Rev. Steven S. Billings
Lent 1 MW
Sermon
2-4-2009

St. Mark 14:60-65

60 Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus, "Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?" 61 But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer. Again the high priest asked him, "Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?" 62 "I am," said Jesus. "And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven." 63 The high priest tore his clothes. "Why do we need any more witnesses?" he asked. 64 "You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?" They all condemned him as worthy of death. 65 Then some began to spit at him; they blindfolded him, struck him with their fists, and said, "Prophesy!" And the guards took him and beat him.

There was a poem written by William Henley in the latter part of the 1800s called "Invictus" - which is Latin for "Unconquered." In the poem Henley boldly defies what he calls "the bludgeonings of chance" and "the menace of the years." Quite pleased with himself for not wincing or crying out, he ends the poem with the words: "I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul."

Some might think this is courageous and inspiring. You can almost imagine the poet on the deck of a ship, sailing through the storms and tempests of life, navigating the treacherous and tumultuous waters, following his own will, bravely making his own way. No one else will set his course. No one else will command his soul.

Remember Caiaphas? In Jesus' day he was the high priest of the Jewish nation, leader of the Sanhedrin, the ruling council of Israel. He probably hadn't spent much time on the deck of a ship. But he and his compatriots thought of themselves as great navigators, nonetheless. It was their job to keep their people safe and afloat on the tossing seas of empires. This was no small challenge! It would take all the wit and wisdom they had to keep little Judea from being swallowed up and disappearing beneath the waves, as had happened to so many other little nations. But they were accomplishing it, and they were quite proud of themselves for it!

Somehow they forgot who the true Master of Israel was and condemned Him to death when He showed up. You might think you would never have gone along with such a crime, but I'm here to tell you that you and I are tempted by the same pride and arrogance that led Caiaphas and the others to call for the death of the Son of God. And so we must pray: Father, forgive our desire to defy Your divine authority!

Do you know how someone got to be the high priest in those days? Well, I'll tell you; it took a lot of political savvy. The Romans, during their occupation, decided that a position of such influence as that of high priest was not something they wanted out of their control. So the governor of the province was the man who would decide how to fill the office, and he had one overriding concern: It had to be someone who could keep the peace . . . and keep the taxes rolling in!

Now, Caiaphas' family controlled the high priesthood for nearly a century because they knew how to "play the game." Caiaphas himself knew well how to exploit the slightest weakness in the Roman governor's position. He knew how to keep the streets relatively peaceful so he enjoyed all the perks of the position, including a grand house in the best part of town. And he gladly wielded the power of his office and made political mincemeat out of any potential challenger. Oh, did I mention he was supposed to be a man of God?

You don't have to guess what he thought of Jesus; Scripture makes that abundantly clear. Here was this young rabbi traveling throughout the country preaching and teaching - which would've been alright except that He kept talking about the hypocrisy and false teachings of the Jewish leaders! Jesus accused the priesthood of abandoning the pure Law of God and replacing it with their own traditions, laws, and opinions. And He kept performing all these miraculous wonders and getting everybody worked up. Every miracle He performed made Him look better and the priests look worse. "This is getting us nowhere," some of the muckety-mucks moaned. "Look how the whole world has gone after Him" (Jn 12:19).

So the high priest and the Sanhedrin had to get to work. They had to do something to mess things up for this wet-behind-the-ears kid from Galilee. They sent their cronies to try and trap Him into some misstatement and ruin His popularity. That didn't work! So they confronted Him the day He rode into town with palm branches all over the road. That was a miserable flop as well.

So, what's next? I guess if He won't play ball, you gotta . . . kill Him! They bribed one of His disciples to betray Him to them for 30 pieces of silver. They held a mockery of a trial and summarily condemned Him. They brought Him to the Roman governor and demanded that He be executed. And when Pontius Pilate set a placard on His cross to show what crime He was dying for, Caiaphas and company complained. What an insult for Pilate to call this man "The King of the Jews." Not him! They'd never let Him rule over them! They weren't going to recognize His "authority" !

And that right there was their problem; they refused to yield their control over Israel. They didn't want to give up any of their power to anyone; they didn't care even if He was the Messiah. While the rest of the people were delirious at the thought of their heavenly King coming to them, the high priest and his cohorts couldn't possibly think of anything worse. They were the captains of the ship of Israel, and would allow for no other!

I don't think there's one person here who would willingly and consciously join these blasphemous leaders in their defiance. But that's what's so insidious about sin and temptation: It never shows itself as it really is, at least not in ourselves. Oh, we can see it in others. We can clearly see it in Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin.

But can we see it when it rears its ugly head in our own hearts? Aren't there times when we feel like Christ's authority is too much of a burden? His laws are not always what we want to do, right? Our sinful flesh sometimes chafes against the idea that we don't get to call all the shots in our lives. There's times when those commandments of His are more than we feel we can handle. So we look for ways around them, ways to cut a few corners, to find some loop-holes that'll allow us to ignore the clear and obvious Law of our God.

If we're honest - and I think we should be, don't you? - we have to admit that there are times when we - like Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin - defy the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ and turn to sins we know He has forbidden or ignore the things we know He's commanded us to do. And I'm not talking about those sins we fall into through weakness or carelessness; I'm talking about acts of rebellion against our Lord at times when our human nature just plain doesn't want Him to be our King - those times when we want to be the masters of our own fates and captains of our own souls.

And suddenly, there we are, sitting in the council chamber of the Sanhedrin with Caiaphas presiding - or maybe us presiding in his place. But we can't condemn Jesus to a Roman cross like Caiaphas did. So we condemn Him . . . to the backseat of our lives, out of sight and out of mind, while we do what we want and refuse to listen to Him, all the while calling Him our Lord and Master. And you know what? If we continue like this, we will soon cast Him out of our lives completely - just like those Jewish leaders cast Him out of their nation.

Is that who you want to be allied with? - the members of the Sanhedrin who cast Jesus Christ out of the fellowship of Israel because they wouldn't let Him have any authority over them? They'd rather see Him die on a cross than spend another minute listening to Him and His words!

Now, before we find ourselves so firmly set in their midst that we can't find the door out, let's stop and think about what we're doing and what we're saying and who it is we're trying to imitate. And then let's fall on our knees and beg our Father: "Lord, teach us, for Jesus' sake, to submit to Your authority!"

God help us to remember that we're not fit to be the captains of our own fates or the pilots of our own souls. Have we forgotten how quickly we can bring our ships to wreck and ruin when we do the navigating? Listen, we're sinners, born in sin and swimming in it every day of our life. What kind of moral or ethical sense do we think we have to serve as a worthy chart and compass when Scripture says there is no good thing in us, that is, in our flesh?

Look around at all the shipwrecks people make of their lives when they try to sail according to their own maps. They set their own rules. They make their own designs for the way life ought to be lived. And, in the end, what do they have? Nothing but sorrow and pain, for themselves and for the others they ram into on their mad quest to be free of every rule but their own.

