Devotion: The Law Was Powerless To ... (Romans 8:1-4)

¹ Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,  ² because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.  ³ For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so He condemned sin in sinful man,  ⁴ in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.

Romans 8:1-4

The Law is not powerless. The Law has the power to convict us of our sins and to condemn us for not keeping the terms and conditions that God has set for being in relationship with Him under the old covenant. The Law is very powerful in these things.  We know the power of the Law, because we are condemned by the Law. So, when it comes to accusing, convicting, and condemning us of our sins, we know that the Law is not powerless.

However, the Law is powerless in other things. It may condemn us, but the Law is utterly powerless to set us free from sin and death.  If we turn to the Law for forgiveness, the Law is powerless and can only continue to show us our sins — even showing us more of our sinfulness than we realize! If we look to the Law to provide a way for us to become righteous before God, the Law is powerless and can only condemn us as unrighteous. If we try to free ourselves from the power of sin through the Law, the Law is powerless and will only strengthen the grip that sin has on us. The Law is powerful in condemning us, but it is powerless to save us.

For us to experience what the Law is powerless to do, we must look to something other than the Law. Sadly, many people — actually, the majority of people in our world — do not know anything other than the Law.  Whether they have never had the Gospel presented to them, have be given the Gospel horribly mixed up with the Law, or have heard the pure Gospel but turned it away, billions of people have only the power of the Law at work in their lives. And the Law is not powerless in doing what it can do for them. They are accused, convicted, and condemned.  They live apart from the love and grace of God. Their lives are filled with guilt or false hope … or both.  But we have heard, we believe, and we've been set free by the Gospel of Jesus Christ — the same Gospel that empowers us to set others free from the power of the Law.

Mighty Father, Loving God, You have set me free from the power of the Law. In the Gospel I face no condemnation, not now and not ever. I praise and thank You for Your amazing love, grace, and mercy, and I ask You to make use of me in bringing these gifts of the Gospel to others. Amen.

Reflection: "One Thing I Do Know ..." (March 30, 2014)

4th Sunday in Lent
Isaiah 42:14-21; Ephesians 5:8-14; John 9:1-41

Being witnesses of Jesus is an integral part of our life as His disciples, but it’s an aspect of following Him that causes many of us to feel guilt, shame, and inadequacy. Endless books, seminars, workshops, programs, initiatives, etc. have addressed the topic of being faithful and effective witnesses, but it seems that most of them end up increasing our sense of failure and frustration.

It hasn't always been like this. Beginning with the earliest Christians, sharing the Gospel has been a free and joyful activity of Christ’s disciples. Maybe our problem is that we've made evangelism too complicated. Perhaps the first Christians were effective witnesses because they kept things simple. They didn't have web-based outreach seminars and extensive (and expensive) initiatives to bolster witnessing. Without books, experts, programs, etc. they managed to share the good news of Jesus throughout the Roman Empire. Like many solutions to complex problems, the answer they found was simple: tell people what you know about Jesus.

Today’s Gospel lesson shows us the power of this simple approach to witnessing through the experiences of a man who had been born blind. After Jesus had given him sight, this man was brought before the Pharisees for questioning. They were opposed to Jesus and were looking for ways to discredit Him. They called on the formerly blind man to testify about Jesus, but he didn't know much about Him. Pressed by the Pharisees, the man concluded that Jesus was a prophet because only a man sent from God could open the eyes of someone born blind. Called back to testify a second time, the man answered the Pharisees, “Whether He is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.”

Speaking what we do know about Jesus is the key to being effective and faithful witnesses. You know that Jesus has delivered you from sin, death, and everlasting condemnation. You know that He has washed you in Baptism and given you a new life. You know that He has made you holy and righteous in the sight of the Father and has secured an eternal place for you with Him in His glory. There’s much that you don’t know about Jesus and how to witness of Him, but one thing you do know: though you were blind, now you see because of the love, mercy, and grace of Jesus.

Click here to listen to the sermon "One Thing I Do Know ..." (or right-click to download the MP3 file).

