Sermon for Lent 5: "Jesus and Martha"

+ 5^th Sunday in Lent – March 29^th, 2020 +

Series A: Ezekiel 37:1-14; Romans 8:1-11; John 11:1-45, 46-53

Beautiful Savior Lutheran

Milton, WA

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

The story of Jesus and Lazarus is a familiar one. And sometimes with a familiar story it’s good to slow down. Pause for a moment or two, and look at the details. To explore this scene a little more in depth.

Now, as we’re all at home, and if you have Amazon Prime, you can use on of their new video feature called X-Ray while watching your favorite shows or movies. X-ray allows you to pause a film and find out more information. When you press pause, the forward motion of the film stops, and a different kind of motion begins. You start to move deeper into what is happening. X-ray helps you find out about the actors, identify the soundtrack, or get background information on the scene. It is a way of entering more deeply into a movie. 

This morning, let’s consider John’s account of Jesus and Lazarus this way. Pause it for a moment and enter more deeply into what is happening.

Our text from John 11 is the account of the raising of Lazarus. Most of the headings in your bibles at home will give it that name: The raising of Lazarus. And for good reason; this is the climax of the story. Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead. 

But if you pause the story… let’s say at the moment when Martha first speaks with Jesus…then we see that this story is also about Martha. Listen in as we pause for a moment on Jesus’ conversation with Martha.

So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. ²¹ Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. ²² But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” ²³ Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” ²⁴ Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” ²⁵ Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.^[d] Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, ²⁶ and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” ²⁷ She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”

Another way to title this scene would be, “Jesus comforts Martha on the long road to resurrection.” And that is something we can relate to. We’re a lot like Martha. Grieving. Wondering. Asking God what he’s doing; yet believing and trusting in him, knowing he is the Christ who comes into our world. And like Martha, we spend most of our lives on the long road to resurrection. And like Martha, Jesus comes for comfort us today as well. 

When we meet Martha in this story, her brother Lazarus is dead, and her life is filled with sorrow. If you were to freeze this scene, you would see Martha standing there on the road with Jesus, looking to the past and looking to the future, wanting to be anywhere but here.

Martha knows what could have been: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” And Martha knows what will be: “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” But what could have been and what will be do not change what is right now. Her brother is dead. Her Lord is late. And her life is filled with sorrow.

This moment for Martha is familiar to us. This is where we spend most of our lives… on the road to resurrection. We look at the past and wonder what could have been. We look to the future and know what will be for us in Jesus. But right now, we’re stuck in the middle of suffering. 

Then Jesus speaks. He says to Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life.” Notice how Jesus uses the present tense. I AM the resurrection and the life. Jesus is the resurrection and the life. Jesus does not point to the past – I was the resurrection and the life – nor to the future – I will be the resurrection and the life. No, Jesus speaks about the present. I am the resurrection and the life.

It reminds me of the hope and comfort Johnny Cash sings about in his famous song: Ain’t No Grave.

When I hear that trumpet sound
I'm gonna rise right out of the ground
Ain't no grave
Can hold my body down

And the same Lord Jesus who spoke to Martha on that road in that moment of her sorrow, is the same Lord Jesus, who is speaking to you right now in His holy Word and promise. Today. In this moment. In your sorrow. He is the resurrection and the life for you.

This means that even before Lazarus walks out of the tomb, before Jesus is raised from the dead, right now, as Martha stands there in the middle of that long road to resurrection, Jesus is the resurrection and the life for her. He has come to be the resurrection and the life for her even in sorrow.

In this moment, the resurrection is a hand that can be touched, a voice that can be heard, a tear that is shed, and a holy conversation that happens with Jesus in the middle of sorrow. The same is true for you. Yes, we look forward to the day of resurrection. To the Eternal Easter and the endless day, but here on our road to the resurrection, Jesus is with us.

Jesus is the resurrection and the life even now. 

“I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.

The peace of God which surpasses…

Lenten Midweek 4: "Tree of the Lord's Planting"

+ Lenten Midweek 4 – March 25^th, 2020 +

Ezekiel 17:1-24; Mark 4:30-32

Beautiful Savior Lutheran 

Milton, WA

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

The great science fiction writer, Ursula LeGuin once said, “There have been great societies that did not use the wheel, but there have been no societies that did not tell stories.”

