"SHARING THE PROMISE"
The Epiphany of Our Lord (transferred)
January 7, 2018
Bethel Evangelical Lutheran Church
Glenshaw, Pennsylvania
TEXT:
When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the Gospel.
Ephesians 3:4-6 (ESV)
We human beings are not always the quickest or easiest learners in the world. As a matter of fact, throughout our history we have shown ourselves to be quite stubborn and bullheaded--especially when it comes to accepting things that go against our preconceived notions. The earth being round and moving around the sun, a vehicle that could carry people about without being powered by horses or other animals, a machine that can fly and carry people across oceans, an electric box with not only a voice but also a picture, the landing of a man on the moon--all of these ideas were at one time thought to be impossible or ridiculous or both. It's not that any of these things were illogical; they were simply not consistent with anything that people had ever experienced before. And even after these "crazy" ideas had been demonstrated to be not so crazy after all, there are still people who refuse to accept and/or make use of these things. Even today there is such a thing as a "Flat Earth Society"; there are people who believe with all their heart that televisions and computers and other modern conveniences are instruments of the devil; and believe it or not, there are even a few people who believe that no one ever walked on the moon--that all of the manned moon voyages were staged and filmed in a studio somewhere in Hollywood.
Sometimes it takes us a while to learn spiritual things too--not because they are difficult (they are in fact simple enough for any child to understand), and not because they are illogical (they make more sense than most opposing viewpoints), but simply because they are different than anything that we have seen or believed so far. Sometimes it seems that no matter how loudly--no matter how clearly--no matter how often the Holy Spirit makes known to us the Gospel of Christ, we still manage to get it all mixed up. We take what God says and we try to change it into what we think He should have said. As we consider this morning the manifestation of Jesus as the Son of God and the King of the Jews, let's also reexamine two very important truths of His Gospel--truths vital to our faith, which we often fail to understand.
One of these truths that so many people seem to have a hard time getting through their heads is the fact that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is free--totally free. There is nothing that you or I can do to deserve it, earn it, buy it, or steal it. It's simply given to us--freely--by a gracious God. It is totally the doing of this gracious God, who lowered Himself to enter our world as One of us and to live the perfect life and die the innocent death that was necessary for our salvation to be accomplished. It is always God who takes the first and every step in closing the gap between Him and us that we have created by our sin. In love He comes down to us because we cannot reach up to Him. All of this He does for us freely.
This message is the very heart and center of the Christian faith, and yet there are still some people--people who have been active church members their entire lives--trying to work their way into heaven. It is so sad to hear people who have been baptized, catechized, and confirmed say things like: "You just gotta live right" or "I hope I make it to heaven--I've done my very best" or "It doesn't matter if you're baptized--you have to make a personal decision to accept Jesus." The real truth is that we can't live right and our best isn't good enough and our only confidence is in what God has done, not in our decisions. When we appeal to what we have done, we are in effect asking God to judge us by the Law, and He tells us in His Word that if that's how we want to be judged, that's how He will judge us. The only problem with that is that the Law says that we must be perfect and I don't think any of us can meet that demand. That's why we need the grace of God in Christ, for there and only there are we judged not on the basis of what we have done and failed to do but on the basis of what God has done for us in Christ.
Another thing that we sometimes have trouble understanding is the fact that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is for everyone. Scripture says that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus (Romans 3:23, 24). Since everyone is a helpless sinner who stands before God condemned, everyone is in need of the grace of God that comes only in the Gospel. There is no such thing as a person who doesn't need the Gospel, nor is there any such thing as a person for whom the Gospel is not intended. God's love in Christ has been given to us so that it might be shared with everyone. The early Christians had a little difficulty with this too--at least some of them did. The first Christians were Jews. Some of them believed that if a person wanted to be a good Christian he would first have to become a good Jew. People of this opinion tried to force Gentile believers to live by Jewish ritual and dietary customs, but these customs had nothing at all to do with the Gospel or with faith in Jesus Christ. The entire book of Galatians explains the solution to this early controversy in the Christian Church: As Christians we are free, living under the grace of God in Jesus Christ. Where Scripture speaks of course we must obey, but where Scripture is silent no one has the right to burden the conscience of anyone else.
If we honestly look at ourselves today we might wonder if we're any different than those first century Jewish believers. How often do we avoid people who look, talk, dress, or smell a little different than we do, even though these people need the Gospel as much as we do? The fact is that there is a whole world of people around us, some of whom go each day to meet their Maker without the grace and love of the Savior--and many of these unsaved and unconcerned people are the same people who we see and talk to every day. It doesn't matter whether or not they are of European ancestry. It doesn't matter whether or not they are from a Lutheran family. It doesn't matter how they dress or look or what language they speak. They are sinners just as you and I are and they need the Savior and the grace that He brings no less than we do.
Being bullheaded and stubborn in learning may be cute in a child, but there's nothing cute about it in the case of mature and responsible Christians. The Good News is that God's redeeming love, revealed in His Son Jesus Christ, is more stubborn than we are and it's stronger than any of our prejudices or petty jealousies. He has loved all sinners enough to take their place under His own Law, meeting its demands and bearing its judgment. What's more, He has loved us enough to break through our stubbornness and bullheadedness to change our hearts and to use us in bringing the Gospel of His grace to all those in need of it. What a privilege and what an opportunity is ours each and every day--all because of His grace!
Amen.
May the God who caused light to shine out of darkness cause you to increase and abound in love toward one another and toward all people, as His love abounds for us; and may the glory of His Son be manifested to you and in you, that you may be witnesses to all nations now and until the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, and He will do it. Amen.