Credit is due to LC-MS President Gerald Kieschnick, who wrote the suggested sermon for LWML Sunday. Today’s sermon is largely based upon his writing.
Let’s see a show of hands for all those who’ve tried dieting. Did you use a particular diet plan? Which one did you use? Atkins? South Beach? Weight Watchers?
. . . Did it work?
Okay, well how about those people who have been talking about dieting for years but never have . . . let’s see your hands! I belong to that group myself. For years I’ve thought about losing a bit of weight, getting in better shape. I saw friends who really took off the pounds using the Atkins diet, and for a while Stephanie and I talked about doing Atkins together. You know how it works, you see the ads with the before and after pictures, and these obese people suddenly seem to have their bodies transformed into beautiful models. And I thought that the end result looked pretty good . . . but then I thought of all the things I’d have to give up. Grains . . . sweets . . . bread (I love bread) . . . and I didn’t go any further than talking. I wanted the end result, but simply wasn’t willing to pay the price!
I didn’t think I’d be able to actually stick it out—I’d have too many food temptations that would lure me off my diet, and I realized that I’d become just another statistic. CNN reported on a study done earlier this year by Dr. Michael Dansinger of Tufts-New England Medical Center in Boston. And in study they looked closely at four popular diets: Atkins, Ornish, The Zone, and Weight Watchers. What they found was that three out of every four dieters quit their diet before a year is out. Three out of four!
And so, for those people who truly desire long-term weight loss, it was Dr. Dansinger’s recommendation that they try dating different diets. The idea was to try a diet for as long as you like, sampling the different diets here and there until you found one that you could stick with for life. Once you found that diet you could live with, stand by it and stick to the plan.
Now, the interesting part about this isn’t some sort of implied comparison between dieting and a Lutheran Women’s Missionary League meeting, but the really interesting part is when we compare dieting to religion. When a person diets they are seeking to transform their bodies. But when a person is involved in religion they are seeking to transform their spirits.
See, I think it’s pretty clear that people instinctively realize that there is something missing in their lives. People realize that something is wrong. They might not know enough to call it “sin”, but they still realize that something in their lives needs fixing. And when something needs fixing, you go out shopping, right? So they go out shopping for spiritual answers, trying out different religions, reading different books, now trying meditation, now trying positive thinking, now trying herbal therapy, now making a spiritual pilgrimage. Does it work? No. Like dieters that quit diets early and hop around from one to another, the spiritual “diet-shopper” never finds any true, long-lasting answers to their spiritual problems. They will never be transformed.
This is where Jesus Christ comes in. There is one—and only one—spiritual path that truly transforms. It is the way of Jesus Christ. Now, I’ll admit that many people find some temporary spiritual solutions in other places; they may find some other answers that seem to work—for now. But for the long haul, to have absolute peace for all eternity, there is no other answer than Jesus Christ.
That is what the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League is all about! Their mission statement reads, “The mission of the LWML is to assist each woman of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod in affirming her relationship with the Triune God so that she is enabled to use her gifts in ministry to the people of the world.” Since 1942 the LWML has been in the business of bringing Jesus Christ to those poor souls who are desperately longing for a spiritual transformation. They take these little things—called “mite boxes”—they take these things and throw some money in them and are able to raise—are you ready?—they are able to raise over ONE MILLION dollars every two years. Tens of millions of dollars, given by the LWML, have funded mission grants for over 60 years now! The activities of the LWML have helped bring the transforming message of Jesus Christ to countries literally all over the world. The activities of the LWML have even helped bring you your pastor—vicar—ummm . . me. Yes, I received a scholarship from the LWML that helped us get through seminary. Even gave me a hat!
How can they do this? I mean, honestly now, what compels a bunch of women to get together, to sacrifice their time, their money, and give it away? Simply this: they have been transformed by Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul says in today’s reading from Philippians, “Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you. For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.”
The Apostle Paul is speaking of the ultimate transformation that will come at the resurrection, but what is good for then is also good for right now. Right now we are receiving Christ’s transforming power, turning our lives from a purposeless existence into a life that truly lives and breathes, a life that worships Christ, a life that gathers together with other believers for strength and encouragement, a life that is involved in active discipleship, a life that has a mission and a ministry.
And how does Christ do this? How does He transform our lives? . . . By dying our death. You owe God one death—yours. And you incurred that debt through sin. Through your actions you have condemned yourself; you have invited judgment upon yourself as a sinner. There’s no getting around it, it’s true of every person in this room, including me.
But that debt of death that you owe—that was paid by Jesus Christ. Paul says in Galatians 4:4-5, “God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law.” This simply means that God sent His Son to buy us back, to pay our debt.
Jesus Christ drank the cup of suffering. He prayed in the Garden, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” And when He prayed, he was in anguish, and His sweat was like great drops of blood falling to the ground. His “diet”, if you will, was a diet of suffering, sacrificing His body and dying our death on the cross so that we might truly live.
But that’s not the end of the story, no! This Christ has also been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. And in Christ all will be made alive! Through Jesus Christ death itself is swallowed up in victory! Through His death and resurrection, Christ takes a hold of us, He transforms us. His diet of suffering gives us a truly transforming diet of forgiveness and righteousness; it gives us life and a purpose.
A life that is transformed by Christ is a force to be reckoned with. It is a life that lives moment by moment on God’s grace, a life that never leaves the foot of the cross, a life that realizes it no longer has anything to lose because it has already gained everything.
This is why the Apostle Paul can say in Philippians 3:13, “But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” And then he says in verse sixteen and seventeen, “Only let us live up to what we have already attained. Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you.”
Paul says that there’s nothing else that matters now except living the Christian life. You’ve got successes in your past? You’ve got failures? Neither one matters, the only thing that matters is looking forward in Jesus Christ. You’ve got a good reputation? You’ve got a skeleton in the closet? Neither one matters! What matters is one thing: the enormous gift of grace we’ve received in Jesus Christ. In Christ we live out the transformed life that we have already been given.
There’s a story from the popular “Chicken Soup for the Soul” series about transformed lives that’s told about Lewis Lawes and his wife Catherine. In 1921 Lewis was made the warden of Sing Sing prison—the toughest, roughest prison of the day. But when he retired twenty years later Sing Sing had become a humanitarian institution. People gave Lewis the credit for the change, but when he was asked about the transformation, he said, “I owe it all to my wonderful wife, Catherine, who is buried outside the prison walls.”
Catherine Lawes was a young mother of three small children when Lewis became the warden. Everybody warned her that she should never set foot inside the prison walls, but that didn’t stop her. When the first prison basketball game was held, she walked into the gym with her three beautiful children and sat in the stands with the inmates. Her attitude was, “My husband and I are going to take care of these men and I believe they will take care of me! I don’t have to worry!”
She insisted on getting acquainted with the men and their prison records. She discovered one convicted murderer was blind, so she paid him a visit. Holding his hand, she said, “Do you read Braille?” “What’s ‘Braille’?” . . . So she taught him how to read. Years later he would weep in love for her.
Later, Catherine found an inmate that was both deaf and mute. So she went to school and learned sign language so she could speak with him. Many, many people said that Catherine Lawes was the example of a life transformed by Jesus Christ. She was an example for the men of Sing Sing prison.H
One day she was in the prison, and then suddenly one day she wasn’t. Warden Lawes didn’t come to work. The prisoners and the entire prison knew something was wrong. Catherine Lawes had been killed in a car crash.