The same is true of Holy Scripture. The Old Testament is the story of the coming Messiah, Jesus, and God’s steadfast love to Israel and all people. The story of the New Testament is Jesus’ coming to reveal his steadfast love for us in his life and death. 

Quite often when God speaks to us and delivers his Word to us, he speaks to us in stories, like Jesus’ many parables, or like Ezekiel’s parable of Israel in Ezekiel 17.

In this week’s series on Trees in the Bible, we hear about the Tree of the Lord’s planting, promised by his prophet Ezekiel. This particular story comes from the Lord himself, to his prophet Ezekiel, to his people in Judah and Jerusalem – sometime before the fall of Jerusalem in 587 B.C. 

Ezekiel’s parable, or riddle, as some translations call it begins this way: 

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ² “Son of man, pose a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel, ³ and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God:

“A great eagle with large wings and long pinions,
Full of feathers of various colors, 
Came to Lebanon
And took from the cedar the highest branch.⁴ He cropped off its topmost young twig
And carried it to a land of trade;
He set it in a city of merchants.⁵ Then he took some of the seed of the land
And planted it in a fertile field;
He placed it by abundant waters
And set it like a willow tree.⁶ And it grew and became a spreading vine of low stature;
Its branches turned toward him,
But its roots were under it.
So it became a vine,
Brought forth branches,
And put forth shoots.

⁷ “But there was ^[a]another great eagle with large wings and many feathers;
And behold, this vine bent its roots toward him,
And stretched its branches toward him,
From the garden terrace where it had been planted,
That he might water it.⁸ It was planted in ^[b]good soil by many waters,
To bring forth branches, bear fruit,
And become a majestic vine.” ’

Perhaps you’re like me, and after reading or hearing this, you found yourself thinking. Huh. Ok. Good story, but what does it mean? 

It helps to remember that this parable is part history and part theology. Through his prophet Ezekiel, YHWH is recounting Israel’s history before the fall of Jerusalem in 587 B.C. in an allegory. King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon is the first eagle mentioned in vs. 3-6. The tall cedar he comes to is Jerusalem itself, where he took the top of that tall cedar when he removed King Jehoiachin captive, sent him off to Babylon and replaced him with his relative Zedekiah.

Vs. 7-8 of Ezekiel 17 reveal how Zedekiah was unfaithful to the Lord and looked to Egypt, the second great eagle of Ezekiel’ parable, rather than to the Lord for help. As a consequence of this rebellion against YHWH, Ezekiel foretells Israel’s destruction in vs. 9-10. The next several verses recount YHWH’s judgment upon Zedekiah for his unfaithfulness and despising of God’s oath and covenant. 

What’s rather surprising, and unexpected is how this story ends. In vs. 22-24, YHWH does not issue a decree of total destruction of Israel, but a promise of restoration. 

Thus says the Lord God: “I will take also one of the highest branches of the high cedar and set it out. I will crop off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and will plant it on a high and prominent mountain. ²³ On the mountain height of Israel I will plant it; and it will bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a majestic cedar. Under it will dwell birds of every sort; in the shadow of its branches they will dwell. ²⁴ And all the trees of the field shall know that I, the Lord, have brought down the high tree and exalted the low tree, dried up the green tree and made the dry tree flourish; I, the Lord, have spoken and have done it.”

In the face of Israel’s sin and rebellion, YHWH declares a promise of complete reversal. Though Israel continually broke the covenant of Sinai, YHWH is faithful to his people, his promises, and keeps his covenant. Though Israel was reduced to destruction, death, and exile by Babylon, YHWH promised to restore, redeem, and rescue Israel. Though Israel is like a dried up, dead tree, the Lord will plant himself on the tree of the cross to bring life out of death. 

The young twig, or tender branch that Ezekiel promises, is none other than Jesus himself. Jesus is the righteous Branch promised by Jeremiah and Zechariah. Jesus is the noble tree of the Lord’s planting. He is the long-expected seed of the woman, promised to Adam and Eve, Abraham, Israel, and to you.

You see, this story of Ezekiel 17 is not only history and theology of Israel. In the end, it’s all about Jesus coming to save you too. This is not just any old story, but God’s Word and promise for you.

