The Reign of Urgent Forgiveness

Would you please play with me?

Lord Jesus Christ we give you thanks and praise that you have brought us here. Even on this wet morning that you've brought us here to be soaked in your word. Literally. Thank you that to you Reign Over Us with forgiveness or we ask that you send your Holy Spirit to work through these words that we hear this morning that we might know what it means to be your disciples and to follow you in that forgiveness. We pray all this in Jesus name.

Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you go and proclaim the kingdom of God. No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.

Kind of seems like Jesus woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning, huh? It's a little harsh these people who want to follow Jesus they say alright, Jesus. I'm ready. Let's do this. Hold on a second and I'll be right there with you and Jesus says

What's going on in this passage? Why is Jesus so harsh with these people that clearly want to follow him why I think that Jesus is doing something and he Zeus intentionally and he's trying to teach him something important about his reign of forgiveness. Notice that the very beginning of this passage talks about how Jesus set his face towards Jerusalem. That means that he has to Jerusalem. What's in Jerusalem. the cross Jesus sets his face to Jerusalem. I think that he is trying to communicate the urgency there is in getting there.

Folks if you are on a road trip, and you let you knew that you were going to die when she got to the destination would you speed? I know Jesus is forming it. He is ready to go to Jerusalem and he is on a mission. He he's not going to wait around to make sure the disciples have their things in order. He says we've got to go now forgiveness is urgent. I need to accomplish my mission of forgiveness and we need to do it. Now. Let's go and that is what he was trying to communicate. These disciples forgiveness is urgent urgency means that it takes priority. And it takes priority over everything else. Jesus is not anti-family. Yeah, it's not like you can't say goodbye to your family and it's not against funerals. But Jesus is trying to teach his disciples who want to follow him something important. It is at his rain is a rain of urgent forgiveness. And just as Jesus is not waiting around to make sure his disciples have their things in order the same thing goes for you and me to Jesus is not wait around for you to make sure that you are things are in order before you follow Jesus either.

And here's what I'm getting at. I think that many times when we think about our relationship with God we think about it in terms of deals. We think that we are making deals with God. And it usually goes something like this. In order for God to love me. I... In order for God to forgive me. I...

Your think that way cuz I know I do. Especially after you done something wrong and you know it and you think boy, how do I make this right with God boy? I blew it. I got to make sure I fix my relationship with God or or he's not going to love me or forgot that it can see you loving me or the whole back all his punishment from me. I better make sure I've got my things in order we make deals with God we put conditions on our discipleship and notice. That's the same thing that these disciples are doing in this passage Jesus. I will follow you, but

Jesus I will follow you but It's conditions on discipleship. It's making other things take priority. We think we have to make deals with God in order for us to be the kind of disciples. We think we should be and here's what Jesus is teaching that Jesus has gone to the cross with urgency for you. And what Jesus brings to you is an unconditional forgiveness. Jesus did not put conditions that you have to meet for you to be forgiven. Jesus does not wait to see what you bring to the table and what kind of disciple you're going to be. Jesus isn't looking for a resume.

Jesus meets you where you're at. And a pretty brutally honest we've got nothing offered Jesus. Anyway. I'll take that back what we offer Jesus or our sins. That's all we have to offer.

Jesus is teaching at the conditions of discipleship. I simply believing in his forgiveness. It's taking his word for it. It's annoying that Jesus Reigns over you with complete unconditional forgiveness. In fact, that's what are memory verses getting ad for today. Let's go and say that again together. So it's Galatians 5 verse 1 and I'll say this right now together for Freedom Christ has set us free stand firm therefore and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery Galatians 5 verse 1 C the Forgiveness of Jesus is freeing. It's freeing you of all priorities and all conditions. And anything that you think that you had to bring the god in order for you to have things, right? Here's the thing folks. You can't learn for yourself a better relationship with God. They would Jesus has already won for you on the cross. I'll say it again because this important you can't learn for yourself a better relationship with God. Then what Jesus has already won for you on a cross and that is a present reality. It doesn't matter what kind of baggage you have. It doesn't matter what kind of Cinder guilty of it doesn't matter what you done last night or what you might have done already this morning folks right. Now. You have the best relationship with God that you could ever dream of this very moment because of Jesus he reigns over you as king with forgiveness. Aaron Paul is talking about that yoke, right uses that metaphor of a yoke it in that in that in that memory verse write a yoke is conditions a yoke is a burden. It's almost as if you sat inside metaphor of a beast of burden in a yoke going on in right? It's almost as they're saying to the Beast. All right, if you want to walk this way, you got to bear this. Pause Senate forgiveness me that there is no yolk. There's no burden. There's no condition on your discipleship. You walk free. There's nothing you have to do or even could do. Beyond the Forgiveness that comes from Jesus. So what she just trying to teach her? What does it mean to follow Jesus? It's actually pretty simple.

