What is a Lutheran

Title:  What is a Lutheran By Pastor Lohn Johnson

Text:  Romans 1:16-17  16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, "The righteous shall live by faith."

INTRODUCTION: My dear friends in Christ, just this last week I was asked to come up with a class for our school teachers on “What is a Lutheran?”  As I began to work on that it seemed that it would be a good topic for this Sunday – for Reformation.  So I ask: “What is a Lutheran?”  Of course, this question is very vast.  We can’t cover it all. For example in the Seminary there were three volumes that tried to answer this question and that only scratched the surface.  But we can get an overview.  And when we consider this question the first thing we have to clear up is that a Lutheran has nothing to do with Martin Luther King Jr.  That’s usually the first thing someone unfamiliar with Lutheranism thinks.  Although we may respect MLK’s contribution to American history, he has nothing to do with Lutheranism other than, most likely, his mom and dad named him after the founder of Lutheranism.  The founder of Lutheranism is a 16th century Roman Catholic monk—professor Martin Luther in Germany.  (But even this is a misnomer because Jesus Christ is really the founder of Lutheranism.)  But back then Luther was struck by practices in the church that were contrary to the Scriptures.  He sought to return the Church to the authority of the Scriptures.  His protests ended up with this famous scene:

I.  In the process of Luther’s working the reform, certain teachings drawn from the Scriptures became very prominent.  Foundationally to all Luther brought out from the Scriptures, is the fact that God is a Hidden God.  Yes, Luther did have a unique perspective on the nature of God.  That perspective begins by clearly stating that God is Holy – totally untainted by sin, evil or anything like that.  And since we are sinful and even the best of us are corrupted by sin, if our holy God would come into contact with a sin corrupted man or woman that man or woman would be destroyed.  God doesn’t want that to happen. So God hides to protect us.  God didn’t just hide away and withdraw from us.  He determined safe ways to reveal Himself to us.  These safe ways all follow a pattern. That pattern is that God connects Himself to some material means and works through those means to give of Himself to us—and what He gives is special and exactly what we need most.

A. The first way God reveals Himself and gives out His gifts is through the Bible.  The Bible is a unique book because it is God and man coming together to give a safe revelation of God to man.  God moved the men to record what He wanted revealed.  It was done is such a way that there were no errors in the record, but the flavor of the men came through.  So the Scriptures are God and man combined to give what God desired to give man.  And because God is behind the Scriptures they have God’s authority.  In Luther’s day this became known as “Scripture alone.”  And it became part of the slogan of the Reformation.   In other words Scripture was the ultimate authority in determining teaching about God.

1. And because the Scriptures have God behind them they are handled in a special way.  In other words we have reading rules.  It is not subject to our whims and fancies.

a. If the literal sense of a passage makes good sense, seek no other sense or you will have nonsense.  b.  The more difficult sections are interpreted in light of the clearer sections of Scripture.  So Scripture interprets Scripture. c. Context is important.

2. And we must realize that the text we have is accurate.

a. It is not corrupted.  Any major teaching has full support of an accurate text. b. Translations may vary in quality but that’s not the problem of the original text.

3. Also Luther determined that Scripture contains two basic teachings which have different purposes.  These teachings are Law and Gospel.  To correctly understand Scriptures you have to distinguish between Law and Gospel.

a. The Law is designed to show us our sin and thereby bring us to realize that we need help that only God can supply.  b. The Gospel points to our Savior, who is the help we need from God.

B. The second way that God reveals Himself is through His only Son, Jesus Christ.  Again we see the pattern, God + a material human body =Jesus.  He was fully God and fully man.  This we can’t understand fully.  But here is God walking among us in a safe way.  His miracles show us He was from God.  And God even testified about who Jesus was.

1. He certainly showed us He was from God by what he did.

a. He lived a perfect life.  He never once sinned.  Never once disobeyed God as we do.  Only Jesus could and did do this.  And He did it for us. b. Then He was taken to the cross by evil men like us.  There He was crucified.  There he paid for our sin. There God punished Him in our place.  He paid the penalty of hell – the penalty we deserve.  He was and is the help we need.  He was the infinite sacrifice for an almost infinite amount of sin.  He died. c. On the third day He rose from the dead.  This shows us that God accepted His sacrifice in our place.