But because this story is God’s Word, it also comes from the Lord to you.

This makes Ezekiel 17, much more than an interesting Old Testament history lesson. This is YHWH’s declaration that Israel’s history, your history, all history, is redeemed in Christ our Savior. It’s the story of the Lord planting the tree of Christ our Savior for us, here in the soil of this fallen world. It’s the story of our rescue, redemption, and restoration in Jesus who hung on the tree and was dried up, and withered under our sin and disease and death that we might receive his life. 

Ezekiel’s prophetic parable is also a good reminder, as we live in days of fear and uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus, that even when it looks like God is not working – as I’m sure it looked to many in Israel in the days of Ezekiel that God was absent – he is. Christ is not absent. He has not forsaken us. He is working in and through history – even in this time of illness and isolation - for our good, just as he was through the tumultuous times of the kings in Israel. 

Fear not. The same Lord who planted himself in the Virgin womb, and hung upon the tree of the cross for you, has rooted you, and joined you to himself. As he declares in Revelation of St. John, behold, I am making all things new.

Now the peace of God which surpasses all understanding…

Sermon for Lent 4: "Jesus Sees"

+ 4^th Sunday in Lent – March 22^nd, 2020 +

Series A: Isaiah 42:14-21; Ephesians 5:8-14; John 9

Beautiful Savior Lutheran

Milton, WA

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

John’s Gospel brings us a very personal view of Jesus. Jesus talks with Nicodemus by night. Jesus visits the Samaritan woman by the well. Today in John 9, Jesus comes to a man born blind.  

It’s a good reminder that in these days of separation we still find comfort in the communion of saints and in Jesus’ promise: Behold, I am with you always.

The story of Jesus’ personal visit to the man born blind begins rather simply. “As He went along, He saw a man blind from birth.” 

Jesus sees a man. 

Stop for a moment and think about how profound those words are. Jesus sees a man. He takes notice. He acknowledges him. 

Sometimes, it is so hard for us to see a person. We see things not people. We see the Rolex watch or the designer dress, but fail to see the broken marriage. We see the nose ring but completely miss the lifetime of childhood abuse. We see a person smile and say all is well. We see things but do we really see people?

It is hard for us to see a person. When the disciples see this man, what do they see? They see a problem, not a person. Listen to what they say to Jesus: “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” For the disciples, this bland man is a teaching moment, an educational instance which has reduced this human being to a theological dilemma.

The disciples observe and notice the man, but they don’t seem to see him, do they? Talking about him but not with him. They do not speak to him. They do not touch him. They do not put shoes on his feet or a piece of bread in his lap. They do not grasp his hand and lead him to Jesus.

This is one of the things John does so well in his Gospel. He contrasts the pharisees and the disciples who can physically see Jesus, but don’t always get what he’s up to, while it’s the blind man and the Samaritan woman – the weak and outcast – who get it.

The disciples had written a story which was too small. It was a story of sin and punishment from God. This man was blind, and someone had sinned. Either he did or his parents and God punished the sin with blindness. 

But Jesus… Jesus does something different. Jesus sees the man. And Jesus sees this man as part of a greater story.

It is the story of creation and restoration. The story of rescue and redemption. Jesus has come to join us in this fallen world and bring us into this greater story. Into Himself. It begins, not with sin but with creation. And it ends, not with punishment but with restoration in Jesus. 

So, Jesus looks at this man and sees him as part of a greater story. Jesus says to the disciples, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in his life.” 

Then Jesus shows them what he’s talking about. He kneels on the ground and begins to create again. He spits and makes mud from the dust of the earth. Forming it. Fashioning it. Just as he did when he formed Adam from the dust of the earth. He places this on the man’s eyes. And then He speaks to him and tells him to go wash in the pool of Siloam.

This one who said, “Before Abraham was, I Am,” now shows just how far back He goes. He was there at the first creation, forming a world that was beautiful and fashioning beautiful creatures to live in the world. The One, who was there at the original creation, has come into creation again and is going to work to bring His broken world back to restoration. He will take this man and give him sight. That is His work. And He is willing to die to do such work. In fact, by dying He will do even greater things than these. Jesus did not come to condemn the world but that the world might be saved through Him. He will capture our sin and condense it into His death and then He will rise to create new life. Life for this man. Life for you.

