Appearing before Heaven's Court

When people normally think of Judgment Day, we presume we are going to be standing before a court we can bargain with... that we will have something to offer.

But here's the problem: This is not a court we know.  Do you know who will gather for this proceeding?  All creation.  That means all the angels of creation will be in attendance.  Do you know how many that is?  It means you will stand before the One who sees all, the righteous One, a holy Judge who cannot err.

Everything will be revealed.   A terrifying thought.  Everything.  That means the things you did in private.  That means the thoughts you had in your head.  Yes, even your feelings.  Laid bare.  Evaluated before a righteous court of God and His holy, sinless angels.  Before everyone.

This would be terrifying enough, but the chief thing we ignore is this:  Sin is so evil in this court, that not all the good thoughts, words and deeds of all of fallen humanity could atone for even one sin of one person.  Not one.  They are not sufficient payment, because these so called good works would still be done by sinful humans.  They would still remain impure, because of what mankind lost in Adam's fall.  They would all, as a whole, fail to remove even one impure thought or word or deed.  Not even one.

Do we see our situation?  Do we comprehend now what Judgment Day entails?  What can we do?  What could we possibly do to change this?  Nothing.

But God can.  God has.  He sent His Son - to take up our cause - take up our flesh and our sin - and take it all to the cross.  Jesus was judged for all.  His Father poured out His righteous punishment on Him, and you can see - it was awful, real,true.  Jesus chose to suffer this for you, be shamed for you, step in for you to clear your record forever.  Christ atoned for the sin of the world with His innocence.  He gave His godliness and righteousness up as payment.  He died, rose and ascended to the heavenly courtroom where His own living blood forever cries for your forgiveness.  You are forgiven.  Cleared.   Free - from the fear and the guilt and the shame.  You are His- this One who gave Himself for you.

What will you say?  How will you respond to such devotion shown to you, such love beyond compare? 

Trust Him.  Lay hold of Him.  Wrap your arms around His blood promise and never let go.  Seek Him and His way ignoring all else.  Grow in Him.  Go deeper with Him by learning as much as you can about what He says and what it means for your life with Him.  You will be with Him forever.  Might as well get as close as you can as quick as you can.  Get to Bible class, read or hear His Word everyday - whether in your Bible or sermons on our website or whatever other promise filled place He has provided you. Study His Word with others and build them up in Him as they build you up in Him.

Jesus Christ is the true God and eternal life.  And He is yours.

How Jesus overcomes Orlando

“My kingdom is not of this world,” Jesus said.

Christ rules by His Word.  Teaching.  Not by bodily force, nor the State. 

Christ commanded His apostles to teach, to proclaim forgiveness.  He did not give them the power of the sword, the right to establish, occupy or bestow kingdoms of the world.

“The weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh,” Paul wrote.  No, of course not – they are - and always will be - the declaration of Christ’s saving work on the cross for the sake of all people.

The recent shootings in Orlando revive in our minds the dangerous and evil structure of false religions: the mixing of Religion and State.  Whenever Religion takes up the power of the sword, or attempts to establish control with anything other than humble teaching, it lies squarely in the realm of the Evil One.  Oh, it is a great temptation to reach for that power – no doubt – but Christ resisted even this.

Think about it.  Christ comes gently, humbly – by entreating people to see what He has already accomplished for us in His battle on the cross.  And His battle was not one of force the way we think of force – but true, undeniable victory – “dying” our violence, taking it in, absorbing it fully into Himself, that His Word of forgiveness might control all things.  This is love.  He has overcome all evil power structures in His death.  He has remade humanity in Himself.  Christ is the new humanity, and everyone who hears this and believes it shall enjoy His new kingdom forever. 

The devil wants to scare you so you put your trust in some kingdom of the world.  But these kingdoms will all let you down.  They will never save you.  Only Jesus will, who comes to you humbly, gently, mercifully by His Word alone.  Thanks be to God that His care for us is by Word and not force.

Sick of that Same Old Love?

The lyrics of pop music are usually fluff – but sometimes they are quite instructive.

