Feb 28th - In Person

Grace mercy, and peace be yours in abundance from God our Father, from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. The word of God we want to reflect our hearts and minds on for right now - and of course for the coming week - is taken from today's Gospel lesson in the Gospel of Mark, chapter 8. Allow me to read a portion of that text again for you. "Jesus then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, that He must be killed and after three days rise again. And he spoke plainly about this." This is the word of our God. You may be seated.

Have you ever had a conversation in which someone said something that just didn't quite register with you? Maybe it was when your toddler attempted to carry on a conversation with you using words that he was apparently just making up as he went along. Or maybe it was your teenage daughter who shared with you the lyrics to a song she was listening to but you had no idea what those words meant. Or maybe you can remember that college-level Calculus exam you had where everything just flew right over your head. Or maybe it was last Valentine's Day when your wife said she didn't want anything special. I wonder what she meant by that. Let's face it. Sometimes, we have trouble understanding what people are trying to tell us. Sometimes, this kind of miscommunication is completely harmless. There are other times, though, when clear communication, clear understanding is absolutely essential. Like when a surgeon is asking for a specific kind of instruments. Now, if you are the surgeon's assistant, it is absolutely critical that you understand what the surgeon is asking for. Well, in our text for today, we find Jesus in a similar situation. He is determined to not be misunderstood. He does not want anyone to come away with a false understanding of who He is or what He came to do. And so for the benefit of His hearers, Jesus speaks plainly to us. Up until this time, Jesus made only vague references to His suffering and death. For example, earlier in his ministry, He said to the Jews: "Destroy this temple and I will raise it again in three days."

What? Destroy this temple? Of course, the Jews thought Jesus was talking about the actual Temple in Jerusalem. "What are you talking about? It took years to build this temple. You're going to rebuild it in three days?" They thought Jesus was crazy. They thought He was out of His mind. Of course the temple Jesus was referring to was obviously His body. Destroy this Temple, kill me, and I will be raised on the third day. But the disciples didn't even understand that. The time Jesus spoke these words, they flew right over their heads. Now, however, Jesus, as He entered into the final months of His life, spoke plainly about His upcoming suffering and death. He came right out and essentially said "Look, guys, I'm going up to Jerusalem, and once there I'm going to be betrayed by one of you. I'm going to be handed over to the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and I'm going to be killed by their hands." This of course got Peter pretty upset. Peter said "Never, Lord. This shall never happen to You."

Why do you think Peter said that? Why do you think he got so upset? Over the past two and a half years, he had seen Jesus perform one miracle after another after another, and more recently, Jesus had healed a blind man and fed over 4,000 people. I don't know don't know about you, but to me, that sounds like some pretty amazing things to witness. And all this led Peter to confess about Jesus: "You are the Christ." In other words, he was connecting the dots. He was reading, or understood what the Old Testament said about the Messiah. And Messiah literally means the Anointed One, and made the connection that Christ which also literally means the Anointed One are one in the same. There was a connection between Old Testament Messiah and the Christ, and now, based on all the evidence he had personally seen and personally witnessed with his own eyes out of all the messages he heard Jesus speak with his own ears, he came to the conclusion "You are the Christ, the Anointed One."

And then just like that, Jesus began talking about His upcoming suffering and death. And all the sudden Peter was like, "Woah, woah, woah, woah, where is this coming from? Slow down a little, Jesus. We you don't need to be talking about that. It's just too it's too depressing. Tell us about your kingdom again. Yeah, that's the good stuff we're interested in hearing about."

See, Peter had developed his own understanding of what the Christ would be. It was built on the Old Testament prophecies that describe the Messiah as a king who would come to restore glory to Israel and bring peace and prosperity to the land. Peter and the other disciples saw themselves in this picture. They saw themselves in this kingdom. Now, remember, even James and John, how they, in affect, went to Jesus and said "Jesus, we're going to be at your right and at your left in your kingdom, right? Right? You got positions of authority reserved for us, right, Jesus?" All the disciples had this is self-made understanding of what Jesus was going to be and what He was going to do for them.

Haven't we Allowed some of those same feelings to warp and twist our understanding of who Jesus is and what He came to do?

Now, first of all, we have to remember it's very clear what Jesus came to do. Even John the Baptist had that understanding. Remember, early, early on, Jesus was walking along the banks of the Jordan River, approaching His cousin who is there baptizing. And John the Baptist looked up and saw Jesus approaching, and said "Look, look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world."

Now, if you were a Jew living at that time, instinctively, you would have taken a double look. Instinctively, you would have known exactly what John the Baptist was referring to, because throughout the entire Old Testament, throughout your entire life as a Jew, every single year, you celebrate a little something called the Passover. And at the Passover, you would have to go out and select a special - and not just any old lamb, but a lamb without blemish or defect - the best quality lamb you can possibly find. You would sacrifice that lamb. Kill it. You would take the blood of that lamb, pain it over the door frames of your homes in remembrance of the first Passover when God had delivered His people the Israelites from their slavery in Egypt. And God said remember this by annual celebration. So, year after year, lambs were sacrificed, blood was shed, and all those sacrifices, all that blood, pointed to a greater sacrifice: a one-time sacrifice that would be for the sins of all people. And so, when John the Baptist said "Look, the Lamb of God!" the people knew exactly what he was talking about and who he was refering to. And he said "Who takes away the sin of the world."

