Saint Athanasius Lutheran Church

Most of the time, when we make a bad decision, we may regret the decision we made, but in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't matter all that much. But some bad choices have a more lasting effect. So what of the decisions we make concerning God? How would you categorize them? One of the responsibilities of fathers and mothers is to teach their children how to make good choices, good decisions. And Jesus is doing the same thing in the words of the Holy Gospel that we heard today. Count the cost, He says, of following Him.

Hey, how are you? How's it going? If someone asks you that question, you know better than to actually start telling them! They're just being polite. And if you gave a dinner in Jesus' day, you'd leave the door open so that anybody could come in, but it was really for show. You didn't really want them to come in! Except if you invite Jesus to your dinner. We're not told if this man with dropsy had come into the house or not -- but it seems like he did. Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not? They don't answer, not because they didn't want to answer -- they just want this man to go away.

Lord, will those who are saved be few? This was one of those questions the rabbis in Jesus' day liked to argue about. They had many such questions that occupied their time -- this was just one of them. And they liked to ask Jesus. He doesn't answer the question, but changes it from few to you -- the question is not whether few will be saved, but will you be saved? And thus in Jesus, where He goes, you go. Cling to that, to Him. And then don't despair, but rejoice!

The man was a lawyer. Lawyers are trained in details and specifics. So it is natural and quite in keeping with how this man was trained for him to ask for more definition, more precision. If there is a contract between God and man for salvation, for eternal life, then he needs to know -- How is it fulfilled? What shall I do? Who is my neighbor? So it turns out that not only is the definition of the word neighbor really big, so is Jesus' definition of the word love!

The march of Jesus to His death is on. We heard that last week. He is going to Jerusalem. He is going to the cross. He is going to lay down His life. FOR YOU. But as He goes He sends out 72 others to go ahead of Him. A mission of peace. Of proclaiming peace and giving peace. The peace that Jesus is going to Jerusalem to establish -- not with Rome or the political powers of His day, but with God. But they do not go powerless. They are armed with the same weapon as Jesus: the Word.

Elijah was hiding. Israel, he said, was out of control. Insand and drunk with idolatry. He could no longer be their prophet. So he ran away and was in hiding. I'm the only one left, he said, and I'm next to be killed. He was a little bit mad, a little bit depressed, and a whole lot scared. Perhaps you feel a bit like Elijah. But like at the time of Elijah, the Lord already has a plan, and is already dealing with all this, though we may not know it and cannot possibly imagine how!

Demons are powerful. Chains and shackles are useless. Demons are fearsome. Demons are numerous. Demons wreak havoc. Demons want you to believe that they're in charge. But then into the picture steps Jesus. And everything changes. In His presence, the powerful demons beg for mercy. He wreaks havoc on them and their up-until-now comfortable existence. Well, as you can imagine, when something like this happens, word gets around fast! I would think the people would have been thankful for such a change. But instead they are afraid, of Jesus, and they ask Him to leave. So why did they do it?

Jesus makes an audacious claim -- that He is God. The only God. The one true God. No wonder they thought He was a Samaritan -- an out-of-his-mind half-breed. Sure, Jesus did a lot of good things. But CS Lewis was right. You can't call Jesus just a good man, despite all the good He did. He was either insane and dangerous, deceiving people and misleading people, claiming for Himself audacious things... or He was who He said He was. That's what the Jews were grappling with.

The Tower of Babel is one of those cool Bible stories you learn about in Sunday School. It's easy to teach, on one level. Simple and understandable. The people at that time, all speaking the same language, decided to build a tower with its top in the heavens to make a name for themselves. God, on the other hand, decided this was not a good idea. But if that's all we get out of this story, we haven't understood it. And one of the keys, I think, is to look at what God said about this project: and this is only the beginning of what they will do. Man is supreme. Man is God.

The church is a mess. She is fractured. The number of different denominations and independent churches is in the thousands. Unbelievers look at the church and see division, turmoil, confusion. They see a church that has lost her way. And yet as great a mess as the church may be, the church is beautiful at the same time. With the beauty of holiness. Not because we've made her holy -- clearly we haven't, we can't and we never will! She is holy because Jesus has washed His Bride, cleansing her with His blood and making her spotless, without stain, wrinkle, or blemish.

