Mid-Week Lent – “By Faith…Abel” – Hebrews 11:4 – 3/19/14

Posted on March 24, 2014 by Lutheran Church of the Resurrection

Mid-Week Lent
Hebrews 11:4
“By Faith, Abel…”

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Heb.11:1) Would you repeat that together with me please? “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

I think that it is safe to say that all of us would like to have a stronger faith in God than we have. We all struggle with our faith. We all wish we were more “assured” of what God’s Word and promise tell us than we are. We all wish that we had more “conviction in the things that are unseen,” but that God’s Word tells us we will one day see, than we have.

The writer of the letter to the Hebrews gives us a list of people who are good examples of those who had a ‘strong faith.’ How do we know that? Other than the fact that the Bible tells us so? Isn’t “faith” a matter of the heart, hidden inside us that only God can see?

And the answer is ‘yes’ and ‘no.’ ‘Yes’ it is a matter of the heart and only God can see what is in a person’s heart. But ‘faith’ is also ‘visible.’ It is ‘visible’ in the way we live our life. Far more than we are willing to admit, we all live our lives according by faith. The decisions that we make and the actions that we either take or don’t take are based on what we believe.

So, we are able to see the faith of those who are put before us by the decisions they made, they actions that they took or didn’t take. These are the outward indicators of their inward faith.

And by their example, we see what a ‘strong’ faith looks like. And the idea is, we should be encouraged by their example to imitate them in our own life.

The goal then, is to hear their story, which is embedded in the Bible and therefore is God’s Word, trusting that in doing so, our faith will be strengthened.

Our first example is Abel.
“By faith, Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.” (Heb.11:4).

As we heard in our first reading from Genesis 4, Abel is the second son of Adam and Eve. His older brother was Cain.

We all have memories of our family and growing up and what growing up in our particular family was like. What do you think growing up was like for Cain and Abel? His parents were Adam and Eve, the only two people in the whole world never to have had a belly-button; the only two people who could ever say, ‘we used to live in Paradise.’

If we were fortunate, we knew our grandparents and maybe even our great grandparents. If not, certainly our parents told us about them. But Adam and Eve didn’t have parents and so Cain and Abel didn’t have grandparents. They had very little ‘family history.’ In fact, their ‘family tree’ went back no further than their own parents.

What were the stories that our parents told us about their life and what it was like – ‘back in the good old days’? What stories would Adam and Eve have told their children? Certainly, Cain and Abel would have heard their parents tell them about how they used to walk with God in the Garden of Eden and how God had told them how He created the world and how He made them. How many times do you think Adam might have showed his two sons that scar on his side and Eve would have said, ‘that’s where I came from’?

As children do, they would have asked questions, questions like, ‘why don’t we live in the Garden any more’ and ‘can we go and see it?’ And their parents would have recited the story of the serpent and the temptation, and their terrible sin.

And they would have also certainly told them about what happened after their fall into sin. That day that they called, ‘JUDGEMENT DAY.’ God had told them, “the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” And that’s exactly what they had expected would happen.

But instead, a remarkable thing happened. Not only didn’t God kill them, but He promised them forgiveness and life through a Savior who would undo the damage that they had done.

As they would have told it to their sons, it was really that serpent that was on trial before God. And the sentence that God spoke against the serpent went like this, ‘I will put enmity between your offspring and her offspring, he shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel.’

In stunned silence, as the words sunk in, they looked at each other and said, ‘did He say OFFSPRING? Are we going to have a baby? Dead people don’t have babies. And our baby will be our Savior and restore things to their original righteousness and open the gates to paradise resettle us in Garden of Eden again and we will resume the close communion with God that we had once had.’

How often do you think Adam and Eve must have told that story to their children? It must have been one of those stories that Cain and Abel must heard over and over again. And they would have told it with “assurance of things hoped for and conviction of things unseen.”

Which makes us want to examine ourselves. How often have we told this story to our children, which is really our story just as much as it was theirs? And with what “assurance of things hoped for and conviction of things unseen’ have we told it to them?

How do we know that Adam and Eve believed the promise that God made to them? By the decisions that they made and the actions that they took. With “assurance of things hoped for and conviction of things unseen” they did what husbands and wives do to have a baby.

“Now Adam knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, ‘I have gotten a man, the Lord. And again, she bore his brother Abel.”

As soon as the birth announcements are made, we skip forward to time when the boys are both grown, or at least old enough to be working. Their doing just as their parents were charged with doing in the Garden when God gave them dominion over the animals and plants and told them to tend and keep them. “Now Abel was a keeper of sheep and Cain a worker of the ground.”

