St. John 8:42–59
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
I know there’s a lot of stuff we’re missing right now. You’re probably missing family and friends, not able to see them that much if you’re mostly staying at home all the time. You might be missing your mom or grandma if they are locked in the nursing home and you can’t see them. Some people are missing their paychecks and that can be very difficult. Others are missing their co-workers, the people they got so used to seeing every day. And some are missing their hair appointments or eating out at a favorite restaurant.
I’m so glad to see those of you who were able to make it today, because I’ve definitely been missing that—seeing my flock, my people, every Sunday, and often during the week—hearing them all sing and pray, see them appreciating God’s gifts, and catching up on their lives. To be honest, I am someone who does appreciate time to myself, but really… Social distancing is the worst. It might all be necessary (I hope it is), but this is starting to feel like we’re losing some of our humanity. We need human contact and community. I hope that during all this, you that still share a home together, are finding ways to really keep each other company. Be generous with each other in showing affection. If you live in a house with someone you’re already exposed to whatever they might have, so don’t be stingy with hugs and kisses. Be good to one another, to those you are able to be with, and give a call to those you can’t be with. I hope, if nothing else, this all teaches us how to value our relationships, because we often take them for granted, and don’t know what we’ve got until it’s gone.
There’s a lot of stuff we’re missing right now. And here at the end of Lent, we’re getting more things taken away from us. The crosses are veiled. The Gloria Patri ( the song, Glory be to the Father…) is also taken away. I’ve already been missing the Alleluias and the Gloria in Excelsis for a while. But those absences are self-imposed, or imposed by the Church. And we only take those things away for a little while in order to help us appreciate them even more; so that when Easter comes, we gaze at the cross with even more love and we sing our songs of praise with even more joy.
The real bitter truth behind missing all these things is that we don’t deserve any good things. We don’t deserve to have family or friends or community. We don’t deserve to sing praise to God. We don’t deserve to see the cross—we don’t even deserve that there should ever have been a cross, that Jesus should ever have died for us. We are of our father the devil, and our will is to do our father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
So, like the devil (the one we follow and make our father), we do not believe the truth. We don’t want to hear it, and we don’t want to speak it. We want to think and do whatever seems right in our own eyes. We don’t want anyone else telling us what’s true, not even God. And we don’t care if we murder a few people in our hearts by what we think and say, so long as we get what we want. If you think this seems to harsh, what other reason is there for our society to be so fractured? For homes to be ruined and split apart, children abandoned, no one taking responsibility for the good of others? Or for governments to be so ineffective, or false? What other reason is there that we can’t trust any news anymore? That two sides say two completely, contradictory different things and it’s almost impossible to say which one is wrong? Or what’s the reason for so much filth to be promoted on our TV and internet? It’s all because we’ve adopted the devil as our father.
And so, no, we do not deserve family or friends. We don’t deserve love. We don’t deserve Alleluias or crosses or good churches. We don’t deserve Jesus. And yet, He came—to a world that did not deserve Him, to a world that did not and does not want Him (and that includes you and me in our sinful hearts). He came—out of His great love for His true and good Father, and out of God’s great love for us unlovable, devilish brats. He came. He suffered, bled, and died, for us; so that we can have a new Father; so that we can have the love that we never could’ve imagined.
That’s what this time of year is all about. It might feel like it, but it’s NOT the season of Coronavirus. It’s still the season of Lent, and very soon Holy Week. As much as we care about what’s going on in our world and all the terrible consequences, we need to start changing the subject once in a while. Instead of constantly talking about sickness and government regulations, we need to be talking a little more about the One who heals all sickness and frees us from all the terrible consequences of life in this sinful, fallen world. Instead of constantly talking about what we don’t know, what we can’t be sure of, what we can’t control, we need to be talking more about what we DO know: that we can be SURE that Jesus suffered and died for us and rose again to give us the life that blows even the best stuff on earth out of the water.
This is why Lent is still important. The end of Lent and Holy Week is begging us to stop worrying about everything else, and start paying attention to the One who takes all worry and fear away. Jesus. Don’t let Jesus and His holy death and His glorious resurrection get swallowed up and drowned out by the news or the self-quarantine or the changes in your daily life. Think about Him, talk about Him, listen to Him, pray to Him, and to your Father and His Holy Spirit.
If you’re stuck at home more often, this is the perfect time to get into the habit of spending life with your God. It’s almost like He did it on purpose—He’s finally getting some of us to stay home as a family and have plenty of time to read His Word and pray once in a while as a family. So, whether you can gather at church or you have to watch on YouTube or listen to the radio, whatever you need to do, what needs to be at the front of your hearts and minds is Jesus—His suffering, bleeding, dying, and rising all for you. Only by faith in Jesus can we live, now and forever. Only by hearing His Word and eating His body and drinking His blood can we really live.
Abraham had that in his own way. He saw Jesus and trusted Him. That was Jesus—the angel of the Lord who called to Abraham from heaven, stopped the knife, and accepted his worship. Jesus is why Abraham said of that place: “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.” Abraham saw the Savior in that ram that was provided in Isaac’s place. And then, many years later, on that same mount of the Lord it was finally and fully provided. On Mount Calvary, Golgotha, the Lord provided—not a ram caught by his horns in a thicket, but a sacrificial Lamb, who was not caught, but went to His death willingly, like a king. He was crowned with thorns, and He Himself carried the wood for His sacrifice up the hill. And there He freely, lovingly offered Himself.
He entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption—for Isaac, for Abraham, for the Jews, for the world, for you. All so that you can have what you don’t deserve, but what He so dearly wants to give. He gives His all, so that you don’t have to miss life with Him, or miss all the rest of the good stuff He gives with it.
In the Holy + Name of Jesus. Amen.
Preached at Immanuel, Charlotte, IA & Trinity, Clinton Radio Broadcast