The following day, her body was resting in a casket at her home, ¾ of a mile from Sing Sing prison. And as the acting warden took his early morning walk, he was surprised to see a large crowd of Sing Sing prisoners—the toughest, roughest prisoners in the country—crowded together at the main gate, tears of grief streaming down their faces.
He knew how much they had loved Catherine, he knew how she had been an example of Christ’s transforming love to them . . . so he said, “All right, men . . . you can go. . . . Just be sure and check in tonight.” The gate was opened and a parade of convicted murderers, rapists, and crooks walked, without a single guard, the distance to the home of Catherine Lawes where they would pay their final respects.
That evening, every single one of those prisoners had checked back in. Every . . . single . . . one. Catherine’s example of a life transformed by Jesus Christ, her mission of bringing the peace and joy and purpose of Jesus Christ to a group of men that society had written off . . . it had worked. Score one more for God’s team.
Friends, Jesus Christ transforms lives. He transforms the lives of those whom He loves, and He transforms the lives of those who are, in turn, loved by them. He has transformed our lives—yours and mine—so that we can feed His message of life and love to others. And yes, He transforms the lives of those women in the LWML so that they may “assist each women of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod in affirming her relationship with the Triune God so that she is enabled to use her gifts in ministry to the people of the world.”
Today we give thanks for the women of the Lutheran Women’s’ Missionary League and the significant work they have done throughout the world through the transforming power of Jesus Christ in their lives. And today I and the Apostle Paul say to the rest of you, “Join with others in following their example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you.” Support the work of the LWML. Ladies, join with them in spreading the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world. Men, support these women as they continue in this most valuable work. And you all, give thanks to God for the transforming diet of Jesus Christ. In Him may we live up to what has already been attained: May we life out the transformed life that we have already been given.
Sunday, September 25, 2005
Sunday, September 18, 2005
Grace: Only Sinners Need Apply
There is in the Old Testament reading for today a simple truth. It is a truth that is so straightforward, so easily understood that everyone from the smallest child to the most elderly adult can grasp it: Sinners need grace.
Isn’t that just so true? Sinners need God’s grace to restore them, to bring them back from the way of sin and death into the path of righteousness and life. That is the basic message you can hear in nearly any Christian church on nearly any Sunday, it’s that common.
But because it is so common, I think we can often lose sight of how great that truth is! We’re so used to hearing stuff like that, that when we read the words from Isaiah they barely make an impact any more. “Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near. 7 Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.” I can read that—just skim over it—and say, “Yep . . . that’s true. Now moving on . . .” and totally miss the huge, colossal importance of those words.
So you know what? I think it’s time to take a few steps back into Christianity 101. It’s time to review the basics of the faith. Let’s have a little review; let’s talk about grace.
Grace: It’s that magical word in the Bible, the one that talks about God’s love for us. You cannot read one single page in all of the Scriptures without seeing some act of God’s grace. But what does it mean? What is this thing called “grace”?
In today’s reading the prophet Isaiah describes grace in at least three different ways. If you’d like, you could open up your Bibles to Isaiah, chapter fifty-five.
The first item up for review is that grace is free. Isaiah says in verse seven of the wicked man, “Let him turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.” God’s grace is free, it doesn’t cost a thing. God Himself says the same thing, using some wonderful picture language in verses one and two. Isaiah 55:1-2 “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. 2 Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.” You’ve heard of the saying, “There’s no such thing as a free lunch”? Well, there it is . . . a free lunch right in Scripture. There’s no hidden costs or unexpected fees . . . it’s all good.
Now, if you received something for free . . . how long would you expect it to last? _________________ Our first digital camera was a little 640x480 job that we got “free” when we signed up with a particular internet provider. It lasted about a year . . . and I thought we were pretty lucky to have it that long. That’s kind of our understanding of “free” though, isn’t it? “Free gift”, when combined with “special offer” usually means “cheap hunk of plastic that I expect to last about one week.” Right?
But that’s not God’s way. His gift of grace is free . . . but it’s also built for the long haul. In verse three God says, “I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David.” God has made a promise to and through King David—the promise that was fulfilled for you and me in Jesus Christ—and He says that promise is an everlasting covenant. A contract, if you will, by which God binds Himself for all eternity. Simply put, God’s free grace will last forever.
God’s grace is free, God’s grace is everlasting . . . but it’s the third item on our list that really needs to be looked at. God’s grace is for . . . sinners. Think about that for a moment or two . . . God’s grace is for sinners. Verse seven of Isaiah chapter fifty-five says, “7 Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.” Who gets pardoned? The wicked person . . . the evil man . . . the sinner.
You understand what this means, don’t you? God’s not on the lookout for the goody-goodies, He’s not out searching for the righteous ones, the perfect people. He’s asking the wicked, the evil to turn to Him, He’s offering sinners grace.
Grace—that free, everlasting gift of love from God—is that something you want? Does it sound good? I’m sure it does. But there is a catch . . . you have to be a sinner in order to get it. Perfect people don’t get grace, only sinners. But you’re in luck! I’m willing to teach you something today: I’m willing to teach you how to be a sinner!
I know, I know . . . you’re thinking “Now what does Vicar Troy know about sinning? How can he teach us how to be sinners?” But let me assure you, I’ve got years of experience in sinning. You’ve got the best in the business right here today, so let’s get down to work.
Now first, if you’re going to be a sinner, I’d recommend that you get to know just who the sinners are. You want to find out what a sinner looks like. If you’re married, the job is pretty easy . . . your spouse can tell you exactly what a sinner looks like. But whether you’re married or not, I’ve got a sure-fire way for you to tell what a sinner looks like. Tomorrow morning, the very first thing when you get up in the morning . . . head on down to the bathroom . . . turn on the light . . . and look in the mirror. It’s that easy; you’ve just spotted your first sinner of the day! Now, I hear that there are probably a few other sinners around that you might be able to see throughout the day, but the person we’re going to follow around for a good example of how to be a sinner is the person in the mirror.
So, now that you know what a sinner looks like, what does a sinner do? Well, that can be a bit tricky to spot sometimes. Sometimes it’s hard to spot the difference between a fictitious sinner and a real sinner.
What does it mean to be a sinner? A true sinner, a real sinner? I’m often ready to admit to my fictitious sins. But what is a fictitious sin?
Mike McNamara can attest to the fact that I like a good beer every now and then—I think since I’ve been here he’s made two different trips to St. Louis and brought me back approximately 48 of my favorite beers . . . of which I still have about 40 in my fridge. And I’ve always been that way—buy a six pack and keep it for a week, 2 weeks . . . a month. And yes, I’ll also admit that I’ll have a cigar every now and then, like maybe once a year or so. Keep this in mind—it will be important in a minute.
It was several years ago when we were still living in Nebraska. It was well known in the church that I was preparing to head off to seminary, and on Sundays I’d either be working with the little kids in Sunday School or singing with the choir or playing in the praise band or praying with the prayer team. You don’t get much more churchy than that. Now, it was the children’s pastor’s custom at that time to allow the kids to pray, out loud, into a microphone during the Sunday School hour. Whatever was on their heart, they could pray. And on one Sunday it so happened that I had, in the previous week, enjoyed the luxury of both my annual cigar and sipped a beer as well. And so my son . . . the son of the future seminarian . . . the son of the guy in the praise band and on the choir . . . the son of the “churchy” guy . . . my son steps up to the mic, takes a deep breath, and says right in front of the children’s pastor and the whole Sunday School, “Dear Lord . . . please help my Dad stop smoking and drinking so much!”