2. This became the “Grace alone” piece of the slogan of the Reformation.  You can look at it like this: G od’s R iches A t C hrist’s E xpense C. Now God gives out what Jesus has done in the same pattern that He has worked in the Scripture and in Jesus.  He gives out what Jesus has done through what we call the means of grace.  These are the Word and the Sacraments. In these means the Spirit works as He has promised.

1. The sacraments are Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.   This is God’s word and promise attached to some material means.  Again we have the pattern for God to come to us safely.

a. Baptism is the Word and water and it conveys what Jesus has done.  We are given faith.  Faith that saves.  Faith that looks to Jesus alone for salvation.  b. The Lord’s Supper is the word, connected to the bread and wine and it carries Jesus’s body and blood to us.  We are really given Jesus in this supper.  We are strengthened and more…

2. Through the Word and Sacraments we are brought to another piece of the slogan of the Reformation: “Faith alone” because faith is given out in these means.   We are saved only by faith that looks to Jesus.  Nothing can be added to faith.  Anything added would take away from Jesus.

II. Through the means of Grace we are made part of God’s family the Church.  The Church is nothing other than a container for God’s gifts.  And again we see God’s pattern of working.  But now we are the material means. Jesus says: I am the Light.”  That light is contained in His church.  The Church is a lit up structure of people reaching into the world – it’s lit up by Jesus and its purpose is to give out God’s gifts.

A. Now we who have been given faith are made the “Body of Christ.”

1. And now we who are gathered together become the Church. And Jesus is in us.

a. And the purpose of those who contain Jesus is to carry God’s gifts to the world in a safe way.  b. We all have individual purposes as body parts have individual purposes.  Our task may be small or large.  Either way Jesus is shown through us to the world.

2. And to be about our purposes we must be connected to the source of our “light,” Jesus.

a. Our Worship and Bible study is designed to fill people with Jesus – to empower us to carry Jesus to others. b. In other words the light of Jesus is encouraged to shine out of us to others.

B. And we are to be constantly on guard that nothing dims the light of Jesus.  But sadly things do tend to dim the light of Jesus in us. Accordingly I have to make a note about other denominations – other than Lutheran. And there is even problems with some Lutheran groups too.

1. Other denominations tend to dim the light of Jesus in us.

a. They do this by denying or twisting or confusing some of the teachings of the Bible.  b. So It really does make a difference to which denomination you belong.  This may not be an immediate threat to your faith but it can be, especially over time.

2. Luther began the Reformation in the first place because it makes a difference what denomination to which we belong.  That’s why it is important to continue the Lutheran Church.  That’s why it’s important for us to continue as Lutherans.

CONCLUSION:  What is a Lutheran?  Again it is far more complicated than can be addressed in one sermon.  But we can summarize and say a Lutheran is a Christian who has been brought to realize that God works in this pattern – the pattern of God of coming to man in a safe way through material means.  A Lutheran is a Christian who knows that Scripture alone is our authority on teaching.  A Lutheran is a Christian who knows we are saved by Grace alone, which means through the work of Jesus given freely to us through Word and Sacrament.  And a Lutheran is a Christian who knows that our Faith alone, given by God and  apart from works, appropriates what Jesus gives out freely.  And a Lutheran is a Christian who knows that they are part of that pattern – we have received God’s gifts.  And now we are the material means God uses to carry his gifts to the world.  So really the answer to the question: “What is a Lutheran?” is really “You.”  Amen.