Following Jesus first and foremost. It means to believe that you are forgiven for Jesus sake. Which means you can follow him anywhere. You don't have to do something to start. You want to go bury your dad to start following Jesus. You don't have to go and say goodbye to your family to start following Jesus you follow Jesus first and foremost by simply believing his word that you are forgiven for his sake that he has died for you that he has risen for you and that changes your world right now.

Jesus Reigns over you with forgiveness and fat in your baptism. You are baptized that will most of us are baptized as little babies. Right and we could do that because babies have nothing to offer that I know what's going on. In fact, we are better than this morning. The baby is sleeping until I splashed her with water. All right. See babies have nothing to offer God nothing at all. And here's the plan Simple Truth. The same is true for you and me that even if we are baptized as adults. Guess what we have to offer God. our sins

it is Jesus who Reigns over us with forgiveness? And so this baptism gives you a new identity. It makes you into a new reality who you truly are your true self is the person that emerged from the Waters of baptism actually are

The thing is that we tend to forget that. We tend to even though we baptized and it doesn't change it even when we forget it. But we tend to forget that who we truly are is who we are because of our baptism. And we like to have other things take priority right? Maybe it's Sports maybe see if they're being in sports or being a fan of sports. I know what time Packer season yet, so I'm not going to do that right now. Idiots Sports. Maybe it's work. We are who you say you are is what your job is. Maybe it's Hobbies. That your hobbies take over what who you are and you identify most with what you do? Or maybe it's politics. Whatever it is. We tend to find these other versions of ourselves that we say. No. This is who I truly am and who we truly are because our a baptism tends to take a back seat.

Are you letting who you truly are take a back seats? And the thing is is that when it's takes a backseat other things start to take it back seats. We skip church we skip Bible study or discipleship hour or whatever you want to call it quits get personal devotion time. Retenes De Jesus. I'll follow you. but

Restart to take her forgiveness for granted. Another good news is evil you take forgiveness for granted. It doesn't mean it's gone. You are forgiven Jesus forgiveness Reigns over you. He has complete control over you that forgiveness doesn't isn't conditional on how well you follow Jesus. It would be alright. Your forgiveness trains over you. But as people that Jesus has forgiven but we are called to is to be obsessed with that forgiveness look for it everywhere because otherwise it ends up not just being Sports and politics and hobbies that take over it and ends up being our sins. If we take Jesus forgiveness for granted me a chart to take it as a licensed to do Morris in well, you know what I'm forgiven I can do whatever I want. I can't go to that forgiveness, which is true. However, we take that and say, all right, so I'm going to have fun over here we end up using our freedom to live like we're incarcerated.

We are called to forgiveness were called to a way of life of forgiveness. We are forgiven, but we failed to live out that reality.

And yes, we will live in the reign of urgent forgiveness see baptism Defiance you as Somebody That Jesus Reigns over forgiveness in there for Christians live as people under the reign of Jesus. So I got some questions. I might be a little hard to ask but I think it's good for us to ask them. All rights to these questions are on there on the screen there. Ask yourselves any of these interviews questions. Do you let Christ forgiveness rain over you and Define you? And this can be taken one of two ways, right if you think that's in is what defines you in the guilt of sin and the condemnation and you're not sure you're going to heaven folks Let Jesus forgiveness rain over you and Define you can't touch you.

Jesus has forgiven you. And you just cannot go the other way. Do you just forget to take it for granted? Yep, I'm forgiven. That's good. Going to go enjoy the stuff anyway. I'm not saying sports are bad, but don't remember who you truly are.