Now THERE’S a fictitious sin! I hadn’t done anything wrong, I hadn’t consumed to excess, I wasn’t staggering around drunk . . . and I still get prayed for by the whole Sunday School!
Oh, it’s the fictitious sins that are easy to admit to. And if it gets real bad, we can even admit to those little sins like a little gossip, a little white lie, a little here, a little there . . . but God doesn’t give grace for fictitious sins.
No, a true sinner actually sins. The sinner has actually done something in his or her own life that is really, really ugly. Wrong. Hurtful. The true sinner can’t look at those things and just laugh them off. You can’t take back a real sin, you can’t pretend it never happened. The true sinner looks at that person in the mirror and says, “I hate the things you’ve done.” There is no joy in the sin, it is a wicked, evil act that separates the sinner from family, that separates the sinner from God.
That’s the kind of sin you need to have in order to get grace. No more fictitious sins . . . only the real ones. Any sinners like that here? __________________
That’s good . . . because grace is for sinners. Only sinners need apply. But to take care of sin, it is only grace that needs to be applied.
In one of my favorite scenes from the movie Luther, Martin is preaching on this very subject. And in that, he presents the scenario in which the Devil would come and accuse the believers. “You deserve nothing but death and Hell” . . . says Satan. And Martin says the next time he comes around, tell Satan, “I admit I deserve death and Hell . . . what of it? For I know one who suffered and made satisfaction in my behalf. His name is Jesus Christ, Son of God, where He is there I shall be also!”
There is nothing else to say! Our sins do cause us to deserve death and Hell . . . and yet God chooses to give us poor sinners His gift of free, everlasting grace. Does it make sense? Does that seem like a good deal for God? Would we do the same if it were us? NO! But at the end of our reading in Isaiah God says, “my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. 9 "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
His ways are NOT our ways! Our ways say that one good turn deserves another, that if you scratch my back I’ll scratch yours . . . but God’s ways say that only the wicked, the evil, the sinners get grace. And in this we can rejoice, because we are sinners. And so we do turn away from our wicked and evil ways, we repent of the harsh things that we’ve done or spoken, but we do so in a way that acknowledges that we are still true sinners in need of God’s grace.
If you are a preacher of grace, then preach a true and not a fictitious grace; if grace is true, you must bear a true and not a fictitious sin. God does not save people who are only fictitious sinners. Be a sinner and sin boldly[by which Luther means to recognize that you are a sinner], but believe and rejoice in Christ even more boldly, for he is victorious over sin, death, and the world. . . . Do you think that the purchase price that was paid for the redemption of our sins by so great a Lamb is too small? Pray boldly—you too are a mighty sinner.
Martin Luther
Isn’t that just so true? Sinners need God’s grace to restore them, to bring them back from the way of sin and death into the path of righteousness and life. That is the basic message you can hear in nearly any Christian church on nearly any Sunday, it’s that common.
But because it is so common, I think we can often lose sight of how great that truth is! We’re so used to hearing stuff like that, that when we read the words from Isaiah they barely make an impact any more. “Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near. 7 Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.” I can read that—just skim over it—and say, “Yep . . . that’s true. Now moving on . . .” and totally miss the huge, colossal importance of those words.
So you know what? I think it’s time to take a few steps back into Christianity 101. It’s time to review the basics of the faith. Let’s have a little review; let’s talk about grace.
Grace: It’s that magical word in the Bible, the one that talks about God’s love for us. You cannot read one single page in all of the Scriptures without seeing some act of God’s grace. But what does it mean? What is this thing called “grace”?
In today’s reading the prophet Isaiah describes grace in at least three different ways. If you’d like, you could open up your Bibles to Isaiah, chapter fifty-five.
The first item up for review is that grace is free. Isaiah says in verse seven of the wicked man, “Let him turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.” God’s grace is free, it doesn’t cost a thing. God Himself says the same thing, using some wonderful picture language in verses one and two. Isaiah 55:1-2 “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. 2 Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.” You’ve heard of the saying, “There’s no such thing as a free lunch”? Well, there it is . . . a free lunch right in Scripture. There’s no hidden costs or unexpected fees . . . it’s all good.
Now, if you received something for free . . . how long would you expect it to last? _________________ Our first digital camera was a little 640x480 job that we got “free” when we signed up with a particular internet provider. It lasted about a year . . . and I thought we were pretty lucky to have it that long. That’s kind of our understanding of “free” though, isn’t it? “Free gift”, when combined with “special offer” usually means “cheap hunk of plastic that I expect to last about one week.” Right?
But that’s not God’s way. His gift of grace is free . . . but it’s also built for the long haul. In verse three God says, “I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David.” God has made a promise to and through King David—the promise that was fulfilled for you and me in Jesus Christ—and He says that promise is an everlasting covenant. A contract, if you will, by which God binds Himself for all eternity. Simply put, God’s free grace will last forever.
God’s grace is free, God’s grace is everlasting . . . but it’s the third item on our list that really needs to be looked at. God’s grace is for . . . sinners. Think about that for a moment or two . . . God’s grace is for sinners. Verse seven of Isaiah chapter fifty-five says, “7 Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.” Who gets pardoned? The wicked person . . . the evil man . . . the sinner.
You understand what this means, don’t you? God’s not on the lookout for the goody-goodies, He’s not out searching for the righteous ones, the perfect people. He’s asking the wicked, the evil to turn to Him, He’s offering sinners grace.
Grace—that free, everlasting gift of love from God—is that something you want? Does it sound good? I’m sure it does. But there is a catch . . . you have to be a sinner in order to get it. Perfect people don’t get grace, only sinners. But you’re in luck! I’m willing to teach you something today: I’m willing to teach you how to be a sinner!
I know, I know . . . you’re thinking “Now what does Vicar Troy know about sinning? How can he teach us how to be sinners?” But let me assure you, I’ve got years of experience in sinning. You’ve got the best in the business right here today, so let’s get down to work.
Now first, if you’re going to be a sinner, I’d recommend that you get to know just who the sinners are. You want to find out what a sinner looks like. If you’re married, the job is pretty easy . . . your spouse can tell you exactly what a sinner looks like. But whether you’re married or not, I’ve got a sure-fire way for you to tell what a sinner looks like. Tomorrow morning, the very first thing when you get up in the morning . . . head on down to the bathroom . . . turn on the light . . . and look in the mirror. It’s that easy; you’ve just spotted your first sinner of the day! Now, I hear that there are probably a few other sinners around that you might be able to see throughout the day, but the person we’re going to follow around for a good example of how to be a sinner is the person in the mirror.
So, now that you know what a sinner looks like, what does a sinner do? Well, that can be a bit tricky to spot sometimes. Sometimes it’s hard to spot the difference between a fictitious sinner and a real sinner.
What does it mean to be a sinner? A true sinner, a real sinner? I’m often ready to admit to my fictitious sins. But what is a fictitious sin?