Jesus Binds us Together

Title:  Jesus Binds us Together By Pastor Lohn Johnson

Text:  Mark 10:6-9 (ESV) 6 But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ 7 ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, 8 and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. 9 What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

INTRODUCTION My dear friends in Christ, A young couple decided to wed. As the big day approached, they grew apprehensive. Each had a problem they had never before shared with anyone, not even each other. The groom-to-be, overcoming his fear, decided to ask his father for advice. “Dad,” he said, “I am deeply concerned about the success of my marriage. I love my fiancée very much, but you see, I have very smelly feet, and I’m afraid that my future wife will be put off by them.”   “No problem,” said his dad. “All you have to do is wash your feet as often as possible and always wear socks, even to bed.” Well, to him this seemed a workable solution. The bride-to-be, overcoming her fear, decided to take her problem up with her mom. “Mom,” she said, “When I wake up in the morning my breath is truly awful.” “Honey,” her mother consoled, “everyone has bad breath in the morning.” “No, you don’t understand. My morning breath is so bad, I’m afraid that my new husband will not want to sleep in the same room with me.”  Her mother said simply, “Try this. In the morning, get straight out of bed and head for the bathroom and brush your teeth. The key is not to say a word until you’ve brushed your teeth. Not a word,” her mother affirmed. Well, she thought it was certainly worth a try. The loving couple was finally married in a beautiful ceremony. Not forgetting the advice each had received, he with his perpetual socks and she with her morning silence, they managed quite well. That is, until about six months later. Shortly before dawn, the husband woke with a start to find that one of his socks had come off. Fearful of the consequences, he frantically searched the bed. This, of course, woke his bride, who without thinking, immediately asked, “What on earth are you doing?”  “Oh, no!” he gasped in shock, “You’ve swallowed my sock!” (1) Terrible joke, I know. But would anybody argue with me that we take marriage far too lightly in our society? It is a serious matter.

I. But to understand the seriousness of marriage we must look at God’s intention in establishing marriage.

A. To understand God’s intention we must go back to creation.

1. Adam was made a complete, self-contained individual.  Adam was made from the earth (Adam means earth or earth man). 2. And Adam was made to be in relationship.

a. He was the image of God, and even God exists in a trinity of Persons in relationship with each other. God is never alone even in Himself. b. And so it was not good that Adam was alone.

B. And so God put Adam to sleep and took something away from him to give him more.

1. The word that is used here may mean a human rib bone, but, more often it refers simply to “a side of something.” But it may be better not to think of God removing a single rib from Adam, but you might say He divided His “female side” out.

a. So guys, there’s no point getting in touch with your “female side.” You don’t have one. Your female side is your wife. b. So God built a woman. She isn’t made from the earth like Adam, but from his side.

2. Adam awoke and instantly recognized his own reflection in her. “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.”

a. She was like him but not interchangeable with him. And in union with her, he receives what was taken and more. This is the mystery of our being male and female, and why we are so fascinated by each other. b. “One flesh” means something whole worked by the creative Word of God that cannot be undone by a piece of paperwork. This is what elevates human sexuality above the animal. The birds do it, the bees do it, all our fellow creatures do it, but when we, who are made in the image of God, do it, something greater and more significant takes place. “They are no longer two but one flesh.” c. Maybe you can see it like this: Perhaps you saw the original "Rocky" film…. Do you remember the love relationship Rocky had with Adrian in "Rocky?" She was the little wallflower who worked in the pet shop, the sister of Pauly, an insensitive goon who worked at the meat house. Pauly couldn't understand why Rocky was attracted to Adrian. "I don't see it," he said. "What's the attraction?" Do you remember Rocky's answer? Rocky said, "I don't know, fills gaps I guess." "What's gaps?" asks Pauly. "She's got gaps," says Rocky, "I got gaps. Together we fill gaps." In his simple but profound way, Rocky hit upon a great truth. He was saying that he and Adrian each had empty places in their lives. But when the two of them got together, they filled those blank spots in one another. Rocky saw a bit of what Adam saw.  It would pay for each of us to see this too. d. And note that none of this is connected in any way to same sex anything. That is never a part of God’s intention.  It’s part of our next section.

II. It’s too bad that we wreck what God intended—that’s what our text is about.

A. It was Sin that changed all that God had intended.

1. It brought shame, and self-centeredness. Adam and Eve tried to cover themselves with their own fig leaves. They hid from God. They blamed each other.

a. The union between man and woman became a competition to see who would rule. Their “one flesh” union became a struggle leading to divorce and adultery. b. We bear witness to that in the brokenness of our own lives – in our multiple “one flesh” unions, our divorces, our adulteries, our same sex union, and all the ways we attempt to justify ourselves in these wrong ideas and deeds.

