OUR GENTLE MESSIAH
Rev. Mark F. Bartels
Epistle Lesson;
Acts 10:34-38
Gospel Lesson;
Luke 3:15-22
Sermon Text,
Isaiah 42:1-7
A number of years ago, I was ministering to a woman, who was dying. She knew that she was dying. Her family knew that she was dying. And, I knew that she was dying. I also knew that it was my duty, as a pastor, to prepare her for meeting her Maker, to prepare her to have her soul ready. I can’t relay the whole conversation, because it would take too long, but basically this is a summary of how it went.
When I got to her hospital room, I asked her, "Do you believe that you are a sinner?"
To this, she responded, "Yes."
Next I asked her, "Do you believe that Jesus Christ came into this world to save sinners?"
She then responded, "Yes."
I next asked her, "Do you believe that Jesus died on the cross, and made full payment for the sins of the whole world?"
And she said, "Yes."
Finally, I asked, "Do you believe Jesus paid for your sins?" And, she replied, "Yes."
I then told her, "God has made a promise to you. The promise is that whoever believes, will be saved. You believe in Jesus, so you will be saved. You will be in Heaven."
To which she responded, "I hope so."
There was an element of doubt in her response, wasn’t there? But, what did she doubt? She didn’t doubt that she was a sinner. She didn’t doubt that Jesus came for sinners. She didn’t doubt that Jesus died on the cross to pay for the sins of the whole world. And, she didn’t doubt that Jesus died to pay for her sins.
So, what did she doubt? She doubted whether her faith was strong enough, and whether Jesus would accept her faith, when she stood before Him in judgment. She doubted the strength of her own faith, and whether it would be acceptable to Jesus.
After I left her room, got onto the elevator, and was going down the elevator, one of the members of her family, who was from out of town, followed after me.
As we were going down the elevator he said, "I am really concerned about my loved one."
I asked him, "Why?"
He told me, "I don’t know if she is going to go to Heaven."
So I asked him, "Why do you think that?"
And, he said, "Well, I don’t know if her faith is strong enough to go to Heaven."
Now, how would you respond to somebody who is struggling with the question?
"Is my faith strong enough for God to accept it?"
All of us may struggle with that question, at times. Let us imagine that one Sunday here at Holy Cross we completed an exercise. On that Sunday, we all sat down and said, "We are going to draw a picture of what we consider to be The Ideal Christian." And so, together we all came up with a picture of "The Ideal Christian". The picture was of someone who has an anchor chained around his or her waist. The anchor represents the ideal Christian, who is firmly anchored in the Word of God, and trusts in the promises of God. Nothing can move this person from his or her trust in those promises of God.
It was a picture of someone who is strong and muscular. The ideal Christian is someone who is strong and steadfast in the Word of God. This person knows what scripture says, and will not be moved from what scripture says. This is a person who is strong and steadfast in fighting against temptation. It is someone who has a big heart, who loves God. It is someone who loves his or her fellowman, because of what God has done for us. This person shows that love, by the way they live their lives.
The ideal Christian is someone who is always smiling. They are happy. They are content. No matter what is happening in life, they trust that God will take care of them. Even in the face of death, they don’t have any fears, because they know that God’s promises are true and that God will lead them safely through death.
The ideal Christian is someone whose mouth is open, because they are carrying out The Great Commission. They are spreading the Good News, of Jesus the Savior, to the rest of the world.
The ideal Christian is someone with big ears, who is ready and willing to listen to the Word of God. This person wants to hear what God’s Word says.
The ideal Christian has a Bible in his or her arms. They are eager to take God’s Word with them and grow in the Word of God, no matter where they go, and whatever they do. The ideal Christian is someone who has his hands folded in prayer, eager to go to God in prayer.
That is a picture of "The Ideal Christian".
Now, let’s imagine that after we drew the picture of that ideal Christian, we posted it up in the front of the church, for everyone to see. Every Sunday you come to church and look at that picture of the ideal Christian.
As you look at it, you think to yourself, "That is not me. That is NOT me! My faith is not always so firmly anchored. There are times when I do have questions and doubts, just like that woman in the hospital, saying ‘I hope I am going to be saved. I hope that I am going to go to Heaven.’
"There are times when I am not so strong and steadfast in the Word of God. It might be pretty easy for someone to make me question some things that scripture says. That is not me.
"I may not be so strong in standing up against temptation. There are many times that I fall into temptation and I wish that I had not done it. That sure isn’t me.
