Sermon for The Transfiguration of Our Lord: "Messianic Mountains"

 + Transfiguration of Our Lord – February 27^th, 2022 +

Series C: Deuteronomy 34; Hebrews 3:1-6; Luke 9:28-36

Beautiful Savior Lutheran

Milton, WA

 

 

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

 

Here in the Pacific Northwest, mountains are a significant part of our way of life. Recreation. Navigation. Watersheds. The names alone speak significance Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Adams, Mt. Rainier, Mt. Baker, Mt. Olympus, each takes on significance all its own. Maybe you’ve seen the mural in downtown Sumner that beckons us to “Live like the mountain is out” or the welcome sign in Orting, “Small town – Big View.” Whether you like hiking around them, or just admiring their beauty, mountains are where big things happen.

 

The same is true in Scripture. Throughout God’s Word, mountains take on a holy significance. A lot of big things in Scripture happen on mountains. 

·      Mt. Moriah, where Abraham was prepared to sacrifice Isaac yet God provided the sacrifice of a ram instead. A substitute. Later on that same mountain, David built an altar to the Lord and Solomon built the temple of the Lord. 

·      Mt. Sinai, where Moses saw the burning bush, received YHWH’s covenant, he and Israel saw a theophany (divine revealing) of God, Elijah too. 

·      Mt. Zion, where God promised to dwell with his people again in Jerusalem, the chosen city that was to point forward to God’s holy people and his chosen city of the holy Christian Church.

 

These sacred summits are places of divine epiphany, of revelation. A place of theophany: God revealing himself in a visible way for the benefit of his people. Whenever mountains come into view in Scripture, God is doing something big for his people. 

 

It’s no accident, then, that on this last day of the season of Epiphany, when we celebrate Jesus’ transfiguration, it occurs, of all places, on a mountain. The mountains of Scripture surround, and lead to the mountain of Jesus’ transfiguration. 

 

Luke starts off his account of Jesus’ transfiguration with a significant biblical number. 8. 8 days for circumcision of infant boys. 8 people in the ark. 8 becomes the number of new creation. Peter, James, and John are there on the mountain, too, serving as the Old Testament’s requirement for 2 or 3 witnesses. Testifying to what Jesus reveals on this mountain in his transfiguration. 

 

As he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white.

 

Dazzling white clothing. Like the kind the angels are clothed in at Jesus’ resurrection and ascension. It’s the same word in fact! Luke’s point is simple, yet profound. If Jesus’ birth reveals that God has become man to save us, then at Jesus’ transfiguration, it is revealed once again that Jesus, who is true man is also true God. Jesus was, is, and always shall be true God. And by his incarnation, he is and always shall be true God and man. True Man full of humility and true God radiant with divine glory. 

 

Notice, though, that Jesus is not alone on this mountain of his transfiguration. And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, ³¹ who appeared in glory.

 

Why these guys? Both Moses and Elijah saw theophanies of God and spoke with God at Mt. Sinai. Both men embody the whole Old Testament. Moses, the Torah. Elijah, the prophets. Their presence on this mountain at Jesus’ transfiguration is a signal that all the mountains, indeed all the promises of the Old Testament, finally crest, and find their fulfillment in Jesus. 

 

Not only are these two men important. So is their message. Only Luke records this little, meaningful detail. Moses and Elijah, “spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.”

 

What’s his “departure” you ask? The Greek word here is far richer and deeper, it’s the word “exodus.” Moses and Elijah spoke with Jesus about his exodus, which he was about to accomplish in Jerusalem. 

 

Wait, the exodus? The one where God rescued and redeemed his people from bondage to slavery in Egypt? Yes. The very same one. When Moses and Elijah converse with Jesus on this mountain top meeting, they’re discussing Jesus’ exodus he is about to accomplish in Jerusalem. And so the mountain of Jesus’ transfiguration leads us to the mountain of his crucifixion. 

