Text: Revelation 1:4b-8 4b Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood 6 and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. 7 Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen. 8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
Sermon for the Festival of Christ the King Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 585 South St. (Route 75), Suffield CT 06078 USA http://www.gslcsuffield.com
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Bribing God Sermon for the Third Sunday of Easter Text: Revelation 5:11-14 11 Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” 13 And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!” 14 And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped.
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 585 South St. (Rt. 75), Suffield CT 06078 USA www.gslcsuffield.com If you would like to support this ministry, send your offering to the church.
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Day’s Readings: Psalm 30:8-12, Mark 13:1-31, Leviticus 14:1-57 Meditational Reading: Mark 13:14-27 14 “But when you see the abomination of desolation standing where he ought not to be (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 15 Let the one who is on the housetop not go down, nor enter his house, to take anything out, 16 and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. 17 And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! 18 Pray that it may not happen in winter. 19 For in those days there will be such tribulation as has not been from the beginning of the creation that God created until now, and never will be. 20 And if the Lord had not cut short the days, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, whom he chose, he shortened the days. 21 And then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it. 22 For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect. 23 But be on guard; I have told you all things beforehand. 24 “But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, 25 and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. 26 And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27 And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.
Why is there such a fascination with the end times? My most popular blogs are from the Revelation of St. John. In the past week 34 people read my blog “Beauty and the Beast” based on Revelation 17. I wrote that blog LAST MARCH! Yet people still read it. Why the fascination with the Beast and the End Times? I think part of the fascination is that people want a road map into the future. They would like to know what’s going to happen, why it’s happening, and there is a bit of terror involved as well!
I know Christians who fear the End Times. They don’t want them to happen (at least when they’re still alive in this world). Why is that? Look at the last two verses of the meditational reading. Jesus will return, yes, there is going to be awesome and fearful stuff going when he returns, but he is coming back to bring us to be with himself! His return is the final and full defeat of Satan and his power in this world! That’s the point people often fail to grasp about the End Times. Jesus’ victory, secured on Good Friday, assured on Easter Sunday, will be finalized on the day of his return!
Believers in the Lord Jesus have nothing to fear. Our place with him is secure. We are his and he is ours! And together we will live forever, forever with him! That’s good and glorious news!
Day’s Readings: Psalm 29:1-22, Mark 11:27-12:12, Leviticus 9:1-10:20 Meditational Reading: Leviticus 9:23-10:3 9:23 And Moses and Aaron went into the tent of meeting, and when they came out they blessed the people, and the glory of the LORD appeared to all the people. 9:24 And fire came out from before the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the pieces of fat on the altar, and when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces. 10:1 Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, which he had not commanded them. 10:2 And fire came out from before the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD. 10:3 Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the LORD has said, ‘Among those who are near me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified.'” And Aaron held his peace.
And now, the end is here
And so I face the final curtain
My friend, I’ll say it clear
I’ll state my case, of which I’m certain
I’ve lived a life that’s full
I traveled each and ev’ry highway
And more, much more than this, I did it my way.
As a person who came of age in the 60’s and 70’s, I would call this Frank Sinatra’s signature song. It is one of the few songs I ever heard him sing. It is a song that resonates with many most people. We respect the rugged individualist. We admire people who go against the trend and set new trends of their own. We like it when people “do it their way.” We all want to do it “my way.” There’s a reason this song was so popular–even among a generation that never thought much of Frank and the Rat Pack.
It the face of the natural inclination to “do it my way”, we read today’s Old Testament reading. It lies within an overall context of God appearing before the people, at the Tent of Meeting, after Aaron and his sons were ordained as priests of the Lord. I’ve been rapidly reading through the Leviticus passages of my regular Bible reading because they are somewhat boring and (on the surface) have nothing to do with me and my faith. But when I came to the beginning of chapter 10, with death of Nadab and Abihu, I stopped for a few seconds and knew that this would be my contemplative reading. In the midst of reading fast, God still uses his Word and smacks me (figuratively) in the face!