"My heart is not such a loving heart the way it should be. I know that I should love God more and I know that I should love my neighbor more. That sure is not me.
"I know that I am not always happy and content with what comes into my life. I know that there are times when I have a lot of fears and I know that I should not have them. Maybe sometimes I am even afraid of death. And, I know that a Christian doesn’t have to be afraid of death. That is not me.
"And certainly my mouth isn’t always open, spreading the Word of God to other people. Oftentimes I have not even said anything about my Savior, when I should. That isn’t me.
"My ears aren’t always so eager to hear the Word of God. Many times I neglect the Word of God. That is not me.
"Prayer? I don’t find myself praying very much. That sure is not me."
When we look at that picture, and then we look at ourselves, it would be easy, wouldn’t it, to ask ourselves, "If I were to die today, and I know that my faith doesn’t match up to that "ideal Christian", would Jesus accept my faith? Would He take me to Heaven?"
When you look at that picture of the ideal Christian, you see that it is a picture of someone who is ‘on fire’ for his or her Savior. Their faith is like a flame. When you compare yourself to that, you may think, "I am not a fire or even a flame. I am just a little smoldering wick. There is just a little smoke rising from me and that’s about it. Will Jesus accept my faith?"
Or, when you look at that picture you may think, "That person is like a strong branch that can’t be broken. And here is my little faith. It is like a tiny, little twig that is almost snapped in two. It is just barely hanging together. Will Jesus accept my faith?"
The awesome message in scripture is that our Savior, Jesus, wants to comfort us so dearly. And, what does our scripture reading for today say? It is such an awesomely comforting statement when it says,
"A bruised reed
He will not break and
a smoldering wick
He will not snuff out."
Thank God, it is not the strength of our faith that saves us! He does not accept us on the basis of how strong our faith is. Even a weak and faint faith, according to scripture, is a completely saving faith! When we look at scripture, what we discover is that God does not accept me on how strong my faith is. God accepts me on a totally different basis.
God
accepts
me
because of what
my Savior did
for me, and
how strong my Savior is!
The passage that we look at for today, from Isaiah, mentions three different times that Jesus will establish justice.
"He will bring justice to the nations."
"He will bring forth justice."
"He establishes justice on earth."
What in the world does that mean? What is justice? It is justice; when you do right you get a right reward. You get what you deserve. It is fairness. If you do wrong, then you get a punishment that is equal to the wrong that you did. It is fairness. You have probably gone to a courthouse and have seen the statue of Lady Justice. Lady Justice is a statue of a woman who is holding the two balancing scales of justice in her hands.
For example, if you steal something from your employer, then you have done something wrong. And so, the scales of justice may be balanced by sending you to jail for a year. That is equal and fair justice.
If you murder someone, that is a serious wrong, and the punishment may be greater. You may have to go to jail for the rest of your life, to balance out the scales of justice.
If you are a good citizen, and follow the laws of the land, then what is justice? Then, our government balances that out by protecting your rights and giving you the freedom to do what you want. That is justice.
God is a just God. It is God’s very nature to be just. It is God’s very nature to do what is fair and right. That is who God is. That is His nature. It is God’s nature to want to reward people who do good. It is God’s nature to say that there must be punishment; there must be equal payment, for the sin of those who do wrong. That is God’s very nature. God is a just God.
The Bible tells us something about ourselves. The Bible tells us that when we are weighed in the Scales of God’s Justice, "There is no one who does good, not even one. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of the God. They have altogether become worthless."
When we are weighed in the Scales of God’s Justice, we are found wanting. We are found wanting. There is no one who deserves goodness from God. What we deserve, according to scripture, is death.
"The soul that sins,
it shall die."
We deserve to be cursed, forever.
"Cursed is
everyone
who doesn’t continue in
everything
written in the book of law,
to do it."
That is justice. God is a just God.
But, we also know from scripture that God is a loving God. God is a gracious God. And, it is His nature to not want to punish us. It is His nature to be good to those who don’t even deserve it.
So how can God carry out those two natures? How can God be a just God, who must punish sin and yet be a loving God, who doesn’t want to punish sin? He wants to treat us kindly, evenly though we don’t deserve it. That is where Jesus comes in. Jesus is the One, who makes it possible for God to be a just God, and yet also a loving God. Jesus came to this earth to establish justice. Jesus came to fulfill justice. Justice, God’s justice, is that our sins must be punished. They must be paid for. The Bible tells us that when Jesus came,
"He redeemed us from the Law,
by becoming a curse for us.