 

All the mountains of Scripture lead you to Mt. Calvary. To the great exile of the cross where Jesus will be forsaken by the Father for you. Where the greater Isaac will be sacrificed as a substitute for you. Where all the punishments of Law that we have broken will come down on Jesus like an avalanche. Where all the curses that we deserved from Mt. Sinai will cascade down upon him and crush him under the mountainous dung heap of our sin. 

 

Once again, on a mountain top, Jesus does big things – the biggest off all – he saves sinners by becoming sin for you. Already at the mountain of Jesus’ transfiguration, the mountain of his crucifixion is on the horizon. On that mountain where Jesus is crucified, he embarks upon the greatest exile of history, his exile to the cross, and down under the mountain and into the grave. But not just his grave. Yours and mine and the whole world’s. God does big things on this mountain. 

 

God also does big things under this mountain. Three days later, Jesus returns from his exodus under the earth, in your grave, and rises again. And when Jesus walks out from the grave he does so like one of those mountain rescuers, carrying you and all humanity upon his shoulders. 

 

What the prophets long foretold, Jesus accomplishes. A worldwide exile in which the lost, fallen children of Adam and Eve, will finally return home. What Jesus does on this mountain of transfiguration, and at his crucifixion, he does for you, and for all. Jesus dies, you die. Jesus rises, you rise. Jesus lives, you live. Jesus is glorified, you are glorified in Jesus. 

 

Did Peter, James, and John understand all of this as they sat on that mountain top witnessing Jesus’ transfiguration? Of course not. But, by God’s grace, they would. And by God’s grace you do as well. 

 

And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!”  And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone.

 

What’s true for the disciples is true for you as well. Listen to Jesus. His voice. His Word. His word resounds and rings, down from all the mountains of Holy Scripture, to you, here on Mt. Zion, the church. On this mountain, God continues to do big things for you in his life giving words and healing waters and nourishing, forgiving, sustaining body and blood. In Jesus’ transfiguration we see the glory of his coming death and resurrection for you, where Jesus brings us through the great exodus of his cross and empty tomb to give us freedom, life, and redemption. 

 

A blessed day of the Transfiguration of Our Lord to each of you…

 

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

Sermon for Epiphany 7: "Living in Christ's Mercy"

 + 7^th Sunday after the Epiphany – February 20^th, 2022 +

Series C: Genesis 45:3-15; 1 Corinthians 15:21-26, 30-42; Luke 6:27-38

Beautiful Savior Lutheran

Milton, WA

 

 

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

 

There’s a familiar idea I’ve often encountered when conversations take a spiritual turn; maybe you’ve heard something similar. “I don’t like the Old Testament very much; it’s so hard to read and understand. I like the New Testament much better; it’s so much easier.”

 

My usual reply, “You need to read the New Testament more closely; it can be just as difficult.”

 

Take Jesus’ words Luke 6 for example… Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, ²⁸ bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you. ²⁹ To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. ³⁰ Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back. ³¹ And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise…love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return…become merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.

 

You’re probably all thinking what I’ve been thinking all week, “What does this mean?” 

 

Let’s start with some context. Our gospel reading from Luke 6 picks up where we left off last week. Last week the beatitudes. This week, the second part of Jesus’ sermon on the plain. Last week, 

Jesus declared our identity. Who you are. In Christ you are blessed, beloved, redeemed, and rescued. This week Jesus moves from being to doing. From who you are in Christ, to how you live in Christ. 

 

In this second part of his sermon, Jesus uses 16 imperatives: love your enemies; do good, bless, pray, and so on. To underscore the significance of all of this, Jesus summarizes these 16 imperatives three times in verses 31, 36, and 38. Love your enemies. Become merciful. Give.

 

Now, there are plenty of wrong ways to understand Jesus’ words here in Luke 6. One way is to treat Jesus’ words like a check list that we must complete in order to be a perfect Christian…do these things and God will bless you. Problem is, that’s not good news. That’s not the gospel. It’s also not what Jesus is saying. We don’t do these things Jesus says in order to be blessed. We live this way because we are blessed in Jesus’ dying and rising. 