And that is Jesus’ very personal word and promise to you. Today, as we’re separated and yet together in our homes, Jesus’ healing Word is personally given to you. Jesus died for you. Jesus rose for you. 

Today as we perhaps sit in fear and doubt, in worry and wonder, Jesus sees you too, not as a thing or a problem, but as his holy, beloved, baptized saint. He sees us, warts, failures, sins and all – and loves you anyway. Loves you without end. 

Today, Jesus gives us a glimpse of a much greater story. Baptized into the death and resurrection of Jesus, you are children of God. You are dead to sin and alive to God in Jesus Christ. You are not slaves to sin but children of God, servants of His righteousness. Jesus opens the door of His Father’s Kingdom and gives us a glimpse of His greater work. He teaches us to live, not by what we see, but what we hear from our Lord, his mercy and love for you.

The peace of God which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting. Amen.

Lenten Midweek 3: "Jesse's Tree"

+ Lenten Midweek 3 – March 18^th, 2020 +

Isaiah 6:1-13, 10:33-11:16; Luke 1:68-79

Beautiful Savior Lutheran

Milton, WA

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

So far in our Lenten series on living trees in the Bible, we’ve traveled from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in Eden to Abraham and the Oaks at Mamre. And from Abraham on to the time of the judges with Gideon and the Oak at Ophrah. Every step of the way, every tree we’ve looked at in Scripture, has pointed us to the great tree of Jesus’ cross for us.

Today we jump forward again, from the time of the judges to the time of the kings and prophets of Israel. To the time when the Lord called Isaiah the prophet to speak his word of warning and promise to his people. 

Around 723-722 B.C., while Isaiah was proclaiming God’s Word to Judah and Jerusalem in the southern Kingdom of Israel, the Assyrian army was wreaking havoc in the Northing Kingdom of Israel. Invasion. Destruction. Suffering. Fear. Death. Exile. A preview of what was to come later in 587 B.C. when the Babylonians would invade Judah and destroy the temple in Jerusalem.  

The Lord sent Isaiah with an unbelievably difficult message to declare. To warn Judah of their sin, and that the promised land they lived in would be burned and reduced to a stump. I think we can empathize with Isaiah’s question in vs. 11. “How long, O Lord?” How long will God’s people suffer? How long will the land be under siege? How long? 

“Until the cities lie ruined    and without inhabitant,
until the houses are left deserted    and the fields ruined and ravaged,¹² until the Lord has sent everyone far away    and the land is utterly forsaken.¹³ And though a tenth remains in the land,    it will again be laid waste.
But as the terebinth and oak    leave stumps when they are cut down,    so the holy seed will be the stump in the land.”

The last several trees of the bible we’ve visited were actual trees where the Lord attached his word or appeared to his people. But here in Isaiah, the tree is Judah. The tree is God’s people. And the tree appears to be dead. Nothing more than a stump.

It’s no accident that Isaiah depicts Israel as a stump. Jesse’s stump was Isaiah’s reminder of Israel’s sin against YHWH. For even though YHWH was their perfect king and Israel was to live under his perfect rule and receive his perfect peace and rest in his perfect promises, Israel is anything but perfect. Israel rebels and rejects the Lord, followed other gods, and forgot about the Lord. Isaiah doesn’t pull any punches. David’s family tree, indeed the whole house of Israel is a stump. 

Though we’re a long way off in history from Isaiah and Judah, Isaiah has a lot to say to us today as we live in times of fear and danger. Maybe not from enemies like ancient Assyria, but we face deadly disease, uncertainty of the future, worries, doubts, fears. Like Isaiah we cry out, how long? And with Isaiah, we also confess, “Woe is me. For I am a man of unclean lips.” 

And yet, the Lord has good news for Judah, and for you. For buried in that stump of Jesse’s tree is a holy seed. Even though Jesse’s stump might appear to be dead, there is life by God’s Word and promise.

A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;    from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.² The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—    the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,    the Spirit of counsel and of might,    the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—³ and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.