For it is written,
‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.’"
The Bible tells us that, "through the righteousness of the one man, the many will be made righteous."
And so, here is what we see happening in Jesus. Here we are in the Scales of God’s Justice. Our pan is resting down at the bottom, full of our sins. We are found wanting. We are found lacking. God must pour out His anger against our sin. But whom does He do it to? He pours out His anger against sin, our sin, on His own Son.
In justice, our sin must be punished. Jesus willingly says, "I will take their sin. I will take their guilt. I will take the punishment that they deserve." God poured out His full wrath against sin on the cross of Jesus. Martin Luther says we see that happening in scripture, when we see our pan in the scales of justice resting down at the bottom, full of our sins. But then into the other pan is Jesus. Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus is God, Himself, who paid for the sin of the whole world. And when Jesus gets into the pan of the scales of justice, His pan goes down and ours goes up. God declares us to be forgiven. He declares us to be justified. That is a legal term that means you are not guilty. You are innocent! He lovingly, lovingly declares us forgiven, because of what Jesus has done. Justice has lovingly been carried out and our sins are forgiven!
That is what saves us. That is the unconditional promise in scripture. You are saved, because of what Jesus did. PERIOD. The Bible says, "Jesus will be a covenant for the people." A covenant is a promise. God has made the unconditional promise that, whoever believes, WHOEVER believes, will be saved. God doesn’t say how strongly we have to believe. He doesn’t say, "If you believe with a really strong heart, then you will be saved." He simply says,
"Whoever believes in Jesus
will be saved."
PERIOD!!!
Here is a fifty-dollar bill. It is worth $50.00. $50.00! We could pass it around to everyone here at church. And, no matter whose hand it is in, what’s it worth? It is worth $50.00. It doesn’t matter if you are barely holding onto it, as your hands are shaking. How much is it worth? It is worth 50.00. It doesn’t matter if you are clinging to it, with all of your heart, as tightly as you can. What is it worth? It is worth 50.00. No more. No less. No matter how tightly or loosely you are holding on to it, it is worth $50.00.
The same is true with what Jesus did for us. God promises that everything Jesus did for us, is ours. It is the complete and full payment for our sins. The Bible says, "Whoever believes, whoever believes will be saved". And so, if you have the strongest faith in the world and you cling to that promise, you have everything that Jesus won for you. Or, if your faith is weak and faint, you will also benefit completely and totally from what Jesus did for you. Jesus will not snuff out a smoldering wick and a bruised reed he will not break. We have a loving gentle Savior.
Now, as we look at our faith, we may say, "My faith is pretty weak. But, thank God it is still a saving faith. Thank God He is still going to give me everything Jesus won for me, because it is promised that whoever believes will be saved. But, I don’t want to be satisfied with a weak faith. I want a strong faith. I want my faith to grow."
I love the story in Mark, chapter nine. The Bible tells us of a man whose son was demon possessed. His son was foaming at the mouth and falling to the ground. He was convulsing and throwing himself into the fire. The man came to Jesus to have Him heal his son. Clearly the man had to have faith in Jesus, if he even brought his son there in the first place.
We are told that he looked at Jesus and said, "If you are able, heal my son." There was an element of doubt there, wasn’t there? He had faith, because he brought his son there. But he said, "If you are able, if you can, heal my son."
You know what Jesus said to that man? "If? If? If you can? Anything is possible for him who believes."
What was Jesus saying? It is not a question of whether I can. I can! I can heal your son. But what about your faith? I love the man’s response to Jesus. It is an awesome response. The man looked at Jesus and said,
"Lord I do believe.
But help thou mine unbelief."
Isn’t that the prayer that we all come to our Savior with? "Lord, I do believe. But help thou mine unbelief. Strengthen my weak and flickering faith." Jesus has promised how our weak and flickering faith is strengthened. He has given to us His Word and Sacraments. He promises that through Word and Sacrament the Holy Spirit comes into our heart and there our faith is strengthened and built up in Christ, our Savior. I cannot impress upon you, or myself, how important it is for us to use the Word of God, through which the Holy Spirit works to strengthen those weak and flickering faiths, so that we grow stronger and stronger in our Savior.
Thank God we have strong Savior who has done everything for our salvation and gives it to us as a promise, "whoever believes will be saved." Thank God we know that faith, whether weak or strong, is a saving faith. Lord strengthen my weak and flickering faith.
Amen.
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