Mike McNamara can attest to the fact that I like a good beer every now and then—I think since I’ve been here he’s made two different trips to St. Louis and brought me back approximately 48 of my favorite beers . . . of which I still have about 40 in my fridge. And I’ve always been that way—buy a six pack and keep it for a week, 2 weeks . . . a month. And yes, I’ll also admit that I’ll have a cigar every now and then, like maybe once a year or so. Keep this in mind—it will be important in a minute.
It was several years ago when we were still living in Nebraska. It was well known in the church that I was preparing to head off to seminary, and on Sundays I’d either be working with the little kids in Sunday School or singing with the choir or playing in the praise band or praying with the prayer team. You don’t get much more churchy than that. Now, it was the children’s pastor’s custom at that time to allow the kids to pray, out loud, into a microphone during the Sunday School hour. Whatever was on their heart, they could pray. And on one Sunday it so happened that I had, in the previous week, enjoyed the luxury of both my annual cigar and sipped a beer as well. And so my son . . . the son of the future seminarian . . . the son of the guy in the praise band and on the choir . . . the son of the “churchy” guy . . . my son steps up to the mic, takes a deep breath, and says right in front of the children’s pastor and the whole Sunday School, “Dear Lord . . . please help my Dad stop smoking and drinking so much!”
Now THERE’S a fictitious sin! I hadn’t done anything wrong, I hadn’t consumed to excess, I wasn’t staggering around drunk . . . and I still get prayed for by the whole Sunday School!
Oh, it’s the fictitious sins that are easy to admit to. And if it gets real bad, we can even admit to those little sins like a little gossip, a little white lie, a little here, a little there . . . but God doesn’t give grace for fictitious sins.
No, a true sinner actually sins. The sinner has actually done something in his or her own life that is really, really ugly. Wrong. Hurtful. The true sinner can’t look at those things and just laugh them off. You can’t take back a real sin, you can’t pretend it never happened. The true sinner looks at that person in the mirror and says, “I hate the things you’ve done.” There is no joy in the sin, it is a wicked, evil act that separates the sinner from family, that separates the sinner from God.
That’s the kind of sin you need to have in order to get grace. No more fictitious sins . . . only the real ones. Any sinners like that here? __________________
That’s good . . . because grace is for sinners. Only sinners need apply. But to take care of sin, it is only grace that needs to be applied.
In one of my favorite scenes from the movie Luther, Martin is preaching on this very subject. And in that, he presents the scenario in which the Devil would come and accuse the believers. “You deserve nothing but death and Hell” . . . says Satan. And Martin says the next time he comes around, tell Satan, “I admit I deserve death and Hell . . . what of it? For I know one who suffered and made satisfaction in my behalf. His name is Jesus Christ, Son of God, where He is there I shall be also!”
There is nothing else to say! Our sins do cause us to deserve death and Hell . . . and yet God chooses to give us poor sinners His gift of free, everlasting grace. Does it make sense? Does that seem like a good deal for God? Would we do the same if it were us? NO! But at the end of our reading in Isaiah God says, “my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. 9 "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
His ways are NOT our ways! Our ways say that one good turn deserves another, that if you scratch my back I’ll scratch yours . . . but God’s ways say that only the wicked, the evil, the sinners get grace. And in this we can rejoice, because we are sinners. And so we do turn away from our wicked and evil ways, we repent of the harsh things that we’ve done or spoken, but we do so in a way that acknowledges that we are still true sinners in need of God’s grace.
If you are a preacher of grace, then preach a true and not a fictitious grace; if grace is true, you must bear a true and not a fictitious sin. God does not save people who are only fictitious sinners. Be a sinner and sin boldly[by which Luther means to recognize that you are a sinner], but believe and rejoice in Christ even more boldly, for he is victorious over sin, death, and the world. . . . Do you think that the purchase price that was paid for the redemption of our sins by so great a Lamb is too small? Pray boldly—you too are a mighty sinner.
Martin Luther
Sunday, September 11, 2005
Do Unto Others . . .
There are times when I wish the Bible didn’t say what it does, and today is one of them. This thing—forgiveness to another—is at times the most difficult and painful process I’ve ever gone through. It would be so much easier if I could hang on to my rights, to keep my feelings of regret and bitterness . . . to be angry.
But that’s not a choice that God gives me.
See, today’s Gospel reading is all about forgiveness; the forgiveness that God gives me and the forgiveness that I, in turn, am to give to others. You’ve heard the story before, about how Peter was asking how many times he ought to forgive another, and how he thought that perhaps seven times was plenty . . .
But Jesus figured that Peter didn’t quite understand the point . . . after all, if Peter is still keeping a forgiveness score then he probably doesn’t realize just how deep his debt was to begin with. So He tells them this story:
There was a king who decided one day to settle some old accounts, and one by one he has his debtors brought in. Well, they come to this one shifty servant who’s on the hook for something to the tune of about 10 billion dollars. Now, I don’t know how in the world this guy racked up so much debt—he must have had about 60,000 credit cards or something like that—but the point is that he owed it.
Now, there’s no way in Heaven or Earth that this guy can work off this debt! He’s just a guy, after all, and he owes more money than Bill Gates could pay back in a lifetime. So, the king’s pretty angry about this, and he has a right to be angry, after all . . . so the king figures on making an example out of this guy. But he’s not just gonna have him kneecapped, he wants to really, really make his point, so he orders that the servant be sold, that his wife be sold, that his children be sold, and everything the servant owned be sold. It’s not going to pay off the debt, but at least his point will be made.
But the servant can’t stand the thought of life in slavery, away from his wife, away from his children, away from his DVD player and wide-screen TV, so he falls down on his knees, begging, “Please don’t sell me into slavery! Give me some time, and I’ll repay everything! Please!”
The king’s not such a bad guy . . . and he’s got a good heart in him, so when he sees this servant begging for mercy, he takes compassion on him, and he forgives him everything he owes—the whole amount!—and sends him on his way, confident he’s done a good deed.
And the servant, with his crocodile tears still drying on his cheeks, heads out into the world, a free man. He’s off the hook for his 10 billion, and there’s a swing in his step and a tune on his lips . . . but then he sees a guy who’s into him for a few bucks. Well, it’s more than just a few bucks, actually . . . it’s something around 10-15,000 dollars, and the first servant figures he could use the money.
So he goes up to the second guy and grabs him around the neck. “Pay me what you owe me! Give it to me now!” But the second guy doesn’t have the cash on hand, so he falls to his knees, begging, “Please don’t sell me into slavery! Give me some time, and I’ll repay everything! Please!” But the first servant won’t hear of it . . . so he has the guy thrown into prison until the day his relatives and friends can cough up enough to pay off his debt.
Now, there is nothing that churns your gut more than doing a good deed only to have it thrown back in your face, right? So when the king hears about this, his stomach gets all tied up in knots. He figures—rightly—that the first servant didn’t really appreciate being forgiven all that much. He figures the first servant should have had compassion just oozing out of him, seeing as how he was forgiven such a huge debt . . . but since that servant despised what he was forgiven, since he turned his back on the compassion of the king, since he took the king’s grace and spit in his eye, the king changed his mind, and he had sent out a group of soldiers to go and find that wicked servant and chuck him into jail until he could repay all that he owed. I doubt that wicked servant ever saw the light of day again.