2. Now you see how Jesus can make the blanket statement that to divorce and marry again inevitably results in adultery, because the “one flesh” union has been adulterated, and no amount of legal fiction will make it right.

a. Divorce can never be "justified." Just like no other sin can be “justified.”  b. On the contrary, divorce’s very existence stands as an indictment of the human condition. Divorce reflects the pervasive reality of sin. Divorce reflects our "hardness of heart."  "Hardness of heart" results in a life where divorce becomes common.

B. Already by asking the "Is it lawful?" question, the Pharisees reveal their hardened hearts. Hard hearts want to show God how right they are.

1. This text is about exposing the hardness of hearts. This text is seeking to expose every one of us -- Pharisees, disciples, and even you and me. It’s a hardness that not only has put us at odds with one another but also with God!

a. And in case you are sitting there smugly with your happy marriage and thinking, “I thank God I’m not like one of those he’s talking about,” well, remember what Jesus said about that stray look and that adulterous thought. You’ve already committed adultery too. b. All of us have hard hearts too.  So for us there are no loopholes, no arguments or self-justifications.

2. And think about how far Sin has corrupted the good that God has given.

a. Think about how Sin has dulled that joy that Adam spoke of when he first laid eyes on Eve and said, “Finally – bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh!” b. Think about how Sin takes the joy of the wedding day and turns it into a drudgery and weariness so that religious people can come up to Jesus looking for a reason to divorce their wives.

III. But fortunately God fixes what we have broken in a unique way.

A.  God joined together your sins--all of them--with Jesus. It was why He came.

1. Jesus was condemned in your place. He stood before Pilate as the One, and the only One, who had to die.

a. And as Jesus was thrust onto a cross, God put every sin-- your sins of thought, and word, and deed--all your sins God joined to Jesus. He was so covered with sin that St. Paul says of Him, “He became sin for us.” b. And then He died. And your sins were buried with Christ in His tomb. And when Jesus rose on the third day, He left your sins behind. They can haunt you no more. The deed is done. c. In baptism your sinful flesh dies with Christ, but you, rise with Christ free and forgiven. God has brought us to the Second Adam and joins us to Him in our baptisms.  He has made us one with Him.  “What God has joined together, let man not separate.”

2. Remember your sins are joined to Jesus...and He left them in His tomb.  And you cannot have them anymore.

a. You cannot continue to live in them.  And so put them away from your heart and life. b. Do not separate your sins from Jesus. He took them from you because He loves you. He took them and you are forgiven.

B. Now for us marriage takes on this flavor too.

1. God is the One who joins husbands and wives together. But instead of just two joined, He also joins us with Jesus in our marriages.  Like this: In 1986 they discovered a boat from the first century in the mud along the shore of the Sea of Galilee during a drought. Immediately word spread of this fantastic discovery...the first 2000 year old boat every found in the Sea of Galilee. Newspapers dubbed it “the Jesus boat,” but it is not known for sure whether or not Jesus may have used it. Still, it did ply the waters of the Galilee during Jesus’ day. The problem was how to get the boat out of the mud and into a museum without having it fall apart at the seams. The wood was terribly brittle and had to be kept in water to keep from cracking. Somebody got the idea of filling it with polyurethane foam which was sprayed into the boat and around the boat, so it looked like an overgrown, melted marshmallow. Thus filled, the boat rose and floated at lake level. For the first time in two millennia, the boat “sailed” again to the cheers of an on-looking crowd.  There is symbolism here.  We are that brittle boat and Jesus is the polyurethane foam. 2.  I know that as Adam was incomplete without Eve, so we are incomplete without Jesus. Our marriages are even held together by Him.  We can look to Him for forgiveness for past sins and look to Him to hold us together when our sin tends to drive us apart.

CONCLUSION: We are not alone abandoned in our sin, lost in our hardness of heart.  We are not left to our crumbling relationships.  But Jesus has come. He has taken our sin and gives us forgiveness.  In Baptism we are made one with Him.  Being one with Jesus changes our perspective on life – it changes our perspective on marriage.  He is what holds us together by the power of His love and forgiveness.

