Christ’s Promising Word

Fifth Sunday in Lent
March 21, 2010
Lavish Love
John 12:1-8

Two Economies: God

Two Economies

There are two economies. There is the economy of God and there is the economy of us humans.

The economy of God is lavish and loving. The economy of us humans is stingy and self-serving. God gives us everything we have. Everything. 100%. And yet, even in the church, the average person gives back less than 2% to God.

We Give God the Leftovers

I was talking to some kids about Palm Sunday and how Jesus entered Jerusalem to eat the Passover meal with his disciples. He went there because the temple was there and that was the only place where the lambs for Passover could be sacrificed and slaughtered. And one of the kids said to me in shock and horror, “They sacrificed animals?”

Oh yes, they did. Most ancient people did. Meat was so rare and precious that slaughtering any animal for food was a great “sacrifice” and usually saved only for festive meals. And so they all sacrificed animals: the Greeks, the Romans & the Jews.

The ha-ha joke among the Greeks and Romans, however, was that their gods were given the parts that no one wanted anyhow—a chuck of fat and a few big bones. All the good meat they kept for themselves. Which is why the Greeks and Romans had such a hard time understanding the Jews.

For certain sacrifices, the Jews would burn the entire animal. A “holocaust” they called it. “What a waste of good meat!” the Greeks and Romans thought.

And isn’t that so typical? We give God the leftovers. We give God the parts we don’t want anyhow. The loose change in our pockets. The clothes we have outgrown. The rummage sale stuff that we give away to clear the clutter. The good stuff we keep for ourselves.

Love is a Spendthrift, not a Miser

Mary did not keep the good stuff for herself. When Jesus came to dinner, Mary took 12 ounces of expensive perfume made of pure nard and she anointed Jesus’ feet and wiped them with her own hair.

Since the streets where people walked were little more than open sewers, and since reclining guests would often have their noses next to the feet of those near them, it was customary, of course, to have a slave wash the feet of a guest before a meal.

But, for the hostess herself to do it was unheard of. And for an Israelite woman to unbind her hair in public, especially at a formal meal was unheard of. And for expensive perfume to be used on the feet rather than the head was unheard of. Three hundred denarii—that’s one year’s worth of wages to a person like you and me. How much do you earn in a year? That’s what Mary poured out in this one gesture. Why? Because she loved him.

And love is not a tightwad. Love is not a cheapskate. Love is not a miser. Love is a spendthrift. Love spends itself away. Love does not count the cost. Love does not hold back. It gives itself away. Freely! Lavishly! Carelessly, and yet, so care-full-ly.

God Is Love

And where did Mary learn a love like that! Where else but in the Savior’s love for her. At his feet, listening to what he was saying, that’s where she learned it—the one thing needful.

God is love. That’s what she learned from Jesus. God is love. And when you are in love, you do not stop to count the cost. You give the best of everything you have.

“In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.” “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son.” “No one has greater love than this, than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

God did not give to us the scraps, the bits of fat and bone that had been picked over, the junk that no one really wanted, the leftovers and the trash. God gave to us his best. His very best. The meat. The heart. The entire substance of his portfolio.

God gave to us his Son. Totally. Wholely. And completely. A “holocaust.” A total sacrifice.

And so, it is no waste when we give our best to Jesus. It is not waste. It is worship. It is adoration. It is a precious gift. An offering. It is a sacrifice eagerly made for the sake of the beloved. It is love.

The Bible’s Good News about Living a Generous Life

This past week Fred Rice, Jeff Lyons and I went to join others for gathering with our bishop in order to hear a man who has written a book on Giving to God: The Bible’s Good New about Living a Generous Life.

His name is Mark Allan Powell, popular prof at Trinity Seminary in Columbus. He is a great guy and a great speaker. And Mark had three foundational points for us.

Point One: Giving to God is an “act of worship.” We give out of glad and generous hearts and an expression of love and devotion to the very God who has been so good and generous to us.

Point Two: Giving to God is an “expression of our faith.” Through it we confess that everything we have belongs to God and that God is the one who will sustain us and provide.

Point three: Giving to God is a “discipline for growth,” spiritual and personal growth. God loves a cheerful giver. Attitude counts. No one can serve two masters. One cannot serve God and mammon, money. Where our heart is, there our treasure will be also. And we want to treasure Jesus.

“I don’t care; Get the best”

I once got a frantic call from my wife, Laurie. A very frantic call from Laurie.