Wouldn't it be great to have a man of Macedonia all your own? A vision from God to tell you what to do! Maybe. But what makes you think you would listen anyway? Paul did, but... would you? I ask because God has already told us lots of things to do in His Word, and we don't do them. Well one of those things God has told us to do is pray. To pray in Jesus' name isn't some magic formula -- it is, rather, to pray as Jesus would pray; as He did pray. With faith in His sonship, and of your sonship in Him.

Today, lots of people hear the Word of God. Lots of people hear of Jesus and His Word. But... well... that's not really how I want to live, what I want to do. So, as Jesus said, they hear but do not believe. So the Good Shepherd comes. He who knows the good pastures, the good waters. Follow Me, He says. So you can leave this place today and live in confidence, that whatever comes, however it comes, whenever it comes, your life is secure. You belong to Him. Here His voice, follow where He leads, and rejoice!

Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these? This is one of those questions that there is no right answer to. Like, have you stopped kicking the dog? If you say yes, you admit that you had been doing that, but stopped. If you say no, you are saying you still are, that you haven't stopped. So what's Peter supposed to say? Of course, he knows the answer is supposed to be yes. But he also knows that he kind of said that before, and well, you know what happened. He loved Jesus. He wanted to be with Jesus. He did. He meant what he had said before. He did. He just couldn't...

Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe. Thus spoke Thomas. Doubting Thomas, if you like. Which is a name a bit unfair, really. They all were doubters that day. Unbelievers, if you like. So when Thomas said, I will never believe, what he meant was this... I will continue to believe... to believe what I know. That Jesus is not alive. Which means they were all dead that day, at first. But then someone with the key came.

No two Easters are the same. Because the world changes. But not only our world changes, we change. And our church changes. So while no two Easter are the same, at the same time every Easter is the same. The same truth, the same joy, the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. The triumph of life over death! That is the truth we celebrate today that makes all the difference, through all the times and places and changes that happen in our world and our lives and our church.

The book of Deuteronomy is Moses' words to the people of Israel when they are on the border of the Promised Land. Because he's not going in with them. This is as far as Moses goes. But after again teaching the people all the words of the Lord and going over their history, God also shows Moses the future to speak to them -- what will happen to Israel after he is gone. They will enter the Promised Land. But just as can happen with us, when life is going good, when you have all you need and then some, you can get lazy, you can forget about God.

In saving His people from the clutches of Egypt and the bondage of their slavery in that country, God broke the will of the Egyptians with ten plagues. One by one He showed that He was the one and only true God. He wanted His people freed, and freed they would be. But for this last and greatest plague upon Egypt, Israel would not just sit back and watch in wonder -- they would be part of it. Of course, as we have been considering all this Lenten season, that exodus and those passover lambs -- as great as it was -- would be surpassed by a greater exodus, and by a greater lamb.

Mr. Irrelevant. That's the name given to the last player chosen in the NFL Draft. The one nobody really wanted. The one all the teams and all their experts passed over, time and time again. For the scribes and chief priests, Jesus is Mr. Irrelevant. He is the stone that the builders rejected. The guy at the other end of the Draft, though, the first player chosen in the first round, he's the man. That's Paul. He did everything right.

There are two things God is concerned with -- your sin and your salvation. Your sin, which hurts both yourself and others, which separates you from God, and which robs you of the life God has for you, both your life now and your life forever... and your salvation, which is God dealing with the issue of sin, healing the damage inflicted by sin, which includes dealing with death, bringing you back together with Himself, and restoring you to life -- a full and meaningful life now, and a life that will last forever.

Familiarity breeds contempt, they say. That was certainly true for the younger son in the parable Jesus told today. The prodigal son, as he has come to be known. The father is the only one consistent throughout, the only one we can count on in this story. His love for his sons never wavers. He receives harsh words and insults from both. Yet his love for them is steadfast. Perhaps it is even so in the church. And our Father says, Come in! You are welcome here. Most welcome. So come to the feast! My baptism has mad you My child, my absolution has washed you clean, and now there is the food you need to live.