 

Another way we misunderstand Jesus’ words is to think, “Well, that’s impossible. Nope. Too hard. I give up.” And so we never actually try to live how Jesus teaches us to live.

 

Think for a moment, though; why are these words so difficult to hear and do? Is it because we don’t like what Jesus says? Probably. Is it because it’s hard to love our enemies, become merciful, and give selflessly? No doubt about that. Is it because Jesus’ words reveal our failure to live as those who are blessed and redeemed in Christ? Yes, that too. Probably all these and more.

 

The truth is deeper though. We find these words so challenging because they reveal the truth that we do not always live as God’s people. That we do not love our enemies; we do not do good; we are not merciful, we do not give selflessly. The reason Jesus’ words are so hard is because they reveal our idolatry. We don’t love our enemies because deep down we love ourselves more. We’re not always merciful because we don’t think others are worthy or deserving of God’s mercy. We don’t give selflessly because we are self-centered. 

 

But even though this is all true, there is a deeper truth in Jesus’ sermon on the plain. We’ve yet to arrive at the center of Jesus’ sermon on the plain. The heart and center of Jesus’ words isn’t who we are or even how we live. But who Jesus is and how he lives for you.

 

The heart and center of Jesus’ sermon on the plain is the abundant mercy of a merciful God revealed in the merciful life, death, and resurrection of Jesus for you. 

 

For while we were still enemies of God, while we were still sinners, Christ Jesus died in love for you. When we hated Him by thought, word, and deed, He did good for us by bearing all of our sin. When we cursed Him for daring to say we had sinned, He blessed us with forgiveness, paid for by His blood. When we abused Him and His whole creation for our selfish desires, He prayed for us, saying, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” When we struck Him, He offered more of Himself to be stricken by being nailed to a cross. When we took His cloak and divided it, He offered His tunic for which we cast lots. When we begged for Him to be crucified, He gave His life, not holding it back. Jesus did for us, what we should have done for Him. And by it, has saved us all. Each and every one of these imperatives in His sermon, Jesus fulfilled completely on the cross for you. 

 

That’s what it means to be a Christian. To live in Christ’s mercy. In Christ, you are his baptized, beloved disciple. And in Christ, every day, every moment, every good thing do or say is done because you live Christ’s mercy. You live in Christ’s mercy. It’s true for our salvation and it’s true of our life of good works as well

 

Remember the beatitudes. That is who you are. You are blessed in Christ. You are alive in Christ’s life, death, and resurrection. You live in his mercy. Mercy in the forgiveness of sins. Mercy in his Word which you read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest. Mercy in your baptism into his holy Name. Mercy in his body and blood. You are alive in Christ’s mercy. That is who you are. It’s also how you live.

 

You live, each day, in all your vocations, in all you say and do, in Christ’s mercy. You are a good tree which produces good fruit. Our Christian life (of sanctification of good works) described here by Jesus, is like an oversized t shirt. The Greek there in vs. 36 is so much clearer. Become merciful. Not be. Become. We’re constantly becoming, growing into the disciple Jesus declares you are. 

 

This is how you live as Christ to your neighbor. So, when you do good works that Jesus gives you to do, praise the Lord that he has given us such fruit of faith that love and serve others. And when we fail to live up to Jesus’ words here in Luke 6, praise the Lord that he is merciful and has done kept all these words for you. Whether it’s your salvation or good works, the answer is the same; you’re living in Christ’s mercy.

 

Yes, Jesus’ words are often difficult. These are hard things to do: to love our enemies. To do good. To pray for them. To become merciful. To give selflessly. Forgive. Do good, expecting nothing in return. 

 

You can only do these things in Christ. You can only do these things, if your identity is in Christ. And it is. You can only do these things Jesus teaches when you live in his mercy.

 

So, whenever you come across these hard words of Jesus, or any other hard words of Scripture, remember that God’s mercy in Christ is at the center of it all; God’s mercy covers all. For you live under the mercy of Christ. 