Take Sin Seriously - God Cares

Title:  Take Sin Seriously - God Cares By Pastor Lohn Johnson

Text:  Mark 9:42-48   42 "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.  43 And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire.   45 And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell.   47 And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell,  48 'where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.'

INTRODUCTION:  My dear friends in Christ, It was one of the most gripping news stories of 2003.  In the beautiful but desolate mountains of southeastern Utah, a twenty-seven year-old mountain climber named Aron Ralston, made a desperate decision. An avid outdoors man, Aron was rock climbing one day when his right arm became trapped under a boulder, a boulder estimated to weigh at least eight hundred pounds. He saw immediately that he was in deep trouble. Unable to budge the rock at all, Aron took out his pocketknife and chipped away at the rock for 10 hours, managing to produce only a small handful of dust. Obviously this was not going to work. Days were passing. No one knew where he was.  Even worse, his family and friends were used to his going off for days without contacting anyone, so they were not even looking for him. With his arm still wedged beneath this enormous boulder Aron Ralston recorded a video message to his parents telling them good-bye.  At the end of several days with no food or water, however, Aron made a remarkable choice. Aron Ralston decided to amputate his arm in order to save himself. And that’s exactly what he did, using only a pocket knife. What an amazing display of courage and determination. After he was finished, he applied a tourniquet to his arm and rappelled nearly 70 feet to the floor of the canyon. Then he hiked five miles downstream where he encountered some other hikers and was rescued.  Aron Ralston made the obviously excruciating decision to amputate his right arm to save his life. It is an amazing story!

I. We can’t read this story without thinking of Jesus’ words from our lesson for today, “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell”? What a stark declaration.  But Jesus is in effect saying, “Take sin so seriously that you would cut off a hand to save your life.”

A. But as I look around here in church today, it is apparent that either we are living lives free from sin, or we don’t take seriously these words of Jesus.  None of us seem to be missing any body parts.  Our hands, feet, and eyes are all intact.  We haven’t taken our Lord’s words literally to cut off that member which causes us to sin.  And we shouldn’t.

1. So why would Jesus use such gruesome language?

a. Perhaps to get our attention.  If a kid is really hungry, he doesn't tell his mother, "I'm hungry."  He exaggerates, "I'm starving!" Whatever it takes to turn her attention toward his hungry tummy.  That's what this is--hyperbole or exaggeration.   b. So why is Jesus drawing our attention to this with such exaggeration?  Maybe it's because we tend to exaggerate in the opposite way.  Jesus says, "Cut off your hand if it causes you to sin," but we say, "Ah, it's no big deal.  Everybody sins.  God doesn't care."  Jesus maximizes sin here in our text because we have the tendency to minimize it.

2. We also tend to minimize the suffering of hell.

a. And that reminds me of Mark Twain’s famous statement. He said that when he died, he would like to go to Heaven for the climate, but would probably prefer Hell for the companionship. Mark Twain was clever and witty, but he missed the point. Sin isn’t fun.  Neither is hell. b. But Jesus does not exaggerate when He talks about sin or hell.

B. God wants us to take sin seriously.  He wants it eradicated, that’s why he uses the exaggeration.

1. Like this: One author tells of an event that occurred at the Atomic Energy Commission laboratory in Oak Ridge, TN on November 20, 1959. On that day a small amount of solvent exploded and blew open the door of a processing cell. When that happened, about one‑fiftieth of an ounce of plutonium was scattered into the air. Remember, only one‑fiftieth of an ounce of plutonium was involved, but here’s what the Atomic Energy Commission says resulted from this tiny spill: All those who were within a four‑acre area of the explosion turned in their laboratory‑issued clothes to be decontaminated. Their urine was checked to insure that they had not inhaled or ingested any plutonium. The processing plant and a nearby research reactor were shut down. The buildings were washed with detergents, and the buildings’ roofs were resurfaced. The surrounding lawn was dug up and the sod carted to a deep burial place. One hundred yards of surface was chiseled off a nearby asphalt road. To anchor any speck of plutonium that might have survived, the buildings were completely repainted. Final cost, including re-sodding, repaving, and reroofing: approximately $350,000.

a. The AEC will go to all that trouble for a fraction of an ounce of plutonium. Why? Because just a tiny amount of plutonium can do endless harm when released into the environment. b. Sin is like that. Even the tiniest sin has a way of getting out of hand and wreaking havoc in our lives. Sin destroys lives. Sin destroys families. Sin destroys churches and communities. And without the cross, sin would have destroyed all humanity.

