Follow Through
Notes
Transcript
Illustrations for Biblical Preaching Following
Someday, watch a stream of ants stretching between their anthill and a food source. Some will be going to pick up their load; others will be returning to deposit their prize in the recesses of the anthill. The whole process will be very organized, very precise. Then ask yourself, “Why are these ants so organized in their task?” The reason is that ants are good followers, each dependent on the ant in front of him to lead him to the food supply. Because each ant follows the other, there is a straight line between the anthill and the food—no wasted energy, no unnecessary detours. There is a lesson in that for would-be disciples.
Blessed Lord, You have caused all Holy Scriptures to be written for our learning. Grant that we may so hear them, read, mark, learn, and take them to heart that, by the patience and comfort of Your holy Word, we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Today’s text is tied to All Saint’s Day; it is also the reading for the 4th Sunday after Epiphany. It would have been easy, I suppose, to simply regurgitate that message, but so much has happened this year, and that sermon was three years ago. Three and a half years ago, I had been here all of six weeks. We were still in the “honeymoon phase” and I was still getting used to life in The Region. Donald Trump was the newly elected President, and while there were those who had their misgivings and fears, anything was possible.
Today, we look back over a year that has seen incredible changes in how we worship, study, interact, and do business. The election season, as it moves towards Election Day this Tuesday, has seen a level of activity that we have sought and encouraged for a long time. Our Lord watches over all of our activity, “beholding the evil and the good” (Prov 15:3). As our text begins, Jesus ascends “the mountain,” and sits down.
There is a Church of the Beatitudes, located near the Sea of Galilee that tradition ascribes as the place where this sermon took place. That the Greek uses the direct article indicates that Matthew and his hearers were familiar with the specific place, but we shall have to rely on the witness of tradition for no more than an approximation.
When Jesus went up on the mountain, it was after He had spent much time engaged in ministry throughout Galilee, healing the sick and preaching the Gospel. His fame was so great that the reports about His ministry spread throughout the region, and people came from Judea, Syria, the Decapolis, and beyond the Jordan in order to be healed by Him. They were drawn by His compassion, and, it seems, were eager to listen to Him.
When He went up the mountain, they pressed forward to hear.
2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. 7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. 8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. 10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
For starters, it is not clear whether Jesus went up the mountain in order to teach, or whether He went up, like He did sometimes, to pray. Either way, when they came to Him, He served them.
During this part of Jesus’ teaching, He speaks to them, until He comes to the 9th blessing. Only then does He speak to “you all.” Dr. Luther gives us the following counsel:
Commentary on the Sermon on the Mount Verses 1, 2
HERE the evangelist with a formal stately preface declares how Christ disposed himself for the sermon he was about to deliver; that he went upon a mountain, and sat down, and opened his mouth; so that we see he was in earnest. These are the three things, it is commonly said, that mark a good preacher; first, that he take his place; secondly, that he open his mouth and say something; thirdly, that he know when to stop.
There was a time when the Beatitudes were commonly known. That was when Christianity was so received that it infused the American culture, such that it would be said that America was a Christian nation. In retrospect, we might regret those sentiments, but only because they made a poor reflection on the Gospel and upon our Lord, who never said anything about national identity being linked to faith in Him. In fact, according to Christ, what we saw until recently was not truly a Christian nation, but a nation of whitewashed tombs. We identified Christianity with being nice, or with church attendance, but not with actual discipleship.
If you are serious about following Jesus, the Beatitudes present a standard that is contrary to our comfort zones. They present following Christ in a way that would not appeal to a culture that loves winners, that takes pride in its heritage and its financial and military strength, that celebrates physical beauty almost to the point of idolatry.
We may have had many more people in church buildings on Sunday than we do today, but why is it that the children of those loyal church-goers did not follow in their parent’s footsteps?If discipleship was truly taking place, where did the children go? We sent them to school, and they came back rejecting the faith that they had been taught as children, not like Timothy who served alongside the Apostle Paul:
5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.
A sincere faith does not happen by accident, “for faith comes by hearing and hearing from the Word of Christ.” When we substituted platitudes for the preaching of Law and Gospel, when we allowed false teachings to fill our heads and our hearts to the point that they replaced sound teaching, we laid a foundation upon which the devil was able to build doubt, despair, and now we have a generation that does not know the Lord, nor does it believe that He is knowable. Much of this comes from watching the enemies of our people destroy our communities for generations with impunity. It is the response of David’s soldiers to the destruction of their community of Ziklag:
1 Now when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, the Amalekites had made a raid against the Negeb and against Ziklag. They had overcome Ziklag and burned it with fire 2 and taken captive the women and all who were in it, both small and great. They killed no one, but carried them off and went their way. 3 And when David and his men came to the city, they found it burned with fire, and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. 4 Then David and the people who were with him raised their voices and wept until they had no more strength to weep. 5 David’s two wives also had been taken captive, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel. 6 And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.
We see the results of the efforts of others to destroy our souls. It feels to some like God failed to preserve and protect us from the hand of our enemies. The followers of David could not strike back at their enemies, so they turned their anguish upon David. But David remembered the Lord’s promises and clung to them, and sought the Word of the Lord for the solution.
In the midst of our current pain, many have sought to “stone David.” they want to attack the Church as if it were complicit in our destruction, forgetting that it was the Church that prevented that destruction from occuring for generations. It was the Church that encouraged our youth to rise above the stereotypes and show that they were worthy of every honor and accolade. It was the Church that proclaimed the Good News that we were not accursed, but rather were and are beloved. If the world in which we lived did not see our beauty, the God who made it declared otherwise:
2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.
God does call us to purity, and He expects us to love as He loves, to turn away from sin, to love the way of the Lord:
21 Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work. 22 So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. 23 Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. 24 And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, 25 correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.
It is the truth of God’s Word that makes us free, with a freedom that cannot be compromised or taken away by man or his systems. God’s truth declares that we are precious, not because we improved ourselves and made ourselves acceptable, but because God made us for Himself. His grace was not withheld from us. In the contrary, through the Gospel it was poured out all the more:
20 Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
The Law exposed the sin of those who sought our destruction, the Law exposed them as false. God gave us a more excellent way, a way that we will not surrender to the forces of nihilism and self-destruction. God will restore to us what the locust has eaten. He will restore our hope, our peace, and our joy, not in material things, but in Him. The devil thought that he was victorious when Jesus said “It is finished.” He was wrong. “It is finished” didn’t mean that Jesus gave up, that sin and death were more than He could handle. It means “the devil is a liar!”
“It is finished” means “no weapon formed against you shall prosper.”
“It is finished” means that we are more than conquerors through Christ who loved us.
“It is finished” means that “there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus,” that there is “safety in His arms,” because we are held up by the hands that were pierced for our redemption. Those hands were wrapped in burial clothes, but they could not be held. Those hands were sealed behind a stone door in a tomb, but that door couldn’t hold Him, so it cannot hold us. Death is not defeat; it is but the next step on the road to eternity, for Christ, by His death and resurrection, has defeated death for us all.
There is no Word that has the power to deliver and restore our hope and courage save the Word of the Lord. The Word of Promise - the Gospel - is as mighty to save today as it ever was. So let the peace of God, that passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.