 

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

Sermon for Epiphany 6: "Your Identity is in Christ"

 + 6^th Sunday after the Epiphany – February 13^th, 2022 +

Series C: Jeremiah 17:5-8; 1 Corinthians 15:1-20; Luke 6:17-26

Beautiful Savior Lutheran

Milton, WA

 

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

 

The word “identity” is one of the buzzwords of our day and age. There’s identity theft. Identity politics. Gender identity. Self-identification as this or that or whatever. Identity is humanity’s version of a dictionary, it’s how we look for what defines us. People constantly define themselves by how they vote, how they dress, how they live, and so on. 

 

Identity is humanity searching for an answer to the age-old question. Who are you? 

 

Jesus answers these questions of identity - who am I? Who are you?  - as he begins his famous sermon on the plain in Luke 6. Jesus proclaims four beatitudes. Four blessings. Four declarations.

 

Blessed are you poor, For yours is the kingdom of God.
Blessed are you who hunger now, For you shall be filled. 
Blessed are you who weep now, For you shall laugh.
Blessed are you when men hate you, And when they exclude you, And revile you, and cast out your name as evil, For the Son of Man’s sake. 

 

It’s easy to start looking at each of these beatitudes from our perspective. As declarations of blessings that God is giving to us. And they certainly are. Each and every one of Jesus’ beatitudes here is a promise, blessing, and declaration of who you are in him. Though before we see how these beatitudes define who we are in Christ, we must see how Jesus’ words identify and define who he is for you. The beatitudes are first and foremost a description of who Jesus is for you.

 

Jesus embodies and incarnates each and every one of these beatitudes. Jesus is the one who was poor for you. Jesus is the one who hungered in the wilderness and thirsted on the cross for you. Jesus is the one who wept for you. Jesus is the one who bore all the hate and exclusion and wickedness man could muster, and who was cast out called evil even as he hung on the cursed tree of the cross for you. 

 

This is who Jesus is for you. All of the beatitudes are descriptions of him, identifying who he is to save you. And in Jesus, all of his beatitudes, his blessings, come to you as well. 

 

For, try as you might, you do not define yourself. You cannot. It is not we who define ourselves, but God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who defines who you are. And yet, ever since Genesis 3 and the fall of sin, you and me, and the whole sinful world has been wrestling with a giant identity crisis of body and soul. We’re tempted, as Adam and Eve were, to define ourselves for ourselves. You define who you are. I define who I am. We’re tempted to look to ourselves for our own good, for our own definition of who we are, to look at our thoughts, words, and deeds and define ourselves by them. But that is the very definition, not of identity, but of idolatry. In the biblical view of things, this is who I am. Who you are. As we confess the truth…I, a poor miserable sinner.

 

And yet, this is not the whole truth. All of your self-righteousness, self-serving, and sin does not define who you are. Because Jesus was born and lived for you, because he declared these beatitudes in his sermon on the plain, because he went to Jerusalem to be rejected, crucified, died, and was buried, because he rose again from the dead on the third day…your sin no longer defines you.

 

Who are you? We’ll each answer that question differently at first. Who are you? I am a husband, father, pastor, son, brother, uncle, and so on. And those things are true. But they are not the whole truth. 

 

Who or what defines you? Not your politics, your hobbies, your vocations in life – as good as all of these things can be. No, your identity in Christ is defined not by anything you do, say, or are on your own, but by who Christ is, by what he says, and by what he does.

 

Your identity is in Christ crucified and risen. 

 

Blessed are you who are poor in body and soul – who receive all good things in our earthly life as well as our eternal life as gift from God in Christ Jesus. Yours is the kingdom of God. Right here, right now. Today. The kingdom of God comes to you in Jesus’ gifts of word, water, his body and blood.

 

Blessed are you who are hungry now. Blessed are you who see that all our needs of body and soul – from our kitchen table to the Lord’s table - are given to you out of God’s fatherly divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness of your own. You are and ever shall be satisfied in Jesus the Bread of Life.