She was out-of-town in Indianapolis. And she wanted me to get online to buy two tickets for a rock concert that went on sale that very morning. She did not have a laptop with her so she called me. Thank God, for husbands. They are handy sometimes.

“How much do you want to spend?” I asked her. “I don’t care,” she said, “they are for our daughter. Get the best seats you can at any price.”

If the cross of Jesus tells us anything at all, it is that God is love. And love is a spendthrift. It does not hold anything back, but gives itself away. Totally and completely. Freely and lavishly.

Lavish love. That’s what the economy of God is all about.

© 2010 Pastor Paul Jaster

Fourth Sunday in Lent
March 14, 2010
Where is Jesus in this Picture?
Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

A Man Had Two Sons

Today we hear again the most powerful and potent parable that Jesus ever told. But let me ask you this. Where is Jesus in this picture? I see you and I see me. I see God. But where is Jesus? Where is Jesus in this parable?

The story is a familiar one: “There was a man who had two sons.” And we are either one or the other, you and me, the younger son or the older son. Although I suppose, at times, we could be both.

The younger son came to his father and said, “Dad, I am grown up now. I want to do things on my own. Give me my inheritance. Do it now already.” In effect, the son is saying, “Dad, I wish you were dead.”

And much to our surprise, this father does. This father divides up his property, gives it to his two sons, and lets the younger son go on his way. This dad, of course, is God. If it were me, I would punch this kid’s running lights out.

But, no, God does the opposite. As much as it hurts God, God will not force us to remain in his household if we do not want to be there. God loves us all that much. That God will let us go and leave if we insist.

And yet, that does not mean that God stops waiting, hoping, watching, longing for our return. God loves us so much that God will not give up.

A Welcome Homecoming

And you know what happens next. The kid blows his bundle, ends up feeding pigs and becomes so hungry that he is ready to eat pig food. He hits bottom and then it hits him. Even the slaves at his father’s house have more to eat than he does.

And so, he will go back, repent and say, “Father, I have sinned; I am not worthy to be your son. But would you at least treat me as a hired hand?” And he goes, rehearsing his speech along the way.

But while he was still a distance off the waiting father saw him, ran to him, and kissed him before a single word came out of his mouth. And immediately this “waiting father” told his servants to bring the finest robe and to place the family ring upon his hand and the shoes of freedom on his feet and to kill the fatted calf and throw a wild party.

Forgiven Now Already

And notice please that this wayward son is not forgiven as the result of anything he did. He did not earn forgiveness by coming home or by making the correct apology. His father does not even given him a chance to use the speech he practiced on the pigs. The son just walks in and discovers that he had his dad’s forgiveness all along.

God knows the “pig pen” we have made of our lives. And yet, already now it is all forgiven whether you wish to be aware of it or not. All of the junk and clutter that we have allowed to pile up in our lives have been loaded up and carted off to the cross of Jesus Christ and dumped into the grave.

The saving death of Jesus Christ means that we are forgiven now, already, even before we think of confessing and repenting. The only question is whether or not we will wake up and smell the coffee and go back home where we belong and realize that our “waiting father” God celebrates the return of every sinner with a blowout party. God loves us all that much. It is amazing—this faithful, gracious, awesome love of God.

Awesome, but Offensive

It is so awesome, in fact, that it is offensive and appalling. Which brings us to the second son. And there is a bit of that son in us, too, the older one, that is begrudging of God’s grace.

“All these years I have slaved for you, and yet, you never gave me even a little goat for an outdoor barbeque. But when this son of yours came home, you killed the fatted calf for him.”

And isn’t this choice of words so revealing?

All this time at his father’s house had not been a joy at all, but a drudgery and duty—as it is for anyone who thinks that we earn God’s love “by being good.”

And already he has separated himself from his dad and brother. His heart has already fled into some “far country” even though he still parked his body at home. He is just as lost as his younger brother whom he so bitterly condemns.

Stop Complaining and Pour Yourself a Drink

But the father’s love is big enough for this son, too. “Look here, kid. He’s my son and you’re my son. Neither one of you ever had to “earn” this stuff. You both already have everything I’ve got. My whole life. My whole being. So what in the world are you complaining for? Come on, wipe that sour look off your face, come inside, and fix yourself a drink.”

Nothing is more deadly to our lives than “righteous indignation.” It is worse than waywardness. And so, we need to be saved from that one, too.

So, where is Jesus in this picture? I see you and I see me. We’re one of the two sons, either the “wayward” one or the “self-righteous” one. In fact, sometimes we are the two together. And God is the father in this parable. This waiting and forgiving father. But where is Jesus in this picture?