2. We’re not the Atomic Energy Commission.  There is no protocol for us to remove sin like there is for plutonium.  Even if a sinner cuts off all of his limbs, tears out his eyes, and removes his ears and tongue, he will still be a sinner before God because sin dwells in his heart.

a. We won't even enter heaven at all if our heart is not first cleansed of sin.  We all have sinful hearts and have used our hands, feet, and eyes to cause others to sin--whether they were children or adults who are weak in the faith.  We all deserve that millstone. b. And if this doesn't shake you up, then nothing will.  If anyone can hear this and later say smugly, "I'm not all that bad; others are worse than me; I don't need to repent of any sin; I've lived a pretty good life and deserve a place in heaven..." then God is being shut out of that person's heart.

II. Now having said that, let me remind you that the church is not a club or gym where we come to work on a protocol for removing sin.  The church is a hospital and you are here for major surgery.

A. Christ is the surgeon.  We are the patients.

1.  And we are here for our Lord to expose our wicked hearts, and to create “a clean heart within us.”

a. Even though Jesus says, “cut off,” in our text, it is really He who does the cutting.  No patient can operate on his own heart, and neither can we cut away the wickedness of our hearts. b. David cried, “Create in me a clean heart, O God!”  And that is our cry.  We stand with our first parents in the Garden, and seeing our sinful heart exposed by the Word of God, we can do nothing other than cry out to God for mercy.

2. But listen to this good news!  You will not be thrown into the depths of the sea or hell, but rather you have been thrown into the forgiving waters of Baptism.

a. God is merciful, He drowned your sins in Baptism’s waters, and He raised you up with Christ there.  Look to your baptism and see there the love of God for you.  Those waters are not frightening—they are comforting, for they have given you life instead of death, forgiveness instead of punishment, heaven instead of hell. b. Your baptism shows you and gives you what Jesus did for you.  At the cross He took that millstone off your head and He accepted a crown of thorns upon His own head for you.  At the cross He was buried beneath the load of our sins so that you would forever be free of that awful load.  At the cross they put a spear into the heart of your Lord so that in your baptism, He replaces your wicked heart with His own clean, holy heart.  At the cross Jesus closed His eyes in death for you, so that you are forgiven for all the sinful things you look upon with your eyes.  At the cross Jesus’ hands and feet were pierced with nails for you, so that whatever wickedness your hands and feet have done, God, for Jesus’ sake, forgives you for everything.

III. So that now, in Jesus, there is something better for you.

A. And as you come up to Jesus’ Holy Supper, your feet which bring you forward, are forgiven.

1. Your hands, into which Jesus’ body is placed, are forgiven.  Your eyes, which behold the bread and wine in which your Savior comes to you, your eyes are forgiven. 2. This is the place in our church...the place where, not hands, and feet, and eyes are cut off and piled up, but where they are forgiven through Jesus’ death and resurrection. This is the place where filthy hearts are exchanged for new ones; where Jesus takes your sinful heart and gives you His.

B. You and I may have caused many little ones to sin, but God looks upon us with compassion.

1. Our hearts may be sinful, but His heart is full of pardon for you.  And because He has washed your eyes, hands, and feet in the waters of baptism, He now uses these members of your body, not to lead children into sin, but to lead them to Christ.  2. For when your hands open the Scriptures for a little child, it is Christ using your hands.  And when your feet walk with a child to God’s House, it is Christ using your feet.  And when a child sees your eyes closed in prayer, it is Christ who is teaching him to pray through you.

CONCLUSION: But understand this...you and I are still in a battle with the sinful world every day, and we get all bruised and bloodied. The battle makes us weary. And so we come here to Jesus’ hospital and He cuts out of us what is dead and dying, and He restores your soul, He gives you new life, He forgives you. And He sends you back out there into the world to fight the good fight. And if you haven’t figured it out yet. We cannot fight without Jesus. We cannot win without Him. And so we must come here to the place of forgiveness, the place of healing. We come faithfully. Because when the war is finally over, even though you will be cut up and bruised... you know that you will be going home. Amen.