And, even as I first read this text, my thoughts immediately turned to Frank Sinatra. I could hear him singing in my head! Nadab and Abihu did it “their way!” I believe that their motives were as pure as the wind driven snow. They saw the glory of the Lord, the glory of the Lord overwhelmed them, and they reacted. They filled their censers with incense and offered up a sacrifice to the Lord. I don’t think that they had anything but the best of intentions in what they did. Yet the Lord was not pleased with them and their sacrifice. And the Lord showed it in a very real way. He killed them where they stood because they “offered unauthorized fire before the LORD.” They were killed by fire for offering unauthorized fire!
This is what made an impact upon me:
We live under the terms of the New Covenant
and we are free from many of the religious strictures of Nadab and Abihu.
Do you like Traditional or Contemporary Worship?
It’s a personal preference and the Lord does not prescribe our worship forms for us (unlike he did for Nadab and Abihu!).
But there still is a great truth in today’s Old Testament reading:
We can only approach God on his terms, in the way he chooses, not the way we choose.
We cannot “do it my way” when it comes to God and our relationship with him.
We can only approach God the Holy Trinity through Jesus! If we want to do “our way” and approach him in any other way, then we are lost. Our New Testament readings are now rooted in Holy Week and the upcoming Good Friday Cross and the Empty Easter Tomb. Jesus, true God from eternity, entered our world as a true human being, in order to bring us to God the Holy Trinity. The only way we can know God the Father as our Father, is through the Son and his sacrifice for us. When it comes to knowing God and his love, we can only know it “his way,” his way of the cross and our forgiveness, his way of the empty tomb and his proof that our sins are indeed forgiven.
Day’s Readings: Job 35:1-37:24, Matthew 24:1-31, Proverbs 4:1-9 Meditational Reading: Matthew 24:23-27 27 Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 24 For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you beforehand. 26 So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. 27 For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
Jesus warns against the false Christs and false prophets who will arise. I met such a false Christ. He came to the church and started to engage me in conversation. I immediately recognized that he was a crackpot and/or heretic. After a while he told me, “I am Julius Christ.” Before I arrived in Connecticut Brother Julius was a (false) prophet who actually used our church for some of his meetings. Brother Julius died. But some of his followers took up his cause and now claim to be “Julius Christ.”
It was easy to identify him as a false Christ. He came right out and called himself “Christ.” But what about the not so easy identifications? What about areas where things are fuzzy? When I work out at the gym early in the morning there is not a whole lot of stuff on TV except infomercials. If I am going to do an hour of cardio, I NEED MY TV! to distract me. A few weeks ago I watched some program or the other where the new home buyer brought their spiritual adviser to the house before closing on it. They had a seance of some sort to rid the house of the lurking spirit of the previous owner. During the spiritual exercise the adviser was able to mention things that surprised the house seller because they were spot on about the person who (if memory serves me) died in the house. At the end of the seance (or whatever it was called), all four participants “felt” the spirit go past them and leave the house.
There was a time in my life that I would say these people are kooks. But, as I’ve matured in my Christian faith, I recognize that there is more than the physical world; I recognize that there is a “spiritual” presence in the world also. Let me be plain:I do not believe in ghosts or spiritual entities that were once human lurking in the places where they once lived. But I do believe in the spiritual. I believe in angels and in demons because the Bible teaches that they exist. I believe that Satan and his followers can deceive people into believing that they are “departed spirits” even to the point of revealing true information about the “dearly (not so entirely) departed”.
We live in a world of open “spirituality” that wants nothing to do with the true God of this world and the revelation of his Word, the Bible. “Ghosts” and “spiritual entities” do not exist. To believe in them is to deny the resurrection. Angels and demons do exist. In his effort to lead people astray and keep them from God and his love and forgiveness, Satan and his followers parade around in various spiritual forms, leading people further and further from God and his truth. Remember: false Christs and false prophets are not only “religious”, they are “spiritual” as well. And the spiritual advisers do not even know who they are dealing with!
Lord, there are so many things in this world that we know nothing about. But we do know that you love us and sent your Son as the sacrifice for our sins. We know that he rose from the dead–not as a ghost, but as our living, breathing God and Savior! Open our eyes and hearts to see the false Christs and false teachers and teaching around us. Keep us grounded in your Word, in your love, in your Resurrection which you will give to all of your children on the last day. Thank you, Lord, for keeping us steadfast in your Word. Amen!
