"My, How You've Changed!" Sermon for 3/6/11

Sermon: "My, How You've Changed!" Matthew 17.1-9

Our Lord, ruler of all, let us see you in your majesty, but let us see you through your grace and mercy, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

There's a movement within Christianity that raises its ugly head once in a while. You've probably heard of it occasionally. It's been around at least since the second century. And I have heard it asserted by genuine believers even within the past year. This movement will say that the Old Testament is the place where we see God in his consuming power but the New Testament is where we see the God of love. Sometimes people will go so far as to say that God is different at different times, that there's no grace in the Old Testament and that there's nothing but grace in the New Testament.

When we consider today's readings from Exodus, Psalms, 2 Peter, and Matthew, we have to realize there's something wrong with that picture. Here we see the God of glory revealed in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. At the same time, in the very same passages, we see that God mercifully reveals himself to his people, showing them his will which is for their good. Our Lord gathers his people to him and has them dine in his presence. Our Lord gives all authority to his Son and tells us to believe in him. Our Lord reveals his glory in the Son and tells people how to speak of God in faithfulness. Our Lord shows himself in his brilliance to his disciples, telling them to rise and have no fear. We read today's passages and we confess with the author of Hebrews, (ESV) "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever" (Hebrews 13.8).

Yet we look to our Lord anew today. We are at the end of the Epiphany season. This is now the ninth Sunday after Epiphany. We won't have that many Sundays in Epiphany again for 27 years. We've had lots of time to look at our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and see what he's like. We've seen him revealing himself through his interactions with the disciples. We've seen him revealing himself by doing miracles. We've seen his grace, his mercy, his everlasting kindness to those who believe on him. We started with him as a young child back in January. Now he's been an adult for several weeks, walking with his disciples, showing them what he's like. We think we know him pretty well.

Yes, maybe we thought we knew Jesus pretty well. Maybe the apostles thought that also. They had been with him for a few years, day after day, week after week. But he's been saying things and doing things to make the apostles uncomfortable. Peter, James, and John, the sort of "inner circle" of Jesus' apostles, have been watching him closely. He's started talking about his death. He's started giving them signs that something is going to happen and that he won't be with them. They don't quite understand this new agenda. But like the good friends they are, they trust Jesus. They will go along with him. He seems troubled. So they will stick closer than usual.

When Jesus takes his disciples up onto a mountain to pray it seems like a pretty normal trip. I don't know why we do this, but we seem to think going uphill is a good way to approach God in prayer. So the four men go up the hill to pray. What happens? Jesus appears changed before the disciples. He is revealed to Peter, James and John in his glory. He shows them a taste of what he will be like when they see him in the resurrection. His clothes can't contain the light. His discussion with Moses and Elijah shows that he is the very God who has talked with them many times before. He is the God of the living, not of the dead. But Moses died and was buried, though Elijah was taken up alive. Jesus therefore shows that he is the God of the resurrection, that even if we die, we will live again.

What do we say? What do we do? When we are overwhelmed by God's presence? Jesus! You've changed! I thought I knew you, but you sure never looked and acted like this before! Maybe we can do something. Yes, that's it. We're completely overwhelmed so I guess we ought to do something. That's it. We'll build a monument to you and to this occasion.

It isn't unusual for a person who is very excited to start babbling uncontrollably. And we all know that it's nearly impossible to do anything useful with someone who is babbling. So what does God do? He surprises Peter, James and John by speaking to them. That's enough to quiet them down.

What does Jesus then do with these disciples who have been reduced to piles of terrified trembling pudding? He touches them. He tells them to get up. He tells them not to fear. He tells them that he will rise from the dead and that after that happens they can tell what they saw. Jesus takes his disciples who have been shocked by his presence. He raises them up so they can carry on with the vocation he is going to give them.

Likewise, we look to Jesus as we come to the end of Epiphany. We thought we knew him pretty well. But he shows that there's more to him than meets the eye. We say, "My, how you've changed!" And he looks at us. He touches us. He raises us up. He tells us, "I haven't changed. You just see me better."

As we walk with our Lord through the season of Lent, starting this week with Ash Wednesday, we'll see him better and better. We'll see Jesus, the just one, giving himself into the hands of unjust men. We'll see him going to the cross on our behalf. We'll see him dying to bear our sins. We'll see all his disciples fleeing from him. And we'll see that we are like those disciples. We'll see that we are sinful indeed. We'll see that, just like those who denied Jesus, we do not deserve the riches of his grace. And we'll see that the grace of God in Jesus Christ is there for us, just as it was for his disciples. We'll see that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Has Jesus changed? No. We just see him better. And as we see him better, we are moved to repentance. As Peter, James and John were moved to repentance in the presence of God, may we also be moved to repentance, realizing that we are unworthy to be partakers of Jesus' presence, but that he has promised his presence with us always.

We receive the sacrament of Holy Communion today. Do we realize that Jesus is present, really present, in his body and blood given and shed for us? Has he changed? No. We just see him more clearly.

Let us pray.