Do you say that you have other things to do you say to Jesus? I'll follow you, but

Do you have a better idea of who you want to be then who Jesus says you are. I want to be the kind of person that you know, what I do all this other fun stuff. I've got these Hobbies I got these things I want to do when we use my time that way Jesus. I love you, but I want to be that kind of person and not the kind of person who spend time reading your word.

Do you have conditions that need to be met before you can be forgiven?

If you do cut it out. You can't get yourself closer to Jesus and he's already gotten you. So here's what I like to do this morning. I know that we already went through this but I want to do a little confession Absolution. So I want to do then it's have you find your Hymnal. All right talk to you this is not on the screen. So don't don't freak out and write find your head. No. All right, it looks like this it's got a little gold cross. They're open it up to page 203 page 203

and if you pull your Bible, that's okay, but it's not to be in there. You can read whatever is on page 203 if you want in your Bible, that's not going to be what I'm talkin about. Make sure it's your Hymnal page 203 ever. Look at that confession Absolution service there. So why don't you got that if you have knees and you don't like your weekly easy can't stand or you got kids here to make that don't feel like you have to stand you're baptized. Don't worry about it. But if you can at this point, and please stand

I want to do a little confession Absolution. I know what we've already done this but folks this is an important thing and noticed that it's right at the beginning of the service. Why is it the beginning of the service because forgiveness is urgent if you find yourself in the presence of God Almighty, the biggest thing that you're in trouble with is your sins. And so we address our sin at the very first moment when we are in the presence of God, and because that forgiveness is urgent and and just suppose here. There's something beautiful about good things that are reliable Where did coffee drinkers in here? All right, you know what? I'm talking about first thing in the morning, you know, you're you get off me like, oh my goodness. It's another morning. Holy cow and you just can't wait to get that coffee because at least you can rely on your coffee, or maybe it's been a long day and you and your your sweat it out and you know that at the very least there's a comfy bed to go home to tonight. There is something beautiful about good things that are reliable and so we might say this every single Sunday. It might be the same words that we say over and over and over and over and over again. It might be a point where you just kind of same and you don't really think about him folks. That's okay, but notice isn't it beautiful that forgiveness is something good. That is reliable.

The it's the same. You can just come back to it. You can count on it like a can a cup of coffee in the morning, right? Because I'm it's all of your stress has whatever you going through finances or work or relationships, you know that at the end of the day the thing that you don't have to worry about is whether you're forgiven. It's just there. Let's go ahead and go through that's all right. So we started that invocation where we remember that we are under the reign of forgiveness. Remember whose we are in this house reminds us who we are that we are the baptized people of God. So the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit, Our Help Is In The Name Of The Lord

If You O Lord kept the record of sins oh Lord who could stand

And I want to pause right here. All right, and notice it in this next paragraph that I read notice how it's all about the reign of forgiveness that it's all about forgiveness. And because it's all about forgiveness. It is inviting Sinners to safety. The God is inviting you as a sinner to be safe in his presence that we can come before God and admit our sin. We don't have to play games with God we know where we all stand and that we can even bring the worst that we have to offer to God and notice that it right after I read that paragraph that that line that starts. Almighty. God have mercy upon us. No one said it's just it's just a plain simple naked truth. We've got nothing to offer except our sins. We don't need to beat around the bush. We don't need to play any games with God. We just say it to him clean and simple. Here's how it is. And we know that you'll forgive us. So Brothers and Sisters in Christ, since we are gathered here on this wet Sunday morning to hear God's word call upon him in prayer and praise and receive the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ in The Fellowship of this altar. Let us first consider our unworthiness and confess before God and one another that we have sinned and thought and word and deed and that we cannot free ourselves from our sinful condition and together as his people. Let us take refuge in the infinite mercy of God our heavenly father seeking his grace for the sake of Christ and saying God be merciful to me a sinner. Almighty, God have mercy upon us forgive us our sins and lead us to everlasting life.

Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus Reigns over you with an urgent forgiveness. Almighty, God and His Mercy is given his son to die for you. And for his sake he forgives you of all of your sins. Does a called and ordained servant of Christ and by his authority I therefore forgive you of all of your sins in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit, amen. May be seated as we continue with our offering.