Devotion: Hand to the Plow (Luke 9:51-62)

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51 As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. 52 And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; 53 but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. 54 When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, "Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?" 55 But Jesus turned and rebuked them, 56 and they went to another village. 57 As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." 58 Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." 59 He said to another man, "Follow me." But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." 60 Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God." 61 Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family." 62 Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God." 

Most of us have never touched a hand plow, let alone used one for plowing. So most of us have no idea of just how hard it is to plow a row using a plow that is being pulled along by an animal. Not only is the work physically demanding, it takes a lot of concentration and skill to plow the rows straight enough to make good use of the available land. The key to plowing straight rows is to pick a fixed object at the end of the row and to keep looking forward as you plow. Looking around at the scenery will make for wavy, troubling rows. Looking back will make for crooked, useless rows.

When Jesus said that whoever puts his hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the kingdom of God (Luke 9:62), He was making use of an activity that was part of everyday life for the people listening to Him. They knew that someone who kept looking back while plowing was not fit for the job. The same is true for those who commit to following Jesus but keep looking back at what they have given up in order to follow Him. The Christian life is a calling to a radically different way of living, one which requires us to leave behind the ways of this world that we previously followed in order to be faithful and effective servants of Jesus. He is telling us that anyone who looks back to what he has left behind for the sake of the Kingdom is not fit for working in that Kingdom.

Is the call to follow Jesus really so radical? Many people who consider themselves followers of Jesus follow Him in a way that is more aptly described as a willingness to accommodate Him to some degree into their existing lives. In other words, they are open to imitating Jesus by incorporating His teachings and His examples into the way that they live, at least to the point that it is practical and reasonable to do so. But the word "follow" goes far beyond this understanding. The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament describes the Greek word that is translated "follow" as “not in any sense an imitation of the example of Jesus, … but exclusively a fellowship of life and suffering with the Messiah which arises only in the fellowship of His salvation.” Jesus' interactions with those who would follow Him on their terms show us that His call to follow is a radical calling. Following Jesus includes the willingness to leave one's home, family, and possessions, if necessary. It may involve breaking off friendships and ending associations. It could even mean terminating our employment and seeking a new occupation. There is no one answer to what it means to follow Jesus. His call comes to each of us in different contexts and varying circumstances. But we can be sure that it is always a radical call.

Elisha's story demonstrates the radical nature of the call to follow Jesus. Called by Elijah to be his successor while he literally had his hands to the plow, Elisha understood that he would have to leave his current life behind in order to be faithful to his new calling. After saying good-bye to his parents, Elisha cut himself off from his old life by slaughtering his oxen and burning his plow to cook their meat. He had committed himself to putting his hand to the plow of God's kingdom in a way that kept him from looking back. Is it possible that Jesus wants us to put our hands to the plow in the same way that Elisha did? Does He really expect us to radically change our lives in order to follow Him? In a word, yes. All who would follow Jesus are called to abandon those things that tie them to the world in order to be effective servants in His Kingdom — and to look forward in faith without looking back. And all who look back are unfit to follow Jesus. But look back we do.

The truth is that we are unfit for service in the Kingdom of God. We are too tied to the world and its ways, too weak in faith, too addicted to comfort and material security to follow Jesus without looking back. But that's Jesus' point. For all who would follow Him on their terms, confident of their worthiness to be His disciples, there is no place in the Kingdom. But for those who would despair of their weaknesses, confess the ways in which they look back, seek the righteousness that Christ alone can provide, and cling to the grace of God as their only source of hope, the Kingdom is flung wide open. By that grace we are included in "a fellowship of life and suffering with the Messiah" who resolutely set His face toward Jerusalem and the Cross for our salvation -- and never looked back.

Journal: Same Sex Marriage Was Inevitable ... What Else Is?

The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) has rendered its judgment on

the legality of same sex marriage. Its decision could hardly been a surprise to anyone paying attention to the cultural shifts in America. Given the previous rulings made by the SCOTUS and lower courts regarding personal rights, it was inevitable that homosexual couples would be given the same standing as heterosexual couples. The SCOTUS has followed a logical stream of precedent and progression. In doing so, the Court has furthered the inevitability of extending legal recognition and protections to people who embrace other sexual  and relationship preferences, especially polygamy and including pedophilia.