Jesus is the Fatted Calf

And isn’t it so clear? He is the “fatted calf.” Jesus is the “fatted calf.” And what do “fatted calves” do? The stand around with one purpose in life: to drop dead on a moment’s notice in order that other people might be fed and can have a party.

And if that doesn’t sound like the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” then I don’t know what does.

Jesus is the one who offers up his life at the father’s request and dies so that someone else may have a party. Grace we call it. Grace. G-R-A-C-E. God’s Riches at Christ’s Expense.

And isn’t that exactly what Jesus said on this night of his last supper: “Take eat, this is my body given for you. Take drink, this cup is the new covenant of my blood poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

Like the Lamb at Passover

Like the paschal lamb, the death of Jesus (his sacrifice upon the cross), becomes food for a journey, a journey that takes us from a bondage to every form of slavery and sets us free as God’s children in God’s land of promise.

Or, like the young bull offered at the temple for the sake of the sins of the high priest (in other words “the highest form sacrifice”), the sacrifice of Jesus draws us near to God and brings us to God’s table. Not as a slave or servant, but as a son, a child of God. J

esus is the one who allows it all to happen—this feasting and this celebration.

Not only is Jesus the one who tells the story, who lets us know that we have a forgiving Father, but he is also the one who allows it all to happen. Without him there would be no party, no joy or celebration.

This parable is so powerful and so potent because Jesus is there. Jesus is there in this picture with us. And this is no made up story. It really happened. It really did. Jesus did do this for you and for me.

© 2010 Pastor Paul Jaster

Third Sunday in Lent
March 7, 2010
Does God ZAP Sinners?
Luke 13:1-9

Horrible Headlines

Leave it to Jesus to rewrite the headlines for us. It is a gripping picture of a forgiving and faithful God that Jesus paints for us today, although it does begin with a gruesome tale.

Some of those coming to Jesus told him of one of the horrible headlines in the news. The kind that we see on TV every day. The Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, had recently killed some people on pilgrimage from Galilee while they were offering their sacrifices in Jerusalem, thus mingling their blood with their sacrifices. My word, what a gruesome sight!

And here is Jesus’ answer: “Do you think that just because these Galileans suffered such a horrible death, they were some kind of super-sinners? No way!” Jesus says. “But unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” And then, Jesus adds a horrible headline of his own. Some kind of industrial accident. The Tower of Siloam fell, killing18.

Why Do Terrible Things Happen?

Why? Jesus why? Why do great tragedies like this happen? Why do terrible traffic accidents take place? Why do people get horrible diseases and killing cancers? Why do some people always seem to have a huge black cloud hanging over their head?

And here we have an answer from our Lord himself. “Tragedies do NOT happen because God is out to get someone. God is not out on some big vendetta zapping sinners. God just doesn’t operate that way. Those people who die in tragic accidents or in cruel acts of terror are no greater sinners than all the rest. Tragedies simply happen…by accident…at random,” Jesus says.

“So come on, you guys, stop acting like death is something God sends only to the bad guys and come to realize that one day you must die too. You must die,” Jesus says, “And I, Jesus, must die. The only question is will you die in hopelessness and despair. Or, will you come to realize that death is not the awful tragedy that human fear has made of it.

“Because I have come to die with you and to die for you. And I am the spitting image of a faithful God who will not fail those who put their trust in him. In fact, death, my friend, MY death is the very way that God has chosen to save you.”

The Picture of the Fig Tree

“And just in case you have trouble understanding that, then let me draw still yet another picture for you,” Jesus says. “This guy had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, see. And he kept coming to it looking for figs finding none. And so he said to his gardener, “Three years I have been trying to get some figs from this tree and it hasn’t produced even one. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?”

But, the gardener said to him, “Let it be Lord. Give it another chance. Let me dig around it and put on manure. And if it bears fruit next year, so much the better; if not, then you can cut it down.”

At First, The Same Old Story

At first this sounds like the same old story. God giving people what they deserve. God giving people the ax when they do not bear the fruit that they were meant to bear. And isn’t that the way it always works? Three strikes and you’re out! If the computer doesn’t work or if your Toyota doesn’t break, then get rid of it.

If you cannot do the job, you’re fired. If you cannot pass this test, then maybe you had better start thinking of a new career. If someone hasn’t shown up in church for three years, they are “dead wood,” aren’t they? And shouldn’t we get the pruning shears out and trim them from the rolls?

You want a horror story? This is the real horror story. We are all dead. All of us, right now. We do not bear the fruit that God expects. And if God were to give us what we deserve, God would give us the ax. That is the law—God’s word of judgment.