Do you really think you can do any better? Why do you think God's Son came to this earth and submitted Himself to the Jewish and Roman authorities? It was to save us from such ruin and disaster! But more than that: He submitted Himself to the authority of the divine Law, which we so often throw overboard. He submitted Himself to the condemnation and death that serve as our Jolly Roger.

Thanks be to God He didn't allow us to set sail to eternal ruin and regret. He surrendered Himself to the power of the wicked men who wanted to end His kingship once and for all. He allowed a Sanhedrin to try Him and a Caiaphas to condemn Him to death. Through this death He paid the price for our stubborn refusals to live under His authority.

He saved us from our headlong rush to destruction and set us once again on the course that God, in His love and wisdom, ordained for us from the beginning and clearly revealed in His Holy Word. Knowing the price He paid, the damnation He has saved us from, and the heaven to which He's guiding us, why would we ever entertain thoughts of mutiny?

Beloved, Jesus is the pilot of our lives. He and He alone is the Captain of our souls. Yes, we know that His commandments are often hard to live by. We're sinful people living in a sinful world and are pursued by the roaring lion who seeks to devour us. How could we even imagine that living a Christian life would be a walk in the park? Temptations are not going to end; again and again the world, the devil and our own sinful flesh will tell us we're being fools not to give into them. But Jesus always gives us strength.

Remember what Paul tells us in his letter to the Corinthians: "He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised again" (2 Co 5:15). Why would we try to throw off His authority? It's the most precious thing in a Christian's life.

"Master of my fate"? "Captain of my soul"? There's only One who can truly make that claim for any of us - and it ain't us. It's the One who paid the price to make us His own so that we might live under Him in His kingdom and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness.

Lord God, forgive us when we forget this and deny Your divine authority! Wash us clean by the blood Your Son. Give us innocent hearts that truly seek to live by Your commands. And teach us how truly blessed we are when we live under Your authority as our King. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Rev. Steven S. Billings
Lent 1
Sermon
3-1-2009

Genesis 22:1-18

1 Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am." 2 And He said, "Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah; and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you." 3 So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son; and he split wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. 4 On the third day Abraham raised his eyes and saw the place from a distance. 5 And Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go yonder; and we will worship and return to you." 6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son, and he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together. 7 And Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, "My father!" And he said, "Here I am, my son." And he said, "Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?" 8 And Abraham said, "God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." So the two of them walked on together. 9 Then they came to the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built the altar there, and arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac, and laid him on the altar on top of the wood. 10 And Abraham stretched out his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am." 12 And he said, "Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me." 13 Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son. 14 And Abraham called the name of that place The Lord Will Provide, as it is said to this day, "In the mount of the Lord it will be provided." 15 Then the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven, 16 and said, "By Myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens, and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies. 18 "And in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice."

Abraham is, of course, one of the major characters of the Old Testament - a man God used mightily in His plan to save us from the guilt of our sin. In today's Old Testament we see one of the critical events in Abraham's life which would test and strengthen His trust in the faithfulness of God. It's also an event that will help us to appreciate God's faithfulness and to trust even more in the promises He's made.

Our text opens with Abraham receiving a command from God that was far different from the comforting promises of inheritance and blessing he'd been hearing up to that point. In fact, we're told in the very first verse that this command was meant to test Abraham.

And so it was that God tested Abraham with the unthinkable command: "Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go into the region of Moriah and sacrifice him there as a burnt offering."

Now, try to put yourself in Abraham's shoes for a moment. You've trusted in God and His commands and promises your whole life (Abraham was famous for that) - and in fact it was the culmination of all those promises that gave you your son, Isaac - a son that you'd waited for for over 90 years - a promise that God faithfully kept and finally granted to you miraculously in your old age - well-beyond child-bearing years. And now God was telling you to take this blessing, this miracle child, and kill him? What??!!

Just killing your kid would be bad enough, wouldn't it? And this was the son God was going to use to give Abraham descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven and the sands of the earth. And now God wants you to kill him? Wouldn't that pretty much chuck the promise out the window?

And never mind Abraham's personal interest in the boy; what about the promise that this child would be the one to carry the Seed of the Messiah - the one from whom the Savior of all mankind would come? If Abraham killed this son, he'd literally be destroying the only hope for salvation for the human race. How could God order Abraham to do such a thing? How could Abraham take the command seriously and actually plan to carry it out?

And yet we read in the very next verse that Abraham got up early the next morning and immediately cut the wood necessary for the sacrifice, took his only son Isaac, some servants and supplies, and left right away for Moriah. He obeyed without hesitation. Why? Well, it was because of all those promises. Abraham knew that he could trust in the faithfulness of God.

Just look at the confidence of this man! As he and Isaac are leaving the servants behind and going up the mountain on their own, Abraham tells them: "WE WILL WORSHIP AND WE WILL COME BACK TO YOU." Abraham knew he was coming back down that mountain with his boy. Either God was going to provide a substitute (he even told him - God Himself will provide the Lamb for the sacrifice), or, even if he did end up killing his son, God would somehow raise Isaac from the dead and thereby keep His promises. Whichever the case, Abraham trusted God.

Now we read that Abraham placed the wood for the sacrifice on Isaac to carry, while he carried the knife and the supplies for the fire. And then, even though Abraham was well over 100 years old by now, and Isaac was grown up enough to resist him if he wanted to, Abraham built an altar, bound up his son, and laid him on the wood. Not only is it clear that Abraham trusted God, but here we see here the trust of Isaac as well; he's the very picture of a passive, trusting, obedient son.

Can you imagine the torrent of emotion running through Abraham as He held that knife over the son he loved with every ounce of his being? And then, with incredible trust in God, he raises the knife in order to plunge it into his kid, when suddenly the Lord Himself cries out and stops his hand.

Oh, the relief and joy at that moment as he looked over and saw the ram in the thicket provided by God to take the place of his son! No doubt he quickly released Isaac, and joyfully they offered the substitute sacrifice together. God had kept all the promises His servant trusted in.

Beloved, the sacrificial payment God commanded Abraham to make is something we're all confronted with as well. During Lent, we're reminded that we were the ones bound in sin by Satan; we could not free ourselves from slavery to sin and death, and deserved the wages of our guilt - eternal damnation. It should be us burnt-up on that sacrificial pyre - that's what we deserve from our Holy and Righteous God.

But just as the Lord faithfully kept His promises to Abraham, so too has He kept them to all of us - that He would provide The Substitute Lamb for us who would offer up His life as payment for our debt of death.

And this Lamb was also the SON, the only Son, the One His Father loved - the only, eternal Son of God, Jesus. And this SON of THE PROMISE obediently went along also, carrying the wood that He was to be laid upon for the sacrifice - not wood for a fire, but the wood of the Cross. But this time the Father didn't stay His hand, but allowed His own Son to be killed, to be the "burnt offering" of all time, the infinite one-time payment for all sin - for this Son was the Substitute - our Substitute, our Sacrificial Lamb. God kept His Word of Promise so that we His children would be spared the torment of hell.