Now, Jesus has already said that His story would help us understand the Kingdom of Heaven. So there’s a few observations we can make. The king—that’s God. The first servant—that’s you. That’s me. And we owe a debt that we could never even hope to repay. It’s not a debt of money, but of sin. And that debt is staggering. There’s not a day, not an hour, that you and I have gone without sin. Even our very best works, our very best deeds—they are still tainted with sin . . . and the debt mounts up against us.
But we have been forgiven that debt, have we not? I mean, that’s why we’re here in this church today, because we’ve been given a serious gift of grace from God in Jesus Christ. Through His sacrificial death on the cross I have been given peace with God, a life free from the debt of sin. I can walk out of here a free man, with a swing in my step and a tune on my lips.
But what about when I get out there? What do I do about those people who sin against me? The forgiven man should act like a forgiven man, spreading the joy instead of hoarding it! But what happens if I don’t? Do you ever feel like that? What happens if I decide that a certain individual’s sin against me is so great, so horrible, that I can’t forgive them?
What happens? Will God “get us” if we don’t forgive one another? No, that’s not the point of the story. Rather, I’d say that if we can’t find it in our hearts to forgive a relatively minor debt—compared to the debt God has forgiven us—then we have not understood—and in fact despised—the forgiveness God has given unto us. If we act in such a manner towards our fellow man we are in danger of cutting ourselves off from God. How? Through a proud and haughty heart, a heart that despises the gifts God has given. A heart that doesn’t think about what it has been given, but thinks only of itself.
Bible scholar Leon Morris says, “It is too easy to skimp on forgiveness, refraining from out ward evidence of an unforgiving heart but nursing up a grudge against one who has offended us.” In other words, we might sometimes act outwardly as though we had forgiven someone, but inside we churn and boil every time their name is mentioned. And there is a danger in that, a danger that we’ll forget the forgiveness God has given to us. We’ll forget it and despise it and lose track of what God would have us be.
Who’s that one person you can’t seem to forgive? Write down their name on the sermon sheet. Name that person in your mind . . . think about what they did to sin against you. It wasn’t all that nice, was it? They did some pretty bad stuff to you. Look at that name, think about their debt of sin that they owe to you, and ask yourself, “Is that debt greater than what God has forgiven me?” Is it worth it, hanging on to that old debt, knowing the danger that hanging on may pull us apart from God?
You know, I’ve lived that life, and in some ways I’m living it right now. And I want to tell you, I don’t think it’s worth it. My grievances against these people—though they are legitimate, thought these people truly did sin against me—they’re not anything at all compared to what God has forgiven me in Jesus Christ.
You see, I realized something just this past week. As I prepared for this message, I realized that Jesus Christ has a very deep concern for my life, and for yours, as well. Jesus wants to heal us, He’s come to redeem not just our souls but our lives. Jesus Christ wants to bind up our wounds. When we can’t forgive someone, it wounds us. It causes us physical stress, it can hurt our hearts or our health. But more than that, an unforgiving spirit wounds us spiritually. It gets in the way of our relationship with God, and Jesus just can’t have that.
Jesus Christ wants to heal this part of you, this part that can’t forgive, this part that eats you alive, and He wants to do it so that you can be truly set free in Him. We have the promise of Scripture that we can do all things in Christ who strengthens us, so don’t waste another minute. Write down that name, tear it off the sheet, and say to that name, “In the forgiveness I have been given in Jesus Christ, I forgive you your sins against me.” I’ll start, and then I’ll come around to collect those names from you.
(Taking the names and pouring them into a trash bag)
Let us pray:
Lord Jesus Christ, you won our forgiveness on the cross through the shedding of your own blood and your own death. We’re so grateful for that, because through your death we know we have eternal life. We have peace with God. We have forgiveness. We know this, and we thank You for it.
Lord, we want to have that forgiveness overflow in our lives, and so we take these names now, these people who have sinned against us, these people who have wronged us, and we offer them up to you. We forgive them, Lord, and ask that you will do the same.
Gracious Father, when we feel the old wounds caused by unforgiveness, send your Holy Spirit to work among us so that He can bind up our wounds, He can help us to forgive again, and He can enlighten us to a new way, a better way in Jesus Christ.
But that’s not a choice that God gives me.
See, today’s Gospel reading is all about forgiveness; the forgiveness that God gives me and the forgiveness that I, in turn, am to give to others. You’ve heard the story before, about how Peter was asking how many times he ought to forgive another, and how he thought that perhaps seven times was plenty . . .
But Jesus figured that Peter didn’t quite understand the point . . . after all, if Peter is still keeping a forgiveness score then he probably doesn’t realize just how deep his debt was to begin with. So He tells them this story:
There was a king who decided one day to settle some old accounts, and one by one he has his debtors brought in. Well, they come to this one shifty servant who’s on the hook for something to the tune of about 10 billion dollars. Now, I don’t know how in the world this guy racked up so much debt—he must have had about 60,000 credit cards or something like that—but the point is that he owed it.
Now, there’s no way in Heaven or Earth that this guy can work off this debt! He’s just a guy, after all, and he owes more money than Bill Gates could pay back in a lifetime. So, the king’s pretty angry about this, and he has a right to be angry, after all . . . so the king figures on making an example out of this guy. But he’s not just gonna have him kneecapped, he wants to really, really make his point, so he orders that the servant be sold, that his wife be sold, that his children be sold, and everything the servant owned be sold. It’s not going to pay off the debt, but at least his point will be made.
But the servant can’t stand the thought of life in slavery, away from his wife, away from his children, away from his DVD player and wide-screen TV, so he falls down on his knees, begging, “Please don’t sell me into slavery! Give me some time, and I’ll repay everything! Please!”
The king’s not such a bad guy . . . and he’s got a good heart in him, so when he sees this servant begging for mercy, he takes compassion on him, and he forgives him everything he owes—the whole amount!—and sends him on his way, confident he’s done a good deed.
And the servant, with his crocodile tears still drying on his cheeks, heads out into the world, a free man. He’s off the hook for his 10 billion, and there’s a swing in his step and a tune on his lips . . . but then he sees a guy who’s into him for a few bucks. Well, it’s more than just a few bucks, actually . . . it’s something around 10-15,000 dollars, and the first servant figures he could use the money.
So he goes up to the second guy and grabs him around the neck. “Pay me what you owe me! Give it to me now!” But the second guy doesn’t have the cash on hand, so he falls to his knees, begging, “Please don’t sell me into slavery! Give me some time, and I’ll repay everything! Please!” But the first servant won’t hear of it . . . so he has the guy thrown into prison until the day his relatives and friends can cough up enough to pay off his debt.
Now, there is nothing that churns your gut more than doing a good deed only to have it thrown back in your face, right? So when the king hears about this, his stomach gets all tied up in knots. He figures—rightly—that the first servant didn’t really appreciate being forgiven all that much. He figures the first servant should have had compassion just oozing out of him, seeing as how he was forgiven such a huge debt . . . but since that servant despised what he was forgiven, since he turned his back on the compassion of the king, since he took the king’s grace and spit in his eye, the king changed his mind, and he had sent out a group of soldiers to go and find that wicked servant and chuck him into jail until he could repay all that he owed. I doubt that wicked servant ever saw the light of day again.