Reflection: reLENT Series: reTHINK (March 26, 2014)

Lent Midweek 4

Romans 12:1-8; Matthew 15:1-20

“Why don’t you use the brains God gave you” isn't a particularly kind way of making a point, but it makes the point. Many of our difficulties, troubles, and dilemmas can be avoided or minimized if we “use the brains God gave us” before acting. But few people have the brains — or, more precisely, the mind — that God has given. Instead, most of us rely on thinking that has been shaped by the world. Actually, we can’t help but think this way. Even before we’re born we are endlessly bombarded with influences that conform our minds to worldly views and understandings of life. Our values, ethics, priorities, sense of fairness, etc. are driven by the world. The language, culture, traditions, and worldviews of our families, friends, and neighbors are highly influential in what we think about life, our purpose, what is desirable, and even who God is and how we should relate to Him.

Because our thinking about all matters of life has been so heavily influenced and shaped by the world, God’s Word calls us to “stop being conformed to this world” in order to live our new lives in Christ. Such a call would be pointless if the Lord did not also provide us with the means for thinking about things in a new and different way. In His grace and mercy, He has empowered us to rethink everything by being “transformed by the renewal of [our] minds” through the His life-giving and life-changing Word.

Unfortunately, much of what our culture promotes as Christian thinking isn't
transformed at all. The most prevalent and popular ideas about being and living as followers of Jesus have been distorted by worldly thinking, priorities, and objectives. When we approach the Christian life in this way we not only continue to be conformed to the world, we end up trying to conform Jesus and His teachings to our world as well. Like the Pharisees of long ago, we have “made void the Word of God” in our attempts to think and live in worldly ways while claiming to belong to Christ. His call to end such thinking and to be transformed by His Word is His nicer way of telling us that we should “use the brains I gave you”  — or, more to the point, use the minds that He’s transformed to rethink our values, priorities, perspectives, etc. It’s a call to rethink everything, because our minds, like our lives, are now new in Christ.

Click to listen to the sermon "reTHINK" (or right-click to download the MP3 file).

Reflection: "Is the Lord Among Us or Not?" (March 23, 2014)

The 3rd Sunday in Lent
Exodus 17:1-7; Romans 5:1-8; John 4:5-26

After God had delivered Israel from slavery and death with a mighty hand, they found themselves in the desert without any water. They knew that they could not live for long without it. In their thirst, they grumbled against Moses and demanded that he do something. “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” they accusingly asked him. Moses looked to the Lord to provide and, true to form, God gave His people water — from a rock nonetheless! Even though the Lord had provided the water that they needed, He was not pleased with His people’s lack of faith. After all that He had done for them and despite the miracles that they had witnessed and experienced, they questioned His faithfulness by saying “Is the Lord among us or not?”

Like the Israelites in the desert, the woman who encountered Jesus at the well in Sychar questioned God’s presence and purpose in her life. They had expressed their weakness of faith through their words, but she expressed it in her actions. Having gone through five husbands and then living with a man who was not her husband, she came to the well at a time when she could avoid facing the people of her village. She did not expect to find anyone else at the well, let alone a prophet who would expose her sins and sinful attitude. Once she realized that this man was extraordinary, she wanted to know “Is the Lord among us or not?” Jesus answered her by giving her living water from the Rock.

We have received that same living water. It’s the water that brought us new life in Holy Baptism. It’s the water that washes away our sins in the words of forgiveness spoken in the Absolution. It’s the water that refreshes and renews us each day in the spiritual desert of our fallen world as the Spirit lives and works in us. In light of how the Lord has delivered us from the slavery of sin and death and with such an abundant stream of living water welling up and overflowing in our lives, how could we ever wonder “Is the Lord among us or not?” Yet, in our own ways, we do.

Jesus invites us to come to Him and drink deeply of the living water that He provides in His Word and Sacraments. Through these gifts, He brings life to those who are thirsty in the dry and dusty spiritual wasteland of our world. And He assures us that, in His grace, mercy, and love, the Lord is among us, now and always.

Click to listen to the sermon "Is the Lord Among Us or Not?" (or right-click to download the MP3 file).