Let Jesus Make Us Servants Like Him

Title: Let Jesus Make Us Servants Like Him By Pastor Lohn Johnson

Text:  Mark 9:34-35  33 And they came to Capernaum. And when he was in the house he asked them, "What were you discussing on the way?"  34 But they kept silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest.  35 And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, "If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all."

INTRODUCTION: My dear friends in Christ, I was sitting in my office on the day after the Republican debate and then I read this text.  I was struck by the similarities.  It seemed as if each and every one of the candidates was saying “I’m the greatest” like those disciples.  Some of the interchanges were childish in all the wrong ways.  But it seemed the moderators wanted it that way. Nevertheless, each seemed to have an inflated view of themselves.  Now to give equal time I’m sure the Democrat debate coming up in October will sound the same way.  Our Presidency was designed to be a position of service – they serve the people.  But now it seems they only give lip service to service.  And we have to ask who do they really serve?  Do they serve themselves or special interests?  Does anyone serve the people anymore?  And do we or they understand service anymore?

I. Yes, those disciples were having a similar debate on the road that day long ago.

A. They were discussing the same topic: “Who’s the greatest?”

1. And there were 12 of them rather than 11.  They voted on the greatest follower of Jesus, and each one voted for himself. Just as those candidates would.  Only on the road to Capernaum it was really about who would be the highest prince in the Kingdom Jesus was to establish.

a. The disciples wanted the position of authority – the position that came with servants – even the Romans would be serving them in this kingdom. b. I guess they “might” leave a little room for Jesus at the top of the heap in this kingdom.

2. Their egos were even getting in the way of their salvation here.

a. How can you acknowledge sin if you think so highly of yourself?  How can you recognize your need to be saved if you are so busy chasing greatness; so busy looking to be served?  b. Really they were so full of themselves that there was little room even for Jesus.

B. And we are naturally the same way.  We want a power Jesus, a Jesus who will make us great and successful.

1. We are geared from birth to think in those terms. Great is good and higher is better.

a. Sinful man thinks greatness is achieved when you have so much power that you are being served by others. The more people you have under you, the greater you are. The less accountable to others you are, the greater greatness you have. When man thinks of greatness, he thinks of being served and glorified by others. That's why our world idolizes movie stars, rock singers and professional athletes; the sinful nature looks at wealth and an entourage and says, "Now that's really great."  b. And that leads us to think “Who wants to wake up on Sunday morning to come to church to confess you’re a poor, miserable a sinner in need of forgiveness? Who wants to line up and declare with St. Paul that he is the ‘chief of sinners’?” No wonder the most popular versions of religions and even of Christianity are based on being a winner not a servant.

2. We note that this explains an awful lot about how people find the Gospel so difficult to believe. You see God comes to us as a servant, desiring to provide for us.

a. However, sinful man attempts to make God in his own image; if man lusts for power and demands respect, then God must act the same way. b. This is why every man-made religion demands that we serve and appease God before He will save us. Do good works, destroy the enemy, throw the virgin into the volcano, whatever--but if God is like us, we have to do something remarkable so that we're great enough to be saved.

II. As a pastor tried to fix his garage door, he couldn’t get a screw out.  It seemed to get tighter the harder he tried.  A neighbor who was watching suggested, “That’s probably a left-handed screw.  You need to turn it in reverse.”  The pastor replied in frustration, “It took me fifty years to find out how screws work, and now they change the rules!”  In a sense God is kind of a reverse screw.  Our culture teaches us the “right” way to turn, and then God tells us to turn in the reverse direction.   No matter what we think God is quite the opposite of how the world sees Him.