Now, Jesus has already said that His story would help us understand the Kingdom of Heaven. So there’s a few observations we can make. The king—that’s God. The first servant—that’s you. That’s me. And we owe a debt that we could never even hope to repay. It’s not a debt of money, but of sin. And that debt is staggering. There’s not a day, not an hour, that you and I have gone without sin. Even our very best works, our very best deeds—they are still tainted with sin . . . and the debt mounts up against us.
But we have been forgiven that debt, have we not? I mean, that’s why we’re here in this church today, because we’ve been given a serious gift of grace from God in Jesus Christ. Through His sacrificial death on the cross I have been given peace with God, a life free from the debt of sin. I can walk out of here a free man, with a swing in my step and a tune on my lips.
But what about when I get out there? What do I do about those people who sin against me? The forgiven man should act like a forgiven man, spreading the joy instead of hoarding it! But what happens if I don’t? Do you ever feel like that? What happens if I decide that a certain individual’s sin against me is so great, so horrible, that I can’t forgive them?
What happens? Will God “get us” if we don’t forgive one another? No, that’s not the point of the story. Rather, I’d say that if we can’t find it in our hearts to forgive a relatively minor debt—compared to the debt God has forgiven us—then we have not understood—and in fact despised—the forgiveness God has given unto us. If we act in such a manner towards our fellow man we are in danger of cutting ourselves off from God. How? Through a proud and haughty heart, a heart that despises the gifts God has given. A heart that doesn’t think about what it has been given, but thinks only of itself.
Bible scholar Leon Morris says, “It is too easy to skimp on forgiveness, refraining from out ward evidence of an unforgiving heart but nursing up a grudge against one who has offended us.” In other words, we might sometimes act outwardly as though we had forgiven someone, but inside we churn and boil every time their name is mentioned. And there is a danger in that, a danger that we’ll forget the forgiveness God has given to us. We’ll forget it and despise it and lose track of what God would have us be.
Who’s that one person you can’t seem to forgive? Write down their name on the sermon sheet. Name that person in your mind . . . think about what they did to sin against you. It wasn’t all that nice, was it? They did some pretty bad stuff to you. Look at that name, think about their debt of sin that they owe to you, and ask yourself, “Is that debt greater than what God has forgiven me?” Is it worth it, hanging on to that old debt, knowing the danger that hanging on may pull us apart from God?
You know, I’ve lived that life, and in some ways I’m living it right now. And I want to tell you, I don’t think it’s worth it. My grievances against these people—though they are legitimate, thought these people truly did sin against me—they’re not anything at all compared to what God has forgiven me in Jesus Christ.
You see, I realized something just this past week. As I prepared for this message, I realized that Jesus Christ has a very deep concern for my life, and for yours, as well. Jesus wants to heal us, He’s come to redeem not just our souls but our lives. Jesus Christ wants to bind up our wounds. When we can’t forgive someone, it wounds us. It causes us physical stress, it can hurt our hearts or our health. But more than that, an unforgiving spirit wounds us spiritually. It gets in the way of our relationship with God, and Jesus just can’t have that.
Jesus Christ wants to heal this part of you, this part that can’t forgive, this part that eats you alive, and He wants to do it so that you can be truly set free in Him. We have the promise of Scripture that we can do all things in Christ who strengthens us, so don’t waste another minute. Write down that name, tear it off the sheet, and say to that name, “In the forgiveness I have been given in Jesus Christ, I forgive you your sins against me.” I’ll start, and then I’ll come around to collect those names from you.
(Taking the names and pouring them into a trash bag)
Let us pray:
Lord Jesus Christ, you won our forgiveness on the cross through the shedding of your own blood and your own death. We’re so grateful for that, because through your death we know we have eternal life. We have peace with God. We have forgiveness. We know this, and we thank You for it.
Lord, we want to have that forgiveness overflow in our lives, and so we take these names now, these people who have sinned against us, these people who have wronged us, and we offer them up to you. We forgive them, Lord, and ask that you will do the same.
Gracious Father, when we feel the old wounds caused by unforgiveness, send your Holy Spirit to work among us so that He can bind up our wounds, He can help us to forgive again, and He can enlighten us to a new way, a better way in Jesus Christ.
Sunday, September 04, 2005
Thy Brother's Keeper
Am I my brother’s keeper?
The Bible is full of stories where people try to dodge their responsibility their God-given responsibility to their fellow human beings. But the one I’m thinking about right now occurs very early in history. In the book of Genesis we read the story of Cain and Abel . . . tell story!
Genesis 4:3-9 3 In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD. 4 But his brother Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. 6 Then the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it." 8 Now Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let's go out to the field." And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. 9 Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?" "I don't know," he replied. "Am I my brother's keeper?"
(interactive portion) What do you think? Was Cain avoiding his responsibility to Abel? Did Cain have a responsibility to Abel, or not?
Yes of course! Cain did have a responsibility to Abel, he was his brother’s keeper, but he chose to deny it. Instead of protecting Abel, he chose to bring harm to him. This isn’t what family is supposed to do! Family is there to protect one another, to nurture one another, to watch out for one another. In our families we are our brother’s keeper!
But now what about the Body of Christ—the church. Is that like a family? ____________ Yes! Are we bound to one another, do we have a responsibility to one another? Yes! Romans 12:5 says, “so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.” You do not belong to yourself, you belong to me, and I belong to you. Look around you—in front, back, left, right—these are the people that you belong to, these are the people that belong to you.
As a Christian family, we have responsibilities to one another. We are to bear one another’s burdens, we are to pray for one another, we are to encourage one another and build one another up. But in our responsibility we are also charged with the task of correcting one another. We are truly our brother’s keeper.
We have a responsibility to family members to be our brother’s or sister’s keeper, to nurture them, to care for them--that’s true. It’s also clear that we have a responsibility to our brothers and sisters in Christ—a responsibility to uphold them in prayer, to build them up, and yes, to lovingly correct them if they were to stray away from the teachings and practice of the Christian church.
But what about outside the family, outside the church . . . Do we have a responsibility beyond that?
Well, I think we can find the answer to that in the Old Testament lesson for today. The reading was from Ezekiel. Now, Ezekiel was appointed by God to be a prophet. He was called and commissioned to be the mouthpiece of God to the nation of Israel. And in the reading for today what did call Ezekiel? He called him a watchman. A watchman is another way of saying keeper, isn’t it? A watchman has a responsibility to warn the people of impending danger. God says to Ezekiel, “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. 8 When I say to the wicked, 'O wicked man, you will surely die,' and you do not speak out to dissuade him from his ways, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. 9 But if you do warn the wicked man to turn from his ways and he does not do so, he will die for his sin, but you will have saved yourself.”
God tells Ezekiel that it is his responsibility to warn people when they are in danger of judgment from God. In other words, God told Ezekiel to take note of people’s sins, to warn them that sinning is not the way of God, and to implore them to come to repentance. God appointed Ezekiel to be his brother’s keeper.
Now what does that mean, to be our brother’s keeper? To be our sister’s keeper?
The word “keeper” means one to whom something is entrusted to, it means that a person has been charged with the care of a certain thing, that he or she has a responsibility to someone or something else. A zookeeper is responsible for the proper care and feeding of the animals. A doorkeeper is responsible for guarding an entryway and making sure only the right people get in. You don’t keep something by locking it in a box and putting it out of your sight, you keep it by caring for it, you keep a person by upholding your responsibility to that person.