Our Lord, you have given yourself for us, revealing yourself in your glory, revealing your humility, coming to us. Humble us in your presence. Grant us your grace, your mercy, your forgiveness. Raise us up and give us the fearless spirit which you gave to Peter, James and John in the time of your resurrection. This we pray in the name of ┼ the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

-- 

Dave Spotts
blogging at http://capnsaltyslongvoyage.blogspot.com

Confirmation

One of the great mysteries to me as an adult convert to Christianity within a baptistic community has been the idea of confirmation. I never really understood it and nobody seemed ready to try to explain it to me. I recall once, when serving as an elder in the church we used to attend, we had a membership interview with a family. Since the church took a baptistic view of things, the assumption of the leadership was that baptism would not be applied to infants, and if it was, it would be typical to rebaptize someone upon an adult profession of faith. This family we were interviewing consisted of a husband and wife of middle age, both adult converts who had been baptized as adults, their two children who were pre-teens and had not been baptized, and the husband's mother who had come to live with them in her old age. It was the mother who presented the difficulty to the church board. She was quite interested in joining the church, as she wanted to be under the nurture, guidance, and discipline of the elders. She had been baptized as an infant and had been confirmed. She stressed the fact of her confirmation as her assertion of her Christian faith. At the time, I was coming to a conclusion of the regenerative efficacy of baptism and was starting to put the puzzle pieces together. My opinion was that her baptism was absolutely valid and that her many years of Christian testimony confirmed her vital faith in Christ. The other elders were more hesitant. After a few probing questions about her faith, one of the elders asked her if she had thought about being baptized as an adult. Her response was that she didn't consider it because she had been confirmed. After a little discussion just among the elders, the family was welcoxmed into the membership of the local church. I could, however, sense some ongoing, nagging doubt, especially in two members of the elder board.

About the same time, I had been studying baptism more closely in part because my younger daughter was professing her faith in Christ and desiring baptism. The more I studied, the more convinced I became of an infant baptism position. Meanwhile, the other elders seemed to be wanting to m/ake more clear definitions of what kind of Christian testimony would allow for a believer to be baptized. We kicked the idea around for many hours, looking at Scripture seriously and prayerfully. At long last, my daughter gave what was apparently sufficient evidence of regeneration to persuade the other elders to baptize her.

This puzzle of baptism and confirmation started coming together for me more clearly in the last few months. After working with this daughter for a couple of years after her baptism, which she and many in the church saw as her public profession of faith and pledge that she would live a life for Christ, then after having the daughter spend a year in a catechism class in an LCMS church followed by the better part of a year working with me on catechesis as I've been serving as a vacancy pastor, it's come time to go ahead and have the confirmation. As I was reading over the liturgy for the confirmation I was struck by how similar the rite of confirmation is to what we did in adult baptisms. Here's what I see.

First, we remind ourselves about Jesus' commands to baptize and his promise of his presence from Matthew 28. We have the confirmand acknowledge the gift of salvation, renounce the devil, and publicly confess the Christian faith in the words of the Apostles' Creed. The confirmand then expresses an intention to remain in the faith, a desire to be involved in the local church, and to remain true to Christ even to death. The pastor then prays for the catechumen. 

This seems like a pretty firm confirmation of the faith. In fact, I can't think of many of my baptistic brothers who call for such a firm pledge of faithfulness to Christ in front of the whole congregation. 

Somehow, though, my daughter still didn't seem to get something about the importance of the confirmation service. She viewed it as something worthy, but recognized it is in no way regenerative. It isn't commanded in Scripture and is not treated as a means of grace. She was puzzled by the fact that so many people around the church seemed to be so very excited for her. I explained this morning that it is what Lutherans see as their public profession of faith and their pledge to live a life for Christ. Her response? "I did that way back when I was baptized." There! The puzzle fits together. Yes! It seems that she encapsulated a baptistic view of baptism and its importance. She knew that she was making a pledge that she had been regenerated, that God's grace was working in her. It seemed irrelevant to her to do so again. So I explained that I was very pleased that she was confirming her faith in her baptism, but that the people in the local congregation wouldn't understand that, as their default is to assume that baptism is applied as a regenerative means of grace, working faith through God's word and promise, as a concrete application of the Gospel. The others in the congregation look to a later expression of the Christian faith, and do not seem ready to affirm it until the person is about my daughter's age and has been through some course material which they assume would not have happened previously.

Maybe this is a bit of what Jesus was talking about when he was baptized "to fulfill all righteousness." Maybe not. But we're hoping the confirmation will go through just fine tomorrow, with no illness striking suddenly in the morning. May the Lord use it to encourage others who are present in their renunciation of the Devil, their desire to live a life dedicated to Christ, and their ongoing ministry of encouraging one another in the faith.

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Dave Spotts
blogging at http://capnsaltyslongvoyage.blogspot.com

Psalm 118.22-29, Job 37.1-24, John 12.1-19 - Lectionary for 3/5/11

Today's readings are Psalm 118.22-29, Job 37.1-24, and John 12.1-19.

