In the Name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit
God
declares His almighty power above all in showing mercy and pity. So
says the Collect for the Tenth Sunday after Trinity. The account of the
destruction of Jerusalem as written by Josephus just read tells a
different story. God’s almighty power was displayed in a vicious and
destructive way. 1.1 million Jews were killed. The temple, the heart
and soul of the Jewish religion, was destroyed as if it were a house of
cards. Josephus’ longer account of the destruction of Jerusalem
describes the Roman Army as pawns used by God to wipe out everything.
The
reason why the Church makes such a big stink about the Destruction of
Jerusalem as prophesied by our Lord in Luke chapter 19 is because God
could very well do the same thing to our fair city, not to mention the
world. Our heavenly Father could destroy the world because of His
creation’s obduracy. Obduracy is a word you don’t hear every day. An
obdurate person is someone who knows they are sinning against God’s
holy Law, but persist in living as if there is no God and no Law.
For
example, couples who defy God’s Word concerning Holy Matrimony are
obdurate people. They know something is wrong with their living
arrangement. But everyone else is doing it. What was once considered
shameful is now the standard way to “test drive” a relationship to see
whether or not a couple could get married. Another example of obduracy
is homosexuality. Same-sex romantic relationships were once, and still
are, shameful. Two men or two women in love these days with each other
no longer need to hide behind the cloak of privacy.
When Jesus
weeps over Jerusalem, He might as well been weeping over the one, holy,
catholic and apostolic Church. The trumpet of Truth makes an uncertain
sound around the world. It seems as if fewer Christian communions
remain faithful to God’s Word, choosing instead to run after the
freshening winds of culture. Don’t think this is a new development.
Christ’s Church has struggled for as long as there has been a Church.
Jesus cries real tears in Luke chapter 18. He says if you had known…the things
that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.
The Church knows that the pure preaching of the Gospel and the right
administration of the Sacraments deliver the peace of God that passes
all understanding. Nevertheless, both preachers and hearers sometimes
do not trust God’s Work. They let vivid imaginations that redefine
love, forgiveness, and peace take center stage. They do not allow
Scripture to interpret Scripture, making way for radical redefinitions
of what God’s Word says about sin and grace. We have the things that
make for peace in our midst, yet we close our eyes and hide them from
our sight.
When someone becomes obdurate against God, He removes
His tender Hand from that person and allows them to walk the way of
everlasting death. God’s great mercy and pity intervenes for us today.
He calls you and me to repent of our sin and believe the Good News of
Jesus Christ. Our Father in heaven wants us to obtain His gracious
promises. He does not want to remove His Hand. He wants us to be made
partakers of His heavenly treasures. The prophet Ezekiel writes [Thus says the
Lord:] I
will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries,
and bring you into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you,
and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and
from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit
within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give
you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to
walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. Then
you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be
My people, and I will be your God.
God has brought us into
the land of everlasting life not made by hands. This land is the
spiritual Jerusalem, the home of the children of Abraham, who believe
what God says concerning their salvation. Faith in God’s Word is
accounted as righteousness that comes through His Son Jesus Christ. The
same Jesus Who weeps over Jerusalem weeps on the cross, asking His
Father to forgive those who put Him to death. Our sin put Jesus on the
cross. His blood and righteousness covers our sin and redeems us from
the devil.
The time of God’s visitation is now. Though Jesus
ascended into heaven nearly 2,000 years ago, His return to judge the
living and the dead is imminent. There will be obdurate hearts that set
themselves against the Word of the Lord. Satan will continue to hammer
away at the Church, taking as many people as he can with him. No matter
what Satan does to the Church, we believe as we sang a moment ago:
Through toil and tribulation
And tumult of her war
She waits the consummation
Of peace forevermore
Till with the vision glorious
Her longing eyes are blest,
And the great Church victorious
Shall be the Church at rest.
There
is no rest for Christ’s holy Church until our Lord returns in triumph.
Though the Church Militant remains ever vigilant against Her evil foe,
She eats and drinks the Body and Blood of Christ for forgiveness of
sins and strengthening of faith. She hears the preached Word and
rejoices in sins forgiven and forgotten. She rejoices in Her Baptism,
wearing the white garment of incorruption bathed in the Blood of Jesus
that cleanses Her from all sin. Her tears of mourning shall be turned
to tears of joy when She sees the Lord’s Christ returning to take His
beloved Bride Home.
In the Name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit
___________________________________________________________________________
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