“And in the course of time, Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard.”

As soon as we hear the evidence presented, the investigator in all of us jumps into action. Why did the Lord have regard for Abel’s offering and not for Cain’s? And we search for clues. Was it because the Lord prefers meat to vegetables? Or was it that Abel offered the ‘firstborn’ whereas it doesn’t say that Cain offered the ‘first fruits’ but only ‘the fruit of the ground’? Continue reading →

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Lent 3 – “If She Had Only Known” – John 4:1-26 – 3/23/14

Posted on March 24, 2014 by Lutheran Church of the Resurrection

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“If you knew the gift of God and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”

“If she had only known.” Now there’s an epitaph you don’t want written on your tombstone. “If I had only known.” “If I had only known then what I know now?”

“If I only known who he was.” “If I had only known how close I was.” “If I had only known the gift of God and who it was that said to me, ‘give me a drink…’” finish the sentence. “I wouldn’t have questioned him about social customs…” “I wouldn’t have argued with him about religion…” “I would’ve have given Him a drink…” “I would have asked for the gift of God…” “If she had only known.”

Early that morning, the sun rose, the rooster crowed, the man sleeping next to her snored. Just another day about to begin. “If she only knew.”

She got up, stretched, felt the aches and pains that would wear off as the day went on. There were chores to do, preparing meals, washing clothes, gathering water from the well on the outskirts of town. Just another day. “If she only knew.”

This woman, whose name we are never given, walked the same path to the same well that she had walked countless times. But on this same day, a man was also making his way to this same well. He was making his way from Judea in the south to Galilee in the north and he “had to pass through Samaria.” “Had to,” not as in, there was no other way to get from point A to point B. But “had to” as in, there was this woman that He wanted to meet. We could just as easily say that He came all the way from heaven to earth just to meet her. “If she had only known.”

John writes, “wearied as He was from his journey, He was sitting by the well. It was about the sixth hour.” The “6th Hour” in Roman time is Noon in our time. Remember that.

When she arrived at the well, He was already there, sitting right beside it. It was one of those awkward situations. Like when one of those street people holding a sign at the intersection that says “Homeless. Even a dollar will help. God bless you.” And the light turns red and darned if you’re not stopped right beside him. You act like you don’t see him.

But he speaks directly to you. “Give me a drink.” It’s not a lot to ask. And yet, when we finally come to the end of this story, the one thing that don’t ever read is that he ever got his drink. But that’s okay. He has not come to this place for Himself but for her. “He has not come to be served but to serve.” Not to take, but to “give His life as a ransom” for hers. (Matthew 20:28). “If she had only known.” Continue reading →

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Lent 1 – “He Does Not Disappoint” – Matthew 4:1-11

Posted on March 9, 2014 by Lutheran Church of the Resurrection

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“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” Right from His baptism in the Jordan River, where the Holy Spirit descended and rested on Him as a dove, and the voice from heaven declared, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” THEN, still dripping wet and the beautiful words of His Father still ringing in His ears, the dove flew and Jesus followed.

Sound familiar? Still dripping wet from their baptism in the Red Sea, and the voice of God still ringing in their ears, “I am the Lord your God,” the pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night, led Israel into the wilderness and Israel followed.

Along the way, Israel encountered various opportunities to demonstrate their trust in God’s Word and Promise to them. After 40 of traveling through the wilderness, the food supplies that the left Egypt with were starting to run a little low. Occasionally stomachs were heard to grumble. What a wonderful opportunity for Israel to affirm their faith and trust that the “I AM,” “the Lord your God” will supply our every need.

If the “Lord God” who opened the sea and brought them through it safely and drowned hard-hearted Pharaoh and all his soldiers in the same, then surely He will supply us our daily bread. And all the people of Israel said, “We will not be anxious about our life, what you will eat or what you will drink… Is not life more than food…? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet our heavenly Father feeds them. Are we not of more value than they?” For God has said, “I am the Lord YOUR God.”

If only they had said that. What they really said was, “Would that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” (Ex.16:3).

What a miserable disappointment Israel was. But God heard their bellies grumble and their mouths curse Him, and He fed them Manna for bread and quail for meat. God rolled out an all you can eat bread and meat bar everyday for them. And they ate and were satisfied… for awhile. Continue reading →

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Ash Wednesday – “Faith Is…” – Hebrews 11:1-3 – 3/5/14

Posted on March 9, 2014 by Lutheran Church of the Resurrection

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation.”