A. By nature, the almighty God of heaven and earth is…a servant.

1. He created Adam and Eve so that He might care for them. He created them in His own image to be servants to one another, to creation and to their children.

a. When they sinned, He did not respond with raw power and blot them out. Instead, He promised a Savior; in other words, He promised that He would serve them by doing all the work to deliver them from sin and hell to grace and everlasting life. b. Therefore, it was in service to all that that Jesus was born to Mary: God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son. c. He also continues to serve by making sure that His Word is still proclaimed and His Sacraments are still administered, because that is where He gives the forgiveness that His Son Jesus has won. That's why in worship we don’t come and serve the Divine, but that the Divine comes and serves us.

2. Just look at how Jesus dealt with His disciples rather than saying, “All of you are wrong. I’m the greatest. I’m better than all of you put together!”...Rather than speak such words, which He could have said, He was saying, “I will be delivered into the hands of men and they will kill Me.” Jesus, the greatest of all, did not speak of His greatness. Instead, He emptied Himself of His greatness and took the form of a servant.

a. Even as Jesus’ disciples were selfishly stepping on each other, reaching for glory and greatness, Jesus was giving up His glory and greatness, intent on letting others step all over Him as He was reaching, with bloody hands, for a hard, splintery cross. b. What makes Jesus great is not that He is all-powerful, but the fact that He did not use His power to prevent His crucifixion for you.  This is the Gospel.  c. Thankfully the Lord remains the Servant. He went to the cross and died for the sins of the world in service to all, and He still comes here to serve us by His means of grace. This is a very good thing, because we sinners still remain as confused about greatness and service as ever.

III. So God comes along and says, "Look, I'm a servant by nature and I've offered My Son on the cross for your salvation.” He has done all the work to save you. By His sacrificial service, you have eternal life. Man responds, "That can't be! We know that God is just like us, so there's no way He's going to humble Himself and go to the cross and totally win our salvation. We must have to work for it by serving Him." God responds, "Don't try to be saved by serving Me. Instead, trust that I've saved you by My service to you." Man responds, "That doesn't make sense at all. It's too good to be true."

A. God is always fighting to bring us to realize we are saved solely because Jesus has served us by His death on the cross, and by providing forgiveness and life in His means of grace. He does this because He is by nature a servant. He wouldn't save you any other way.

1. But still We like to speak about ourselves; about all that we do for God.

a. We talk to others about our works of service. b. We always tend to become the center of our own universes, so service is centered on us too. It tends to be about how we serve.  It becomes all about us.

2. The problem is that our service to God and our perceptions about service often gets in the way of His service to us.

a. Sometimes we become so caught up in our service to God that we have trouble taking the time to receive His gifts of service to us.  What’s more, like the disciples, we become proud of what we do…so proud that it becomes difficult to humbly bend the knee before Christ.  We start getting the idea that Jesus serves us with His gifts, not purely out of grace and mercy, but because we work so hard to serve His church. b. Greatness is not centered around what we do for God.  First and foremost it has to do with what God does for us. Your presence here in God’s House today is greater, by far, than all the work you will do—because today Jesus serves you

B. Remember to be baptized is to be a child of God. Yes we are priests and kings and all that, but first and foremost, you are a “child of God.”

1. It’s like that little child in the midst of the disciples – He’s utterly helpless, utterly dependent on God’s mercy.

a. Like that to be a child of God, baptized and believing, is to become nothing so that Christ can be everything. b. Faith doesn’t ask who is the greatest. Faith looks to Jesus on the cross and says, “There. That’s greatness. That’s what it means to be great.”

2. The Lord is a servant who sets you free from sin to be a servant;  He sets us free to be servants like this: One pastor tells of a very wealthy woman who had given great sums of money to benevolence and missions in her church.  One day she decided to take a trip to visit some of the mission projects she so generously supported.  She visited a hospital where wonderful help was afforded to needy natives.  She stopped at an orphanage where little children of the street were cared for.  She went to a leper colony where a loving nurse was treating those who were suffering from the putrefying disease.  She commented, more to herself than to the host, “My, I wouldn’t do that for a million dollars.”  The nurse who was treating a patient answered, “Neither would I.”  Jesus has served us selflessly and now like that nurse, he makes us selfless servants too. That is where we find the secret of greatness.

CONCLUSION: True greatness comes not in grasping for all we can get but comes in allowing Jesus to make us servants like Him.  Amen.