Kind of a Big Deal

One of the great joys of having children is that you have the opportunity to discover a whole series of books that as adults, we would not otherwise give a second chance. If it were not for our kids and spending time reading to them we might not be able to quote from memory Good Night Moon or Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do you See?.

There is one book that has become a favorite of mine. And it actually fits very well with the text for today from Deuteronomy. The book is entitled I Love you Stinky Face. Have you ever heard of it or read it before?

In this book a mother is putting her child down for the evening and says, “I love you my wonderful child.” And the little one asks, “Mamma, but Mama, what if I were a super smelly skunk, and I smelled so bad that my name was Stinky Face? Would you still love me? And the Mama says, “I would give you a bath and sprinkle you with sweet-smelling powder. And if you still smelled bad, I wouldn’t mind, and I would hug you tight and whisper in your ear, ‘I love you, Stinky Face.” The picture shows the mother hugging a skunk in the child’s pajamas.

And the child asks the same question with other hard to love situations, a harry ape, an alligator, a dinosaur, and a swamp monster. And in each case the mother says “I love you.” She loves her child no matter what. It didn’t matter what the child did, or even how she smelled, the mother’s love was the same.

It is a very touching story. It is a good analogy to describe the love that God has for us. No matter who we are, or where we come from, or what we have done, God’s love for you, God’s love for us is real, present and powerful.

Human love does not always work that way. There are too many relationships out there that are broken and strained. Things go well as long as they are going my way and the way that I expect them to go. But then something happens and it is too much and the love and the relationship are never the same. This is what we understand and know. This makes sense. You might even go so far as to say that this is common sense. After all, fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice… well you get the idea.

But God’s love doesn’t work that way. He is not a you-scratch-my-back-and-I-will-scratch-your-back kind of a god. I will be nice as long as you keep me happy and don’t hurt my feelings. But if you do, look out. I am going to take my toys and go home. That is not who God is. That is not how he works. That is not how he loves.

I was telling David the other day that there are three kinds of people in this world. There are those who can count. And there are those who can’t count. Well, in a similar kind of a way, I think when it comes to hearing about God’s love we can tend to find ourselves in one of two camps.

The first one is the one where we believe that we have already exhausted the limits of God’s grace. Or maybe a better way to say it is to say that we have exhausted his patience. This is the one where we say, “You know, I really like what you are saying. But there is no way God could forgive me. If you knew what was in my past; if you knew what I had done, then you would not say what you are saying about me.”

When we find ourselves in this kind of a place we are finding ourselves in a place where we are bound and trapped by our past. And while some of the decisions that we have made may leave us with consequences that we have to live with, the reality of the situation is that in spite of all that God’s love for us, God’s love for you is there. It is real: no matter what. Just as we heard in the epistle lesson, nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The other camp that you could possibly find yourself is one that can be dangerous. This is the camp where you think that you are “good enough” to have God’s love. You believe that you are worthy of God’s love. And you say, “Well of course I’m worthy of God’s love. I mean I do all the right things. I go to worship. I stay awake through most of the sermon. I give money. I volunteer. I don’t do anything too bad. I believe the right way. I live the right way. God’s got it easy with me.”

The danger of being in this camp is that it can allow us to believe that we have somehow earned or have a right to God’s love and favor. When we find ourselves in this kind of a place we can begin to think that we are righteous because of who we are and what we do. We can even begin to think of ourselves as being better than other people and can look down our noses at them.

Both of these camps are places to flee from. Because both of these camps carry with them a false understanding of who God is and how God relates to us. Now it is true that the way we live our lives is important. There are some things that are pleasing to God and there are others that are not. But we seek to live a God pleasing life not so that we can appease an angry deity, but so that we can know the freedom of life lived in relationship with God.

This life is available to us, it is ours because of and for the sake of Jesus and what he did for us in living the perfect life, giving his life on the cross, rising three days later, and ascending into heaven. Remember that this is ultimately about God, and what God has done for us. And when he does something, he always does it right. Right? Right!

