March 13, 2011 - "The Tempter Comes" - Immanuel Presbyterian Church

Matthew 4:1-11

The last thing the devil wants is a righteous death for Jesus.

Die a thousand different ways, if you want, Jesus.

But a righteous death, it cannot be allowed, it must not happen.

And what is a righteous death?

The purest kind of love.

Without regard for self.

Righteous in the biggest and best sense of that word.

When a parent stands by the hospital bed of a child, the parent would gladly change places … gladly lay down in that bed and face whatever comes so that the child might get up and live a full life.

A soldier throws himself on a grenade to save his buddies.

A sibling pushes her younger brother out of the way of on-coming traffic, only to perish herself.

Righteous.

To give purely.

To love without restriction.

But as good as we are, our death can never be pure enough, big enough or good enough, to cover the sins of the world.

We cannot recalibrate the moral compass of history.

Nor bend the arc of time toward justice.

Such a pure death is beyond our grasp.

But not beyond the grasp of Jesus.

And that’s why Jesus must not die a righteous death.

Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of Christ” has it right … when Jesus dies, Satan throws himself to the ground and howls in rage – for the death of Christ is the end of hell’s reign, and the beginning of a new age.

Satan howls in rage, because Satan has been bested by the righteous death of the Son of God.

The last thing Satan wants is for Jesus to die a righteous death – a death big enough, good enough, strong enough, to take away the sins of the world.

And a part of that righteous death is a choice.

Even the great Son of God Almighty has to make the choice.

Which means, Jesus can be tempted!

Whatever transpired in that terrible wilderness …

Those forty days of fasting …

Hunger and thirst …

Weakened and weary and wary …

The Tempter comes to him …

Are ya’ hunger, Mr. Jesus?

Feed yourself.

You can do it.

You can do whatever you want.

And then you’ll be strong … strong enough to do the big things you want to do.

That little stone over there?

Why, in no time at all, it’ll be a hot, steaming chunk of fresh-baked breda.

Umm, you can almost smell it, can’t ya’?

That good, warm, yeasty aroma

.

You can turn all these stones into bread.

You can feed yourself, and assuage your hunger.

Then you can feed the world.

Just turn one little stone into one little loaf.

Give it a try.

It’s easy.

You can do it.

You’re the Son of God, aren’t you?

Come on Jesus.

You’re really hungry, I know that you are.

I can imagine Jesus rehearsing a thousand different scenarios in his mind …

Within a few months, he’ll be feeding 5000 and more … multiplying fish and loaves to feed a multitude … but remember the story – it begins not with a miracle of stones into bread, but a little boy with seven loafs and a few small fish.

To feed the hungry, no miracle needed.

No, just a the will to share what we have.

Augustine said it well:

Without us, God won’t. Without God, we can’t.

God doesn’t need stones to make bread.

God waits for us to share!

To share without fear.

Knowing that we cannot out-give God.

That what is given away strangely grows into enough for everyone!

Bread is vital.

Bread is important.

Nothing wrong with the belly.

But something is wrong here, and Jesus knows it.

The temptation: take care of yourself first.

That’s a huge temptation when we scared and unsure of the tomorrow.

Nations get anxious.

Churches get anxious.

I’ve heard it said so many times: Charity begins at home.

But I’ve seen those churches.

And they never leave home.

“Charity begins at home” is a cover for fear … that there won’t be enough.

Enough oil, enough food, enough water, enough money.

When we share, there’s always enough.

God doesn’t need stones into bread.

But open hands ready to share what we have.

Had Jesus turned the stones into bread, his heart would have turned to stone.

When we begin with ourselves, and our hunger, our needs, our fears, the whole thing goes bad.

Churches that fear for their future, never make it.

Nations that fear for their future always pose a serious threat to the world.

People who fear for their future become mean-spirited and selfish.

We live, says Jesus, not by bread alone.

But by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

The Tempter comes at him again.

The Tempter never gives up.