As incredible as Abraham's faith and obedience may seem to us, that he could actually give up his son, the son all of mankind's hope rested on, we see that Abraham is actually just a picture of God the Father, who was so faithful to His promise that He was not only willing to give up His Son, but paid a far higher price by actually giving Him to die for us. And not just to die, but to suffer innocently the burden of all of man's sins and to suffer the very wrath of a holy God and the fires of hell for our sake. Do you see the level of His commitment to us?

And just as Isaac showed the willing obedience of a son to his father's will, even more so do we see Isaac as a picture of God's Son, Jesus Christ - who quietly and completely obeyed His Father's will - even to the point of suffering the full penalty for sins which were not His own.

Whew! Can we ever see our Lord's faithfulness! We see a committed Father and His Obedient Son. During the dark days of Lent, the murky days of our lives in this sin-filled world, the gloomy days when we suffer from whatever affliction we might face, we can see our Lord's faithfulness - that He's kept His promises and has accomplished everlasting Life for us through the death and resurrection of His Son. You know, you can trust a God like that - one who would even suffer the cross for us. You can trust a God like that to keep His Word. And just like Abraham was enabled to trust in the Promises of God, we too, by seeing God's faithfulness, are strengthened in knowing that He enables us by His Word to trust His promises and know that He keeps His Word. God is able to give you the faith you need to trust His faithfulness. You've seen the extent that your Lord will go for you. You can trust a God like that. You can have faith in His faithfulness. God grant it for Jesus' sake. In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Rev. Steven S. Billings
Ash Wednesday
Sermon
2-25-2009

St. Mark 14:48-52

48 "Am I leading a rebellion," said Jesus, "that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me? 49 Every day I was with you, teaching in the temple courts, and you did not arrest me. But the Scriptures must be fulfilled." 50 Then everyone deserted him and fled. 51 A young man, wearing nothing but a linen garment, was following Jesus. When they seized him, 52 he fled naked, leaving his garment behind.

"Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you" (Mt 26:35). "Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will" (Mt 26:33). "Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death" (Lk 22:33). If ever words came back to haunt people - and haunt them badly! - these were the words. And how quickly! It was just a few hours since they'd been spoken in that warm, safe upper room in a house somewhere in Jerusalem. And now Jesus' disciples were running in every direction, running for their lives, while the man they'd promised to stand beside was bound for judgment and death.

The sad fact about courage is that, all too often, we feel it most when we need it least and feel it the least when we so desperately need it the most. Before the catastrophe in Gethsemane, the disciples had known what they were supposed to do when the time came: Stand with Christ! Stand up for Jesus! Never leave Him nor forsake Him! But in that dark and shadowy garden, where God alone knew how many soldiers there were with torches and swords and clubs, the courage that the disciples had all so strongly felt at suppertime melted away.

Why did their courage fail? Because trust was abandoned. That's why they ran; their faith was gone. Jesus once walked across water to rescue them and rebuked a gale-force wind when it frightened them. But now they were afraid that if they stayed with Him, they'd be doomed.

Doom doesn't threaten us too often. And yet, like the disciples on that sad Thursday night so long ago, we sometimes find ourselves tempted to run away from wherever it is that Christ, our Lord, wants us to stand. And, to our sorrow and shame, we run for the same reason, which is why we must pray: Dear Lord, forgive our fearful lack of trust!

The disciples had never thought of themselves as cowards. Nor were they braggarts or blowhards. They really loved Jesus, and they really wanted to be loyal followers. When they said those things about staying with Him through thick and thin, they meant every word it!

But how soon their boasting changed to fear! The most festive night of the year, the Passover, became a night-mare from the moment the meal began. They saw Jesus' sorrow even during supper and heard Him once again speak of His rejection, betrayal and death. Afterward, they walked through a darkness that seemed deeper than the night and reached the olive grove called Gethsemane.

Worn out by sorrow and fretting, they fell asleep while Jesus prayed, even after He asked them to keep watch with Him. Dumbfounded, they watched as one of their own betrayed Him to His enemies. Confused and frightened, they ran and hid while their Lord was led away to trial.

Of course, Jesus had foreseen it. Again and again He'd rebuked them for the weakness of their faith. When storms threatened them at sea and they cried out in despair, He asked them where their trust had gone. Whenever some insurmountable trouble came up - a huge crowd and no food to feed them, a disease they couldn't heal even with the authority and power He'd given them - He would question why they lost their faith. Finally, one day He sighed: "When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?" (Lk 18:8).

Just hours earlier, He'd reminded them of the prophecy: "I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered" (Mk 14:27). One would betray Him; another would deny Him; all the others, as He put it, would "fall away on account of me" (Mt 26:31). None of them believed these things would happen. All of them protested. But now these things were coming horribly true.

Their confusion is what led them to abandon their faith. Jesus told them exactly what was going to happen; He'd been telling them for months. He taught them again and again what He was here to do: He came to give His life for the sins of all people. John the Baptist had told them clearly, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" (Jn 1:29).

Yet, somehow, they still harbored the idea that He was some kind of earthly king who would receive glory and honor in this world. All the old stories about the glory of Israel still knocked around in their heads. Even as they trembled in the chill night air on the Mount of Olives, deep down the hope for the return of glory was still there.

And when Jesus wouldn't lift a finger to keep the temple guards from arresting Him, all the air went out of their balloon. What was He doing? Why wouldn't He fight? Why didn't He summon those 12 legions of angels to defend Him from His bloodthirsty enemies? They didn't know. They were scared. They had lost hope that Jesus would make things turn out right in the end. With their faith in Him shattered, they ran in away, terrified.

But you know, we have the same thing. It's our lack of trust that so often results in our abandonment of the Lord. Like the disciples, we find courage is easier to come up with when we don't really need it. What grand and successful struggles against temptation we can weave in our dreams and imaginations! Satan may cajole and wheedle us, the sinful world may sing its siren song, but we know we will stand fast. We won't give in. We'll fight the good fight of faith - honest, we will!

But who of us hasn't experienced that, when push comes to shove, all our resolve can fail. It's easy here in church to make all the promises of everlasting loyalty to Christ. It's easy during our nighttime prayers in the solitude of our bedrooms to pledge undying devotion to our Savior and our King. But get out beyond these walls; leave the safety of your house; be forced to deal with that world of sin and temptation - and then see what happens!

And we have so much less to be afraid of than those disciples. They abandoned Jesus to save their lives. The stakes are never that high for us, are they? We abandon His commands so that we won't be laughed at or thought of poorly, or so we won't miss out on something "fun." We know what His commandments say and the price of loyalty, but for one reason or another we choose to turn our backs on Him.

It's the same sad story: Our lack of trust leads to foolish fear and failing. We don't think He's leading us to a place that's safe and good for us, so instead of trusting that our Good Shepherd knows what He's doing, we fear that He's taken a wrong turn. We fear that He's leading us some place we don't want to be. It looks like it might be dark there. It looks like it may not be very pleasant. It looks scary.

So we run away, driven by foolish fears that are rarely even real! Our faith evaporates, and with it all our resolve to be His true and obedient followers. We abandon Him, as surely as those disciples did, and for the very same reason.