But, Jesus Gives a New Ending

But Jesus gives a new ending to this old story. Instead of the woodpile for us, Jesus inserts a dramatic intervention. A load of fertilizer and tender loving care. “Forgive it, Lord. Forgive it. I will dig about it. I will fertilize and nurture it. I will bring it back to life again with my own work and effort.”

It happens all by grace. That is the message of good news that Jesus has for us.

On the cross Jesus held out his hand and stopped the ax. He died the death that was meant for us. And he said to God, “Forgive them, Lord. Forgive them. I will dig around them and fertilize them with the death of my own body.”

And by a strange, odd act of grace, God made his awful, stinking death turn into a helpful, spirited substance which makes us come alive and bear that one fruit which is the sweetest to God’s taste—the fruit of faith.

By a miracle of grace, death has become the way to life. The death of Jesus dug down deep into the very roots of our being and fills us with that energizing juice—a holy Miracle-gro—that makes us come alive and be productive.

Life Through Death & The Fruit of Faith

And if that sounds to you like a bunch of sheep dip, well then, let me simply remind you that the smelly stuff that my father put around his tomatoes (the manure) made those little tomato plants grow. That stuff that smelled so bad (like death itself) was the very stuff that gave something else a fruitful life. “You can not beat it,” my father said, “so pug your nose and stop complaining.”

It’s like when a patient coach gives us another chance at bat even though we have struck out three times already—this time with his strong, skilled arms around us guiding and directing us.

Or, it is like when a generous employer keeps on and still gives us our Christmas bonus even though we have made a big mistake that has cost the company big bucks.

Or, it’s like when an understanding teacher rips up a disappointing test and says, “Let’s forget about this one, I myself will tutor you and we try again and again and again until we get it right.”

Something dies—the rules of the game, any sense of cost accounting, academic excellence. Something dies. But something also blooms and grows—the love, the faith, the hope, the trust of the one who has been forgiven.

When Jesus dug himself a hole and got himself nailed upon a cross, something died—God judgment died. And…something else was born—a new life for the believer.

As long as our roots are fed by the death of Jesus, we bear the fruit which is the sweetest to God’s taste. We do. We really do. We bear the fruit of faith. Which, to God, is the very best fruit of them all.

© 2010 Pastor Paul Jaster

Second Sunday in Lent
February 28, 2010
Jesus’ Lament
Luke 13:31-35

God is like a Mother Hen

It is  said, “A picture is worth a 1,000 words.” And that certainly can be said of Jesus.

Jesus often painted pictures to get his point across—especially pictures right off the farm.

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!”

The love of God. The passionate and personal love of God. What is that love  it like? Just look at this picture. It is like a mother hen, who, when the fox comes and threatens the brood, gathers her chicks under her wings to save them and protect them.

The Decoy

I’ve never spent much time around chickens, but I did see this parable happen once.

I was canoeing up in the Minnesota Boundary Waters—which is paradise itself. And I saw a mother duck with a bunch of little ducklings all spread out. And they were so cute and cuddly that I had to paddle over to take a closer look.

And first this mother duck swept them under her wings and pushed them to the shore under some brush. And then she flew away and left them by a couple of dozen yards so that I would go after her instead of them.

She was the decoy drawing me away. She would rather have me come after her to die herself than have me mess with her little chicks.

The Love of Almost Any Mom

And who needs to be around chickens or ducks to get the picture? You see it in almost every mom—that passionate desire to love and protect her children with her own wings.

That is the maternal instinct that God has put into every mom. It’s in their genes. It’s in their DNA. God has programmed them that way.

And that is precisely what the love of God is like. It is like that passionate, self-sacrificing maternal instinct that we can see in any mom anywhere in nature.

Love Spurned & Rejected

But just because this mothering God loves us and protects us doesn’t mean we like it.

When I paddled up to those ducklings, a lot of quacking was going on. And although I am not particularly fluent in “duck,” I can easily guess what they were saying.

“Quack! Quack! Henry, get back here. I told you not to swim so far away. You shouldn’t get anywhere near to strangers.”

“O mom, stop hyperventilating. It’s only just a couple of tourists in a canoe. They will not harm me.”

And that is part of our programming too. To take parental love… and to spurn it…and reject it, because parents tend to clip our wings and tie us down.

Time and time again Mother-Hen-God sent prophets to tell her children just how much she loves them. How much she passionately loves them. And to warn them of the terrible danger they are in when they wander too far away from God’s protecting arms.