The Tempter takes Jesus to the pinnacle of the Temple.

High above the Holy City.

Throw yourself down, Jesus.

Why not?

Your faith big enough, isn’t it?

Or is your faith too small.

Didn’t your Father in heaven promise safety?

Why, you won’t even stub your toe, but you have to step out in faith first.

Big faith.

Powerful faith.

What’s matter, are you scared?

Isn’t your faith big enough?

The Tempter goes to the heart of everyone here.

Your faith isn’t good enough.

Your faith isn’t big enough.

Haven’t we all said a time or two, “If only my faith were bigger and better …” and we can fill in the blank spaces …

“My child wouldn’t be in trouble.”

“My husband would have lived.”

“I’d still have a job.”

“I’d have more money, if only I had more faith.”

Isn’t that what the TV preachers all preach?

“Ya’ gotta have more faith!”

“And let me help ya’, and by my books and I’ll send a dozen CDs for only $150.

The wackiness of so much religion is nothing more than people throwing themselves off the pinnacle … trying to prove to themselves, or to others, how big their faith.

Fred Phelps, with his sad little church in Kansas, is throwing himself of the pinnacle.

And when folks stuff religious tracts under the wiper blades of their Jewish neighbors when they’re at the Synagogue, they’re leaping off the roof.

It’s the faith of the fanatic.

The mad man, proving faith to the world.

No one here is throwing himself off the roof these days.

But all of us have been tempted by the accuser: Your faith isn’t good enough. You’re not up to it. You need more, and I’ll show ya’ how to get it.”

Jesus replies:

It’s not about my faith.

It’s all about God’s faithfulness.

My Father in heaven is good … always good.

Good to the end, and then some.

I trust God.

I don’t have to prove that.

Within the year, Jesus would say:

Faith, the size of a mustard, is enough.

More than enough.

Even the tiniest faith can move mountains.

Because God is in the faith.

And God is at work in all things for good.

Our faith, dear friends, tiny as it is, is pleasing in the sight of God.

God is in our faith.

God is small enough to fit into a cradle in Bethlehem.

Small enough to be held in Mary’s arms.

God fits easily enough into the small arms of our faith.

Faith no bigger than a mustard seed.

The Devil has one more shot at it.

One more card to play.

The Devil takes Jesus to a very high mountain … I like that, “very high” … like Mt. Everest high, as high as one can get … top of the heap, king of the hill, it doesn’t get any higher than this …

And shows him the world.

The “kingdoms” of the world.

Their power and their glory.

If it glitters, it must be gold!

Beauty and culture and marching legions and universities and the means of production and investments and great banking houses and good restaurants and fine wine and entertainment and travel and leisure … and parliaments and legislatures and courts and kings and queens and bishops and priests and pastors and churches and pomp and circumstance.

It all yours Jesus.

Bow down a little bit.

Don’t be so idealistic.

Just a nod of the head.

A flex of the knee.

Won’t cost you thing.

It’ll be over in a moment.

I wanna help you, Jesus.

I really do.

I can give you the world.

Some have wondered if Satan were lying.

Can Satan deliver the kingdoms of the world to Jesus?

Yes, Satan can do that, in a limited kind of way.

The world was given to Alexander the Great, wasn’t it?

To the Emperors of Rome.

The Emperors of China and Japan.

To the kings and queens of France and Spain and Portugal.

To the Czars of Russia.

To Bismarck and to Hitler and to Stalin.

And to the United States, as well.

But only in a limited way.

And only for a time.

Within the next few months of his work, Jesus says:

What good is it for a man to gain the world and lose his soul?

The kingdoms of the world are not worth the paper on which the check is written.

The real kingdom cannot be given by Satan, because it’s not Satan’s to give.

Satan bestows power, but never peace.

Satan creates lust, but never love.

Satan fills the heart with malice, never mercy.