 

Blessed are you who weep. Sounds strange that Jesus blesses our weeping. But he does. He who wept for us and with us has promised that in His dying and rising, one day he will wipe away every tear from our eyes and make all things new. And you shall have the last laugh over sin and death forever.

 

Blessed are you when you are hated, excluded, cast out, reviled, and spurned as evil on account of Christ. For in him though you are hated by the world, you are loved eternally. Blessed in Him who bore all the hatred and evil in his body on the cross.

 

Who are you? You are blessed in Jesus. You are blesses because you are united to Christ in the waters of your baptism where God the Father declares and identifies you as his beloved, baptized child. 

 

You are blessed because you are his handiwork, created in his image. You are redeemed and restored from sin in the image of the Son of God who was crucified for you and rose from the dead for you. You are a dwelling of the Holy Spirit. Baptized. Blessed because of your communion with Jesus in his body and blood. Blessed because of his word of life and forgiveness declared to you. 

 

All of these beatitudes…they’re all yours. For you belong to Christ. And because of all that He is and has done for you, all that belongs to Him belongs to you as well. 

 

Who are you? You are baptized and blessed in Christ Jesus. You are citizens of his kingdom now and forever. You are, as the prophet Jeremiah says, “a tree planted by the water,” rooted and alive and growing in Christ.

 

Yes, in this life, you may hunger. Thirst. Weep. You may even be persecuted or reviled because of who you are in Christ. 

 

But nothing in this fallen world defines you. You are united with Christ. Blessed in Christ. Redeemed. Rescued. Forgiven. In Christ. 

 

Your identity is in Christ. And that is who you are.

 

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

Sermon for Epiphany 5: "The Christ-Centered Word"

 + 5^th Sunday after the Epiphany – February 6^th, 2022 +

Series C: Isaiah 6:1-13; 1 Corinthians 14:12-20; Luke 5:1-11

Beautiful Savior Lutheran

Milton, WA

 

 

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

 

In the 1500’s, Nicolaus Copernicus proposed the theory that the sun was the center of the solar system, and everything else revolved in orbit around it. “In the middle of everything, is the sun.” 

 

Now, what does Copernicus and the theory of heliocentricity have to do with our Gospel reading from Luke 5? The same thing as an axle and wheel, or a fixed pivot and a teeter totter…Once you know what the center is, everything else comes together. 

 

If Luke 5 was a solar system, there are a lot of planets in orbit. The crowds gather and press in on Jesus. Jesus teaches and preaches. Jesus performs a fisherman’s dream of a miracle, filling the boats and nets with fish. Jesus calls his Peter, James, and John as his disciples, to be fishers of men.

 

And at the center of it all…Jesus, the Son of God, the enfleshed, incarnate Word of God who speaks and delivers His divine and saving Word. Jesus and his word the center and circumference, the sun and gravitational pull in today’s reading. Everything in Luke 5, and the rest of Scripture, orbits around its center: Christ Jesus. Scripture is Christocentric and logo-centric. Christ the word-centered.

 

So it was, as the multitude pressed about Him to hear the word of God, that He stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, and saw two boats standing by the lake; but the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets. Then He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little from the land. And He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat.

 

Why do the crowds come? Are they looking for Jesus to perform some miracles or healings like an attraction at the Puyallup fair? No. The crowds pressed in on Jesus to hear the Word of God. Here in Luke 5, The sea of Gennesaret becomes Jesus’ sanctuary. The crowds are his congregation. Peter’s boat becomes Jesus’ pulpit. And Jesus does what rabbis do. He sat down and taught them the Word of God. His Word. His sacred word which shines with his divine light and life.