But, by and large, God’s people just dismissed them as a bunch of noisy quacks, hyperventilating over nothing.

We Kill Any Challenge to Our Status Quo

And Herod is not the only one who tried to kill Jesus because Jesus was a challenge and a threat to his self-indulgent way of life. His power and his control.

We kill Jesus too, each time we reject God’s love and try to live our life on our own apart from God’s provision and protection.

We kill Jesus each time we stonewall him and block him out of our lives because his way of life is too restrictive and confining.

O sure, we like to hear the Gospel word that God loves us.

But don’t let that love make any demands on us. Don’t let it meddle in our affairs. Don’t let it change the course on which we are swimming.

For we are big kids after all. What need have we of a mothering smothering God?

Christ’s Passionate, Persistent Love

Well, our need is great. For in a world of sin and death, we are as vulnerable as a tiny, little chick in an outside yard. We are in great danger. Grave danger.

But just because we reject our parents’ love, does not mean that our parents stop loving us. At least not true parents, although some human parents can let us down.

Within our Lord’s lament over Jerusalem there is a heavy sigh—the sigh of love rejected. But more than that, there is the passionate desire to keep on loving still no matter what the cost.

“Go and tell that fox for me, ‘Listen I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work. …I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem.”

Jesus was leaving. He was leaving Herod’s Galilee and going on to Jerusalem. NOT because he was scared and running away from Herod, but in order to face a greater foe and a greater danger for us—the death we to die because of our lovelessness and hate…and our desire to rebel and live apart form the love of God.

The mission and the ministry of Jesus Christ continues. And even a powerful ruler like Herod cannot stop it. Until it takes Jesus to Jerusalem and to the cross.

And there an odd maneuver takes place. Jesus flies away from his brood of disciples. Why?

For the same reason that the mother duck flew away from her ducklings. To be the decoy. To be the prey. If any danger must come to my children, Jesus says, then let that danger fall on me.

Pictured in the Pelican

On the bottom panel of our stained glass window entitled “crucifixion,” there is another female bird, a mother pelican, surrounding her young with her love.

Why there? Why on that panel?

It is because in medieval piety, people thought that the mother pelican would pick at her own breast until it bled to feed her young with her own blood.

They were wrong, of course. She was not picking at her breast, she was just mashing fish against it. And that gooey mess just looked like blood.

But they were not wrong in using it as a way to picture what it is that Jesus Christ has done for us. He has poured out his own blood so that we can live.

It is no accident that we call the death that Jesus died his “passion” for that is what it is all about—God’s passionate love for us. A love which never stops. Even when it is rejected.

And how can we ever picture it? How can we ever picture the great intensity of a love like that? Well, picture it like this—the love of any mom.

© 2010 Pastor Paul Jaster

First Sunday in Lent
February 21, 2010
Testing
Luke 4:1-13

Is God Testing You?

Do you ever feel that God is testing you? I once lived with a community of believers during a time of tremendous struggle in the church. Families were being divided. People were losing their jobs and homes. All because of struggles over biblical interpretation. It is a lousy way to be the church. I do not recommend it.

And we were all gathered in a large field house, a gym, trying to figure out what to do next. About 500 people. And down on the floor some tech was setting up the sound system and putting up a mike on a stand so that the wise old saints among us could give us guidance and direction. And the tech bent over the microphone and said, “Testing, testing, testing.” And the room became hushed

First up was old “Doc” Caemerer, the oldest preacher in the bunch. Shaky, thin and frail, and yet as spirited as ever. He came to put in words the anxiety we all were feeling.

And the first thing that came out of his mouth was to say that that young tech had already said it all. “God was testing…testing… testing us.” And the crowd broke into thunderous applause because old “Doc” had put his finger on our malady with just one word. God was “testing” us. Do you ever feel that way? Do you ever feel that God is testing you?

Lent Begins with the Temptation of Jesus

The Sundays of Lent always begin with the temptation of Jesus. Right after Jesus was baptized around the age of 30, Jesus was led out into the wilderness by the Spirit. And there he was tempted by the devil for 40 days. Not just one day. But 40 days. Each and every day. And do you get that equation: to be baptized is to be tempted, “tested” daily?

And I have always found great comfort in that Jesus as tested too.  God doesn’t place a protective bubble around his Son. God doesn’t a make special exception for Jesus just because he is God’s chosen one.

Rather God sends Jesus into the most extreme hostile environment we humans ever have to face. Jesus too is tested, in every way that we are: food, wealth, power, status, religious furor. You name it. Jesus has been there too.