So then, hear these words from Deuteronomy, because they are for us today too. “You are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession.” These words were spoken to the people of Israel just as they were getting ready to enter the Promised Land. They had been through a lot in the last forty years. They were delivered out of slavery. They wandered in the wilderness. They had some good times and some really tough times. But now they are ready to enter the Promised Land.

They are there as a holy people. This is not a self-righteous people. This is not a people who are good enough to be worthy of the status that has been given to them. But instead this is a people that God has set apart (which is what “holy” means) so that in the way they live their lives they would show who God is and what it is to live life in relationship with him.

Again this is not because of who they are, but because of who God is. “It was not because you were more in number than any other people...but it is because the Lord loves you.” God loves you. Not because of what do you. It is not because of what you know or who you are. You have not done anything to deserve it. But God loves you. This means that you have it because of who he is. And nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. God loves you very much. You are kind of a big deal.

Having this great love then changes everything. It changes how we see ourselves and how we understand who we are. It doesn’t matter what I can do, or not do. It doesn’t matter what I look like or how successful I am. Those things are not the reasons why God loves me. He loves me; he loves you because he values you. You have great value and great worth because God says you do.

In fact this value and worth is so great that it would move Jesus to give up everything and willingly lay down his life that you might have forgiveness, life and salvation. You might say that it’s kind of like you were a pearl of great value. And he went and gave everything he had in order to purchase and redeem you. Well, that means you are pretty special.

So God’s love for you has an impact in how you see yourself. It also has an impact in how we see and treat one another. If we each are people that God loves this way, well then that certainly has implications for our life together. It impacts how we live together, how we work together, how we serve one another, how we worship, how we deal with conflict: all because of God’s love.

Not only that, but it also impacts how we see other people in this world. Because God so loved the world. And as we consider all this, what we begin to realize and discover is that because of God’s love for us, because of Jesus we are able to be a part of something that is bigger than we are. We get to tell and show people that God loves them. There is nothing more powerful, there is nothing more life-giving than being able to participate in this.

God loves you. God loves us. And his love for us so fills our lives that it changes everything and moves us to share that love with others. And in doing this we discover life as it was meant to be lived, we discover life full and abundant. We discover life lived in relationship with our Jesus.

I pray that this would be a blessed source of joy for you now and always. Amen.

The Build-A-God Workshop

Everyone loves a good success story. Don’t you? This one comes right out of St. Louis. In 1997 Maxine Clark opened her first store in the Galleria shopping center. Today there are over four hundred all across the world. Chances are you may have even been to one yourself. Here is how it works. First, you chose from over thirty different types of bears or assortment of animals. Next, you stuff it, stitch it, fluff it, dress it, accessorize it and name it. And now you have your berry own bear. To prove this and that this is your creation you even get to print up a birth certificate. This is your creation. What is the name of this great store? That’s right. It’s the Build-A-Bear Workshop.

Now in our Old Testament lesson for today we hear God speaking to his people as they are in exile. You remember the exile right? Having ignored God and the warnings of his prophets for too long, the Babylonians finally come in and destroy the city of Jerusalem. They destroy the temple. They take the rich people, the important people, the leaders and warriors and they relocate them back to Babylon. It was terrible. It was awful. It is one of the worse things that the people could have imagined, and now it is their reality.

It is in this situation; it is in this place that God’s word comes. Because while the people were in Babylon, they got themselves caught up in a building kind of a place. Only they are not building their berry own bears. They are building their very own gods. And so God reminds them in verse six of this text that there is only one God and that he is the King of Israel, the Redeemer, The Lord of Hosts, The First and the Last.

He is the King of Israel, and indeed of the entire creation. At this point when they are in exile they no longer have their king. That’s kind of a big deal for them. And yet, in the midst of what seems to be a rather hopeless situation, here is God, Yahweh, the Lord, their King. Ruling and reigning on their behalf. He will bring them out of this exile in a new exodus and will thus prove to them again that he is king of all.