That's why every Christian, every day, needs to pray these words: "Father, increase my faith!" When trust in our Savior is at its weakest, that's when prayers for a stronger faith are most needed. God forbid that we should ever run away because our faith is failing! What has He ever done to deserve such lack of confidence? Lord Jesus, teach us again the wisdom of Your commandments and grant us faith to follow where You lead.

That's why we study the commandments, not just so we'll know what's expected of us, but so we'll remember the amazing insight of the God who wrote them. If we would just do that - study and think through the ways He would have us go - how quickly we could put to rest our foolish fears! Don't you think He knows what He's doing? Don't you believe our Creator knows the best path for us to follow? We have nothing to fear! Can you think of one reason why we shouldn't say with the psalmist, "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me" (Ps 23:4) ?

That's why we study the stories in the Bible - to see again and again how true it is that "in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose" (Ro 8:28). Remember Moses and the people of Israel - seemingly trapped between the Egyptians and the Red Sea, murmuring about the hopeless place to which they'd been led - until Moses told them, "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today" (Ex 14:13). Remember the calming voice of the Savior as He walked on the tumultuous Sea of Galilee and told His disciples, "It is I; don't be afraid" (Jn 6:20). Has He ever let anyone down who has faith in Him? Remember the Scripture that says: "The one who trusts in Him will never be put to shame" (Ro 9:33).

That's why it's important to remain constant in His Word and faithful to the sacraments which He uses to increase our faith and decrease our fears. Are you sometimes afraid that He might lead you to some dark place and leave you in a lurch? Remember your baptism, the day He claimed you through the washing of water with the Word and told all the world, "I have cleansed him; he is mine. I will never leave him nor forsake him." Are you afraid that He might not always have your best interests at heart as He leads you on a sometimes confusing and frightful path? Then come to His table. As you eat the bread and drink the wine, remember the dark and lonesome road He traveled so that He could purchase your forgiveness with His own body and blood.

Lord, help us to trust Your wisdom in all things, even if actual dangers should come from our following where You lead. The Christian life is not a cakewalk; God has made it abundantly clear to us that troubles will plague us if we follow Him. We walk in danger all the way, as the hymn says. But in His wisdom He mapped out the route of our salvation along a path that was filled with pain and fear. He will never lead us where His Son has not already been and already conquered everything we might be afraid of. As He assures us: "Take heart! I have overcome the world" (Jn 16:33).

So, cleansed of our guilt by His blood, we can dedicate ourselves, body and soul, to living out the trust that He has so rightly earned from us. Let's not worry whether He knows what's best for us when He points the way for us to go. Never think that you're better suited to figure out the best path for your life, but always rely on your Savior to show it to you.

And, finally, let's follow the better examples the disciples gave later in their lives. Remember Jesus' final words to Peter: "'I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.' Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then He said to him, 'Follow me!'" (Jn 21:18,19).

Peter did follow, and so did the others. They followed, through danger and peril, but this time unafraid, trusting in the Lord they had once abandoned. God grant that we, who too often have followed the bad example, may receive God's grace to follow the good. God grant, for Jesus sake, that He would give us an increasing measure of His Holy Spirit. May He cause our faith to grow and, with it, our courage. Lord, when we face our own Gethsemanes, empower us to stand firm. In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Rev. Steven S. Billings
Funeral Sermon
Mary Hovey
2-23-2009

St. Luke 2:25-32

25 And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. 27 And he came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to carry out for Him the custom of the Law, 28 then he took Him into his arms, and blessed God, and said, 29 "Now Lord, Thou dost let Thy bond-servant depart In peace, according to Thy word; 30 For my eyes have seen Thy salvation, 31 Which Thou hast prepared in the presence of all peoples, 32 A LIGHT OF REVELATION TO THE GENTILES, And the glory of Thy people Israel."

To be confronted by mortality and death is, for us poor sinners, a difficult and terrifying thing – a fierce reality we can't escape, nor can we avoid it forever. Oh, people try all sorts of things to forget about it, to put it off, to pretend it isn't always there. Some may work as though their life depended on it, as though they could cheat death by their own efforts and strength. Others play and party like perpetual teenagers, like the lost boys of Never-Never-Land, as though they were immortal, invincible, and going to live forever. Still others know better and, confronted by the inevitability of death, live in constant fear of it; or, perhaps, they seek death in depression.

But there's one thing you can count on in this life, and that's that we all at some point, in some way, are going to leave thus world. So, the only real question is, whether you're going to go out in fear or in peace; and whether your peace will be in Christ Jesus, your Savior, or in some kind of false sense of self-security. There's no other options. There's death - and only death - forever; or there's the death by which the faithful fall asleep in Jesus and rise with Him to everlasting life.

So let me tell you right now, with all the certainty of the Words and Promises of God, that Mary Hovey has departed in Peace – that Peace which the world cannot give, but which her Savior, Jesus, gave to her by grace alone in the Temple of His Church.

I can tell you that with absolute confidence; not like I could read anybody's heart – although, from all accounts, Mary certainly wore her Christian faith and her kind heart on her sleeve. After all the years of taking care of her mother and her brother Jack, it was very clear that Mary cared very deeply and openly for others. But far more importantly, her heavenly Father opened up and showed His heart to Mary, not on His sleeve, but in the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ, as the Holy Triune God came to her in Person, called her by name, and took her into His arms and blessed her: in her Baptism, in the full and free forgiveness of her sins, and so very many times in Holy Communion.

It's by the grace of God in Christ that the Lord has now let His servant, Mary, go in peace. Not as though she deserved it. For, even though she was one of the finest women you'd ever have a chance to meet, as all who knew her will attest – still, Mary was also a sinner, as she herself confessed, according to the Word of God. And the wages of sin is death. That law of God speaks frightfully loud and clear this morning, as we are here confronted by the consequences of sin. But the law of God was not His last Word: not to Mary, and not to you. By His grace and mercy, with His Word of the Gospel, God also speaks forgiveness and life and salvation through His Son.

And so it is by the gracious Word of God in Christ that Mary has departed this life in peace – as a forgiven sinner; as a child of the heavenly Father; in other words: as a Christian.

With this in mind, we turn to the Gospel appointed for today. While this particular text is always timely and appropriate, as we recall in the Nunc Dimittis week after week all year long, it nevertheless seems all the more timely and appropriate today. Like St. Simeon in our text, Mary was no stranger to the Temple of God, and she, too, was "righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon" her.

But, for all of her faith and piety, her Christian service and truly good works, it was none of these that granted Mary peace. Rather, her peace was given to her by the Lord, through the forgiveness of sins, with life and salvation in Christ Jesus. It is precisely as St. Simeon sings: The Lord's Christ and His Salvation come first, and shine forth as a Light for the nations. By His own fall and rising, His Cross and Resurrection, He has obtained the forgiveness of sins, in which there is life and salvation for sinners. Therein lies the peace in which Simeon, and now Mary, have departed life on earth for life everlasting in heaven.