Life in the Wilderness

Jesus’ stay in the wilderness for 40 days makes us think of Israel in the wilderness for 40 years. Back in the days of Moses, God led Israel out of slavery in Egypt to the Promised Land.

But, in between those two places there was a long, wilderness stay. And at first, the wilderness seems to be a God-forsaken place. A place of death. A place of curse. There is no water, no food, no plants, no growth. Only dangerous and threatening things live there…including Satan.

But it is not a place of death. Strangely, almost miraculously, the terrifying desert becomes a “place of life” because God himself is there and God is leading them.

Maybe God didn’t lead them as fast as they wanted to go. And maybe didn’t always lead them in the same direction they wanted to go. Haven’t we all learned the hard way like Israel did that God’s interests do not always match our own? God doesn’t always think like you or me.

But God comes through. God always comes through with help and full provision. Bread from heaven–manna. And water out of a rock.

God Provides

And in a way, any wilderness experience is as much about “testing” God as it is about “testing” us. And have you ever thought of that? Times of temptation don’t just tempt us but they also “test” God. Will God come through? Will God be faithful to his promises?

And take any wilderness experience you want. The answer is always “Yes!” “Yes!” “Yes!” God is faithful. God comes through on every promise. God will always, always pass the test! Maybe not in our way and our timetable. But certainly on his.

Out of its experience in the wilderness, Israel learned something about its God. That the God of Israel was indeed a very present help in time of trouble. And that this God is always able to do the life-giving thing even when it seems to be so impossible.

And Israel learned something about the wilderness. That even though it seemed so empty and so hopeless it was a place of nourishment because God was there.

And Israel also learned something about itself. That it had to live in a complete dependence on a God who in his own way and in his own time would provide.

Jesus Remains the Faithful Son of God

Which brings us now to Jesus and his own 40 days in the wilderness. Another act of God’s provision.

In the wilderness, Jesus faces all of the same temptations we have to face. That same sense of hunger and frustration, short-cuts to power, glory and the easy way. Jesus is tested…tested… tested… every way that we are.

And yet, Jesus remains the faithful Son of God. Jesus becomes the only human being in history who does not give into temptation. He remains the obedient Son of God. A true Israelite. And through his love and grace, his obedience becomes our own.

Obviously, the story is not over yet. The temptation of Jesus is only our Lord’s first round with Satan. Clearly, there will be more. The devil leaves for a more “opportune time” the bible tells—which means that this battle will ultimately go to the cross.

On the cross, Jesus will be tempted again, “If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross. He saved others but he cannot save himself.” That will be the tempting taunt. And that is true. He cannot save himself, not if he would save us. (And don’t you ever for a moment think that it wasn’t tempting for Jesus to use his power and come down.)

We Know the Final Outcome

And yet, already now on this First Sunday in Lent we know the final outcome. Jesus will resist the temptation to save himself. And in the process, he will save us.

And that in turn changes the wilderness for us. It changes our wilderness times and our wilderness places. For Jesus is God’s proof that God is with us and that God is for us in the wilderness moments of our life. A very present help in time of trouble.

Life is a test. It’s all a test. Of God, as much as it is of us. Will God be faithful to God’s promises? Will God come through? And the cross of Jesus Christ gives us the answer. The answer is “Yes!”  It’s always “Yes!” It’s always “Yes!” when Jesus is around.

© 2010 Pastor Paul Jaster

Ash Wednesday
February 17, 2010
Confession
John 20:22-23

Wow! What a Power

Wow! What a great power it is that Jesus gives us: “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any they are retained.” This is the power of Jesus. The power of confession and forgiveness. It is the “Office of the Keys.”

During this Lenten season on Wednesday evenings, it is our plan to do something very Lutheran and talk about the “six chief parts” of the Christian faith.

And where we start is with what Martin Luther called the “Office of the Keys,” because it is a key the unlocks the doors of heaven itself. We know it better as “Confession & Forgiveness.”

At almost every worship service we have, the very first thing we do is to return to our baptism, confess our sins and receive the assurance of God’s forgiveness. And on the Ash Wednesday night we do the very same thing with all the more intensity—very mindful of our mortality. “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.”

In previous years, the tradition in our Lutheran churches was to confess our sins this night, this Ash Wednesday night, and then hold off the pronouncement of forgiveness until Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. This way Ash Wednesday and Good Friday formed the two bookends of the Lenten Season.

On Ash Wednesday we confessed our sins, we did so very deeply and very personally. And then, on Good Friday we received the personal assurance of God’s forgiveness.