Yahweh is also their Redeemer. The word that Isaiah uses here describes a specific concept that is somewhat foreign to us. The kinsman redeemer was a member of the family who would “avenge the blood” of someone who had been murdered. They would also buy back, this is what the word “redeem” means, they would buy back property or an enslaved family member. This is the member of the family who uses his powers and abilities to help those in need.

So when God says that he is the Redeemer of his people, there are some pretty powerful things going on here. This is the word and image that is also used to describe the exodus. Isaiah uses it to talk about God bringing back the people from exile.

The title Lord of Hosts, carries with it a military picture. You could also say “General Yahweh.” God is commander of the armies of heaven and Israel. He is victories over his enemies. Our God is the first and the last. There is no other god. He alone is God.

This is the God who is talking here in Isaiah. He is the King of Israel, the redeemer, the Lord of hosts, the first and the last. There is no other God beside him. He is the solid rock. Anything else is sinking sand.

And yet, for some reason, God’s people didn’t quite catch on to this as quickly as you might expect. Why? Because they were spending too much time in Babylon’s Build-A-God workshop. This process is described in verses 13-17. A tree is cut down. Half of it is used to make a fire; to keep warm, and to cook food. The other half is used to make an image that is bowed down to, prayed to, and worshiped. The names of the main Babylonian gods were Bel and Nebo. Bel had the title King of the Universe. Nebo was his son, and was the one who gave wisdom and understanding.

Now, before we come down too hard on the exiles here, it would be good for us to remember that this Build-A-God trouble is not limited to ancient Babylon. These people are not the only ones who wrestle with creating their own gods. This is a problem that plagues all people everywhere.

There is a part of us that likes to make God in my own image. We conceive of this in our minds, build with our hands, chose how it will look and add our own preferences and we have our berry own god. This is a god who likes what I like, hates what I hate and shares all of my opinions. This is a god who increases my standard of living and happiness. This is a god who gives me what I want, when I want it and the rest of the time just stays out of the way.

You see it is not the territory of ancient Babylon where the Build-A-God worship originated, it is within the human heart. Luther writes in his explanation to the first commandment in the large catechism that whatever we put our trust in is our god. Whatever it is that we look to for comfort, help and strength, that is our god.

This is so easy for us to do that we might not ever be aware that it is happening when it does happen. What do you put your trust in? What do you look to for comfort, help and strength? Is it your bank account or portfolio? Perhaps it could be a job or some status that you enjoy. Could it be your education or pursuit of knowledge? Maybe it is another person or a relationship that you have with someone.

Now don’t get me wrong. These things are not bad in and of themselves. There is nothing wrong with them. But when we begin to place our trust in them and look to them for our security. Well, then we have turned these things into gods and put them in the place of the one true God. We have made them idols, and that is not a good thing.

The word that Isaiah uses to describe the idols here is the same word for “pain.” It is used to describe what happened to Eve in childbearing and to Adam in working the ground. When we go after idols it leaves us with nothing but pain, misery and emptiness. The things that we can so easily set up as gods in our lives are things that can’t hear us or help us. They do not last and are part of the creation themselves.

So what do we do with this situation that seems to be quite hopeless? Well, I am glad you asked. Listen to the word from our God in Isaiah. “Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: ‘ I am the first and the last; besides me there is no god.”

You see, these words to God’s people in exile meant that there was hope for them. That God would bring them back out of that terrible spot that they found themselves in. But it means more than that. Because God does not just save from enemies on earth, he also saves from the powers of sin, death and the devil. Each of these titles applies also to Jesus.

God promised David that his descendants would sit on the throne forever. This is fulfilled in Jesus. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. On Ascension Sunday we celebrated how Jesus rules and reigns on behalf of his church so that we can confidently be about our mission. He is our Redeemer who has taken the burden of our sins and paid the price; not with gold or silver, but with his holy precious blood, and with his innocent suffering and death.

In the Garden, when they came to arrest him, Jesus said that he could have at once, at his request, twelve legions of angels. In the book of Revelation we see Jesus at the end waging war against the enemies of the church and being victorious. It is also in that book that the title “First and Last” is given to him. Thus, there is no doubt that Jesus is indeed God in the flesh.

