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Pentecost 4 2017 Proper 8
Immanuel Lutheran Church, Hamilton, Ohio
Pastor Kevin Jud
July 2, 2017
Psalm 119:153-160, Jeremiah 28:5-9, Romans 7:1-13, Matthew 10:34-42
Sermons online:
Text: pastorjud.org
Audio: pastorjud.podbean.com
itunes: bit.ly/pastorjud
Full Service Audio: bit.ly/ImmanuelWorship
Jesus has called His twelve disciples and He is sending them out to proclaim to the children of Israel that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. The reign of God is here in Jesus and Jesus is beyond comprehension. He is God in human flesh, God with us. His name means YHWH saves and He is YHWH who has come to take away the sin of the world. He eats with tax collectors and sinners and brings them the Good News of forgiveness. If you doubt who Jesus is, He demonstrates it. He heals the sick, He controls weather, He brings the dead back to life, He makes the blind see and the mute speak. He is the real deal, God in flesh, God with us, Immanuel. Jesus is radical. He is new wine that cannot be contained in the old wine skins. Those who know Jesus love Him and follow Him.
But many do not know Jesus. He is new wine that bursts the old wineskins of their understanding. Those who do not believe Jesus hate Him and hate all of His followers. So as Jesus sends out the twelve He warns them. Matthew 10:34 (ESV) 34 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.
Now Jesus certainly does bring peace on the earth; He is the Prince of Peace. At Jesus’ birth the angels announce peace. Jesus brings peace, but not always peace; not only peace. Soon after Jesus’ birth King Herod orders Jesus to be murdered, and just to make sure, he orders the murder of all the baby boys in town. Baby Jesus brings the sword to Bethlehem. Jesus brings the sword of truth and, in return, the world brings the sword of opposition.
Jesus’ call to repent exposes sin and brings conflict. Repentance is offensive. “Who does this Jesus guy think He is that He can tell me how to live? Repent?!? Me!?!” Repentance is not the message people are looking for. Folks just want to live their lives; be successful; be healthy, wealthy and wise. People want to do what they want to do and do whatever they think will make them happy. The call to repent, deny yourself, and follow Jesus goes against natural selfishness. Jesus comes to cure sin but this causes hostility because people love sin. Jesus offers peace between God and man but that offer of peace brings conflict and strife because Jesus’ truth is absolute. Jesus says, John 14:6 (ESV) 6 … “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Jesus says, Matthew 12:30 (ESV) 30 Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.” You are either with Jesus or against Jesus. There is no middle ground.
This is a difficult teaching for the people at Jesus’ time and just as difficult for our modern ears to hear. We are not fans of absolutes; we are much more comfortable with compromise. We don’t like the clarity of Jesus’ teaching. We don’t like black or white; right or wrong, yes or no. We prefer middle ground. Instead of black or white we want gray. Instead of right or wrong we want situational ethics where “it depends”. Instead of yes or no we want maybe. We prefer a mushy middle ground where we can all just get along and we can ask, along with Pontius Pilate, “What is truth?” We want to compromise with sin and evil, and Jesus replies, “Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
We want to transform the sharp sword of Jesus’ truth into a dull, harmless hunk of metal that won’t cut anything. We want to soften the cutting edge of Jesus’ truth and live in a world of maybes. But that world does not really exist; it is just a figment of our postmodern imaginations.
Jesus is truth. Salvation comes through Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. Jesus’ forgiveness, eternal life and salvation are freely given through Baptism, the Word of God and Holy Communion. Jesus is the way…the only way…and there is no other way. And this brings the sword of opposition.