Personal Assurance of Forgiveness

And we still do that in a very unique way here at Emmanuel. And I invite you to come back on Good Friday at noon to complete the action.

On Good Friday between noon and 1:00 God’s people gather for about 10 minutes of private meditation. And then, they are invited to come forward to the communion rail where they stand or kneel as they are able.

And after they do, I will go down the row one-by-one to lay my hands on them and give the personal assurance of God’s forgiveness: “In obedience to the command of our Lord Jesus Christ, I forgive you all your sins.” It is a powerful and moving moment for us all. And then we receive the reserved sacrament, bread and wine, from the night before and go.

But before this all happens, Bob Lessing reads a passage from Martin Luther’s “Brief Exhortation to Confession & Forgiveness.” It’s a powerful piece. And although I hear it for about three times year after year, I never tire of it.

Part One: Look in the Mirror

Confession has two parts, Luther says. The first is that we confess our sins and examine ourselves on the basis of the Ten Commandments. Take out the Ten Commandments, Luther says, and use it like a “mirror.”

Do you know how you can’t see a blot or blemish on your face without a mirror? Who would ever go outside in the morning without checking one’s appearance in a mirror first?

Well, hold up the Ten Commandments like a mirror, Luther says, and then begin to ask yourself these questions: “Have you feared, loved and trusted God as God requires? Have you properly used his name, prayed, praised and given thanks? Have you kept God’s word holy, heard and learned it, as you should have done?Have you been loyal to your family, faithful to those who love and trust you? Have you served and helped your neighbor in every need?

Room for Improvement

I don’t know how you do when you check your lives against the Ten Commandments, but I know how I do. And it’s always, “Oops! There is clearly room for some improvement.” The face I see in the mirror always has its faults and blemishes.

Do any of you have High Definition TV? I just read that actors and actresses and the TV talent are getting upset with HD TV because it now shows all the faults and blemishes on their faces.

Well, the Ten Commandments are like that, too. They are like HD TV. They will show us all our faults and failings, if only we dare to look at our lives through them closely. That is the bad news.

Part Two: Faith in Jesus Christ

But the good news is this: the second part of confession is faith. Faith in Jesus Christ. Who has taken away the burden of our sin and who gives to us the assurance of God’s forgiveness as an undeserved gift of God’s grace. It is all gift. Sheer gift. The very gift of God. What we cannot do ourselves, Christ has done for us.

And so, Luther says, when the pastor absolves you, these are not just empty words. But something is really happening. You are really receiving the forgiveness of God promised in the Gospel. It is happening, it really is.

Your sins are indeed forgiven you before God, just as certainly as if Christ himself would immediately speak from heaven: “Be of good cheer, my son, my daughter, your sins are all forgiven you.” The voice of Christ himself. That’s what we hear when we confess our sins and receive the assurance of forgiveness. The voice of Christ himself.

How Do You Picture Sin?

About two weeks ago I was sitting with a couple of pastors at a professional leadership retreat. And one asked me, “How to do you picture sin?” I don’t know how you picture it. But I picture it as heavy weight or burden. And I feel it physically.

Sometimes it feels like a heavy weight on my shoulders. Like a monkey on my back. Sometimes it feels more like nausea or a knotting of the stomach.Sometimes if feels more like a pounding headache that will not go away.

But what a great gift it is to be able to bring that weight here week after week and reduce it all to dust and ashes and to be able to dump it and leave it at the foot of the cross. And then to walk away a Spirit-led person: washed, unburden and cleansed.

Now that is power. Real power.  The Power of Keys. Confession & Forgiveness. An extension of our Baptism. That great part of Christian faith and life that unlocks the doors of heaven itself.

© 2010 Pastor Paul Jaster

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

February 25, 2009
Ash Wednesday
The Great Exchange
2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10

We Judge Others by Externals

Lent is the perfect time to “air our dirty laundry” to name our “sins” by name. And what “sin” should we name tonight? What filthy rag should we drape over the line?

Saint Paul has one for us. One he found in that early church in Corinth. We Christians… we Christians (even though we have heard the gospel news of Jesus Christ)…we still tend to judge others from a “human point of view.” We rate other people on the basis of their apparent strengths and weaknesses.

I saw that happen in Time magazine this week. The current issue of Time reports on a study done at the University of California, Berkeley (“Why Bosses Tend to be Blowhards,” Time, March 2, 2009, p. 48).

The study says that the people we choose as bosses tend to have the loudest and the biggest mouths. The bosses that we pick tend to be those who talk as if they know it all, even if they don’t have the right answers.