Reflection: reLENT Series: reMAIN (March 19, 2014)

Lent Mid-Week 3

Hebrews 12:22-29; John 8:31-47

A simple and time-tested craft project involves paper, glitter, and glue. The artist uses the glue to draw a picture, generously applies glitter to the creation, and then shakes the project. The glitter held in place by the glue remains and the rest is shaken off. While this craft project is most often undertaken by very young artists, it provides an object lesson for people of all ages: when our lives are shaken, only that which has something holding it in place will remain. And, sooner or later, in one way or another, our lives do get shaken.

The things that shake our lives are often unpredictable and usually beyond our control. Like earthquakes that shake cities without notice and often with devastating results, unexpected life events such as illness, injury, unfaithfulness, job loss, victimization, and the sudden death of a loved one shake us to our very core. If we do not have something holding onto us like the glue that holds the glitter in a craft project, we will not remain whole when these events shake up our lives. But what can serve as such a glue? What can hold our lives together under the stresses of such destructive forces? What can keep us secure so that we will remain? Only “the things that cannot be shaken.” The problem is that there is nothing in this world that cannot be shaken.

Jesus provides us with the only refuge we have when we face the inevitable shakings of life. He said, “If you abide (i.e., remain) in My Word, you are truly My disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” His Word of truth not only frees us from depending on the things that can be shaken, it brings us into a new relationship with God as His children. No longer slaves to sin and death, we have been freed to be sons and daughters of the Lord. Jesus goes on to explain how this shapes our hope, focus, and expectations when things around us are being shaken: “The slave does not remain in the house forever, the son remains forever.” By grace through faith we are joined to Jesus as His brothers and sisters. He is the glue that holds us fast and secure when we are shaken — and we are certain to be shaken while we live out our lives in faithful service to Him in this broken and unsteady world. And, through His promise, we are just as certain to remain in His grace.

Click here to listen to the sermon "reMAIN" (or right-click to download the MP3 file).

Reflection: When Believing Is not Enough (March 16, 2014)

The 2nd Sunday in Lent
Genesis 12:1-9; Romans 4:1-8, 13-17; John 3:1-17

Even in our post-Christian culture, it’s not really accurate to refer to non-Christians as unbelievers because the vast majority of people around us are believers … in something. They believe in science and medicine to cure their diseases. They believe in therapy and counseling to mend their relationships. They believe in wealth and possessions for security. They believe in all sorts of things, many of which are good, for deliverance, hope, salvation, and comfort. But what they believe in is not enough. It’s not enough to change people’s hearts, it’s not enough to bring them lasting peace, and it’s not enough to keep them from dying. It’s especially not enough to spare them from the judgment and condemnation of the God who created them and called them to be holy — even if they don’t believe in Him.

One of the most common beliefs among us that is definitely not enough is the belief that good people will escape that condemnation. It’s a belief that appeals to our sense of fairness and our natural tendencies to compare ourselves to other people. We consider it only fair that the people who make an effort to do good things should be rewarded. And it is right in our eyes that only the people who do bad things should face punishments. But believing that God will spare “good” people when He insists that we be perfect people won’t spare anyone on the Judgment Day. Believing that good works can save us is not enough to escape God’s justice.

Believing only serves us well if what we believe in can do what we need it to. Believing is only enough when we believe that Jesus Christ is Lord and that He has spared us from judgment and everlasting punishment by grace through faith. Believing this is enough for eternal life. Believing in anyone or anything else puts us under the Law which always “brings wrath.” But, “whoever believes in Him [has] eternal life.” The idea that simply believing this could be enough to escape what we deserve and receive instead life and salvation is, well, hard to believe. Actually, it’s impossible to believe. But what is impossible for us is possible for the Holy Spirit who has worked faith and life in us. Many people believe that this could not be true and that we are simpleminded fools for believing it. But what they believe is not enough to negate the Word and promise of the God who so loved us that “He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”

Click here to listen to the sermon "When Believing Is not Enough" (or right-click to download the MP3 file).