And with all that power and all the lust and all that malice comes the witches’ brew:

Ceaseless warfare and social conflict and fear and anxiety and hatred of one another, genocide and bigotry and prejudice and racial discrimination and ethnic suspicion … the rich get richer and the poor get poorer … a certain madness when the kingdoms of the world are given to us, and all it takes is but a nod our heads to the Tempter, when we bow the knee, even a little, to the glitter … to the temptations of power.

Jesus reminds the Devil,

Worship God and God alone.

Jesus later teaches us:

Your Father in heaven knows full well what you need, even before you ask.

Therefore seek the kingdom of God above all else.

And all these others things that are needful will be given to you, and then some.

The Tempter has no more cards to play, and so the Tempter goes away.

“Suddenly,” says the bible, … out of the blue, quiet unexpectedly, angels come and wait on Jesus.

Three years later, dear friends.

On a place called Calvary.

The Son of God gives his life away for the sins of the world.

The righteous death so feared by Satan becomes the instrument of our salvation, salvation for all the world.

Dear friends,

The Tempter still comes our way.

Where we work, and where we live.

In our homes.

And in our churches.

And in the nations of the world.

The Tempter still comes.

And the temptations are pretty much the same.

Feed yourself first!

Your faith isn’t good enough!

Go for the glitter!

But to each of these things, we say No.

More than No.

Because we say Yes to God.

Dear friends, rest assured: angels are always just around the corner.

And they come to us, as they did to Jesus.

Amen and Amen!

November 21, 2010 - "Ultimate Gifts

Luke 23:33-43

It’s the end of the year.

The church year, that is.

Next week, we begin anew, with a new year in the life of the church … and we’ll start all over again … though no one ever steps into the same river twice.

We’re different today than we were a year ago.

Time moves on.

Things happen.

And we’ll discover a little bit more about Jesus Christ.

And what it means to live for him.

To abide in his word.

Grow in his grace.

The grace of our LORD Jesus Christ.

But today, we end a year.

We end at the lowest point.

Jesus dragged off to a place called the Skull, crucified between two thieves.

The lowest of the low.

Utterly rejected by the powers-that-be.

Betrayed by one of his own.

Denied by another.

Accused of crimes he never committed.

The verdict is handed down.

“Crucify him.”

Leaders scoff.

Soldiers mock.

One of thieves revile him.

And the people stand by, watching.

It doesn’t get any lower than this.

.

A place called the Skull.

A place where humanity fails.

Religion fails.

Government fails

Everything and everyone fails the Son of God, save one man.

The second thief.

The second thief defends Jesus.

Who would expect a dying man to rise to the occasion?

But who knows?     

Whoever this man was, he saw Jesus for something more than just another condemned man.

He asks to be remembered.

Remembered when Jesus comes into his kingdom.

And here they are, dying on their crosses.

Condemned and rejected.

Yet the second thief sees in Jesus a future.

A world that could be.

And asks to be remembered.

When we think about it, it’s astounding.

The other thief rails and rants.

Do something Jesus.

Get us outta here.

Save us.

Save yourself.

Be a hero.

Reminds me of the first set of temptations.

After Jesus was baptized.

When the Spirit takes Jesus into the wilderness.

To be tempted.

Tempted to take the easy way out.

Tempted to save his own skin.

Satan offers the world to Jesus, but Jesus says, I’ll do it God’s way, not yours.

It says that Satan left him, only to wait for an opportune time [Luke 4:13].

And here it was.

The opportune time.

As bad as gets.

A place called The Skull.

A hideous way to die.

But Jesus says, I’ll do it God’s way.

Into my Father’s hands, my life.

I’ll run the race to its end.

I’ll not drop out.

I’ll not turn around.

I will give my life to the world.

I will not call upon legions of angels to defend me.

I will not resort to the tactics of empire.

I don’t have to win.

I will let the world think I’m the biggest loser.

So that the world will find real victory.

The second thief understands.

Is this not a moment of grace?