This tree, this shoot of Jesse, or Root of David, is also a person. The shoot that came from the dead stump of Jesse is David’s son and David’s Lord, Jesus. He is true man, able to know our fears and carry our sorrows and our diseases; and yet true God, able to save us from sin and death by his death on the tree of the cross.

Isaiah’s message to Judah is also good news for us. Hope is not lost. The Lord has not and will not abandon you. You are not individual, isolated trees growing aimlessly in the wilderness. No, you are branches connected to the true Vine of Christ our Lord. You are grafted into Jesus’ family tree by being rooted in water and Word, and having the holy seed of faith planted in your ears, hearts, and minds. You are fruitful branches, reaching out to your neighbor in this time of need because you are joined to him who loves you and hung on the tree for you. You are, as Zechariah sings in Luke 1, saved, visited, redeemed, delivered, and holy in Jesus, the shoot of Jesse’s tree.

“Blessed is the Lord God of Israel,
For He has visited and redeemed His people,⁶⁹ And has raised up a horn of salvation for us
In the house of His servant David,⁷⁰ As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets,
Who have been since the world began,⁷¹ That we should be saved from our enemies
And from the hand of all who hate us,⁷² To perform the mercy promised to our fathers
And to remember His holy covenant,⁷³ The oath which He swore to our father Abraham:⁷⁴ To grant us that we,
Being delivered from the hand of our enemies,
Might serve Him without fear,⁷⁵ In holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life.

The peace of God which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting. Amen.

Sermon for Lent 3: "Living Water for Weary Souls"

+ Lent 3 – March 15^th, 2020 +

Series A: Exodus 17:1-7; Romans 5:1-8; John 4:5-26

Beautiful Savior Lutheran

Milton, WA

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

There’s an old saying that still waters run deep. And I imagine we’ve all felt, or are feeling that way at this very moment. Beneath our calm, still, exterior; underneath our polite smiles and “I’m fines and I’m okays” there’s an undercurrent of guilt, shame, worry, fear, or depression that troubles our souls.

Still waters run deep. And yet, the living water of God’s word runs deeper still. So deep, in fact, that our Lord’s word reaches down to the depths of our souls to restore us.

A woman of Samaria came to Jacob’s well to draw water. This was not for rest or relaxation. It was a necessity. She needed water. And it was hard work. We don’t really know why this woman came to the well at midday. Many commentators think she was avoiding public shame from a sinful life of adultery. Or perhaps she was ashamed, not of her own sin, but of the burden she carried from having five husbands marry and dismiss her with a certificate of divorce. 

Whatever her reasons were that brought her to that well at midday, she came to the well wanting water but what she needed was a word that gave life. What she needed was someone to restore her soul. “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”

How does one restore a soul, anyhow? Our bodies can be healed. A surgeon’s hands can cut your flesh, open your chest, and reach in and actually touch your beating heart. But your soul… your soul is a different matter. It cannot be seen. It cannot be touched by human hands or examined on the operating table. Yet, it feels the touch of life. Abuse that ends one’s childhood too early. A miscarriage that abruptly ends one’s parenting. Divorce that tears marriage asunder. Guilt, shame, worry, doubt, anxieties that we hide beneath the surface. These things cut deeper than any surgeon’s knife. Touching your soul. Making it restless. Longing for life as God meant it to be.

Augustine once said, “You made us for Yourself, O God, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Thee.” So, this one woman at this one well is not the only one who longs for restoration. We all have moments of restlessness. Anxiety. Fear. And the list could go on.

It could be 3 am, as you lie there in bed, awake and unable to stop yourself from thinking. It could be 3 pm, as you worry about going home to a fractured family, wondering if it will ever turn around. Restlessness flows like an undercurrent through life, pulling us, dragging us downward, making us weary of living even as we go through the normal motions of a day.

And yet, for the woman at the well, and for you. Jesus is, the fountain of living water, is there. The same Lord who was the very rock that gave Israel water in the desert, now pours out living water to this woman at the well. To her, to you, the Shepherd comes. To her, a Samaritan and outcast, the Lord draws near, for her and for you. 