We feel the sword of opposition as nations set themselves against the truth of Jesus. There is the outright persecution of Christians in so many countries where you can be imprisoned or killed for following Jesus. In North Korea, Afghanistan, Somalia, Libya, Pakistan, Yemen, Nigeria and so many more -- it is dangerous to be a Christian. But you hear this and think, “Well those are faraway, backward places very different than our own country.” But we see it happening in countries closer to home where government entities support a radical, secular agenda which promotes a culture of death and sterility with abortion, sexual confusion, and euthanasia. In England a woman was recently arrested for silently praying outside an abortion clinic. In Canada, euthanasia is promoted by the government and offered to anyone over 18 who has a grievous or irreversible health condition. Next year anyone suffering from mental illness can make an appointment to be killed by the Canadian government. In Quebec Province seven percent of all deaths now are government assisted suicide. In the U.S. last September, a man’s home was raided by 25 heavily armed SWAT officers that pointed their weapons at Mark Houck and his wife and children. His offense? Houck is a pro-life advocate accused of pushing an abortion clinic escort who was verbally abusing his son. Houck was facing 11 years in federal prison, but was found not-guilty of the charges. So, why the heavily armed, over-the-top police raid for a seemingly minor offense? There are those in our federal government who want to intimidate and silence those who dare to advocate for the unborn. Michigan just passed a bill to make it a felony to intimidate someone by not using their preferred pronouns. Over the centuries things haven’t changed that much. Just as in Jesus’ time, local, state, federal and world governments oppose Jesus and His truth.
Jesus is truth. Salvation comes through Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. Jesus’ forgiveness, eternal life and salvation are freely given through Baptism, the Word of God and Holy Communion. Jesus is the way…the only way…and there is no other way. And this brings the sword of opposition.
You live in a world that hates Jesus. In the U.S., the fastest growing religious group is the “nones” n-o-n-e-s. Those that have no religious affiliation now make up 29 percent of the U.S. population up from 16 percent in 2007. Eighty percent of our country’s population is not in worship on any given Sunday.
We see the sword of opposition in many churches in our nation. Jesus’ truth and His call to repent and follow Him are offensive to many who call themselves Christians. Their new theology reimagines a god made in their own image. A god they can mold and shape to fit their pagan agenda. We saw this clearly this week in a viral video of an ELCA church in Minnesota confessing a blasphemous, queer, sparkle creed.
Many well-meaning churches want to sheath Jesus’ sword of truth so it is safer and people are not made to feel uncomfortable about their sin. Far too many churches want to talk about anything rather than Jesus; anything except sin, repentance and forgiveness.
We feel the sword of opposition in our families as a loved one departs from the way of Jesus to follow the ways of the world. Believing Christians patiently continue to love and care for the straying one but too often the issue will be forced and the demand will be made, “Choose me and my ways or your Jesus and His ways.” As a follower of the truth you need to choose Jesus. And this is so terribly painful.
You feel the sword of opposition in the world, in our nation, in the Church at large and in your family, but that is not where it hurts the worst. It is worst in your own opposition to Jesus. Jesus’ sword of truth cuts most deeply in your own life as it cuts sin away from you. Jesus’ truth slashes deeply in my life as it cuts away the stubborn sin that clings to me -- or more honestly, the sin to which I stubbornly cling; lust, greed, pride, sloth, anger, envy and more. Jesus shreds all my compromises with sin; all my truces with evil; all my lies and excuses. Jesus’ truth is deadly to the old sinful Adam that daily needs to be slain in my life. Jesus’ truth cuts away everything that is sinful in my life. Jesus’ truth cuts away everything that is sinful in your life. Everything. And it hurts.
Jesus’ sword of truth is unbending, unyielding and mercilessly sharp. Jesus’ truth is absolute and personal.
This cutting away of sin is not a one-time cathartic experience where you get to leave the old, sinful self behind forever and emerge a new, sinless person free from temptation. It is not a weekend retreat or a revival meeting where you easily shed your sinful skin. It is not the end of the struggle; but rather it is an ongoing, new beginning. In Christ, you get a new beginning. You are born again in water and the word. You daily remember your baptism and receive a call to take up your cross and follow Jesus. Jesus is the way, the only way and you belong to Him. There is no divided loyalty. You shall have no other gods.
Today we install Matthew Kinne to be vicar here at Immanuel for a year as he prepares to serve in the office of the Holy Ministry as a pastor in Jesus’ Church. You and I are blessed to be a part of his pastoral formation. He will learn from us and we will learn from him. Pray for him because it is indeed a challenging time to be a pastor in a world that hates Jesus. Pray for him because it is a wonderful time to be a pastor in world that desperately needs Jesus. Pray for the vicar, and all who prepare to be pastors, and all who are considering being pastors, and all who serve as pastors, to be given strength to not give in to the temptation to tell people what they want to hear instead of what they need to hear.
Pray for all followers of Jesus in a world that hates Jesus. Pray for strength for the journey. Life with Jesus is not easy but it is eternal. You are in Christ. You belong to Jesus forever. Amen.