The second thief sees through the cloud of his agony and pain … he sees a world as it might be, he sees something of God in Jesus.

To the second thief, Jesus says: Truly I tell you, today you will be me in Paradise.

Three years earlier, when Jesus preached in his hometown, things got ugly real fast, and they tried to kill him then and there.

And all along the way, a rising tide of hostility.

Not from the people whom Jesus healed and helped and held, but from the powers-that-be.

Every healing brought Jesus a little more hatred.

Every parable brought a little more rejection.

Until the final few days in Jerusalem.

When the powers-that-be would take no more from him.

They flexed their muscles and showed the world just how powerful they are.

A little shock and awe.

Yet in the moment of their victory, Jesus offers a remarkable prayer: Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.

If anyone heard this, I can only imagine the response.

We don’t know what we’re doing?

Are you kidding?

We know full well what we’re doing.

We’re putting away a troublemaker.

A disturber of the peace.

You overturned our tables, and now we’re overturning yours.

We don’t like your kind.

You broke too many rules.

You ruffled our feathers.

We know how to deal with folks like you.

We string ya’ up on a cross.

For all the world to see.

This is what happens to troublemakers.

Yes, we know full well what we’re doing.

But in reality, they didn’t know.

They didn’t know that all of this is playing into the hands of God, for a mighty purpose – the salvation of humankind.

In this bloody moment of defeat and degradation, God is at work.

So that folks like you and me would look at the cross, and see the glory of God.

Love divine, all loves excelling.

That we would kneel at the foot of the cross and leave all of our junk there.

Fountains of mercy flow from that cross.

Fountains of hope and peace.

They didn’t know what they were doing.

Working hand-in-hand with God, for the salvation of the world.

In Mel Gibson’s film, “The Passion of the Christ,” there’s a remarkable moment when Jesus dies.

Satan is there, at the place of the Skull, and falls to his knees and howls to the high heavens … Satan knows that in the moment of death, when the Son of God descends into the dark pit of hell, the Son of God brings light and healing.

Satan howls, because the last thing Satan wants is for Jesus to die like this:

A perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world.

Satan hoped that Jesus would beg and whine and cry and curse.

But Jesus offers forgiveness instead.

And to the second thief, Jesus offers Paradise.

No wonder Satan howls.

The pretense of hell is exposed.

There is nothing left in the repertoire of death.

Satan knows, the game is over.

It’s all over but the shouting.

A lot of moves left, but the handwriting is on the wall.

Satan has bet it all.

And lost.

Jesus gave his life.

And won it all.

We end the year with some simple reminders.

There is no greater power in the world then the powers of forgiveness and hope.

War and rumors of war abound.

Pestilence and famine.

And all the ills of humankind.

But don’t be fooled by what you see.

Don’t give in.

Don’t give up.

God is at work.

With forgiveness.

Forgiveness in the face of great crimes.

And to a man near death,

A man who didn’t ask to be saved.

But only to be remembered.

God bestows hope.

So here we are today.

20 centuries later.

Time marches on.

In some ways, we’re all of the characters who gather around or near the cross that day.

Are we not the thieves who have committed our share of crimes against God, and against one another?

Does not a part of our soul rant and rail at God as the one thief did?

Does not a part of our soul turn to God with humble faith?

Are we not the leaders, convinced of our own self-righteousness.

Do we not have our tables set up nicely, and who wants Jesus to come in turn a few of them over?

Are we not the soldiers, just doing our duty, going about our business, living our lives, never questioning what we’re doing?

Are we not the people standing by, watching?

We’re all of that and then some.

But we’re bathed in the forgiveness of God.

And we’re given hope, that even today, we might see something of Paradise.

A realm of goodness and decency.

Where life is fair and folks are treated with dignity.

Where peace has more than a chance.

Where religion is just.

And government works for the welfare of all.

We end our year at the lowest point.

The Son of God dies a hard death at a place called the Skull.

But in that dark moment, bright light.