 

Our surroundings may look different this morning, but what happens in Luke 5 is what happens here each and every Lord’s day. Like the crowds on the seashore, we press in to hear the Word of God. From the first word of the Invocation to the last word in the Benediction, everything we hear, say, sing, and pray is from God’s Word, centered on Jesus life giving, life-saving word. That’s why we call this divine service. That’s why we say and do the things that are done in the Lord’s house. Jesus’ word is at the center. Everything we do – from the potlucks to planning meetings, from board meetings to bible studies, and everything in between – it all orbits around and is centered upon Jesus’ word of life in his cross and empty tomb. 

 

When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”

 

You have to appreciate the comedy of this moment. Peter and his fellow fishermen have been fishing all night with nothing to show for – sounds like fishing, huh? He’s exhausted. Takes all the energy he has left just to clean the nets. The last thing Peter wants to do is get back in the boat, go out on the water again, at the wrong time of the day for fishing and dirty up the nets he’s just finished cleaning…and for what? Nothing but net? No way, Jesus.

 

“Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; but at Your word I will let down the net.” 

 

Before Jesus fills the nets, Jesus works his miracle of faith in Peter. Simon trusts Jesus’ word, even as Jesus is teaching Simon to trust His Word. That’s the point of this miracle. Trust the Word of Jesus. “At your word I will let down the nets.” Simon trusts the Word of Jesus over and against his own experience as a fishermen. He has no good reason to let out the nets in the daylight in deep water except for Jesus’ Word.  Jesus’ word is at the center of it all.

 

But what happens whenever we place something other than God’s word at the center of our lives – whether it’s our thoughts, emotions, or good works or whatever? The same thing that happens when you remove your axle from your car wheel, or the center pivot of your teeter totter. Everything comes crashing down. Contrary to the ways of the world, the lies of the devil, and our selfish, sinful flesh, we are not the center of the universe. And nothing, save Jesus’ word, will hold our lives together.

 

How different, and unexpectedly gracious Jesus’ Word is. Before long, the nets Peter was cleaning, were soon bursting with so many fish, Peter had to call for help. And that’s the way it is with Jesus’ word. More than we expect or deserve.

 

Peter gets it instantly. Simon Peter looks at the flopping fish in the boat; he looks at Jesus, and this big tough fisherman falls to his knees in humility, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”

 

That is faith talking – recognizing that we stand in the presence of a holy God, recognizing that in Jesus this holy God has become one of us and stands in our midst, that He is the Lord of creation whom the wind and waves and even the fish obey. Simon knew his sinfulness. It wasn’t just a matter of sins, the coarse word here, the fights with his brother, the bickering with his wife, his greed for gain, his discouragement over a fruitless night of labor, or whatever. He doesn’t simply say “I have sinned,” but “I am a sinner.” That’s what he is. That’s what you and I are as well.

Peter’s right. He’s a sinner. And so are we. So what does Jesus do? Toss us back in the drink? No. Do not be afraid, Jesus says to Simon Peter. And to you. For Jesus performs the same miracle for us as he did for Peter.

 

Faith and trust in his Word. Despite what we may think or feel or see around us or know. Jesus’ Word is trustworthy. In fact it’s the only trustworthy word. And he gives you his Word freely. Graciously. Abundantly. You thought that net full of fish was good…just wait till you see his crucifixion where he catches all your sins, throws him onto his body and buries them in the deep water of his tomb. You thought the miracle of a boat load of fish was good, just wait till you see his empty tomb and his risen body come forth from the grave for you. 

 

At the center of this story, of the disciples’ story, of your story is the same Lord Jesus and his same, divine, saving, life-giving word. Yes, Jesus’ word is authoritative. Powerful. Creative. But don’t forget that Jesus’ word is also gracious beyond what we expect or deserve. Do not be afraid, Jesus declares to you as well. Jesus speaks his word of life to you. Jesus washes away your sin with water and his word. Jesus feeds you his body and blood in bread and wine by his word. 

 

In his church, in your daily life, Jesus is the Sun, and we live as his people in the gracious gravitational pull of his death and resurrection. Jesus puts himself at the center for you. And once the center is known, everything else comes together.

 

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