Although John does not call Jesus the Good Shepherd here, we see Jesus fulfilling Psalm 23, leading this woman, and us, to the still waters of his word where he restores our souls. John also identifies Jesus as the bridegroom come to rescue his bride. Jacob’s well is no accidental meeting spot. At this well Isaac met Rebekah, Jacob met Leah. Jesus meets this Samaritan woman, and us. Though our sins are as scarlet, in Jesus you are white as snow. 

Jesus begins a conversation with this weary woman. He offers her water. Living water. She does not understand. How can He offer a drink when He doesn’t even have a bucket? Is He greater than her father Jacob? Well, yes. He is greater. He is Jacob’s son and yet Jacob’s Lord. And the water He offers wells up from within him. And it overflows to us in his Word. It teems with life-giving water that unites us with Jesus in Holy Baptism. His body and blood satisfy our longing and weary souls with true food and true drink. 

For us and this Samaritan woman, Jesus is the source of all living water. His life, His death, and His resurrection are a life-giving stream. 

Later in the Gospel of John, on the cross, Jesus will cry out…On “I thirst,” at as he is crucified for her and for you. 

Jesus becomes the thirsty one, longing for life. Bearing our suffering. Enduring our shame. Jesus enters the depths of Hell itself and dies in our place that He might rise and offer us His eternal, life-giving stream. 

Jesus sits by the well as a shepherd, coming to offer this woman a life-giving stream. Jesus comes to us his faithless bride and restores, redeems, and rescues us. 

For a moment, think about her experience. For once in her life, this woman finally meets a man who gives rather than takes and what He gives…is marvelous. He gives his life for hers. For you.

He gives makes her a child of God. The honor she finds in Jesus frees her to speak in hope of the Messiah. Our thirst, like our guilt and shame may come and go, but gives her, and gives you, will never run out, dry up, or pass away. If beneath the still waters of our life runs a current of fear and doubt, guilt and shame, worry and depression, the living waters of Jesus’ love for you run far deeper.

the water that I shall give will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.

Jesus, our Good Shepherd and Bridegroom still sits there, by the well where, with a splash of water and God’s word, makes you a holy, baptized child of God. The words of our Lord run deep, deeper than any of your troubles, deep enough to conquer Hell itself that He might rise from the depths with life for you. 

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest, Jesus says. And as he says it, he gives it. He restores your soul. Today. Tomorrow. Always.

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. 

Sermon for Lent 2: "Jesus and Nicodemus"

+ Lent 2 – March 8^th, 2020 +

Series A: Genesis 12:1-9; Romans 4:1-8; John 3:1-17

Beautiful Savior Lutheran

Milton, WA

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. 

John 3 is probably one of the more well-known, familiar chapters in the New Testament. There’s a lot going on here: Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus, Baptism as a new birth from above by water and the Spirit, and of course, the famous John 3:16 passage that many of us, no doubt, have memorized. When a section of Scripture is as familiar as John 3 is, it’s good to let ourselves be carried along, like a kayak paddling down river to the sound, and let Jesus’ Word lead us where he would have us go – to his death and resurrection for us.  

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night 

Already at the beginning, this story is different. Nicodemus, the pharisee, comes to Jesus alone, at night, John tells us. It’s a subtle, but important detail. It’s not a time-stamp as much as it is a spiritual diagnosis of Nicodemus, and of our own sin. Apart from Christ we’re all in the dark, like Nicodemus, blinded and alone in the night of sin. If there is to be any faith or life in Jesus, it will have to be Jesus who calls us out of darkness into his marvelous light.

What’s interesting, at the start of this whole conversation, is that Jesus answers a question that Nicodemus hasn’t asked yet. But like a good Rabbi, he’s leading us to the right question and the right answer.

Nicodemus is drawn to Jesus by his signs, like a moth drawn to a porchlight at night. That’s what all of Jesus’ miracles are, signs that point to Jesus identity as the Son of God in human flesh and his greatest sign of salvation on the cross for us. By the end of their conversation, Jesus will point us all to his greatest sign yet to come, his being lifted up on the cross. Jesus wants to open Nicodemus’ eyes – and heart, mind, and soul – to see him as the kingdom of God in human flesh.

“Truly, truly, I say to you - Whenever Jesus says those two words together, “Amen. Amen.” it’s a good reminder that whatever comes next is important. “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 

Now, we might hear Jesus’ words and think – like many have thought – that what Jesus means is that to be born again is to be really Christian or some kind of super-Christian. But that’s not what he’s saying at all. The better translation is this: Unless one is born from above. 