Selena Gomez’s latest “hit” is called “Same Old Love” where she sings on and on about how she “is so sick of that same old love.”  Which should lead one to ask – what kind of “love” is she sick of?  What kind of “love” is she talking about?

“The kind that tears me up” she sings.  “The kind that breaks your heart.”  Ohhhhhhhh, you’re talking about the “love” Disney panders.  The stare-into-each-others-eyes-time-melts-away kind of “love.”  The chemicals rushing through the bloodstream “love.”  The high-like-a-drug “love.”

Pop music and Hollywood have been selling this kind of feel-good love as the “true” thing for decades, and according to Selena, it has finally caught up with us.  Because there is a huge deception in this “love” they are talking/singing about.  This “love” they boast of and teach everyone to search for – above all else – at the expense of anything that comes in its way – is not actually for anyone but you.  Just you.  You and only you, all by yourself, all alone.

Think about it.  They are not talking about what you do for someone else.  They are talking about the way you feel inside when you are with someone.  They are talking about how someone makes you feel.  If they make you feel good, then you are “full of love” for them.  But the moment they stop taking you to that “high”, the moment the feelings you are feeling inside are not as strong as they were before – do you still love them?  How do you get those feelings back? 

In an amazing twist that has sent us all on a search for certain feelings inside ourselves, we have abandoned real love that looks out at the other person.  We are stuck looking in.  Trying to know others by feeling them inside us.  Because we think this is love.  But it is lust.  Desire.  Not love.  In fact, love is entirely different.

God showed His love to us this way: He sent His only Son into our sin and death, that believing He did it for us, we might not perish. (John 3:16)  It didn’t feel good.  Jesus was not happy on the cross.  He gave up every good thing He had – for you.

That is love.  Unconditional, acting, committed love.  Not inside someone.  But out in plain sight – for all to see – lifted up that He might draw all people to Himself.  Not for Himself – but always and only for you. 

This is the kind of love that really tears me up.  This is the kind that breaks my heart of stone.  That our sinless God became our sin.  That He was crowned with our curse.  That He died our death – in order to save us forever.  That is love.  And there is no way one could ever be sick of it.

So if you are out there “looking for love,” don’t listen to the preaching of Disney and use your feelings.  Christ has shown you true love.  It acts.  Find someone whose eyes are looking at the exact same point on the horizon of life as you are – find someone who believes in your Savior God – and who wants to act, as you do, in His service all your days here and for all eternity.  I promise – all the chemicals and feelings – they will sort themselves out on their own.

What is this Ashley Madison thing all about?

Romans 1:24-25 "Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonouring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever!  Amen."

You may have heard in the news recently that a certain online adultery website had its database hacked and exposed.  The name: Ashley Madison - a site for married people to intentionally find other people to have affairs with.  Swaths of people were exposed in their adultery when hackers broke into the information database and leaked it all to the public.  Government officials, corporate leaders, all sorts of prominent figures have had their pants pulled down and a big spotlight shined on what they have been unfaithfully doing to their spouses.  Fetishes, sexual preferences that are not worth repeating, and a host of other shameful information was laid bare before the world.

Now, there could be any number of things you could say about such a ridiculous situation.  But perhaps the most important is what Paul says in the opening chapter of his letter to the church in Rome.

False sex is false worship.  It is idolatry.  It is what someone does when they think wrongly about the Creator - the true God.  It doesn't matter if someone is a Christian or not - unauthorized sexuality, or sensuality or attention given to sexual things even in one's mind - reflects an error in how they understand God.  God is pure and He desires for us to be pure, and when we convince ourselves otherwise we are deceiving ourselves - exchanging the truth about God for a lie.  We have fashioned for ourselves a god we can worship that lets us be fleshly, and lustful and dishonourable to our bodies.  And we are in grave danger.

Now, let me be clear.  ALL of us are included here.  We are all equally guilty of this perversion and falsehood.  It is the natural inclination of the heart of man.  False worship.  False sex.  To make matters worse, sex seems to be the devil's weapon of choice right now.  It is the main headline in the news every night!  Not war, or disease, or economy - but SEX!  Sex with this or that or whatever it is that makes you feel good (for a time).  The world is screaming: Sex is happiness!  Sex is success!  Sex is your identity!