John 12.16 makes a very interesting comment. "His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him" (ESV). I think we are very often like those disciples. We see what is happening but we don't really understand it. We endure hardships, we receive blessings, we see our lives flourish or crumble. We don't know what's really happening. We don't know why it might be happening. And we may never understand it all. Yet later, in retrospect, we see God's hand working out all things according to his good will. The pieces of the puzzle start to fall into place.

Did the disciples understand Jesus' death? No. Nor would we, given the same context they had. Yet in God's perfect will, Jesus died to bear the sin of the world, crushing sin which leads to death. We can rejoice, knowing that our Lord has also risen from the dead. We too shall rise, putting on incorruptibility, raised in newness of life in the last day. No, we don't understand that. But we know the Lord does.

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Dave Spotts
blogging at http://capnsaltyslongvoyage.blogspot.com

Psalm 2.1-6, 10-12, Job 36.1-21, John 11.38-57 - Lectionary for 3/4/11

Today's readings are Psalm 2.1-6, 10-12, Job 36.1-21, and John 11.38-57.

Psalm 2 tells about the futility of trusting in human kings. It tells how powerless people who rise up against God really are. Do we want a demonstration of this? Look no farther than our Gospel lesson for today. We find Jesus, whose word of command is more powerful than death itself. We find that the Pharisees are worried that people will believe in Jesus and it will move the Roman government to action. We find Jesus, whose life situation makes Caiaphas the high priest proclaim a prophecy about the sufficiency of Jesus' death. We see Jesus, who stirs everyone to action and yet goes about his mission of living and dying for his people. No, we don't trust in kings. We trust in Jesus, the one who can move kings.

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Dave Spotts
blogging at http://capnsaltyslongvoyage.blogspot.com

Psalm 116.12-19, Job 34.10-33, John 11.17-37

Today's readings are Psalm 116.12-19, Job 34.10-33, and John 11.17-37.

As we approach the season of Lent we start looking toward the penitence of the season. In Psalm 116.15 (ESV) we read, "Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints." Why would this be? Theories abound and I can't put my finger on just one which is surely the definitive answer. But I know this. Throughout history, the only way we come into the living and eternal presence of the Lord is through death. Jesus died and was raised again from the dead as the firstfruits. He shows us that he's in the resurrection business and that we will rise as he did. And the only way we're going to rise from the dead is if we die first. It's part of the process of our Lord gathering a people to himself.

Does this mean we're fatalists and should all have a death wish? No, there's plenty of evil in the world to bring our mortal lives to an end. We don't need to hasten it along. But we don't cling to this earthly life too tightly either. There's eternity out there, waiting. For those who believe Jesus died for them, who trust in him for their eternal life and hope, death has nothing to fear. It's precious in God's eyes. What he has planted here he will also harvest.

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Dave Spotts
blogging at http://capnsaltyslongvoyage.blogspot.com

Psalm 116.1-9, Job 33.14-34.9, John 11.1-16 - Lectionary for 3/2/11

Today's readings are Psalm 116.1-9, Job 33.14-34.9, and John 11.1-16.

Our readings today deal with despair, hopelessness, even finally death. Recently with some students I was observing a feature of this passage in John 11.  Jesus says that Lazarus is sleeping. It strikes me that the Bible compares sleep and death in the ways it does. Try as we might, we can't evade either. We may be able to stay awake for a day or two, maybe even a bit longer. But we will eventually fall asleep and there is nothing at all we can do about it. Likewise, we live only so long and then, no matter what we do, we die. In sleep and in death we lose control of ourselves. We are not able to tell time as we sleep, we can't make ourselves stay in one place or position, we can't control our thoughts or attitudes in our sleep. And in death we no longer have any control of ourselves, all of our own ability is wiped out.

The great good news of the Bible is that death is also like sleep in that we will be awakened one day. Our Lord and Savior will come to awaken us, as he promised in the case of Lazarus (John 11.11). And when we are awakened we will rise refreshed, ready, changed, thoroughly prepared for all the Lord would do with us, taking us to our eternal home. 

Arise, Lord, and awaken your people to life.  Amen.

--
Dave Spotts
blogging at http://capnsaltyslongvoyage.blogspot.com

Psalm 82, Job 33.1-18, John 10.22-42 - Lectionary for 3/1/11

Today's readings are Psalm 82, Job 33.1-18, and John 10.22-42.

There's a stream of liberal Bible scholarship which says Jesus never claimed to be God. It seems increasingly common to hear people bandy this idea around nowadays. So what do we do with passages such as our reading from John today? The Jews here in the Gospel obviously are of the impression that Jesus is equating himself with the Father. They are certain enough of it that they attempt to stone Jesus. And we observe that Jesus does not deny anything that the Jews have understood. He never says they misunderstood him. He says they deny him, but not that they misunderstand him. 

Today we are confronted with Jesus, claiming to be truly God and truly man, claiming to do the works of God, showing his deity in every way. The question is not whether or not Jesus claims to be God. The question is what we do with Jesus' claim of deity. Do we believe him? Do we, like the Jews in John 10 try to kill him? May the Lord grant us hearts to believe Jesus as Lord and Savior.

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Dave Spotts
blogging at http://capnsaltyslongvoyage.blogspot.com