Day’s Readings: Psalm 18:1-6, Matthew 21:1-17, Job 19:1-21:34 Meditational Reading: Job 21:14-16a
14 They say to God, ‘Depart from us! We do not desire the knowledge of your ways.
15 What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? And what profit do we get if we pray to him?’
16 Behold, is not their prosperity in their hand?
Reading Job takes patience! But there are golden nuggets in Job! As I read today’s readings, these verses jumped out at me! They reminded me of a conversation I had a few year ago. I was at a gathering and in the process of the small talk that went on, a young, professional man asked me, “Why do I need God? I have everything I could ever want. I have a ton of money; I have some really great cars; I have a great house; I have a hot wife; I have all that I could ever want. Why do I need God?” In his own way he echoed Job and Job’s complaint!
Why do I need God? Why do I need God when I have all the toys in the world? The answer is obvious: the toys will break; the hot wife will become merely warm as she ages; the toys will not last. But that is the answer from someone who looks at the longterm. My friend wasn’t interested in the longterm. Why did he need God?
Before this latest financial crisis hit, I read a lot of articles about aging baby boomers (my generation). It seems that the aging boomers had acquired a lot of wealth; they acquired all sorts of toys, but the lacked meaning in their lives. The article would invariably read, “After working hard for “x” years and acquiring wealth, John Doe now seeks to find meaning in his life. He quit his job/sold his business/[you get the picture] and is now doing <some noble activity> to give meaning to his life.” Since the this latest financial crisis hit and wealth has evaporated for many people, I no longer read many “I need to find meaning for my life” stories.
The ultimate irony: American Baby Boomers condemned their parents’ materialism — and have engourged themselves in it more than our parents ever did! And yet we seek meaning for our lives! Why do I need God? Because we realize that our lives and goods and possessions and wealth are transient! And, as we age, we hit the hard truth that we won’t last forever either (in a strictly materialistic manner). But the life God the Father gives us through faith in Jesus is eternal! God is not my piggy bank. He gives me meaning in life, a meaning that goes far beyond this life and is good for eternity. That’s why I need God.
There is really nothing beyond this point. These are just popular search terms that I’m including because I want to trick people into reading something good about God the Holy Trinity!
Day’s Readings: Psalm 17:13-15, Matthew 20:20-34, Job 15:1-18:21 Meditational Reading: Matthew 20:29-34 29 And as they went out of Jericho, a great crowd followed him. 30 And behold, there were two blind men sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” 31 The crowd rebuked them, telling them to be silent, but they cried out all the more, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” 32 And stopping, Jesus called them and said, “What do you want me to do for you?” 33 They said to him, “Lord, let our eyes be opened.” 34 And Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him.
Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem and the cross and the empty tomb. That is the context of this reading. As he leaves Jericho the two blind men yell out, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” The call him “Son of David.” They recognize something about Jesus; they confess something about Jesus: “Son of David,” the long-promised, long-awaited Messiah and Savior is here!
After healing them they followed Jesus. How far and for how long did they follow him? Jericho is about 15 miles from Jerusalem, up the steep mountain road. How far did they follow Jesus? How long did they follow him? Did the follow him to Jerusalem? Did they see, did they participate in, his triumphal entry on Palm Sunday? Did they stick around to see Good Friday? The definitely heard about Easter Sunday!
Lord, you call us to faith in you through your good news of your death and resurrection on our behalf! May we always follow you, the Son of David, our Messiah, our Savior, our God in human flesh, who takes away our sins! Amen!
Text: John 16:5-11
5 But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’
6 But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.
7 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.
8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:
9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me;
10 concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer;
11 concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
I normally use this space to share my morning meditational moments as I do my (almost) daily Bible reading. But as I put my laundry into the washing machine this morning, it hit me. Like most of you, I am treating the reported Rapture, do to begin on Saturday, May 21, with humor. Despite all of the purported mathematical formulations and decoding, we still do not know the “times and seasons” (Acts 1:7). We do not know the year, the day, the hour, much less the minute when Jesus will return (Mark 13, especially the verse around v.32).
Well back to my laundry room epiphany. As I was loading the washing machine it hit me: Saturday, May 21, will be the end of the world for some people! It further hit me: Everyday is the end of world for many, many people. It is not that the “Rapture” takes place, but that people die each and every day. And the people who die not knowing Jesus as their Savior and Lord are going to hell! That is a fate I do not wish upon anyone!