“Things hoped for” is the key. “Things not seen” is the problem. “Not seen” is the spoiler to ‘seeing is believing.’ ‘Seeing is believing’ is what comes naturally. It’s easy. But it’s not “faith.”

It was a man named Thomas who spoke for all of us when he said, “Unless I see… I will not believe it.”

In their excitement, his friends couldn’t wait to report their good news. “We have SEEN the Lord.” Notice the emphasis on ‘seen.’ They were no different than Thomas really. Over and over Jesus had told them that He would not stay dead for long. In three short days of dying He would rise from the dead and they would all ‘see Him.’ “A little while, and you will SEE me no longer; and again a little while, and you will SEE me.” (John 16:16). He knows how dependent we are on ‘SEEING.’

It was during that “little while” that they did NOT SEE HIM that they were confused and panicked and afraid. When the SAW HIM they were elated and confident and joyful. “The disciples were glad when they SAW the Lord.”

Thomas was not with them. He missed the ‘seeing.’ To their “we have seen the Lord,” he replied, ‘Unless I SEE in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into this side, I will never believe.” (John 20:25).

Thomas ups the ante. For him, believing demands both SEEING and TOUCHING. Thomas didn’t even trust his eyes. Eyes can play tricks on you. Thirsty travelers in a desert SEE a green oasis with bubbling fountains in the distance that are not really there.

Eight days later Jesus found Thomas and met his demands. But during those eight days, Jesus was as good as dead for Thomas. No Easter victory. No Easter joy. No Easter peace. No ASSURANCE OF THE THINGS HOPED FOR OR CONVICTION OF THINGS UNSEEN.

Only after SEEING does Thomas says, “My Lord and my God.” We expect Jesus to COMMEND Thomas with a big “blessed are you Thomas. I’m so pleased that you finally believe.” And He certainly would have if ‘faith were the assurance of things SEEN.’

But it’s impossible to miss the deep disappointment in Jesus’ response. “Have you believed because you have SEEN me?” As if to say, ‘why would you not BELIEVE based on My Word alone.’ ‘Why didn’t you believe based on my Apostle’s Word?’ ‘Did you not trust Me to do as I promised I would do?’ “Blessed are those who have NOT SEEN and yet have believed.” (John 20:29).

Jesus turns everything around on us, and against us. “God’s ways are not our ways.” “Seeing” is not believing, nor is it to be commended. “Conviction of things NOT SEEN” is believing. “Conviction of things NOT SEEN” is commendable. Continue reading →

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Transfiguration – “The Transfiguration of Our Lord” – Matthew 17:1-9

Posted on March 2, 2014 by Lutheran Church of the Resurrection

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“And after six days Jesus took with Him Peter, James and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves.”

Matthew, Mark and Luke each record the Transfiguration of our Lord in their gospels. And each begin by dating it to a previous event that had taken place. “And after six days…” Six days from what? Whatever it is, it’s obviously connected to the Transfiguration of our Lord. We better find out.

Six days before this, Jesus had asked His disciples, “Who do you say that I am.” And Peter replied for them all, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” A very important teaching event immediately follows.

The path that the Son of the living God is on leads directly to suffering, crucifixion and death. “From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed, and on the third day be raised.” Continue reading →

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Epiphany 7 – “Be Careful How You Build” – 1 Corinthians 3:10-17 – 2/23/14

Posted on February 23, 2014 by Lutheran Church of the Resurrection

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The text for our consideration this morning is the first part of our Epistle text from 1st Corinthians. We’ll reread it as we go.

Paul planted a new congregation in the city of Corinth. In the verses before the ones we read today, he compared the congregation to a field that both he and Apollos have worked together to plant. “Paul planted” – he was the preacher. He sowed the seed which is the Word of God. “I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” (1Cor.2:2).

Jesus once told a parable about a sower who sowed seed, and the seed fell on all kinds of soil, some not very conducive to growing a good crop. But in Corinth, there was a man named Apollos. And “Apollos watered.” He worked the soil. He nurtured the people, answered their questions, explained the mysteries, encouraged them to receive the Word with an open and receptive hearts and to persevere in the face of trials and troubles and temptations.

Every congregation needs lots of “Apollos’.” “Encourage one another.” “Build one another up in this most holy faith.”