Polygamy is the next logical domino to fall in the battle of a culture insistent on removing sexual taboos. Those who framed the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which the SCOTUS struck down, must have understood this and sought to protect against it by defining marriage as one man and one woman in a lifelong, committed relationship. Logically, if homosexual unions enjoy the protection of the law because they are formed by consenting adults, then three or more consenting adults of the same or different genders should enjoy those same protections. People will argue that nothing  in reason or nature calls for the restriction of marriage to two people. Others well certainly point out that there are examples of polygamy in the Bible. The limitation of marriage to two people will be attributed to religious idealism or bigotry. Like it or not, legal and sanctioned polygamy in America is inevitable.

While the thought of polygamy may be tolerable to a large degree, and even desirable among a number of Americans, the idea that pedophilia will one day be embraced by our culture and protected by law seems preposterous. However, the only argument standing in the way of it is that pedophilia differs from homosexual marriage and polygamy because they involve consenting adults while pedophilia involves children who cannot consent. Certainly pedophilia will continue to be the deviant behavior that it is currently thought to be, won't it? Unfortunately, the seeds for change have already been sown. With the recent court decision forcing "morning after" pills to be made available to female persons of any age without parental consent, the door has been thrown open to minors having the right to grant consent to sexual activity and relationships. Once such consent is a matter of personal civil rights, what remains to stop children from entering into relationships, even marriage, with adults?

The consequences of redefining marriage are staggering. In them we find all sorts of actual and potential inevitable outcomes, including a response by Christians in our culture that will very likely be ineffective. Arguably, the immoral shifts we are now experiencing as a nation are the inevitable results of the failure of the American Church to be what it is called to be. Rather than concentrating her energies and resources on being light in the world of darkness and salt to those who are perishing, the Church has taken up political arms and engaged those whom we've been called to rescue from sin and death as enemies to be defeated in legislative halls and courtrooms. We set aside Word and Sacrament ministry to engage unbelievers in the public square with worldly weapons. It was inevitable that the Church stripped of her power would lose such a battle.

If only it were inevitable that the American Church would wake up from her slumber and take up the arms that her Lord has given and engage the world in the battle to which she has been called. Should we rise to this challenge and return to the unique work of the Church on Earth to bring life and salvation to those who are perishing then one more thing would be inevitable: we, the Church, would find neither encouragement nor disappointment in the outcomes of elections, passages of bills, or renderings of SCOTUS decisions, but would stand unwavering in the confidence that Jesus Christ is Lord and that in Him we are victorious, now and forever.

Reflection: It Was Worse than We Thought (June 23, 2013)

The 5th Sunday after Pentecost
Isaiah 65:1-9; Galatians 3:23-4:7; Luke 8:26-39

After a crisis, when we've gotten through whatever it was that overtook our lives,
we can often look back to discover that things were really a lot worse than we realized when we were in the middle of it all. It can be disturbing to recognize how badly things could have turned out for us. Such an experience leaves us humbled, and, as followers of Jesus, grateful for God’s grace. This was certainly the case for the man who was living among the tombs in the Gerasenes. He lived in isolation, tormented by demons and feared by people. He was alone and in agony until Jesus delivered him from his hopeless and dire situation. Afterwards, when he was in his right mind sitting at the feet of Jesus, he realized that his horrible condition was worse that he had thought for had Jesus not come to him he would have continued in that wretched state forever. We should be able to relate to this revelation.

When we consider what it means to be followers of Jesus, we often focus on comparing our behaviors and morals to those of nonbelievers. We see the error of their ways and are glad to have a greater sense of meaning, purpose, and hope in our lives than they do in theirs. But do we really understand what it was like for us before Christ brought us salvation? Today’s Epistle lesson tells us that “before faith came, we were held captive under the law” and imprisoned by it. It goes on to explain that we “were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world,” that is, we were slaves to sin and death. We were a rebellious people, who walked in a way that is not good, following our own devices, and provoking God to His face continually. We had no hope for freedom, we had no chance for salvation, and we had no way to avoid eternal condemnation. It was worse than we thought — it was worse than we still realize.

If we understood just how bad off we were before faith we would find ourselves begging Jesus for an opportunity to serve Him in thankfulness, like the man who had been delivered from the horrors of demon possession. You have been delivered from an inescapable, horrible condition and have been sent to “declare how much God has done for you.” You have been given faith, set free from the law, adopted into God’s family, and made an heir of eternal life. It was worse than you thought, but now you have been justified by faith.

