conscience clear, so that those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame.”

Christians have no reason to fear the powers and the forces of this world, when Christ has already won the battle by his death and resurrection. And when even the evil spirits that were so restless back in the days of Noah must kneel to his majesty.

Saved by the Flood of God’s Grace

And we share in it through our baptism into his death and resurrection. We are connected to Christ, when we are bathed by his grace and washed by his spirit. We are saved by water, the flood water of his grace.

And no longer is it just a few. Noah and his family. Eight people. A measly eight. “For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away (far away from God),” Peter said in his very first sermon.

“Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” This is a gift for all.

Led by the Spirit to a Tender Heart

And what a gift that is!—the Holy Spirit. We are not led and driven by our fears. We do not surrender to the evil spirits of our times. Or to the bubbles that get created by greedy people grabbing for more. Or to the sinking feeling that comes from feeling that this world is absolutely out of control.

We put our “fears” (yes, our fears), our faith, our hope, our trust in Christ. We “fear, love and trust in God above all things.” And we have a unity of spirit, genuine love for one another, sympathetic compassion, a tender heart, a humble mind.

We turn from every evil. And we seek to do good and to pursue peace. We do not repay evil for evil or abuse for abuse. But, rather we do what Jesus did and repay evil with a blessing. For it is for this that we have been called. Called by the Christ who loves us and who gave himself for us.

“Just as it was in the days of Noah, so too it will be in the days of the Son of Man.” We are saved by water. Indeed we are—the cleansing flood of God’s great grace.

© 2009 Pastor Paul Jaster