There’s a rumor going around that religion is supposed to be a ‘private’ matter. That we should ‘keep it personal.’ ‘Just me and my Jesus.’ ‘Faith is an INDIVIDUAL thing.’ No! The Christian religion is a COMMUNAL thing, as in THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS.

“Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but ENCOUAGING ONE ANOTHER, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” (Hebrews 10:24-25). Continue reading →

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Epiphany 5 – “You Are Salt and Light of the World” – Matthew 5:13-20 – 2/9/14

Posted on February 9, 2014 by Lutheran Church of the Resurrection

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“You are the salt of the earth.” “You are the light of the world.” These are the words that immediately follow the Beatitudes. “He opened His mouth and taught them saying, ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit… Blessed are those who mourn…’ ‘Blessed are the meek…’ Blessed, Blessed, Blessed, Blessed, Blessed and Blessed.” Nine times, He blesses them.

And then, no sooner does bring them into His kingdom of heaven and bless them, but He sends them right back out into the world again. “You are the salt of the earth.” “You are the light of the world.”

He had to bless them before they could be a blessing; just like He did with Adam and Eve in the beginning. Before He sent them out into His brand new world “to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it,” He blessed them.

The order is important. He didn’t say, ‘if you are fruitful and multiply and subdue the earth,’ I will bless you. Just like He doesn’t tell these disciples to “become salt of the earth and become light of the world” and I will bless you. No, He blesses so that we may be a blessing.

Getting the order right is critical to being ‘salt’ and ‘light’ in the world. If our performance must come before He blesses, then to be ‘salt’ and ‘light’ is LAW, COMMANDMENT, REQUIREMENT. And His blessing is His REWARD for our work.

But if He blesses first, then to be ‘salt’ and ‘light’ in the world is pure grace, pure gift, pure privilege, pure joy, by grace alone. Continue reading →

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Epiphany 4 – “Blessed Are You…” – Matthew 5:1-12 – 2/2/14

Posted on February 2, 2014 by Lutheran Church of the Resurrection

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In the book of Exodus, we read that as God began to lead His people to through the desert to the Promised Land, He called Moses to come up the mountain. The people were not welcome to come along. They were warned that if any of them even so much as touched the mountain, they would be killed.

There on the mountaintop, God spoke to Moses and gave him the Law, the 10 Commandments. 10 “thou shalls,” and “thou shall nots.” Obey them and things will go well for you, and you will live. Disobey them and things will go poorly for you and you will die. It’s all a matter of justice.

Contrast that scene to the one that is our gospel reading for this morning. St. Matthew tells us that as Jesus began His public ministry, “He went up onto a mountain, and when He sat down, his disciples came to him. And as we will see, the great crowds that were following Jesus came along as well. And He opened His mouth and taught them saying, “Blessed are you…”

It’s important to note that these are the very first words of public preaching from Jesus that St. Matthew records. The first words out of Jesus’ mouth are, “Blessed are you…”

They say that “first impressions” are important because they last such a long time. Let this be your first impression of Jesus.

The “Beatitudes” consist of nine declarations of God’s divine favor and pleasure upon His people. They stand as the ‘entranceway’ to the Sermon on the Mount which continues all the way through chapters 5, 6, and 7.

As chapter 8 opens, we read, “When He came down from the mountain, great crowds followed Him.” The multitudes loved what they heard from Jesus and they want to follow Him so that they might hear more. That should be our attitude too. Continue reading →

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Epiphany 3 – “The Kingdom of Heaven is At Hand” – Matthew 4:17

Posted on January 26, 2014 by Lutheran Church of the Resurrection

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“From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, ‘Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.’”

There was a time when Israel’s King was God… and only God. The people of God lived under the rule and reign of the Lord God almighty, who was also their Creator. God established the Law of the Land and put it writing for all to obey.

Moses is the King’s scribe. He declares, “Therefore you shall keep his statutes and his commandments, which I command you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land that the LORD your God is giving you for all time.” (Deuteronomy 4:40).

And as long as Israel lived under the Law of God, things went very well.

But after awhile of being ruled by a good and gracious King, who defended His people from every enemy, and who supplied them with bread from heaven and water from a rock, and gave them a land of ‘milk and honey’ to call their own and settle down in, the people of God said, ‘we want a king like the other nations.’ (1 Sam. 8).

And they got it. First Saul, then David, then Solomon, and then a succession of one king after another. Some better than others, but none was perfect, like God is perfect. None ruled with true love for the people like God ruled His people. None with divine wisdom like God’s wisdom. None was able to defend the people from every enemy and satisfy the people in body and soul like God did.