It begins, first of all, with the Incarnation – Immanuel, "God-with us," in the flesh. For God Himself, in Christ, has taken our poor flesh and blood to be His very own, so that He could come to us, and give Himself to us. So it was that Simeon was given the blessed privilege of seeing and holding the Lord and Giver of Life in the Person of the infant Christ-Child. And so it was that Mary, too, was given to receive in her own flesh the Body and Blood of the Son of God in the Sacrament of the Altar. That's why we sing the song of Simeon following the distribution of Holy Communion every week.

But not only did the almighty and eternal Son of the Living God take our flesh and blood to be His own; in order to forgive our sins and reconcile us to God, our dear Lord Jesus took our sins upon Himself. He bore our sins in His own body on the cross, where He put them to death with Himself, and then buried them in His own tomb. In submitting Himself to suffering and death on our behalf He destroyed the power of death and the fear that it held over us. Because death could not hold Him! His sacrifice paid for the sins of the world - for your sins and my sins - and for Mary's. In His Resurrection from the dead, He declared His victory over sin, death and hell, and opened the kingdom of heaven to all who believe in Him.

So that you would believe and trust in Jesus and live with Him forever in heaven, the Lord established His Church on earth. The Church takes a lot of abuse these days, in terms of "bad press" on the one hand and neglect on the other. People want to turn their church services into some kind of nightclub act, or they simply avoid church altogether, making use of any number of excuses as to why they can't attend. What they're missing is that this is not the place to come to be entertained; this is the place God has promised to meet His children in order to serve them with His gifts. That purpose is best served by connecting ourselves with those who have gone before us, stepping into the stream of the Church of all ages, following the example of faith and worship as it flows from generation to generation. The Church, more than any other institution on earth, owes more to its fathers than it does to its sons. I have no doubt that Mary loved and served the church faithfully and well, precisely because she understood how the Lord had so loved and served her through the church. Her faithful years of service, you might say, were Mary's own song of praise, her own "Nunc Dimittis," if you will, whereby she confessed and gave thanks for all that the Lord had done for her and given to her within the walls of the Church.

More than half a century ago, in the waters of Holy Baptism, God the Father in heaven took Mary into His arms, a sinner born under the Law, and He called her to be His own dear child in Jesus. He forgave her all her sins; He anointed her with His own Holy Spirit; and He promised that He would never leave her nor forsake her.

Through these many years, He has forgiven Mary all her sins, again and again, with His Word of Holy Absolution: that sweet and precious comfort of the Gospel, that tender consolation from the very heart of God in Christ. And again and again, the Lord placed into her very hands and mouth, into her frail flesh and blood, the very Body and Blood of Christ Himself. So it was, when death laid hold of Mary's body, it laid hold of Christ, as well, who has already defeated and destroyed death on Mary's behalf. And as such, though we shall lay her mortal remains to rest, they shall be raised again, in the Resurrection of Christ, immortal and incorruptible; even as she now, already and forever, lives in Christ Jesus our Lord.

All of these same gifts and graces of God in Christ are set forth for you, as well, within the Temple of His Church. And as you receive the Lord here in His Church – as you are given a share in His divine, eternal life – so you, too, are able to face death with peaceful confidence and hope. Without a doubt, on this bittersweet day, you mourn the death of your dear loved one and fellow Christian, Mary. But, as St. Paul writes, we do not mourn as those who have no hope. We rather rejoice that Christ has, by His death, destroyed the power of death and the fear that it held over us. And as we have been baptized into His death, so do we also rise with Him in His Resurrection. What is more, in Him, we also may depart in peace, according to His Word; for in His Holy Gospel, we have seen and heard, as Mary did – and does! – the Light of His Salvation. In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Rev. Steven S. Billings
Transfiguration
Sermon
2-21-2009

St. Mark 9:2-9

2 And six days later, Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John, and brought them up to a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before them; 3 and His garments became radiant and exceedingly white, as no launderer on earth can whiten them. 4 And Elijah appeared to them along with Moses; and they were talking with Jesus. 5 And Peter answered and said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah." 6 For he did not know what to answer; for they became terrified. 7 Then a cloud formed, overshadowing them, and a voice came out of the cloud, "This is My beloved Son, listen to Him!" 8 And all at once they looked around and saw no one with them anymore, except Jesus alone. 9 And as they were coming down from the mountain, He gave them orders not to relate to anyone what they had seen, until the Son of Man should rise from the dead.

There's a lot of beautiful, meaningful, Scriptural words that are trivialized by the way we use them. The word "love," for instance. How we drag it through the sewer when we use it to describe things like promiscuity, lust, and sinful desire! The word "awesome" is degraded when we use it to describe just about anything - from the taste of a new diet soda to the size of our latest sturgeon.

In much the same way, the word "glory" is tossed around so frivolously that we lose the true sense of what it really means. Someone pops a melt-away in their mouth and says: "Oh, that's glorious!" Red carpet hosts and hostesses speak of Hollywood stars coming out "in all their glory" on Oscar night. But these things don't even begin to compare with what Biblical "glory" really is.

In the Transfiguration of Jesus, Peter, James, and John got a "Glimpse of Glory." While only Luke's account (9:32), uses the word "glory", Matthew, Mark, and Luke all give the impression that the three disciples saw something spectacular. Mark says that Jesus' "clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them." Matthew adds that His face shone like the sun.

Needless to say, this transfiguration of Jesus' appearance left quite an impression on Peter, James and John. Many years later Peter was still talking about what he saw and heard. He wrote: "We were eyewitnesses of His majesty. We were there when He received glory from the Father. We heard the voice from heaven when we were with Him on the sacred mountain." And John couldn't forget what he saw. Years later he wrote (John 1:14): "We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." They saw Jesus as He truly is – God in the flesh – and they heard the voice of the Father calling Him His own Divine Son.

Up to that point Jesus had hidden His true glory; it was clothed in simple flesh and blood. He set aside His prerogatives as God and lived as a humble servant. He only gave veiled clues to His divinity when He healed the sick, cast out demons, raised the dead, calmed the storm, fed the multitudes, and taught with authority.

And those who saw His mighty works asked the all-important question: "Who is this?" Peter boldly confessed the answer only a few days before the Transfiguration: "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God." Because of this confession, Jesus said that Peter was blessed by the Father, who revealed this to him. Yet, shortly afterward, Jesus had to rebuke him. He'd been telling His disciples of His suffering and death soon to come in Jerusalem. When Peter tried to disagree, Jesus said to him: "Get behind me, Satan!"

Peter, James and John, together with the other disciples, were going to watch their Lord suffer and die. Everything they thought they knew about Jesus was about to be assaulted. What seemed like a firm reality during the days of His earthly ministry would soon crumble as they watched their dear Master suffer and die.

To prepare His disciples for what was to come, Jesus promised that some of them would actually see the kingdom of God in its power and glory. But, it was only a glimpse, a brief look. "After six days Jesus took with Him Peter, James, and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before them."