And that confronted me with the question, as I closed the lid to the washing machine, “Are you ready?” Are you ready to mee the Lord in all of his resurrected glory as he comes at the close of the age with his angels? I am ready to meet him. I am ready to meet him not based on the good things I do (I don’t do all that many); I am ready to meet him based on the good thing that Jesus did for me! Jesus, truly God from eternity, willingly laid aside his godly might and power and came into the world he created in order to live the good and perfect life I do not live, I cannot live. In reward for being perfect, sinful humanity murdered him by nailing him to the cross, but this, too, was part of his eternal plan. He took our sins upon himself and on the cross suffered the total and complete damnation we deserve. He died the spiritual death we deserve. He died the horrid physical death we deserve. And he did it all in order to take our sins upon himself and pay their price in full. Because he did that we are now forgiven! Our sins no longer exist. On that first Easter Sunday Jesus arose from the dead as proof, as God the Father’s proof to us, that our sins are indeed forgiven and that we have eternal life with himself as an absolute free gift.
Because God the Holy Trinity did all of this for me, I am ready. I am ready to meet Jesus face to face, whether it be right now, or on May 21, 2011, or any other day and year! I am ready! Not because of who I am and what I do, but because of who Jesus is and what he did — what he did for me in his life, death, and resurrection.
Revelation 20:1-15 1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. 2 And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, 3 and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while. 4 Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years. 7 And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. 9 And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, 10 and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. 11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. 13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. 14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
Two things strike me in today’s Bible reading:
1. The 1000 years As a good Lutheran, I am not a millennialist, but the 1000 years still intrigues me. Confessional Lutherans don’t really study millenialsim; we have our stock answers to it, but we don’t look at it in detail so that we can authoratatively say why we disagree with it. I took my doctorate from a millenialist Seminary, so I had to hone my arguments in order to present a cogent Lutheran view and still point out the primary weakness of millenialism.
All that being said, the 1000 years still intrigues me (and many other Christians as well). It is not a literal 1000 years. But the 1000 years marks the time of Christ; which started at his Incarnation/birth. It was at the Incarnation that Satan’s fate was sealed; God entered the fray on behalf of sinful, sin-crippled, humanity. The time of Christ is not a time of outward victory:
the Holy Family had to flee to Egypt because Herod sought the boy’s death
Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness
Jesus was tempted by Satan in Peter (“Get thee behind me Satan!”)
Jesus was tempted by Satan in the Garden of Gethsemane
Jesus was tempted by Satan on the cross (“If you are the Christ, save yourself and us”)
After the resurrection sealed God’s victory things did not outwardly improve:
Stephen was martyred
James the Just was martyred
All of the Apostles, except for John, were martyred
John was sent into exile on the Island of Patmos
Nameless saints were martyred in cruel ways
Present day saints are martyred simply because they confess Christ.
As the end of time approaches, Satan will unleash his fury one last time to destroy Christ’s Church and drag as many people as he can into hell with him. But as Satan musters his forces, God intervenes mightily and consigns Satan to the Lake of Fire. At that time, God’s victory which began with the Incarnation will be final and complete.
2. The Second Resurrection The truth is, the “Second Resurrection” is not mentioned by John. I have no real, good way to designate it because John only writes of “the first resurrection.” The stress on this verse is the comfort it gives the believer that believers, especially those who die in faith in Jesus, are with him now. Remember Jesus talking to Martha about her brother’s death (John 11)? Martha, like all good Jews of the day (except for the Sadducees) believed in the Resurrection at the last day. In her grief, Jesus turned her attention to him, “the Resurrection and the Life.” Those who live in Christ, those who die in Christ, are with the Christ and, more importantly, Christi is with them! This is the first resurrection. Paul’s letter to the Romans (6:3-5):
“3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.”
All of this anticipates our resurrection on the last day, but Jesus does not want us to become so intent upon that final resurrection that we lose comfort in this life; he wants us to be comforted with the fact that our loved who die in him are with him–even now.
Thank you, Lord, that you do not leave us without comfort us. But you are with us to assure us of your perpetual presence and comfort us with the fact that our loved ones who die in you are with you. As we prepare to draw our last breath, you also assure us that you are with us and when we close our eyes in death, you will awaken us to be with yourself. Thank you, Lord. Amen!
4b Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, 
The Rev. Dr. Jim Kerner's Blog 