Reflection: reLENT Series: reCEIVE (March 12, 2014)

Lent Midweek 2

1 Corinthians 2:6-16; John 1:9-18

An ancient Greeks fable tells of a dog carrying a bone in his mouth when he came upon a pool of water. Seeing his reflection in the water, the dog thought that he was looking at another dog that was also holding a bone in his mouth. Wanting that bone as well as his own, the dog let go of the bone that he was holding in order to grab the bone that the “other” dog had only to watch both bones disappear into the water. The moral lesson of this fable is not to be greedy. But the dog in the story illustrates another truth: We can’t receive something if we are filled up with other things. The dog knew that he had to let go of what he had in order to receive what we wanted. The dog understood this principle, but things didn't work out well for him. How should we expect things to turn out for us when we don’t even understand the principle?

Whenever we come into God’s presence, we come in need. Even on our best days, we still stand in great need before our Holy God. God knows this and He is gracious to us. He never fails to meet our needs. Instead, He graciously provides all that we need for this life and for the life to come. But we often come before Him with our lives so full of other things that we have no room to receive what He provides. We hold onto the hectic, stressful pace of our lives instead of taking hold of the peace of Christ. We maintain our worldly priorities even though they wear us out rather than embracing the rest that comes with letting God’s Word guide our lives. We stockpile money and goods that squeeze out the spiritual riches that Christ has made ours. We recognize that we should let go of the lesser things of this world in order to take hold of the greater things of the Lord, but we’re too afraid of losing what we have by letting go of what we have in order to take hold of what God provides. We think we've mastered the lesson of the Greek fable, but we've missed the point altogether.

The way to receiving all that God has provided to us starts with ridding ourselves of everything that we would carry into His presence. This frees us to come before Him with empty hands. But He does not leave us empty-handed beggars. Instead He fills our lives with good things, delighting in giving them to us and rejoicing in all that He gives and all that we receive.

Click here to listen to the sermon "reCEIVE" (or right-click to download the MP3 file).

Reflection: The (Really, Truly, Honestly) Free Gift (March 9, 2014)

The 1st Sunday in Lent
Genesis 3:1-21; Romans 5;12-19; Matthew 4:1-11

Advertisers figured out a long time ago that offering a person a free gift will get that person’s attention. Not long afterwards, we figured out that the free gifts that were being offered weren't really free. We’re so accustomed to receiving offers of free gifts that aren't truly free that we tend to dismiss the idea that there is such a thing. It seems that every “free” thing in our lives comes with some kind of obligation from the overt “but wait” offers for a second widget free (“just pay for separate shipping and handling”) and the free cruise vacation (“must attend a 90 minute presentation”) to the favors that our neighbors do at no cost but with the obligation to return the favor in some way. When it comes to getting something for free we’re skeptical, even when God is the one giving us a free gift.

In Romans 5 we read that God has a free gift for us. He wants us to know that His free gift is different from all of the “free” gifts with which we’re familiar. His free gift is truly free. It comes to us at no cost to us. It requires nothing of us to receive it or to keep it. It is really free and it is truly a gift. The Lord also wants us to know that this free gift is unlike the thing that we received that makes this gift necessary. In a way, that thing is also a free gift. It’s a gift in the sense that it has been given to us even without our asking for it. It’s free in the sense that we didn't have to pay for it. But like the “free” gifts of advertising, this free gift costs us, dearly. This “gift” is our inheritance from Adam. It is the “gift” of sin and death. It’s not the gift we would have chosen for ourselves, but we cannot refuse it. It’s ours by virtue of the fact that we are his descendants and heirs. The free gift of God is given to us to overcome the “free” gift of Adam. Adam’s gift brings us judgment and condemnation. God’s gift brings life and salvation. But, because we’re skeptical about free gifts, we question how a gift of such great value and tremendous benefit could be free.

The reason that God’s gift of righteousness is free is simple: it has to be free. There’s nothing that we could offer that would even come close to the value of this generous gift. What could we possibly pay or do that would compare to the price paid for our salvation? What could we give in exchange for the righteousness of Jesus Christ? While God could have demanded a great price from us for life and salvation, in His love and by His grace He chose to give it to us as a free gift — really, truly, honestly free.  It’s the only way that it could be ours.