Audio file of the sermon "It Was Worse than We Thought."

Devotion: What Do You Want With Me Jesus (Luke 8:26-39)

Audio file of the devotion "What Do You Want with Me, Jesus?"

26 They sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, which is across the lake from Galilee. 27 When Jesus stepped ashore, he was met by a demon-possessed man from the town. For a long time this man had not worn clothes or lived in a house, but had lived in the tombs. 28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell at his feet, shouting at the top of his voice, "What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don't torture me!" 29 For Jesus had commanded the evil spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he had broken his chains and had been driven by the demon into solitary places. 30 Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" "Legion," he replied, because many demons had gone into him. 31 And they begged him repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss. 32 A large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into them, and he gave them permission. 33 When the demons came out of the man, they went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned. 34 When those tending the pigs saw what had happened, they ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, 35 and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus' feet, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. 36 Those who had seen it told the people how the demon-possessed man had been cured. 37 Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear. So he got into the boat and left. 38 The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, 39 "Return home and tell how much God has done for you." So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him.

Everyone else had written the man off as crazy and dangerous. He was legendary in the worst sort of ways, the subject of wild talk and the object of the hatred that comes from deep-seated fears. Forced to live among the tombs — the living among the dead — the man howled in the pain of physical, spiritual, and emotional torment. His anguished cries only added to the fears of the people living nearby and to his isolation. Nobody wanted anything to do with this pathetic figure. Nobody, that is, except Jesus.

Having just calmed the storm that raged on the Sea of Galilee in an awe-inspiring display of His rule over nature, Jesus sought out the man whom others intentionally avoided to show His power over unnatural forces. Unaccustomed to people desiring to be in his presence, the demon-possessed man rushed to Jesus with a demanding question, "What do You want with me, Jesus?" It's a question that we would do well to ask of Jesus, for His answer to us is strikingly similar to the answer He gives the tortured man held captive by spiritual darkness — as strikingly similar as the natural condition of our souls is to his horrifying state.

What is it that Jesus wanted with this pathetic man? Jesus wanted to set him free from the bondage of sin and death. Jesus wanted to drive out everything that had enslaved his mind and heart and then free the man to set them on Him and His will. Jesus wanted to bring life to the living dead. In short, Jesus wanted to save him. If we saw ourselves in the same wretched state as the man living among the tombs in the region of the Gerasenes we would rush to Jesus just as he did. But unlike this man, we manage to convince ourselves that we are not so bad off. We live comfortable lives. We are productive in our work. We have family and friends with whom we share our lives and spend our time. For us, life is generally good — so good that it is easy for us to never consider asking the question "What do you want with me, Jesus?"

But life isn't always good. Our circumstances can change in an instant. We know what suffering, pain, and loss are because we live in a fallen and broken world. We also know these things from our call to take up the crosses in our lives, crosses that are meant to draw up closer to Christ to increase His grace in our lives. But these hardships can just as easily become snares for us trapping us in despair and enslaving us to our circumstances. What does it take — or will it take — for you to rush into Jesus' presence seeking His liberating power? To what extent does He have go to bring you to the realization that your great need is His love and grace? What fear of loss has you clinging to the emptiness of our world instead of embracing the joy, release, and peace of the Cross? When you take stock of all that He has already done for you, what can keep you from asking in joyful expectation, "What do you want with me, Jesus?" However He may answer that question, you can be certain that what He wants with you -- and for you -- flows from the riches of His grace.

Reflection: Looking Down on Jesus (Jun 16, 2013)

The 4th Sunday after Pentecost
2 Samuel 11:26-12:10, 12:13-14; Galatians 2:15-21, 3:10-14; Luke 7:36-50

Have you ever been invited to dinner at the home of someone you didn’t particularly like? If so, you were probably surprised by the invitation. If you attended, you might have been further surprised by the friendly treatment that you received. Sometimes we’re amazed by how different people can be from our opinions of them. On the other hand, imagine what it would be like to accept such an invitation only to be treated with disrespect and to be looked down on. Certainly that kind of experience would drive us to greatly dislike our host. We may even retaliate. We don’t tolerate people mistreating us and looking down on us. Interestingly, Jesus did.