In the worst of times, the best of times.

Hope dashed … hope born anew.

God at work.

LORD Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, when you come into your kingdom, remember us. Remember us, we pray.

Amen.

God's Lamb - January 20, 2008

John 1:29-42

Can you see what I’m holding in my hand?

Yes, that’s right, a surgeon’s scalpel.

Not the most pleasant looking device, but an essential tool for health … as the expression puts it: we need to go under the knife now and then.

Some years ago, through routine testing, abnormal calcium levels in my blood were detected … further testing by an endocrinologist and a few sleepless nights, revealed a misbehaving parathyroid gland.

Solution: surgery!
It has to come out.
I had to have some knife time.

So, the early morning trip to the hospital … prep for surgery, onto a gurney … a couple of happy drugs later, I was ready … Donna gave me a kiss and I was wheeled down the hall to a bright room seriously cold.

The anesthesiologist put something into my intravenous, had me count backwards … ten … nine … eight … lights out.

Three and a half hours later, eyes open – bright lights again … cold … recovery room … a blood sample taken … the doc comes by – “Calcium levels back to normal, Tom, just like that.”

Thank God for the scalpel and the folks who know how to use them!

“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”

The scalpel of grace …

“The Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).

To take away the sin of the world!

What is sin?

Must be mighty important for the Son of God to be so utterly involved in its removal …

Must be something big … evidently we need lots of help on this one!

Nothing less than divine surgery … no one less than Jesus.

What’s sin?

Ever hear the term “original sin”?

The first one, the biggie … the source, the center … the one and only … original sin.

We associate “the big one” with the image of Eve plucking the fruit and Adam right with her.

But that’s not the “original sin.”

The “original sin” occurred prior to the fruit-picking … the “original sin” – believing a lie.

The Snake in the Grass suggested to Eve that she wasn’t quite up to snuff, suggested that God might have left a few things out of the equation, and further suggested that she misunderstood God’s plan … and it would be just fine to pluck the fruit – because the Tree offers what’s missing from your life.

She believed it … and so did Adam.

Though Eve is the principal actor here, the text is clear: it says pointedly, “Adam was with her” – cheering her on; “you go, girl!”

She believed the lie, and so did Adam – something is wrong with us, something is missing, and you can’t even count on God for it.

That’s the original sin … that’s original lie.

And if you know anything about lies, you know that once started, lies take on a life of their own … compounding themselves until a whole world has been created with lies …

But a lie is still a lie … without truth, without love, without hope and without peace … lies never work … though we often believe them with all our heart … because the first lies are always told to us … they come from people of the lie … parents who were lied to, teachers who were lied to, politicians and neighbors who were lied to, spouses and children who were lied to … the lies are passed on, and every permutation, they grow a little larger, a little stronger … until they have us in their grip.

Think of it …

You’re not up to snuff …
Something is wrong with you …
You’re not fit for the fight …
You’re a flub, you’re a flop, you’re a failure …
You’re a lousy Mom …
You’re a crummy Father …
You’re a terrible student …
You’re stupid, you’re dumb, you’re ugly …
You’re hair is all wrong …
You’re too fat … and too slow …
You’re clothes don’t fit …
Your teeth aren’t pretty …
Why can’t you look better?
Why do you have be so slow?
Why can’t cook better?
Why don’t you get better grades?
Why aren’t your prettier?
Why don’t you lose some weight?
I won’t love until you do!


Serious business!

“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”

To take away the original sin was the toughest thing God ever did …

Creation was a breeze … God said, “Let it be” and it was … but take away the original lie, to free the soul … that’s a horse of another color … it took everything God had, and then some.

Wherever Jesus went, whomever He met, He told them the truth … because “The truth sets us free.”

The first miracle – at the Wedding of Cana – ran out of wine they thought; and to the human eye, the jugs were empty – Jesus said, “No, you didn’t run out of wine. Let me show you.”