Nicodemus, who is in the dark about these things, hears it as “born again.” “How can a man be born when he is old? How can he enter again into his mother’s womb?” That’s outrageously silly nonsense!

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. ⁶ That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 

To be born of flesh is to be born “from below,” as we all are born “from below” as children of Adam, born in sin. If you are “flesh” then you are born from below, of the flesh. To be born of the Spirit is to be born spiritually, “from above.” 

St. Augustine had this to say about Jesus and Nicodemus: “Nicodemus knew only one birth from Adam and Eve. He did not yet know the birth from God and the church. He knew only the parents who beget death. He did not yet know the parents who beget life…Though there are two births, he only knew one. One is from the flesh, the other from the Spirit. One is from mortality, the other from eternity. One of from male and female, the other from God and the church”

How can this be? He asks Jesus. Are you a teacher of Israel, Jesus says, and you do not understand these things.  If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?

These things a “spiritually discerned,” as the apostle Paul put it. In the dark, in our natural man, born of flesh of Adam, we’re like Nicodemus; we cannot comprehend these things, cannot come to know God, cannot believe in Jesus Christ or come to Him. These are heavenly things, and we are earthly creatures. We cannot reach up to God. God must reach down to us. No one has gone up into heaven but One has come down from heaven, the Son of Man, the Son of God, the Son of Israel, Jesus our Lord. He is the Word become Flesh, the only-begotten Son enfleshed in our humanity. He is God reaching down to us, all the way down, to save us.

Jesus comes from above to rescue us who are below. Jesus is born below with us, as one of us, to bring us a new birth from above by his dying and rising. 

as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵ that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. “For God loved the world in this manner, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 

This is where Jesus has been leading Nicodemus, and us, all along. To himself. To see the kingdom of God in Jesus enthroned on the cross for you. This is the way God loves you, by giving himself for you. Giving his Son to die for you on the cross. Giving his Word full of the breath of life and his Spirit in your ears to work faith in your hearts. Giving you a new birth from above by water and the Spirit. Giving you his own flesh and blood for your forgiveness.

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 

After Jesus speaks, we don’t hear how Nicodemus responded to Jesus’ words. He drops out of the story until he reminds the pharisees that Jesus should receive a fair trial in John 7, and then again in John 19 where Nicodemus shows up in broad daylight with Joseph of Arimathea and brings a royal amount of burial spices for Jesus’ burial. It would seem that Jesus’ words in John 3 have done what he intended to do for Nicodemus, to bring him and carry him along to see the kingdom of God revealed on the cross, and the King crucified for him, and for all. 

John 3 does a similar thing for us as well. We are Nicodemus, come to Jesus by night, and changed by his words, by his life, by his promises. Jesus carries us all the way downstream to see in Him our suffering, sacrificial king who gives us a new birth from above and brings us into his kingdom through his cross.

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. 

Sermon for Lenten Midweek 1: "Oaks of Mamre"

+ Lenten Midweek 1 – March 4^th, 2020 +

Genesis 18:1-33; John 8:48-59

Beautiful Savior Lutheran

Milton, WA

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. 

We’ve probably all seen or received a birth announcement before. Usually there’s a few pictures of the newborn baby boy or girl looking cuddly and adorable, their name and date of birth and so on.

Ordinarily, we receive these kinds of announcements from friends or family who are newlyweds or starting their family, you know younger couples celebrating their 1^st, 2^nd, or 3^rd child. But imagine that the next time you got one of these birth announcements, instead of it being sent to you by family or friends who’re in their 20’s or 30’s, it’s sent to you from your grandma or great-grandma who’s around 90 years old. “Guess what? We’re having a baby!”

Wait, is it April 1^st? Am I on camera somewhere?” You might even laugh out loud at the sheer hilarity of such a thing. “What is this, some kind of joke?” as you laugh hysterically at the sheer hilarity of attending a baby shower for your 90 year-old great-grandma. 