We choose as our leaders those who tend to be bossy. “All-hat-no-cattle leaders,” that’s what the study calls them. “All-hat-no-cattle leaders.” We do not tend choose as our leaders those who have the real answers to our problems (as if we needed a study to tell us that).

The Gospel Seems So Weak and Puny

And something like that was happening back at that church in Corinth. People were complaining that Paul didn’t look or act like a leader. He was small. And he was puny. And his speeches lacked rhetorical flare. He was no Barack Obama. We like our presidents and our leaders over six feet tall.

And the Jesus that he preached…well, he wasn’t anything at all, just a dying man upon a cross.

“His letters are weighty and strong,” they said (those people in Corinth). Paul’s letters “are weighty and strong, but his presence [his physical presence] is weak and his speech is contemptible,” as is his Jesus upon the cross.

And now, get this: These people had heard the Gospel message. They heard the message of Jesus and his cross. And still…still they were regarding Jesus and Paul from a “human point of view.”

Accepting the Grace of God in Vain

And so, Paul writes back to them once again (in another one of his “weighty” letters) to say that they were still stuck in sin.

They had accepted the grace of God “in vain.” Their hearts were still empty of God’s grace.

They had heard of the grace of God in Christ, and yet they did not turn to it and use it. Therefore, as far as God was concerned, their sins still counted against them. And they remained at war, apart, unreconciled to God.

Be Reconciled to God!

And so, Paul writes back with that passionate cry we hear this night, this Ash Wednesday night & every Ash Wednesday night. “I entreat you on behalf of Christ, ‘Be reconciled to God!’ Do not accept the grace of God in vain.

For God said, ‘At an acceptable time I have listened to you, and on a day of salvation I have helped you.’” “See!” Paul says, “Now is the acceptable time! Now is the day of salvation!”

It is not just Paul saying this. This is GOD! saying this. This is not just Paul, weak and puny Paul, saying, “Be reconciled to God!” This is God, almighty God, saying to us “I entreat you on behalf of Christ, ‘Be reconciled to me!’ For now is the acceptable time! Now is the day of salvation!”

A Great Exchange Has Taken Place

For God does not look at the externals, but God looks at the very heart of things. And if Jesus looks so weak and powerless dying there upon the cross, it is only because a “great exchange” has taken place.

Out of his great love and grace, Jesus has taken on our sins, which are ugly, weak and powerless. The ugliness of Jesus on the cross, is, indeed, the ugliness of our sin. There is nothing beautiful or bold about it.

And in its place, Jesus has given to us his own obedience to God…and faithfulness…and right relationship with God.

“For our sake,” Saint Paul tells us, “God made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him (in Jesus) we might become the righteousness of God.”

We can never be reconciled to God. Never, ever. Not by our own work or effort. But God can be reconciled to us…and HAS!…through the saving deed of Jesus Christ.

The Eternal Now

Which puts before us an “eternal now.” NOW is the acceptable time. NOW is the day of salvation. It is never too late to turn to God in Christ and live.

Maybe our lives have turned to dust and ashes like the sooty ash that we will soon smear upon our foreheads as a gritty reminder of our mortality. “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.”

But those ashes are made in the form of a cross to remind us that if we are “in Christ,” then there is a “new creation.” The old has passed away and the new has come.

With Our Dying Comes a Rising

And with our dying to our sin, there comes a rising. Our sins are not counted against us, because they have already been counted against Christ. Our sins died there, with Jesus, as far as God is concerned. And we are renewed and reclaimed. And we become open-hearted “co-workers” with God in a ministry of reconciliation.

And look at what Saint Paul does so that all might come to know God in the cross of Jesus Christ and so that not one single “obstacle” may remain in the way.

Paul endures afflictions, hardships, beatings, imprisonment, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger in order to act out for others God’s patience, kindness and genuineness of love.

Christians Pour Out the Tender Heart of God

In short, Christians pour out the tender heart of God in sacrificial love for others. That is our calling now. To become co-workers with God in a ministry of reconciliation through Jesus Christ. If there is reconciliation with God, then there should be reconciliation among God’s people, too.

Christians may not always be the loudest voices on the block. We may not be the pushiest and the bossiest. But we do have an answer to the problems of this world. And that answer is the cross of Jesus Christ.

And so, we work with God to say what Paul did through Christ: “Be reconciled to God! For NOW is the acceptable time. Now IS the day of salvation!”

© 2009 Pastor Paul Jaster