Jesus clears the Temple – here’s what a Temple should look like, here’s what a Temple should stand for … too many lies about power and prestige … too many lies about money and influence.

Nicodemus comes to Jesus and says, “This is too much for me. I’m too old. I’ve believed this all my life. I can’t change.”
Jesus says, “Not true. You CAN change; you can start all over again. Sort of like being born all over again. Not easy! But you can do it! Life is resilient. Nicodemus, you can do it!”

The Samaritan woman goes to the well at noon – in the heat of the day, when no one else is there, because she can’t stand the haughty glares and the whispered gossip – she’s tired of their self-righteousness, so she goes to the well alone.
Jesus meets her there … she’s trapped in lies: “There’s no hope for me. A good man will never love me. I’m stuck in a rut, and that’s where it’s going be for me. No way out.”
“Not true,” says Jesus.
“Let me help you.”

The son of a royal officer is ill and dying … and the man comes to Jesus, “Sir, help me before my son dies.”
“He will not die,” says Jesus.
The human eye can only see death. Jesus sees life.

At the pool of Siloam, a man crippled for 38 years … begging …
Jesus asks, “Do you wanna get well?”
“But there’s no one to help me get into the healing water. Every time I try, others push me outta the way, and by the time I get there, the water has stopped bubbling.”
Jesus probes, because Jesus knows that the man has accepted the lie – “There’s no hope for me, no way out – it’ll be this way forever.”
“No you won’t,” says Jesus.

At every turn, Jesus sees the possibility … hope for a new day … the door that no one else can see … because God not only opens doors for us, God creates doors where none previously existed.

“God gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do no exist” (Romans 4:17).

“Takes away” the sin of the world, says the text.

God doesn’t wait for us to come around; God goes after it, tackles it by Himself – God intrudes, breaks in, enters the human heart … like a thief in the night, a smash and grab ruffian … God TAKES away the sin of the world

No self-help here … no self-healing at this point … something radical is needed … surgery … the scalpel of grace, and a skilled surgeon.

The Lamb of God who TAKES away the sin of the world.

And it’s “sin” not sins, did you notice that? … singular, not plural.

God goes for the root cause, the beginning, the source, the origin.

And leaves much of the clean-up work to us … with the help of the Holy Spirit.

But the root cause is removed … the original lie undone.

The truth be told!

There is nothing wrong with you.
There is nothing defective in you.

You can handle it … you will make it through … you’re a gifted and capable human being … you already have what it takes …

The original lie has been dispelled in Christ … so we get on with the task of healing … the cause of the wound is removed, but the healing takes time … and we heal with one another … that’s why Christian fellowship is so important … we heal in the company of others.

And we become little Lambs of God for one another …

Every time we encourage someone.

Every time someone wants to give up and give in, we help them take a deep breath and stay the course, and if need be, start all over again – we’re a little Lamb of God who takes away the lie from someone else.

Now, suddenly, we can read self-help books with profit … therapists can really help here.

To build upon the work of Christ!

We don’t believe the lie anymore … well, maybe, just a little bit now and then, but the Spirit intervenes … “Not true” cries the Spirit when we’re discouraged and ready to give up.

You’re a terrific human being …
You have what it takes …
You can manage the challenge … you can climb the mountain, you can solve the case, you can ford the rushing river …

You’re not a victim; you’re a victor.
You’re not a loser; you’re a winner!

You have great reservoirs of love …
You have intelligence and good character …
You have faith, hope and love … even if it’s just the size of a mustard seed, it’s good enough to move mountains!

At the end of the text, Jesus gives Peter a nickname … from now on, you’ll be called Cephas, the Rock!

To all of us, Jesus gives a nickname:

You’re Tom Terrific and Wally Wonderful.
You Susie Stupendous and Marlene Marvelous.

You’re all Servants of the Most High God!

Remember that … that’s the truth!

Amen!