This God who is real and alive, who is so powerful and who rules and reigns shows his power most in the last place anyone would ever expect to find it; on a cross. Because he bled and died in our place, Jesus demonstrates that he alone is able to heal our hurts, forgive our filth, and defeat our death.

No idol is able to do this. Nothing else that we would place our trust in could accomplish this. No wonder the Bible says that idols are nothing , because a cross-less god is no god at all. A god who doesn’t suffer, a god who knows no agony, a god who doesn’t die—this is a god without grace, a god who cannot deliver, and a god who offers no hope and no future.

But this is not our Jesus! He is crucified, but risen indeed! So it is time to turn in our tools, stop building substitutes, throw away the idols, and never, ever again do business at a build-a-god workshop. In so doing we fill find life; rich, abundant, the way it was meant to be lived. And may that life be a source of hope and strength and comfort for you. Now and always. Now that is a good success story. Amen.

Come

You guys just don’t get it. You are really missing the boat on this, one. I mean it’s not that difficult, all the evidence is here, and yet, for some reason you just aren’t getting it. Can’t you see it? I mean it is right here in front of you.

These words could be a paraphrase of what Jesus is saying to the crowds in our Gospel lesson for today. Because it is true, they just didn’t get it. They saw the miracles he performed. They watched as he healed sick people. They observed as he drove out demons. They were amazed at his teaching, he was unlike anything they had ever seen before, and yet, for some reason they just didn’t get it. It must have been frustrating. You know what that can be like, don’t you? You are either trying to explain something to someone else, or have them explain something to you. It can be maddening.

At my house we have two hand towels in the kitchen. One is a solid green color. The other is green and white stripes. The solid one is for the drying of hands. The striped one is for the drying of dishes. Simple enough. And yet for some reason, I have the most difficult time keeping them straight. They are not even the same shade of green. My poor wife, she is so good for putting up with me.

Chapter 11 is a very important chapter in Mathew, because this is where things begin to escalate. Those who follow Jesus, and believe in him will follow him more closely. Those who fall away from him, will fall further and further away. You see Jesus is beyond what everyone was expecting. He was not what the religious leaders were expecting in their search for the Messiah. He was not what the people were expecting in their search for the Messiah. In fact, at the beginning of this chapter John the Baptist, who was in prison, sends messengers to ask Jesus if he was really the Messiah, or should they begin to look for someone else? Can you imagine? John the Baptist is the one who baptized Jesus. But when Jesus got there John had said, that Jesus should baptize him. Which gives a hint that John had some idea of what was going on. But now, even he is asking questions, because things are simply not going as expected.

But then again, you know how that goes too, right? You sit down to do an assignment, and instead of taking two hours to complete it took you six. Or you go to do a project around the house. It doesn’t matter what it is. You start on Saturday morning, and even though it should only take an hour, before you know it, it is now three a.m. and the drains aren’t hooked up, the paneling is off the wall, and your back is killing you. The kids got a swing set from their grandma. I was looking of the directions, and in the spot where it tells you how long it will take to complete the project it just read, Ha. Ha. Ha.

Jesus was not who the people were expecting. He didn’t fit into the preconceived religious ideas. He didn’t fit into their religious system, He would say and do things that would, blow them out of the water. And that is a wonderful thing. It is a wonderful thing when Jesus is not predictable and when he doesn’t fit and act and do things the way that we would expect him to. Because when Jesus becomes predictable, when he becomes something that we can wrap our brains around and understand, when he no longer surprises us, when he no longer challenges us, then we are no different than the crowds of his day, who thought that they understood what was going on.

How often, or how easy is it for you and me who experience the presence of Jesus, to get caught up in a mindset of the crowds that says that these kinds of things are nothing out of the ordinary? Think about it. We receive the very body and blood of Jesus in, with and under the bread and wine of Holy Communion. We are united to his death and resurrection through the waters of Holy Baptism. He is revealed to us in the Scriptures. His death on the cross paid the price for our sins. His resurrection from the dead has promised to us the defeat of death, and gives us the hope of eternal life. These things are unspeakably incredible. They are quite literally awesome. And yet it is easy for them to become common, too ordinary and simply religious.