And the world is not even trying to hide that sex is worship.  In Bruno Mars' latest song "Locked out of Heaven" he intentionally uses religious words to describe sex.  And in Hozier's hit "Take me to church" again we have the message - sex is church, sex is worship, sex is god and goodness and blessing.  These songs show what Paul says later in that first chapter, that we "not only do these things, but brag and approve of those who do them."

In other words, do not be surprised.  This is why judgment has been proclaimed against mankind. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

And yet, this is also why God sent His Son.  Not to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.  The groom has come to save His bride (humanity), and what do we do??  We cheat on Him.  We whore ourselves out to false gods, and false worship and falsehood.  All our sins are unfaithfulness - but still we have a groom who comes to make us pure.  We have One faithful to us despite our unfaithfulness to Him.  We have a God who comes to take our judgment.  We have One who is One flesh with us - to take our pain and our punishment and our death.  Even Jesus.  Christ is the One who carried our impurity to the cross - the groom dying for His bride.  The groom cleansing His bride.  The groom sacrificing Himself for His bride that she might live and be divorced from her adultery and sin. 

Thanks be to God that our purity is found only in Christ - as a gift.  Thanks be to God that we are not locked out of heaven.  Thanks be to God that when we get taken to church Christ proclaims His forgiveness to us - not His judgment or anger or wrath.  We have all sinned and fallen short, but Christ has come down in purity to take us home, to wash us clean in His blood and make us His own.  Sex will not save you, Christ will - and He calls you to purity as you wait.  And so the Christian strives and struggles against the world and the sinful nature inside - the Christian says no to unauthorized sex - the Christian looks in faith to Christ - the true God - the Creator blessed and finds rest in Him alone.  May the Lord shape your mind this way, and strengthen you with His Spirit to this end.

Rest without Laziness

The sign read: “Summer is where laziness finds respectability”

I think this sign is true.  It is also sad.  Is this the reason we look forward to summer?  So we can be lazy?  Are we glad we can finally be lazy?  Do we long for it?  And even “respect” it?  This is sad.

Our problem is that we have lost the distinction between rest and laziness.  Rest is good.  God gives us rest.  In fact, you may recall, He commanded it.  He told us to rest because He made us to rest.  We need it.  And we need it IN HIM. 

Laziness is not rest.  It is sin.  It is not leaning against God as your rock, or allowing Him to be your protector and provider.  Not at all.  It is the opposite.  It is the throwing away of the good things God has given you for the false, temporary promise that if you remove yourself from everyone and everything else – then you will be able to recharge, or find peace, or whatever other nonsense laziness promises.  It is a waste. 

Laziness does not rest in God.  It rests in self.  A self which thinks it knows what it needs - yet is wrong.  It betrays God-given rest, and so receives none of its benefits.  It is the unmotivated stoner sitting on the couch.  It is the sloppy drunk in the middle of the day.  It is the one who leaves things dirty.  The one who throws garbage on the street.  The one who doesn’t care. 

Laziness is never respectable.  And we should never give in to it.

How then can we rest?

Rest is a gift.  God gives rest.  The first day after God made Adam, He rested.  Adam spent His first full day resting with God.  God did not expect him to work.  He made Adam to rest with Him. 

This is an incredible reality.  Adam worked from his rest.  He did not work in order to rest later.  He rested first – so He could work.  We have lost this understanding, and we need to get it back.  God gives us rest, so that we are able to work – and if we are not rested – we should not work, but should rest IN HIM so that we can again work as He intends.

This is the whole model of the creation, the resurrection, and the sending of the Holy Spirit!  All of these things God did on the FIRST day.  And the Church has always gathered in the first day because of it.  Christians gather on Sunday (the first day of the week) to rest in God.  To hear His promises.  To receive His gifts of Word and Sacrament.  To eat and drink and rest and stop. 

The Divine Service is where Christ tells you He has taken all of your burdens.  Where your “heavy ladenness” is replaced by His easy and light load.  Where the grimness of your future is overlaid with the brightness of your future in Christ.  God has made Himself your rest in Jesus.  So run to Him.  Throw yourself before Him.  Cast your cares and burdens on Him, for He is the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.  He is the One who carries our sorrows, and restores us to meaningful vocations as son, daughter, husband, wife, mother, father, friend, neighbour and worker. 