Jesus made it a habit to eat with people who didn’t deserve the fellowship that eating together provided and the acceptance that it conveyed in that culture. His willingness to eat with “sinners and prostitutes” caused a lot of friction with His main adversaries, the Pharisees. That conflict makes Jesus’ acceptance of an invitation to a dinner at a Pharisee’s house even more intriguing. Why would a Pharisee invite Jesus into his home? Why would Jesus eat with such self-righteous, arrogant, and judgmental people?

Jesus’ acceptance of this dinner invitation had a very intentional purpose and was made use of in order to show His love and to teach people the Gospel. To do this He was willing to be looked down on by Simon the Pharisee. Jesus quietly endured the arrogance of His host anticipating the opportunity to show him the truth of his spiritual condition. That opportunity came when a woman known to be a sinner in that town entered Simon’s house uninvited and then approached Jesus as He reclined at the table. Looking down on Him, she quickly fell to her knees and poured out her love and thankfulness by washing His feet with her tears, drying them with her hair, and anointing them with her perfume. Simon’s reaction showed how empty his heart was and how his self-righteousness had deceived him into looking down on others. Still, Jesus would not condemn Simon. Instead, He patiently instructed him and revealed the love, grace, and mercy of our God who looked down on our hopeless situation and sent His Son to bring us hope, peace, and life through His forgiveness.

Audio file of the sermon "Looking Down on Jesus."

Devotion: Where Is the Love? (Luke 7:36-50)

Audio file of the devotion "Where Is the Love?".

36 Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went to the Pharisee's house and reclined at the table. 37 When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, 38 and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them. 39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is-- that she is a sinner." 40 Jesus answered him, "Simon, I have something to tell you." "Tell me, teacher," he said. 41 "Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?" 43 Simon replied, "I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled." "You have judged correctly," Jesus said. 44 Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. 47 Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven-- for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little." 48 Then Jesus said to her, "Your sins are forgiven." 49 The other guests began to say among themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?" 50 Jesus said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."

In her 1972 hit song, Roberta Flack asks "Where is the love - You said you'd give to me - Soon as you were free - Will it ever be - Where is the love?" After reading Luke 7:36-50, we might wonder why Jesus isn't asking us the same question. Where is the love that should come from us who have been set free from sin and death by His sacrifice on the Cross? Where is the love that we promised to give to Him when we confirmed our Baptismal faith? Where is the love that should freely flow from sinners who have been forgiven? If our love for Jesus isn't clearly evident in our words and actions now, will it ever be?

Love isn't found in the empty promises that Roberta Flack was lamenting -- or that we have found ourselves making. Genuine love is shown in a person's words and actions. When Jesus was reclining at a dinner at Simon's house, a woman known to be a sinner seized the opportunity to  express her love for Jesus by washing His feet with her tears, drying them with her hair, and anointing them with perfume. Her open expression of love stands in stark contrast to the lack of action on the part of Jesus' host. Simon, who was a Pharisee, did not show Jesus any love. In fact, he did not even extend Jesus the basic actions of hospitality that would have shown friendship and acceptance. Given his attitude and his arrogance, one has to wonder why Simon invited Jesus into his home in the first place.

The essential difference between Simon and the unnamed, uninvited woman wasn't in their actions, but in why they acted as they did. Simon and the woman were responding according to their understanding of who Jesus is and what He has done for them. The woman knew Him to be the Savior and understood her great need for forgiveness. She saw Jesus as her only hope for escaping the judgment and condemnation that she rightly deserved. She wasn't looking for a warrior king to raise the nation to greatness in the world, but a personal savior to deliver her from sin and death. She had a great love for Jesus because she had received so much from Him. In contrast, Simon viewed Jesus as a challenge and was sizing Him up to figure out how to deal with Him. Simon was looking for a national deliverer, not a personal Savior. As a Pharisee, he was looking for validation of his goodness, not forgiveness. He was not afraid of being judged, but felt justified in judging others. He had little love for Jesus because he didn't think he had much use for Him.

"Where is the love?" is a deeply personal question. It is answered based on how you understand who Jesus is and what it is that He has done for you. If you think well of Him, consider Him to be a great teacher, and admire His example, but you don't understand your great need for His forgiveness then you will love Him little. But if you look to Him as your only hope, kneel at His feet in tears because you know that you have sinned against Him, and embrace the vastness of His forgiveness, you are certain to love Him much. Where is the love? It is in the love that Jesus Christ has brought to you. Where is the love? It is in the promises made and then kept on the Cross of Calvary. Where is the love? It is yours now in the freedom from sin and death that Jesus' blood has secured for you. Where is the love? It is in the forgiveness and the life that you have in Jesus.