In time, the kings of Israel became so inept, so selfish, so weak, that other kings, PAGAN KINGS, from Assyria and Babylon, conquered Israel and, stole the land that God had given to them, and enslaved the people and deported them.

In time, these foreign kings allowed the people of Israel to return to their land and live there. But they remained under the rule of pagan kings, and pagan kings wrote the laws that the people of God were forced to obey. And these pagan kings ruled over Israel, not for love or for peace, but for power and economic advantage and for taxes.

When we come to the time of the New Testament, the people of God are living all over the known world. There are actually far more Israelites living in Babylon and Egypt than there are in Israel.

But all true Israelites, no matter where they lived, were united in this one hope; they hoped and prayed that God would come again and be their King, as in the good old days, before they asked for a king like everyone else had.

They wanted God to come and rule over them like He used to, and defend them against their enemies as He used to, and feed them like He used to, and reestablish Israel as it used to be. They prayed that God would send them a king who would establish the Kingdom of God among them. And this time, they swore that they would be faithful and obedient people, and honor the King with all of their heart and mind and body.

And God heard their prayer. When the time had fully come, “Jesus began to preach, saying, ‘Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.’”

God sent a man to be King of Israel. And that man is God’s own Son. And He rules with justice and equity, and with the wisdom and love of God. He will liberate His people from their oppressors, defend them from their enemies, and God Himself will supply them with all that they need for this body and life. He will bring them into a land that is so safe and secure that every single citizen can live in perfect peace.

It’s hard for us to grasp the nature of TRUE ‘kingship’ in our day. We have such things as ‘kings and queens,’ but they tend to be mere figureheads and have very limited authority. In the ancient world, kings had absolute authority over the lives of their citizens. Total obedience was demanded. There was no room for debate or discussion. There was no ‘vote’ to be taken. This is the way that a ‘TRUE’ king ruled.

In return for their obedience, the people expected a TRUE king to defend and protect them and provide a decent life. The people of God were hoping and praying for a ‘TRUE king.’

The season of Epiphany is dedicated to the goal of convincing us that Jesus Christ really is the TRUE King that God had promised to send and that the people had been encouraged by the prophets to expect. It begins with the arrival of foreign dignitaries who come and bow down to Him and give Him the kind of gifts that are typically given to kings.

But it is the authority and obedience to His Word that is truly astounding and demands our attention. He has authority far greater than any earthly king would ever expect to have.

Jesus commands the demons to depart and they obey. He commands the stormy sea to be calm and the fish to jump into the nets, and they obey. He even commands the dead to be raised, and they obey Him with out hesitation. He is, without question, the TRUE KING.

We might expect then, that the people of Israel would welcome Jesus as their TRUE KING, with full acceptance and complete obedience. He is exactly what they were asking God for. But sadly, the season of Epiphany is immediately followed by the season of Lent. The banner that reads, “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews,” is raised over the TRUE KING who hangs from a cross at the demand of His own people who cry out, “we have no king but Caesar.”

Why? Why did they reject their king, the TRUE KING, the Son of God?

Through the course of His ministry, Jesus taught all who would listen, what they should expect from His Kingdom and what they should not. Their confusion and rejection is the result of not listening to Him. And I believe that it is the source of much of the confusion and even rejection of the rule of King Jesus that exists among us today as well.

In a series of several parables that all begin with the phrase, “the kingdom of heaven is like…” Jesus teaches us what we should and should not expect this Kingdom that He has come to establish among us to be like.

We can lump them together under three headings.

I. Not all at once.
The first thing we should learn to expect from the Kingdom of Heaven is that it is not accomplished all at once.

The clear expectation of the people of God in Jesus’ day was that when the King that the prophets had promised and that they were praying for finally arrived, he would establish His kingdom in short order. It would be like a new day that dawned overnight. The ‘old order of things’ would be thrown out overnight, and the ‘new order of things’ we come in the morning.

But that’s not the way that Jesus describes it. He says that the Kingdom of heaven is like a field of wheat. There are weeds among the wheat. When the workers want to uproot the weeds, the farmer says “no, not yet.” Let the wheat and the weeds grow together, side by side, for NOW, and that NOW has lasted for 2000 years so far.

For NOW, the Kingdom of Heaven exists in the midst of its enemies and a lot of resistance.

This is as important for us to understand as it was for them. Jesus the King warns His people, “in this world you will have trouble.” The temptation is to doubt that the Kingdom of Heaven has really come in person of Jesus Christ because there is still so much resistance and suffering. We expect that the Kingdom should be established all at once.