So during summer, and all the time, do not give in to sin, and get lazy in going to church – but run to your true rest.  Hear His promises.  Breathe in His Word.  Collapse on His unchanging grace – that you might be refreshed and recharged for the walk He has prepared for you.  He will always give this to you.  Your Maker knows you, and He is with you.  In His Name, Amen.

Is Jesus gone?

I work in the Royal Canadian Navy as a Reserve Naval Officer.  This past week my Commanding Officer retired from his service and ceased working at our unit.  This was very hard on him.  It meant an end to his work.  And it was clear he had a hard time leaving.

Thursday is Ascension Day.  It is the day the Church celebrates our Lord's ascension into heaven to take His rightful place in the power seat of God.  And this could lead us to thinking about His work in a similar way to my Commanding Officer.  Done.  Over.  Finished.

But nothing could be further from the truth.  St. Luke writes in Acts 1:1, "In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when He was taken up..."  Jesus is still "doing."  Still "teaching" Luke tells us.

He is not like my Commanding Officer whose service ended.  It was not hard on Him to ascend into heaven, because it did not mean the end of His work.  Jesus took the throne in heaven in order to continue His work throughout the whole world, governing and directing it by the power of His Word.  He sent His Holy Spirit to His Church that they might preach all that He has done.  He is not gone - "Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."  Christ is present in His preached Word and Sacrament.  He is still working there.  Still teaching there.  Forgiving there.  Saving there. 

Your Lord does not retire.  He does not slumber nor sleep.  But for you, and for your salvation, uses the preaching of His Word and the giving out of His Sacraments to care for His people until He returns.  May you cherish His gifts and seek Him there.

Where is Jesus?

He's not in His tomb.  That much is certain.

He appeared to His disciples - even 500 at the same time.  We know He is alive.

But where is He?  Yeah, He has ascended into heaven.  He has taken His rightful place in the power seat of the Almighty.  He Himself - the God-man - is the power of God.  But where is He?

The answer is likely to open your eyes.  It is likely to make scales drop from them, as though you have been unable to see clearly until you hear it.

Here's where to start.  The disciples were together in a locked room.  The deadbolt was across the door because they were afraid of being arrested by the authorities and punished for being followers of the dead Messiah who was crucified.

But then - Jesus came and stood in their midst.  Now the Greek here is shocking.  It makes strikingly clear that Jesus had always been there.  He was already in the room with them.  But He revealed this to their eyes.  He was there - but now they could see that He was there.  It absolutely terrified them.

Jesus, the man, is no longer bound by the typical human constraints.  He held back from using the fullness of His power during His ministry.  But now, He holds nothing back.  St. Paul says, "In Him all things hold together."  He writes, "He who descended is the One who also ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things." 

Jesus is everywhere.  He fills all things.  But not just as God - He already filled all things as God.  Now, the Lord Jesus fills all things as MAN.  The new humanity.  He descended and ascended in order to make Man new in His own person.  And He fills all things as a man.

What does this mean?  It means Jesus is with you.  Right now.  He is standing in the room with you as surely as He stood with His disciples that Easter evening.  He is by your side.  Watching over you.  Protecting you.  Caring for you.  And no, He does not show you - like He did with His disciples - He does not reveal Himself to you.  He doesn't need to.  But He is there.  You are always in the powerful presence of your loving Saviour, and that is never going to change.

This means big things for us Christians.  It makes prayer so much more special.  Speak to Him there.  It makes living a Christian life, so much more possible.  Jesus stands by your side.  It means you have certainty that when you look upon the altar and hear the Words of our Lord in His Holy Supper, that you are hearing Him, there in the room, promising you directly that He is giving you His body and blood.  And so He is. 

You are forgiven.  You are free and safe and alive in Him.  And He is not going anywhere.  He will be with you to the end of the age.  Speak to Him in prayer.  Study His Word everyday.  For the day is coming soon when you will finally see Him face to face.