Crummy Start - Dec 30 2007

Matthew 2:13-23

Jesus was a refugee from a land torn by hardship and cruelty … warned in a dream of Herod’s plan to kill the child, Joseph takes his family, in the middle of the night, and flees to Egypt.

Matthew’s congregation would have understood … many of them were refugees, too … after the sacking of Jerusalem … the destruction of its Temple in the 70th year of the Christian Era.

Folks fled for their lives … displaced and uncertain.

A story played out in our world too many times … what with war and rumors of war … earthquake and flood.

12 million refugees – those who cross borders in search of safety - 21 million internally displaced because of violence or disaster – 33 million without a home.

It’s a hard life for millions … harder than most of us will ever know … and beyond all imagination.

In the brilliant movie, “Charlie Wilson’s War,” his rich Texas friend encourages him to do more about the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979.

Charlie Wilson is a little slow to move on it, so his rich Texas friend arranges for a flight to Pakistan to see the refugee camps first hand … Charlie Wilson walks through these camps, disease-ridden and teeming with filth, crammed with tens of thousands of desperate, hungry people, an no greater desperation than that written on the face of a child – Charlie Wilson is overwhelmed … he returns to Congress a champion of the Afghani people, working covertly to defeat the Soviets.

I have no idea what it is to be displaced … do you?

I remember the power outage of the summer of 2003; we were living in Detroit.

I was watching TV when the power went out … Donna called me from a nearby community, saying, “The power just went out.”

I remember thinking … power out here … power out there … this is pretty big.

I waited an hour or so, and still no power, so I called Rachel in California – cell phones were still working – I said, “Turn on TV at your office; see if you can find out what’s happening.”

There it was on CNN – the blackout spreading like spilled ink throughout the northeastern part of the nation.

“Is it terrorism?” we all asked.

Only later were we to learn how dangerously close we came to having the entire national grid go down like a series of dominoes.

For three days, no power.

Ten million people in Ontario, 40 million Americans in eight states.

That evening and the next two nights, we cooked out on the grill … neighbors brought stuff over and we sat in the dark … the night skies was clear … no ambient light … the stars were bright … being August, it stayed light until late … and then, like pioneers of old, our wake and sleep patterns followed the sun.

We made do for a few days until power was restored … but I remember thinking: “How much longer could we have gotten on? - no gas at the pump; stores without refrigeration; everything on emergency power; water still in the tap, but drinkable only after boiling … no cell phones, no radio; no internet; no trains or planes … nothing.

This past week, I drove by a building with an indented store front, claimed by a squatter – a shopping cart, an umbrella, tattered cushions and a sleeping bag, the detritus of poverty … and a salvaged Christmas Tree with a few shreds of tinsel and a bow or two.

Everyone wants a home … even the homeless make do as best they can.

Life is hard for millions of people … really hard, desperately hard.

Our LORD had a hard go of it … a crummy start … and it ended poorly … on a Roman cross and a borrowed tomb.

Why would God enter life on such a precarious note?

Why would God take upon Himself the stress and strain of life at its worst?

Why submit to the humiliation of a trial in Herod’s palace and Pilate’s court?

Why the cradle and why the cross?

What is God doing?

God is undoing death! And death’s paymaster – named “sin” … for the wages of sin are death!

Death in all of its hideous versions …

“Yea though I walk through the valley of the Shadow of Death …”

The death that comes slowly to a human being without grace … like the movie portrait of Mr. Plainview, “There Will Be Blood” – a man sells his soul for gain … and what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul? To trade life for death?

The four horsemen of the Apocalypse: war, famine, pestilence and death …

The death of hope in a child beaten by ill-gotten parents and betrayed by a poorly funded safety net that lets too many children slip through the webbing.

The death of faith, hope and love …

The death of a soul long before a body dies …

And death itself … “the final enemy” says Paul the Apostle, against which no human being can stand, no science prevail, no myth soften, and no incantation defeat!