To be your brother’s keeper means that everyone you know, everyone you meet, everyone you see . . . you have an obligation to them. There is no person that you come into contact with that you do not have a responsibility to. Your task as keeper is to warn people of the danger they are placing themselves in by their own sinful actions.
Now that gets a little difficult, doesn’t it? No one wants to be the heavy, no one wants to be the bad guy. Telling a brother or sister that they have sinned against God . . . that just seems kind of harsh. It would be nice if we could just love on people all the time, if we didn’t have teo take the responsibility. Jesus is so serious about the need for us to correct a wayward brother or sister that He says, “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone.”
Why am I my brother’s keeper?
The first reason why we are our brother’s keeper is because it reflects the truth that God is already at work in our lives. 1 John 4:19-21 says, “19 We love because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.”
Think about what you once were . . . think about the empty way of life you once had. We’ve all got stories, we’ve all got skeletons in our closets . . . do you remember that way of life? Do you remember where that was headed? You . . . were . . . dead in your sins, you followed the course of this world, you didn’t follow God but chased after Satan instead. Remember that?
We all once lived in the passions of our flesh, we carried our every desire of our mind and body, and like the rest of mankind we children of wrath and enemies of God. The Scriptures say that neither the sexually immoral nor the idolaters or adulterers nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God . . . and yet is what we were. That is what you were . . . remember?
You were on a path that was leading to your own destruction! Your way of life was bringing untold damage to your life, the lives of those around you . . . your very soul. Face it . . . we were despicable. There wasn’t a single thing in any one of us that would please God, that could cause Him to love us. We deserved death and Hell. That is what we once were! Remember!
Remember what you once were . . . and now think about what Jesus Christ did for you. For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from your empty way of life, but with the precious blood of Christ. Despite the stone-cold fact that you had declared yourself to be His enemy, God took you in, He cleaned you up, He forgave you your sins, and He made you His own. The gift He gave you was so precious, so valuable . . . God brought you from the gutter to His glory, He transformed you into something brand new, and you’ll never have to go back to the old ways again.
Remember what Jesus Christ did for you, think about what that meant in your life—the comfort, the peace, the forgiveness—and now remember who brought you to Christ. And now you begin to understand why we are our brother’s keeper.
See, God uses His people to do His work. He gives us each a part to play in the advancement of His kingdom. The person who brought you to Christ—whether it was your parents bringing you to baptism, whether it was a friend who explained how much God loves you—that person was being your keeper. They were doing the job God gave them to do, and you were brought to Christ because of them.
God uses you to do the same thing for someone else.
God uses you as His agent of restoration, the watchman standing on the wall. He uses you as your brother’s keeper.
How do I be my brother’s keeper?
So how do we act as our brother’s keeper? What are we supposed to do?
There’s many different ways in which we have a responsibility to those around us, but let’s just focus on one. But the one responsibility that we are focusing on today is our responsibility to warn people off of the path of sin. That is a job that either 1) never gets done because we’re too shy to actually say something or 2) gets done so poorly that you wish it would have never been done at all. God has placed us in this position, however, so we’ll want to make sure that we can do it as best as we can. Here’s five tips to get the job done, and get it done in a manner that brings glory to God and healing to the sinner.
1) Be bold. This is not the time to shrink back from speaking. Imagine this: If during a routine examination a doctor were to notice signs of a serious illness, but did nothing to warn his patient . . . who’s at fault then? In the same way, the knowledge that you are your brother’s keeper compels you to speak. If you fail to speak, God misses a chance to restore the life of your brother or sister who has strayed.
2) Be truthful. In Jeremiah 26:2 God commands the prophet Jeremiah, “Thus says the LORD: Stand in the court of the LORD's house, and speak to all the cities of Judah that come to worship in the house of the LORD all the words that I command you to speak to them. Take that as the first tip: When being your brother’s keeper, you must speak the full counsel of God. The full counsel of God includes both the Law and the Gospel. In other words, it is unacceptable to simply harp on a person’s sins and never tell them that there is a way to be forgiven of those sins. We have truth to speak, but is has to be the whole truth.
3) Be loving. We speak the whole truth, but we must also speak the truth in love—this is what the Apostle Paul exhorts us to do in Ephesians 4:15 when he says, “Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.” Be careful with this one: Do not allow your speech to come off as smug or superior—you are not there to be your brother’s judge, but his keeper!
Remember what the point of being your brother’s keeper is: the point is to draw a wayward brother or sister back to repentance. If your heart is not broken over the way of life they have chosen, then I doubt you will be speaking in love. If we don’t speak in love, people with throw up their defenses and plug their ears and not here what we have to say. Have we then done our duty? Heavens no! If we were to go up to someone and say, “You’re going to Hell because of your ways, and I for one am glad of it. Don’t bother coming to church.”, then have we pushed them away or drawn them in? The point is to draw them to repentance.
4) Be prayerful. Pray! Speak the truth, speak it in love, but pray about it first. Pray that God will give you the right words, that God will give you the right time, and that God will give your brother a heart that will be open to His correction.
5) Be glad! Jonah was a man sent to be his brother’s keeper, but he wasn’t glad when the sinners repented. But Jesus says in Luke 15:10 that “there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” When a sinner repents, rejoice with them and with the angels! Don’t be upset that someone else got some grace; rejoice that God used you to bring it to them!
Being your brother’s keeper . . . it isn’t often the easy thing, I’ll admit. But it is the right thing. It’s more than just you job, your responsibility. It’s more than just what God would have you do. It’s what God has already done for you: Used others to warn you off the path of sin and restore you to the path of righteousness. And He seeks to use you in the same way for someone else. For His glory, and for their restoration.
Amen.
The Bible is full of stories where people try to dodge their responsibility their God-given responsibility to their fellow human beings. But the one I’m thinking about right now occurs very early in history. In the book of Genesis we read the story of Cain and Abel . . . tell story!
Genesis 4:3-9 3 In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD. 4 But his brother Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. 6 Then the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it." 8 Now Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let's go out to the field." And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. 9 Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?" "I don't know," he replied. "Am I my brother's keeper?"
(interactive portion) What do you think? Was Cain avoiding his responsibility to Abel? Did Cain have a responsibility to Abel, or not?
Yes of course! Cain did have a responsibility to Abel, he was his brother’s keeper, but he chose to deny it. Instead of protecting Abel, he chose to bring harm to him. This isn’t what family is supposed to do! Family is there to protect one another, to nurture one another, to watch out for one another. In our families we are our brother’s keeper!
But now what about the Body of Christ—the church. Is that like a family? ____________ Yes! Are we bound to one another, do we have a responsibility to one another? Yes! Romans 12:5 says, “so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.” You do not belong to yourself, you belong to me, and I belong to you. Look around you—in front, back, left, right—these are the people that you belong to, these are the people that belong to you.
As a Christian family, we have responsibilities to one another. We are to bear one another’s burdens, we are to pray for one another, we are to encourage one another and build one another up. But in our responsibility we are also charged with the task of correcting one another. We are truly our brother’s keeper.