And yet, this is the story of Genesis 18. It’s sweltering outside. It’s the middle of the day. Abraham doesn’t have AC in his tent, so he’s outside his tent trying to cool off under the oaks of Mamre. Maybe he nods his head, fighting off an afternoon nap. He looks up. Rubs his eyes. And sees three visitors coming his way.

Now, we’ve probably heard this story before. So, we know that these three visitors aren’t just random travelers. Depending on who you ask, it’s the Holy Trinity, or Jesus and two angels. More likely Jesus and two angels given what happens in the next part of the story. Whichever the case may be, God himself appears to Abraham in human form, in some kind visible manifestation. 

But at the outset, Abraham doesn’t know that yet. These visitors are no doubt thirsty and hungry. So Abraham fires up some Hebrew hospitality. Sarah makes unleavened bread. Abraham has the fattened calf killed and prepared. Bring out the milk, curds, and meat. 

And while the three visitors are eating a little afternoon BBQ under the oaks of Mamre, they ask Abraham, “Where’s your wife, Sarah?” 

“She’s in the tent,” Abraham replies. Sounds like an unimportant detail, but it’s not. You see, Sarah wasn’t there with Abraham in chapter 17 when the Lord appeared to him and told him that the promised son of the covenant would come from his own flesh. So, the Lord repeats his promise to Abraham so Sarah can overhear it this time. 

The Lord said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife shall have a son.” 

To say this was surprising and shocking news would be an understatement. In case we forgot, Moses reminds us that Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years, and Sarah was well past the age of child-bearing. Sarah has the only reaction that you would have if you heard news like this. She laughs. And I don’t think it’s a laughter of disrespect or doubt, but laughter at the sheer joy and surprise and outrageous absurdity of God’s grace in having the promised son born out of Sarah’s 90 year-old, barren womb. A holy hilarity at the way God chooses to bring life out of death. It’s so opposite and contrary to anything we would do or expect God to do. And yet that’s what he does. The Lord brings life out of nothing. Later when God’s promise is made flesh and born of Sarah, he’s given the name Isaac, which literally means laughter.

Now, this story of Genesis 18 may not sound like a Lenten story to you, but it is. Yes, this story tells us how the Son of God appeared to Abraham, ate and drank with him, and spoke his promises. Yes, this story tells us about Abraham and Sarah’s hospitality. Yes, this story is a birth announcement. But it’s so much more. 

It’s a life out of death announcement. It’s a new birth and new life announcement. It’s an announcement of God’s hilarious, gracious, superabundant, unexpected, surprising way of bringing life out of death. It’s God’s announcement that he will keep his promise spoken to Abraham that from his seed would come the Offspring who would bless all nations.

If by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil sin came into the world, and Satan used that tree to bring death out of life, here in Genesis 18, by the oaks of Mamre, God promises Abraham that he will bring life out of death. 

By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. ¹² Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.

God works faith Abraham and Sarah’s dead in sin hearts. Then he works the same miracle in Sarah’s dead, barren womb and create something out of nothing, life out of death. God could’ve given them a child in their youth but he didn’t. God waits until they are nearly a century old to show that it’s all by his grace. That way, Abraham and Sarah have nothing to cling to but God’s outrageous promise to bring life out of death. 

Same is true for us as well. Only, instead of sending Isaac, God one-ups himself and is born, not of a barren womb, but a virgin womb, for you. God’s promise is made flesh for you; God is man for you. This is how God works for you, just as he did for Abraham and Sarah.

Out of the deadness of our wicked hearts, he creates faith in his promises. Out of the deadness of our sin, he brings forth life in his name. Out of the deadness of the grave he will raise us up in Jesus, the promised Son, the Offspring of Abraham, our Savior.

As the Lord did for Abraham and Sarah he does for us; he speaks his promises that create faith out of nothing. As the Lord appeared to Abraham under the tree of Mamre, so too, he appeared for us and for all upon the tree of the cross to give life by his death. As the Lord brought forth life from the barren womb of Sarah, so too, he brought forth new, resurrected life out of the barrenness of our tomb. As the Lord ate and drank with Abraham, so he does with us, only this time he is the host and we are his guests.

I don’t know about you, but that sure sounds like a good reason to join Abraham and Sarah in joy and praise at the sheer surprising, amazing grace of the God who brings life out of death for you.

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.