The wages of sin are death … and we’re all gainfully employed in the market place of sin … all of us, great and small; good and bad … nary a one of us can escape:

“There is no one who is righteous, not even one …” (Romans 3:10).

“All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

“For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do” (Romans 7:19).

Our spirit cries out with Paul: “Who will rescue me?”

Will our own goodness suffice to turn the tide and heal the wound?

But when and how?

Has not the world tried long and hard to heal itself?

Every nostrum fails in the final account … peace talks end one war only to witness the onset of another.

Poverty programs work for a time, and then the machinery of greed and power churns out another generation of haves with too much and have-nots with too little.

Medicine and technology promise the moon, but death still comes a-calling, and we each go off into the dark veil.

Hope cannot not be found within history nor will it be found in the human heart … neither invention nor innovation will lead us out of the vicious circle of temporary hope and bitter disappointment … there is no advanced civilization out there who will visit us one day and save us, nor some genius born today or tomorrow who will lead us to nirvana.

“My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. No merit of my own I claim But wholly lean on Jesus’ name. On Christ, the solid rock, I stand; All other ground is sinking sand. All other ground is sinking sand.”

From sin to salvation … from life to death … from fear to faith … delivered, set free and made new.

Salvation received on bended knee … but of what price God paid.

Our salvation cost everything God had and then some.

No easy work for God … undoing the damages of sin; unraveling the twisted cords of sin and sorrow; disentangling us from the web of death.

It was a breeze for God to create the world …
“Let it be,” said God, and so it was. No muss, no fuss.

Speaking of creation …

Do you now the longest day in the Bible? The day Adam was created, because there was no Eve.”

After God had created Adam he noticed that he looked very lonely.

God said "Adam, I've decided to make you a woman. She'll love you, cook for you, be sweet to you, and understand you."

Adam said "Great! How much will she cost me?"
God said, "An arm and a leg."
"Well," said Adam "what can I get for a rib?"

It was a breeze for God to create the heavens and the earth … the far-flung stars and the starfish in the tidal pool …

But sin entered in … a small thing at first – a question, a lie, a misperception, fruit plucked from the tree – and then gathering speed like a freight train - the onset of fear, the dissolution of love and the beginning of death.

God soon learned that an all-out frontal attack did no good … creating a nation and defending it with sword and spear did no good … commanding us to do better, be better and make something of ourselves did no good – neither promise nor threat resolved the issue and undid the damages done by sin.

So God enters into it, goes to the very heart of it … with a crummy start and a terrible end … God tastes every bitter herb we eat; God takes unto Himself horror and loss, fatigue and fear, ever injustice and every betrayal … at the bottom of the heap, the lowest rung of the ladder … to the very heart of death itself.

“For our sake, God made Jesus to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him, we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

The great exchange … the Lamb of God takes away the sin of the world by taking every lick of it, absorbing it, by living within it and feeling all it – “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
A pure and perfect love hanging on the cross, smeared with blood and spit; the great Son of God, standing in the breech … taking every hit … a refugee at birth … a man without a home … “Foxes have holes,” He said, “and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His Head” (Matthew 8:20).

Joseph took his family in the middle of the night … a crummy start to the hardest work God ever had to do … to undo the damages of sin, right the ship, get the train on track, get the car out of the ditch; save us from our sins … it was the hardest work God ever had to do!

That’s why He’s our Savior … that’s why He’s the King of kings and the LORD of lords … He’s the incomparable sacrifice; the uncontested Prince of Peace … He’s the Bread of Heaven and the Living Water … He’s life eternal and life here and now … He’s the Master who stills the storm and the hand upon the leper … He speaks to the woman at the well and takes little children into his arms … He bears the cross to Calvary and bears the sins of the world upon His shoulders … He dies our death, and death cannot hold Him … the Tomb would claim Him, but the stone is rolled away … He’s the Good Shepherd of the sheep; He’s the Head of the church, the Firstborn of the dead … He’s at the right of Hand God and He’s with us forever.

Amen and Amen!