We have a responsibility to family members to be our brother’s or sister’s keeper, to nurture them, to care for them--that’s true. It’s also clear that we have a responsibility to our brothers and sisters in Christ—a responsibility to uphold them in prayer, to build them up, and yes, to lovingly correct them if they were to stray away from the teachings and practice of the Christian church.
But what about outside the family, outside the church . . . Do we have a responsibility beyond that?
Well, I think we can find the answer to that in the Old Testament lesson for today. The reading was from Ezekiel. Now, Ezekiel was appointed by God to be a prophet. He was called and commissioned to be the mouthpiece of God to the nation of Israel. And in the reading for today what did call Ezekiel? He called him a watchman. A watchman is another way of saying keeper, isn’t it? A watchman has a responsibility to warn the people of impending danger. God says to Ezekiel, “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. 8 When I say to the wicked, 'O wicked man, you will surely die,' and you do not speak out to dissuade him from his ways, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. 9 But if you do warn the wicked man to turn from his ways and he does not do so, he will die for his sin, but you will have saved yourself.”
God tells Ezekiel that it is his responsibility to warn people when they are in danger of judgment from God. In other words, God told Ezekiel to take note of people’s sins, to warn them that sinning is not the way of God, and to implore them to come to repentance. God appointed Ezekiel to be his brother’s keeper.
Now what does that mean, to be our brother’s keeper? To be our sister’s keeper?
The word “keeper” means one to whom something is entrusted to, it means that a person has been charged with the care of a certain thing, that he or she has a responsibility to someone or something else. A zookeeper is responsible for the proper care and feeding of the animals. A doorkeeper is responsible for guarding an entryway and making sure only the right people get in. You don’t keep something by locking it in a box and putting it out of your sight, you keep it by caring for it, you keep a person by upholding your responsibility to that person.
To be your brother’s keeper means that everyone you know, everyone you meet, everyone you see . . . you have an obligation to them. There is no person that you come into contact with that you do not have a responsibility to. Your task as keeper is to warn people of the danger they are placing themselves in by their own sinful actions.
Now that gets a little difficult, doesn’t it? No one wants to be the heavy, no one wants to be the bad guy. Telling a brother or sister that they have sinned against God . . . that just seems kind of harsh. It would be nice if we could just love on people all the time, if we didn’t have teo take the responsibility. Jesus is so serious about the need for us to correct a wayward brother or sister that He says, “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone.”
Why am I my brother’s keeper?
The first reason why we are our brother’s keeper is because it reflects the truth that God is already at work in our lives. 1 John 4:19-21 says, “19 We love because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.”
Think about what you once were . . . think about the empty way of life you once had. We’ve all got stories, we’ve all got skeletons in our closets . . . do you remember that way of life? Do you remember where that was headed? You . . . were . . . dead in your sins, you followed the course of this world, you didn’t follow God but chased after Satan instead. Remember that?
We all once lived in the passions of our flesh, we carried our every desire of our mind and body, and like the rest of mankind we children of wrath and enemies of God. The Scriptures say that neither the sexually immoral nor the idolaters or adulterers nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God . . . and yet is what we were. That is what you were . . . remember?
You were on a path that was leading to your own destruction! Your way of life was bringing untold damage to your life, the lives of those around you . . . your very soul. Face it . . . we were despicable. There wasn’t a single thing in any one of us that would please God, that could cause Him to love us. We deserved death and Hell. That is what we once were! Remember!
Remember what you once were . . . and now think about what Jesus Christ did for you. For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from your empty way of life, but with the precious blood of Christ. Despite the stone-cold fact that you had declared yourself to be His enemy, God took you in, He cleaned you up, He forgave you your sins, and He made you His own. The gift He gave you was so precious, so valuable . . . God brought you from the gutter to His glory, He transformed you into something brand new, and you’ll never have to go back to the old ways again.
Remember what Jesus Christ did for you, think about what that meant in your life—the comfort, the peace, the forgiveness—and now remember who brought you to Christ. And now you begin to understand why we are our brother’s keeper.
See, God uses His people to do His work. He gives us each a part to play in the advancement of His kingdom. The person who brought you to Christ—whether it was your parents bringing you to baptism, whether it was a friend who explained how much God loves you—that person was being your keeper. They were doing the job God gave them to do, and you were brought to Christ because of them.
God uses you to do the same thing for someone else.
God uses you as His agent of restoration, the watchman standing on the wall. He uses you as your brother’s keeper.
How do I be my brother’s keeper?
So how do we act as our brother’s keeper? What are we supposed to do?
There’s many different ways in which we have a responsibility to those around us, but let’s just focus on one. But the one responsibility that we are focusing on today is our responsibility to warn people off of the path of sin. That is a job that either 1) never gets done because we’re too shy to actually say something or 2) gets done so poorly that you wish it would have never been done at all. God has placed us in this position, however, so we’ll want to make sure that we can do it as best as we can. Here’s five tips to get the job done, and get it done in a manner that brings glory to God and healing to the sinner.
1) Be bold. This is not the time to shrink back from speaking. Imagine this: If during a routine examination a doctor were to notice signs of a serious illness, but did nothing to warn his patient . . . who’s at fault then? In the same way, the knowledge that you are your brother’s keeper compels you to speak. If you fail to speak, God misses a chance to restore the life of your brother or sister who has strayed.
2) Be truthful. In Jeremiah 26:2 God commands the prophet Jeremiah, “Thus says the LORD: Stand in the court of the LORD's house, and speak to all the cities of Judah that come to worship in the house of the LORD all the words that I command you to speak to them. Take that as the first tip: When being your brother’s keeper, you must speak the full counsel of God. The full counsel of God includes both the Law and the Gospel. In other words, it is unacceptable to simply harp on a person’s sins and never tell them that there is a way to be forgiven of those sins. We have truth to speak, but is has to be the whole truth.
3) Be loving. We speak the whole truth, but we must also speak the truth in love—this is what the Apostle Paul exhorts us to do in Ephesians 4:15 when he says, “Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.” Be careful with this one: Do not allow your speech to come off as smug or superior—you are not there to be your brother’s judge, but his keeper!
Remember what the point of being your brother’s keeper is: the point is to draw a wayward brother or sister back to repentance. If your heart is not broken over the way of life they have chosen, then I doubt you will be speaking in love. If we don’t speak in love, people with throw up their defenses and plug their ears and not here what we have to say. Have we then done our duty? Heavens no! If we were to go up to someone and say, “You’re going to Hell because of your ways, and I for one am glad of it. Don’t bother coming to church.”, then have we pushed them away or drawn them in? The point is to draw them to repentance.
4) Be prayerful. Pray! Speak the truth, speak it in love, but pray about it first. Pray that God will give you the right words, that God will give you the right time, and that God will give your brother a heart that will be open to His correction.
5) Be glad! Jonah was a man sent to be his brother’s keeper, but he wasn’t glad when the sinners repented. But Jesus says in Luke 15:10 that “there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” When a sinner repents, rejoice with them and with the angels! Don’t be upset that someone else got some grace; rejoice that God used you to bring it to them!
Being your brother’s keeper . . . it isn’t often the easy thing, I’ll admit. But it is the right thing. It’s more than just you job, your responsibility. It’s more than just what God would have you do. It’s what God has already done for you: Used others to warn you off the path of sin and restore you to the path of righteousness. And He seeks to use you in the same way for someone else. For His glory, and for their restoration.
Amen.
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