The interesting thing is John the Baptist had that understanding of who Jesus was and what He came to do even from within the womb. Because, as we know, as Mary arrived and greeted her cousin, Elizabeth, with the message of the angel Gabriel, and giving her about being the mother of the Christ child, little John the Baptist leaps for joy within the womb. He hears that greeting, that message from Mary and responds to it, expressing an understanding of who that other baby in that other womb is.

Unfortunately, so many don't have that kind of clear understanding, especially during the season of Lent. We may find ourselves thinking along the lines of the disciples. Along the lines of Peter: thinking, man, why is Pastor preaching about sin all the time? We need more uplifting, positive sermons. That's what will fill our church. Just give us some good stuff, Pastor. That's what we want to hear.

Well, the only way to respond to that is to say that I answer to a higher calling, a higher authority, God is giving me, along with your regular pastor and all pastors, really, the charge to preach the word.

In other words, it's not my job to give you what you want to hear. It is my job, however, to discharge the whole counsel of God's word: both law and Gospel, so when you come to church, you should expect to be convicted, to feel guilty over your sin. You should hear messages about sin, about the consequences of sin, and about the reality of a real place called hell. Where real people go.

Yeah, I know. It's not a popular subject these days. So many churches water it down. Can't even say the word "sin" anymore. They use words like "false, failings, shortcomings," can't bring themselves to say sin.

God is a God of love. How would a loving God ever send anybody to hell? What a horrible thing to say. Can't preach about that. That's not preaching a loving God.

The only problem with that mindset is it's not at all what the Bible says about God.

My dear friends, let's be careful not to make Jesus into what we want Him to be, while ignoring what He's so plainly says about Himself.

For example, think about a woman who goes on a shopping spree. She charges everything: new clothes and shoes and, of course, new accessories. She wants to look nice. She wants to impress her friends, and she enjoys everything she gets and wears it proudly, looks beautiful. But then when the bill arrives, she refuses to open it. She says "I don't need this. I don't want to know what it cost me to enjoy all these wonderful things. It's too depressing. I don't want to see that." Sadly, that's how many people view the Bible. Or think of an all-you-can-eat buffet. We've all been to those, right? We love - I love going to those. I know I'm going to get my fill. you go through the line pick up your plate. Tell me, do you put every single option of food is available on your plate?

Of course not. It's impossible. There's too many selections. So you only put on your plate, what? Those foods that you like, that you enjoy, that you can maybe induldge in.

And that's precisely how many people view this book: as an all-you-can-eat buffet.

Yeah, there's many teachings in this book. There's a vast array. But they only put on their plate those teachings that they like. Anything they don't like, they walk on by, and just don't pay any attention to.

For example, the Bible is pretty clear, pretty specific, but the leadership role in the church, in the home, the headship for spiritual direction and guidance and encouragement is reserved for who?

The man, right? Yeah, as I'm driving in my car, how many times do I hear ads, announcements, advertisements from a woman? She has a title Pastor or some other important title. She's written a best-selling book.

And how often they're speaking with authority. And yet, God's word is very clear. That leadership headship role, that spiritual headship is reserved for the man.

Or take homosexuality. The Bible is pretty clear, right? It's an abomination to God to accept or live in that kind of lifestyle. And yet, how many churches today open up their doors and praise it, encourage it? Everyone's welcome here. Cuz God is a God of love.

Or take Holy Baptism: it has no redeeming qualities. It's just plain water. It doesn't do anything. Let children reach age of accountability where they're old enough and wise enough to make that decision for themselves to surrender their lives to God, then they can come and be baptized. By that act of baptism, they're showing their obedience to God. You tell me, does the Bible describe baptism as our act of obedience toward God? Or does it describe baptism as God's act of grace, mercy and forgiveness to us? And erases, washes away clean, the sin we inherit from our parents.

Or, take Holy Communion. Bible's pretty clear: Jesus Himself says "Take and eat, take and drink. This is my body. This is my blood given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins." Pretty clear, right? With Jesus' own lips, right? And yet, how many churches say "It's just bread and wine. It has no redeeming qualities, nothing special about it. We just do it to remember, to honor Jesus' death on the cross. Just something you do."

Just bread and wine. That's it. And the vast majority of Christian churches today say exactly that.

I could go on, but for the sake of time, I won't.

Sadly, so many people, that's how many people view the Bible. They may be quick to buy into and enjoy all the good things it has to say, but they're just as quick to object to anything that's not in agreement with what their itching ears want to hear.

See, you and I enjoy God's forgiveness. We enjoy the certainty of eternal life only because Jesus bled and died on that cross. Close your eyes to cross, and you miss the seriousness of sin. That's right. I said it: sin. Close your eyes to that cross, and you miss the depth of God's love. Close your eyes to that cross, and you lose a reason to live your life in gratitude to God.

The cross signifies all the wonderful blessings that we get to enjoy right now: forgiveness, life, salvation.

Best of all, we did not pay a thing for any of these blessings. We enjoy them freely because they were given freely to us. The Bible says "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son the wages of sin is death. But the gift of God, the gift of God is eternal life in Christ, Jesus our lord. Jesus says "I'm the way and the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through Me." Again and again, our salvation and all that heaven has to offer is described as a gift.

And to make sure we don't miss out on it. Jesus comes to us. Right here in the pages of his Holy Word.

And He speaks plainly to us. Amen.