These things are part of our relationship with Jesus. Through them he comes to us, and dwells with us. Through them our faith is strengthened. Through them we find all that we need to live our lives as God’s people. And yet, we face the danger of seeing them simply as acts that are part of our religious system, and not as the incredible, wonderful, awe-inspiring, mysterious, means of grace that they are. We think we got Jesus down, we think we understand and yet somehow, when we do this we miss the boat.

Have you had that “religious” experience? And here I am not using the word in a good way. I mean one of those times where you feel like you are just going through the motions? You don’t really want to go through the motions, but you do it because you know you should? You know that it is not supposed to feel that way, and maybe you even feel a little guilty about it? But it can be really difficult! Or perhaps you find yourself on the other end of the spectrum? You are afraid. You know that God loves you, but deep down you wonder how that can be possible. You figure you can make yourself worthy of his love if you just do enough. Except that no matter how much you do, there is always this haunting, sneaking suspicion that something is still missing.

Both of these things are the result of misunderstanding Jesus. They are what happens when we limit Jesus, and think that we know all there is to know, and understand all there is to understand. When this happens, we are just like the crowds. And so the invitation that he extends to them, is extended to you and me as well.

“Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

Feel like you are going through the motions? Come to Jesus and in him you will find rest. Feel like you are doing everything you can, but still need to do more, that it is still not enough? Come and in Jesus you will find rest. Think you got it all down, that you know all that there is to know. Let Jesus teach you, because he is humble and gentle at heart.

When we allow Jesus to be who he is, when we do not confine him to our preconceived religious ideas, as the crowds of his day did, when we let the Scriptures speak for themselves, and see Jesus as they really show him to be, we are able to come to him and to find rest in him.

When this happens, the awesome, beautiful amazing mystery that is in the word, and in baptism and communion will take on a whole new significance. We will see ourselves differently. We will see ourselves as we truly are; the dearly loved sons and daughters of our God. We will see the world differently, because even though we may not agree with the things that other people do or believe, they are loved by God, and he wants them to know his love and grace and mercy and forgiveness which are found only in Jesus.

We will see service differently too. For we won’t need to work out of guilt, but as a response to the great love that our God has loved us with. Our response will have the joy of serving our God, loving the people around us and knowing that we are making the world a better place. There is indeed plenty of work for us to do. But we do not do it alone. Instead we are joined together with one who is humble and gentle in heart. His burden is light. And in him alone, we find rest for our souls.

Isn’t this wonderful and fantastic news? I think it is easy for people to get caught up in relating to God through doing stuff. We have to give enough or have high enough attendance. We have to like the sermons that the pastor preaches. Well that last one is true. Just kidding. Anyway, we can get caught up in making our relationship with God about what we do for God. And in doing so, we can become over burdened and stressed out.

But I guess that makes sense if you think about it. I mean what do we have that we could offer to God? What can we give him that he could possibly need? Nothing. Therefore, when Jesus invites us to come to him because he will give us rest, what that means is that we understand the way we live comes out of what God has done for us.

In other words, we understand that God is the one who initiated the relationship. We respond to him. So when we give, we give not because we have to, but we give in response to what God does for us. There is no room for guilt there. Because as soon as guilt enters the picture, it becomes about what we do for God and then we are missing the point again. When we attend worship when we serve, whatever it is, we do it in response.

This may seem like a small difference in words, but what it means is we live life with God and experience the freedom and rest Jesus promises us here. It is not that these things are absent from our lives, it is that when we understand them in the right way they are live giving and not life draining. And that is a wonderful thing.

Are you feeling weary, heavy-laden, overburdened? Come to Jesus, and in him you will find real and true rest. Rest from the demands of the world, rest from the demands of religion, rest from the demands that we place on ourselves. In him you will find rest as you live life in relationship with him. And may this be a great source of blessing and strength for you. Now and always. Amen.