As long as this present age continues, the Kingdom of Heaven will always be faced with trials and troubles and opposition. But the citizens of this Kingdom live by faith in the promise of the TRUE King who says, “But take heart. I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

II. Not with irresistible power.
The second thing that we should learn to expect from the Kingdom of God, is that it does not come with irresistible power.

By the time of Jesus, the expectation of the people of God was that God’s King would exercise His divine power and overthrow foreign kings and conquer foreign armies and bring the whole world under His rule, His own people willingly, foreigners by brute force if necessary.

But when Jesus describes the Kingdom of Heaven, He does so, not with stories about mighty kings who wield cosmic swords, but with stories about humble farmers, who sow their seed. And some of it falls on rocky soil and some among thorns and some on the hard packed pathway. And it doesn’t produce anything. Or if it does, it quickly dies out.

Jesus explains the meaning of the story by saying that the seed is the Gospel. And not everyone who hears the Gospel and the gracious call to ‘repent and believe’ does so. Many reject and many fade away. It is not irresistible.

And what makes this even more confusing for us, just as it must have for them, is that those who refuse or reject or grow disinterested and wander away, seem to suffer no harm for it. There is no rock that falls down out of the sky on them. In fact, many of them seem to prosper and do better than those who hear the Word and receive it do.

III. Final judgment reserved for the future.
The third thing that we should learn to expect then about the Kingdom of Heaven is that the final judgment and full revealing of the King and His Kingdom is reserved for the future.

The weeds WILL BE separated from the wheat and the weeds will be burned and the wheat will be brought in to the barn. The good fish will be separated from the bad fish along with the sheep from the goats.

THE ‘GOOD’ are established forever in the Kingdom of Heaven, not because of their goodness but because of their faith and trust in the word of the King, as evidenced in their obedience. THE ‘BAD’ are not cast out and punished because of their ‘badness.’ In fact, in their daily life in the world, they may well have been good guys, good people, better, more charitable than the believers. But they rejected Jesus and neither honored Him as King nor obeyed His word.

We dare not become disillusioned or disenchanted with the Kingdom of Heaven and its TRUE KING when we do not see the His judgment carried out in this world. We dare not loose faith or courage when we see the people of God, ourselves included, suffer persecution because we are followers of Jesus. He will come again to judge the living and the dead. His resurrection from the dead is our ultimate assurance that He has and will make all things right.

In the end, we know that “every knee shall bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is King.”

But for now, He waits. The last day will come on the day that the King decides it should come. But for now, He postpones that day so that His Word may continue to be proclaimed and preached like a farmer sows his seed.

This is still the time for the invitation to go out to the highways and byways, to all who will hear it, especially to the poor and the lost and THOSE LIVING IN DARKNESS AND DWELLING IN THE SHADOW OF DEATH, to come to the banquet hall and take their seat at the banquet table and join in the celebration of the full and final revelation of the TRUE King and His Kingdom.

One day, Jesus called four fishermen to follow Him. First Simon and Andrew and then James and John. “And immediately they followed Him.”

And through their preaching and that of the all the Apostles, the call has come to us, and through us it goes out to others.

“From that time, Jesus began to preach, saying, ‘Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’”

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Epiphany 2 – John 1:29-42a – “What Are You Seeking?” – 1/19/14

Posted on January 19, 2014 by Lutheran Church of the Resurrection

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“What are you seeking?” It’s hard to know what to do with a question like that. Where do we begin? The temptation is to create a list. “Let’s see, I’m seeking employment, and financial stability, and a cure for cancer, and attention from my spouse, and appreciation from my children, direction for my life …” Where does a list like that end?

Jesus asked the two men who were following Him, “what are you seeking?” Their response is both comical and sad. “Rabbi, where are you staying?” Really? That’s your interest in me? That’s why you’re following me? “Where am I staying?”

Seems like they don’t know what to do with this question any better than we do. How would you have answered Jesus? Why are you following Him? What do you want from Him? Is it your desire to know where Jesus stays? I don’t think it was theirs either really.

Later, Jesus will make this offer, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” (Mat. 7:7-8). What are we supposed to do with an offer like that? What should we ‘ask’ for? What are we missing that we should be ‘seeking’? What door are we supposed to be ‘knocking’ on that it may be ‘opened’ to us?”

We’re not at all sure just what to do with an offer like this? And it shows. Continue reading →

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