Reflection: God Has Visited His People (June 9, 2013)

The 3rd Sunday after Pentecost
1 Kings 17:17-24; Galatians 1:11-24; Luke 7:11-17

There once was a time when visits were a social art. Hosts would extend formal invitations to come for a visit. Friends, neighbors, and extended family members would make plans for a visit well in advance. However, as technologies advanced and society grew more casual, the nature of making a visit changed. Now personal visits have given way to postings on social media that are typically momentary and have little impact in people’s lives. Software keeps track of the digital activity and even counts it as visits, but such things are hardly the visits of days gone by — and nothing like the life changing visits that the widow of Zarephath and the people of Nain experienced. In these accounts, God acted in such a way that people knew that He had personally and powerfully visited them.

In Zarephath and in Nain, the visit of God came on the heels of great loss and sorrow. In both of these cases, widows had lost their only sons. Destitute, hopeless, and grieving, these widows were more alone and vulnerable than most of us can understand. Heartbroken and powerless, their difficult circumstances had been made them ready to receive a visit from God. And visit them He did. Doing more than anyone would have asked and more than they could have imagined, God visited them in their desperation and acted to restore peace, hope, and wonder in their lives. Unlike the social visits of our past and the cyber visits of our present, when God visited these people He worked dramatic changes to their circumstances to deliver them from their oppressors.

Like the Lord’s visits to Zarephath and Nain, our visits to one another were once meant to bring aid and encouragement to those in need. But the manner and purpose of the visits that we make has changed. Formal, meaningful, and often practical visits have given way to casual, frivolous, and trivial encounters. But the way and the reasons that God visits His people remains the same. Although He is pleased to receive one, God does not wait for an invitation to intervene in our lives. Instead, He comes to us in the midst of our difficult circumstances to bring the aid that we may not know to ask for or may not even imagine is available to us. When He does, we know that God has entered into our situations and we rejoice with those who have also exclaimed, “God has visited His people.”

Audio file of the sermon "God Has Visited His People."

Reflection: Worthy or Not (June 2, 2013)

The 2nd Sunday after Pentecost
1 Kings 8:22-24, 27-29, 41-43; Galatians 1:1-12; Luke 7:1-10

Over the past two generations, more and more churches are adapting a very casual worship style and environment. Pastors dress down to reflect the fashion preferences of those who attend. Coffee and other drinks are dispensed in narthexes and consumed in worship centers. Some churches have even replaced rows of pews or seats with tables and chairs to create a casual coffee house setting. The motives for making worship more casual vary, but the underlying message is much the same. In making worship such a casual affair we’re reinforcing people’s understanding that they are worthy to come into God’s presence however they want to and just as they are.

This attitude is nothing new. When a centurion in Capernaum was concerned about a gravely ill servant, he asked the Jewish religious leaders to intervene for him. They went to Jesus on his behalf and pleaded with Him to help. “He is worthy to have You do this for him,” they told Jesus, showing that they also saw themselves as worthy of being in Jesus’ presence and expecting Him to do their bidding. Patiently and graciously, Jesus granted their request and started making His way to the centurion’s house. But the centurion would have nothing to do with that. He sent word to Jesus that showed his faith and his heart. He said that he was not worthy to have Jesus come into his house and that he was not worthy to come into Jesus presence. He knew the power and authority of Jesus. And he respected Jesus by not presuming that he could casually come to Him and ask for anything.

Worthy or not, Jesus is always present with His people and He invites us to come into His presence. He hears the prayers of His people and answers us with His grace. How amazing! We can come before our God with all of our cares, concerns, faults, failures, joys, and hopes even though we have no right to do so and we could never be worthy of such a privilege in and of ourselves. Through the Gospel of Christ, “who gave Himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age,” we have been counted worthy of this privilege. We could treat it casually and still be loved by Him. But when we understand it as the incomparable blessing that it is and we know that He joyfully receives us whether we worthy or not, we can only refuse to be casual about worshiping our awesome God.

Audio file of the sermon "Worthy or Not."