It was only a brief look, because Peter, James and John couldn't bear to experience the full glory of God – at least not at that point. Like the rest of us, they had lost the glorious image of God, the holiness and righteousness of God, in which Adam and Eve were first created. Because of sin, none of us can behold God in all His glory - not without dying, anyway.

So the glorious Son of God cloaked His divinity with human flesh. He humbled Himself and took on the form of a servant. The Merciful Savior would be shown no mercy. The Divine Healer would become a disease for us, suffering wounds that effect our healing. He Who was God in the flesh suffered in His flesh the full wrath and fury of God, so that through faith in Him, we may be clothed in His righteousness and glory.

But here's the exciting thing: Along with Peter, James, and John, we, too, get a glimpse of Jesus' glory. In the Transfiguration of our Lord, we see the glory that we will share with Him in heaven, for just as Christ was transfigured - and for a few moments on the mountain shone with heavenly glory - so will all who trust in Him. Everyone who is asleep in Him, all believers past, present and future, will on the Last Day be raised from the dead. Our physical bodies will come back to life and be transformed into glorious, heavenly bodies, as Paul writes in 1st Corinthians: "Listen, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed - in a flash - in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed." And in Philippians: "He will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body."

The Bible teaches that in eternity we will actually have the same bodies we have now, except they will be transformed to perfection - no illness, no disease, no weakness, no pain, no suffering of any kind. Job proclaims: "I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see Him with my own eyes."

We also learn from the Transfiguration that with us in heaven will be all the saints, all the faithful throughout the ages, whom God brought to faith in Christ. Just as Moses and Elijah appeared with Jesus and talked with Him, in heaven a great, countless multitude of believers will gather around the throne of God - and you will be there too! You will be there with Moses and Elijah, and all the believers of the Old Testament, who looked forward in faith to the coming Savior. You will be there with David, Noah, Adam and Eve, Isaiah, Job, Ruth, Joshua - all those Old Testament saints you've read and heard about so often.

Also with you in heaven will be the faithful men and women of the New Testament: Mary and Joseph, the Apostles and first disciples, Paul, the thief on the cross, the women who discovered the empty tomb. Just as Moses and Elijah appeared and talked with Jesus, you will be there in heaven with all believers of all times and places - all who trusted in Christ, spanning the centuries since the beginning of time. As John writes in the Book of Revelation: "There before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb."

People sometimes ask, "Will I know my loved ones in heaven? Will I recognize them?" The Transfiguration of our Lord gives us the answer: YES! Just as Moses and Elijah were recognized by the disciples, you will certainly recognize and rejoice in heaven with your loved ones who trusted in Jesus.

Finally, we learn from the Transfiguration that heaven is a wonderful place. People sometimes joke that heaven might get boring, that maybe eternity will grow tiresome. But, for a few brief moments on the Mount of Transfiguration, Peter, James and John had a sample of heaven, "A Glimpse of Glory" – and they didn't ever want it to end! "It is good for us to be here," Peter said. In the same way, heaven's not going to be boring; you're never going to get tired of it! Just like Peter, you will revel and rejoice in the glorious blessing of your heavenly home. As Psalm 126 says, "Then will our mouths be filled with laughter, and our tongues with songs of joy." And Isaiah: "They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away."

Beloved, this is why the Holy Spirit has led each one of you here today. He gathers you into the presence of Jesus so that you too can get a "glimpse of glory." He gathers you here so that you may hear and know how much He loves you and how much He's done for you. He knits you together in this blessed communion so that you may - again - find glory in Christ's suffering, death and resurrection, all of which He carried out for you. Jesus has led you to this Sunday morning mountaintop. He has drawn you away from your daily struggles and has come to you - as He does each week - so that you may be reassured and strengthened.

"Rabbi," Peter said, "it is good for us to be here." It is good to be here, isn't it? It's good to be with Jesus, to see Him fully revealed in His glorious Word, to commune with Him as we receive His body and blood for the forgiveness of sins, to hear from Him. Soak it up! Savor every moment of your time here! Enjoy it while it lasts!

For all too soon the glory will pass. It's not given to us to remain in this place. We each will go our way to carry out our various vocations. Yet, we may leave here knowing beyond all doubt Who Jesus is – the Son of God, soon again to be revealed in all His heavenly splendor on the Last Day. And leave here today knowing who you are – the chosen, beloved people of God, purchased with the blood of Christ. Leave here today knowing that because of Jesus' atoning sacrifice and glorious resurrection, you too will one day share His glory in your eternal, heavenly home. Leave here today knowing that you do not venture out into the wilderness of your lives alone, but that your crucified and risen Lord goes before you and is ever with you. Leave here today knowing that you too have been given a "glimpse of glory."

"How good, Lord, to be here!
Yet we may not remain;
But since You bid us leave the mount,
Come with us to the plain."

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

Rev. Steven S. Billings
Epiphany 6
Sermon
2-15-2009

2 Kings 5:1-14

1 Now Naaman, captain of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man with his master, and highly respected, because by him the Lord had given victory to Aram. The man was also a valiant warrior, but he was a leper. 2 Now the Arameans had gone out in bands, and had taken captive a little girl from the land of Israel; and she waited on Naaman's wife. 3 And she said to her mistress, "I wish that my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria! Then he would cure him of his leprosy." 4 And Naaman went in and told his master, saying, "Thus and thus spoke the girl who is from the land of Israel." 5 Then the king of Aram said, "Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel." And he departed and took with him ten talents of silver and six thousand shekels of gold and ten changes of clothes. 6 And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, "And now as this letter comes to you, behold, I have sent Naaman my servant to you, that you may cure him of his leprosy." 7 And it came about when the king of Israel read the letter, that he tore his clothes and said, "Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man is sending word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? But consider now, and see how he is seeking a quarrel against me." 8 And it happened when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, that he sent word to the king, saying, "Why have you torn your clothes? Now let him come to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel." 9 So Naaman came with his horses and his chariots, and stood at the doorway of the house of Elisha. 10 And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, "Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored to you and you shall be clean." 11 But Naaman was furious and went away and said, "Behold, I thought, 'He will surely come out to me, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place, and cure the leper.' 12 "Are not Abanah and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?" So he turned and went away in a rage. 13 Then his servants came near and spoke to him and said, "My father, had the prophet told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, 'Wash, and be clean'?" 14 So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.

You can easily tell from both the Old and New Testaments that God wants to bless all people so they can have a clean heart and an everlasting place in His gracious presence. Everything He made was pure and perfect and holy right from the beginning of creation. Even after the Fall of Adam into sin, God wanted everything to be flawless and unblemished. But He knew that He would have to be the one to make it that way. So, in a world full of disease, demons and death, the Lord spoke and acted, not only according to His holiness and justice, but according to His grace and mercy, using the means He Himself appointed.

Today's Old Testament provides a beautiful opportunity for us to understand that God bestows grace through His Word. The Lord has ordained His undershepherds to proclaim His Word of forgiveness in the Absolution. That's one of the means of grace. Holy Communion is another in which the Word is in, with and under the bread and wine. And Holy Baptism is another, where the Word is connected to the water. The account of Naaman's cure from leprosy helps us to understand God's desire and provision for our salvation. Let's look a little more closely to see how gracious this Washing of Water with the Word is.

"Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean." Naaman was a commander in the Syrian army, a man who was victorious in battle. He was a powerful man in a position of great power. He was also a man with a terrible problem; he was a leper. Leprosy eats away at the body, consuming it slowly, but surely. It's a loathsome disease, both to the one who has it and to those around him. "Unclean" is the word that comes to mind and is often used to describe the individual who has this hideous disease. Naaman needed cleansing from this horrible affliction of the body.

There's something like that disease that everybody here has. It's a disease that permeates the soul. It's called sin – a condition that is ours by nature even before we're born. King David declared the truth for each one of Adam's descendants: "Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me" (Psalm 51:5). Sometimes people think that sin is only something we do or fail to do. But our condition goes much deeper than that. We are in need of spiritual cleansing, which is why we beg God: "Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! . . . Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put renew a right spirit within me" (Psalm 51:2, 8).

Naaman needed physical cleansing because he was a leper. If left unchecked and untreated, his condition would result in condemnation from the community, rejection by others and a lonely, putrid death.

Our spiritual condition, if left unchecked and uncleansed, would also result in condemnation, rejection by God Himself and eternal death. That's what would happen to everybody if God had not made the Way of salvation available to all. Scripture declares: "therefore . . . sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all men sinned" (Romans 5:12) and "the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23a). That's what all deserve. God's mercy is shown by not giving us what we deserve. Consequently, thank God for the rest of that verse: "The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23).

Through Elisha God made a promise to Naaman: "Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean." What wonderful, great, fantastic, undeserved news for this leper!

But there was a problem. The leper wasn't too happy with God's promise, because God had attached it only to the water of the Jordan River, a river that was far away from Naaman. And he didn't like that. He said: "Behold, I thought that [Elisha] would surely come out to me, and stand and call on the Name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place, and cure the leper. Are not Abanah and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them, and be clean?' So he turned and went away in a rage."

Here's Naaman's point: The water of the Jordan River isn't any better than the water of rivers closer to him. Rivers in Damascus would have been much more convenient. It's all H2O, right? In fact, water is just water and in itself, doesn't possesses any medicinal power to cleanse anyone from leprosy.

But there was a reason God's promise was tied to the particular water of the Jordan River. It wasn't the water that did the cleansing; it was the promise of God connected to the water that did it.

This is strikingly similar to the power of Baptism. The water we use to baptize someone isn't anything special either. When asked, How can water do such great things?, the reply is: "It is not the water indeed that does them, but the Word of God which is in and with the water, and faith which trusts the Word of God in the water. Without the Word of God, the water is simple water and no Baptism. But with the Word of God it is a Baptism, that is, a gracious water of life and a washing of regeneration in the Holy Spirit" (Luther's Small Catechism).

That right there is often the problem. How the Naamans of this world howl at this! Surely there should be something more to salvation than that; certainly you have to make some kind of decision, right? You have to make some kind of personal pledge, doncha? Doncha have to do something? How else am I going to feed my pride or have my ego stroked?

That's what Naaman's problem was. He thought the prophet of God should come out to him and wave his arms in the air and call on God's Name and do all sorts of other entertaining things. Angry that God was not using his prescribed methods for cleansing him, he went away in a huff.

But - lucky for him - one of Naaman's undeserved blessings was that he had some wise servants, who said: "My father, if the prophet had commanded you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much rather, then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean?'"

What a wonderful, inviting way of saying, "Look, you idiot. That prophet sent his messenger with the Word of God's promise to you. If you would've been commanded to give 10,000 pieces of silver – if you were ordered to conquer one nation or another – you'd have done it and been glad. But now, since God's Word of hope and cleansing has been given to you and that you need only wash seven times in the Jordan River, you're offended, angry, pitching a fit?! Are you really willing to pass up your only opportunity to be cleansed of this awful disease?"

Oh, how the unbelievers of the world and even the doubters in the church regard the invitation to repent and be baptized, to come and hear the Word of the forgiveness – to take and eat and drink the Body and Blood of Christ in the Sacrament of the Altar. Though it's an invitation and not a command, they often reply, "Don't tell me what to do. I thought the pastor was gonna come out and wave his hands and entertain me. Instead, he sends me an invitation to eat some unleavened bread and drink a sip of wine. My bread's just as good as yours. Take and eat, indeed! I don't like to be told what to do. I'm not gonna put up with it!"

And what happens to people like this? I don't know. I know what happened to Naaman. If he hadn't repented he would've remained a leper. But he did repent!

"He went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the Word of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean."

Beloved, when you were baptized, you were cleansed by the Presence of the Lord God Almighty. You were restored to God; your soul was healed; your life was regenerated by the gracious washing of water with the Word. Sin no longer controls you, you are no longer enslaved by it, death no longer has dominion over you, you live in Christ, you are united with Christ in a Resurrection like His, you are alive to God and you walk in newness of life.

When Naaman was cured of leprosy, it was a cure that continued with him. Otherwise, he would've had to wash in the Jordan seven times every day. But he didn't. It continued with him and he must've been glad every morning when he arose and thanked the Lord for the Word and the water.

So also the cleansing you received in your Baptism remains with you. Every morning when you wake up remember that. Live your Baptism every day, drowning the old Adam and rising new and clean and refreshed.

In Romans 6, we're told that those who've been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death. His death on the cross paid the price for the life of the world. The sins that we've committed and the ones that we'll commit in whatever days that we have left on this earth have all been paid for in the death of Christ.

Death and Baptism are intrinsically connected in Christ. Centuries after Naaman went to the Jordan River to wash away his leprosy, "Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John wanted to prevent Him, saying, "I need to be baptized by You, and You come to me?" But Jesus answered him, "Let it be so now; for thus it is fitting to fulfil all righteousness" (Matthew 3:13-15).

No leprosy was washed from Jesus that day, for He was perfectly clean. No transgressions were carried away from Him by the washing of water with the Word, for He was without sin. In fact, it was just the opposite. Jesus stepped into those filthy waters and all the diseases of body and soul, all the sins of humanity, were washed up and onto Him. He stepped out of that river and continued His journey to the cross, carrying in His body that awful, terrible, horrible burden with Him. He did it, not because He needed it for Himself, but so that you could continue to lay your sins on Him and know that in your baptism all your sins - past, present and future - are washed away and you are clean. In the Name of the Father and of the T Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Rev. Steven S. Billings
Epiphany 5
Sermon
2-8-2009

St. Mark 1:29-39

29And immediately [Jesus] left the synagogue and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. 30Now Simon’s mother-in-law lay ill with a fever, and immediately they told him about her. 31And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her, and she began to serve them. 32That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or oppressed by demons. 33And the whole city was gathered together at the door. 34And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him. 35And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. 36And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, 37and they found him and said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.” 38And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.” 39And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.

In some ways we have a rather troublesome subject before us this morning. In our text Jesus heals Peter's mother-in-law and later on He heals many who were sick and diseased. Obviously, healings are good things.