Click here to listen to the sermon "The (Really, Truly, Honestly) Free Gift" (or right-click to download the MP3 file).

Reflection: reLENT Series: reINVEST (March 5, 2014)

Ash Wednesday

2 Corinthians 5:20-6:10; Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

We invest in things with the expectation of receiving a return on our investment. While this is particularly
clear when investing money, it is equally true of the other investments that we make. We invest in relationships with the expected returns of friendship, community, and support. We invest in our marriages with the expected returns of love, intimacy, and companionship. We invest in our children with the expectation that they will grow up to be good and productive citizens who will make us proud, provide us with grandchildren, and help us navigate the end stages of our lives. We also invest in our homes, our careers, our community, our congregations, etc. all with the hope that these investments will provide dividends of some sort. But what motivates us to invest in God?

For some people, investing in the Lord means redirecting some of their resources from worldly investments to spiritual investments. They use a part of the money, time, skills, abilities, etc. that they also use toward gaining financial security, status, power, or notoriety in the world to try to gain righteousness before God. They publicly give to the needy so people will know of their generosity. They make a show of prayer so that people will know how spiritual they are. They especially make sure that people know the sacrifices that they are making to serve God so that people will be impressed by their faithfulness. But these investments only yield status, power, or notoriety among people. They do not and cannot produce righteousness before God. The praise of men is their only reward.

Jesus pointed out the foolishness of seeking God’s favor by investing in Him through worldly things and worldly ways. In contrast to these failed investments, He tells us “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth … but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.” This is a call to live our whole lives and to make use of everything that God has entrusted to us for the good of His Kingdom. It is an investment like no other, because the desired return has already been secured for us and guaranteed to us by He who invested Himself for our salvation.

Click here to listen to the sermon "reINVEST" (or right-click to download the MP3 file).

Reflection: Our Spiritual ADD (March 2, 2014)

The Transfiguration of Our Lord
Exodus 24:8-18; 2 Peter 1:16-21; Matthew 17:1-9

Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) is a serious issue, but some people treat it as a laughing matter. Because we tend to over commit to things and we've convinced ourselves that we are skilled at multi-tasking, we get distracted by the many things that are competing for our attention.  As a result, we make mistakes and forget to follow through on our obligations. Rather than treat it as a problem that needs correction, there are people who lightly pass it off as their “ADD” acting up. In reality, most of us do not suffer from ADD, at least not medical ADD. But a great number of us do suffer from spiritual ADD.

Spiritual ADD is our tendency to lose focus on Christ and the Cross because we are distracted by the things of this world. These distractions come in many forms, but they all tap into our sinful desires to secure worldly glory for ourselves and to avoid the sacrifices and hardships of the crosses to which we are called. It’s the same desire for glory that was behind Peter’s statement to Jesus on the mountain when he said, “Lord, it is good that we are here” and wanted to build shelters in order to make the experience more lasting. Our hunger for the comforts, securities, and pleasures of this world turns our attention away from the Word and the will of God and fuels our spiritual ADD. Soon the distractions become the main things in our lives and we give our thinking over to the “cleverly devised myths” that reinforce the world’s glory and justify our desire for it. We even lose sight of what the Church is and import our worldly distractions into worship and mission. It’s so bad that we are in danger of being distracted to death.

Struggling with spiritual ADD is nothing new. This condition was troubling the early Christians in the same ways that it troubles us when Peter wrote to them “we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place.” The answer to our spiritual distraction is to understand that God’s Word is the sole source of life and light in our world and that there is nothing else that can bring us what His Word brings us. In contrast to the Word, everything in the world is spiritual darkness. Everything. All human wisdom, knowledge, and reason is darkness and death. All earthly glory and worldly treasures are worthless. Once we grasp this truth and realize that there is only one light, we can turn our attention away from the darkness and fix it on Jesus. When our focus is on His love, mercy, and grace, what could distract us?

Click here to listen to the sermon "Our Spiritual ADD" (or right-click to download the MP3 file).