This is just one of many miracles in the gospels. Seems like every time Jesus opens His mouth miracles happen. He smears mud in a man's eyes and he sees. He says, "come forth" and a man rises from the grave. He commands demons to leave and they do! And here in our text He takes death by the hand and ushers it right out the door! This is such a glorious passage of Scripture because it reminds us that Jesus is God and that He holds all power in His hands, even power over sickness and death.

So, what's so troublesome about that? Well, the problem is, with all this healing going on, people sometimes wonder: "Why doesn't Jesus do this for me? What about my sickness, what about the sickness of my child or parent or some other friend or relative? Why doesn't He help us?"

The subject of sickness - especially the sickness of Christians - is bothersome for a number of reasons. First of all, we know that Jesus has the power to take away our sickness, don't we? I mean, He's God, right? And that means He's omnipotent - all-powerful; there's nothing He can't do, there's no sickness He can't heal. So, why are there Christians - His own beloved children - still sick? That bugs us.

And then we begin to question God's love and mercy. What kind of loving and merciful God would send His own Son to the cross? And what does His death have to do with my sickness? Anything? Does the cross say anything about why Christians get sick? Does it have any relevance? It does, actually, and that's what I want us to consider for the next several minutes: "Our Sickness in Light of the Cross."

I'd like to begin by looking at the book of Job. When we Christians think about sickness and suffering we're often drawn to the story of Job - and there's plenty there to talk about!

In chapter seven Job writes: "I have been allotted months of futility, and nights of misery have been assigned to me. When I lie down I think, 'How long before I get up?' The night drags on, and I toss till dawn. My body is clothed with worms and scabs, my skin is broken and festering" (Job 7:3-5).

Now, maybe you'd describe your sickness differently, but no doubt you can relate to how Job felt about his. There's an emotional stress that comes right along with his physical problems. We get that too. And it often comes from the fact that we don't understand why - even though Jesus gave His life for us - we still suffer. Why does that happen? What's the purpose? Why does a Christian, a baptized child of God, have to deal with illness? Jesus has redeemed us body and soul. So why do we still get sick?

I want to say unequivocally that God does not use sickness as a punishment. The punishment for sin is death, and Jesus already suffered that on our behalf, so get rid of that idea right away. Might it be some form of discipline? Perhaps. But there's a big difference between discipline and punishment. Punishment has as its singular goal the meting out of retribution for a violation of the law. You get caught doing 80 across the Butte des Morts bridge and there's gonna be some retribution. You can trust me on that! (No, I don't have any personal experience with that; it's pure speculation, I promise!)

Discipline, on the other hand, has as its main goal discipleship. The purpose is to make you a disciple, to help you in following the teachings of your master. Sometimes sickness is given to get us to change our behavior from things that damage our relationship with Christ to things that enhance and improve it. Many an alcoholic has been scared into sobriety because of a life-threatening illness brought on by his drinking. I've known people who work too hard that have found in their heart attack the motivation to slow down and sit at the feet of Jesus instead of running around trying to serve Him all the time. Are these things sinful in and of themselves? Of course not. But when these behaviors interfere with your relationship with Jesus they need to be modified. We'll leave it up to God, of course, to decide if an illness is what you need to get you back on track.

But in any event, we need to remember that punishment is not the purpose for illness, just as it was not out of sheer heartlessness that God sent His Son to the cross. Friends, this is really the perspective that we need. As followers of Christ - and especially as Lutherans - we must categorically refuse to think of God in any way apart from His grace in Christ Jesus, so beautifully demonstrated by His death on the cross. You know, the cross wasn't just some historic event; it was - and is - everything for us. It forms and informs our understanding, our very conception of God. The cross is the filter through which we consider every single aspect of our life.

Let me give you an illustration. A few years ago we had Hurricane Katrina, one of the most devastating causes of human suffering in our lifetime. Some religious people have said that Hurricane Katrina was God's wrath being carried out upon the sin-filled city of New Orleans. As far as they're concerned, New Orleans was just another Sodom and Gomorrah and the tragedy of Katrina was God's judgment, His punishment, if you will, on the city and its people.

Now, this is the kind of proposition that we, as Lutherans, have to reject in the light of the cross. Dr. Gene Veith wrote about the subject recently in one of our Lutheran publications. He said: "In the Lutheran mind-set, when we think of God's wrath, we immediately bring Christ into the picture. The target of God's wrath is Christ - not us, not the hurricane victims . . . not the whole sinful mess of humanity - [but] Jesus on the cross, bearing in His body the sin of the world and experiencing God's judgment against that sin, so that we can experience instead His grace and mercy." As Luther once warned: "We dare not presume to approach or even think about God apart from a mediator, apart from Christ."

So, beloved, your sickness - whatever it is - is not punishment from God. Jesus' cross eliminates that possibility. So, why do we get sick? Obviously, if God allows it, it must have a purpose, right?

That doesn't mean that we'll always know what God's purpose is. Sometimes the hidden things of God remain hidden. Sometimes we have to let mysteries be mysteries. But when you see God through the Light of the cross, you see that even when we don't understand His purpose, we can understand that He has one! "God," the Scripture says, "causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him and have been called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28).

No, we don't always know what God's purpose is in our sickness, and we shouldn't drive ourselves nuts trying to figure out what it might be. Under the cross of Jesus all of life is given meaning, as one of our Lenten hymns puts it: "Bane and blessing, pain and pleasure by the cross are sanctified" (LSB 427:4).

Sometimes we face illness so we can learn to give thanks to God for doctors and medicine. People often pray for miracles when they're sick. I wonder if they realize that sometimes the miracle is the doctor God has given them or the medicine that's prescribed. These are just as miraculous as the healing of Simon Peter's mother-in-law. They're just given in a different way.

Sickness also calls us to repentance and faith. You know how it is - when you're sick you slow down and reflect on your life. Though it isn't necessarily our sins that have caused our illness, still, we pause to confess them. Our plea becomes all the more that God would create in us a clean heart, and renew a right spirit within us. We learn to find hope in God's Word. The slightest promise becomes a treasure that other people could hardly begin to comprehend. We die to sin and find new life in the promises of God. In other words, we learn to live the baptismal life.

So, yeah, sickness calls us to repentance and faith. It humbles us. Paul endured his thorn in the flesh so that he would remain humble before God. He could have boasted in his accomplishments, but it was his weakness that became the greatest source of his strength. He prayed for God to take away his thorn in the flesh, but God, out of love for Paul, left it there so that his pride would never overtake him.

Ultimately, sickness drives us to the cross of Jesus, because we refuse even to think about it apart from that cross. It's in the cross that we find our comfort, our rest, and our hope. And if God can give us life through that great symbol of death, if He can give the greatest good through the suffering of His Son, He surely can - and does! - bring good through our suffering as well.

God enable us in our illnesses to see that He has not let go our hand, but will, in His time, and according to His purpose, restore us to health and strength, that we may rise and continue our service to Him. In the name of the Father and of the T Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen