Sermon for the Fourth Sunday in Lent
In My Mind’s Eye
Theme: the death and resurrection of Jesus teaches to look differently at
everyone in our life.
Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord Jesus
Christ! In today’s Epistle, St. Paul tells you that, since your Lord Jesus has
risen from the dead, you should no longer trust what you see with your
eyes—especially when you are looking at the people around you: “From now on”
Paul says, “we regard no one according to the flesh.” The verses immediately
before today’s Epistle explain to you that the phrase “from now on” essentially
means, “since Jesus died and rose again.” Paul is saying to you here today,
“From now on—that is, since Jesus died and rose again for our forgiveness and
salvation—we regard no one according to the flesh.” Stated another way, Jesus’
death and resurrection have changed the way you and I and all Christians must
look at EVERYONE—everyone, that is, including Jesus.
Dear Christian friends,
“From now on… we regard no one according to the flesh.” These Words give you a
good way to cope with people whom you cannot stand to be around—and you
probably have more than one of those. These Words also give you a good way to
look realistically at those people whom you especially love and admire.
Hopefully, you have some of those, too.
1. Let’s start with those people in your life whom you would rather not be
around. It does not matter who they are, Christian or non-Christian, relative
or not: pick the worst one of the bunch. Bring that person into your mind and
hold a mental image of him or her for a while. What do you see? An annoyance? A
know-it-all? A stubborn mule that won’t listen to good sense? Someone who seems
to think he or she is better than you?
You probably have drawn your opinions concerning this person based on your
personal experiences with him or her. Stated in a way that reflects the wording
of today’s Epistle, you probably regard that person “according to the flesh,”
that is, according to what your eyes have seen of this person and what your
ears have heard of his or her melodious voice. You have seen this person in
action, and you do not like what you have seen. You have tried to work together
with this person have gotten the raw end of the deal, perhaps more than once.
Every effort you have made to interact with this person has resulted in
disappointment and frustration.
Paul is telling you today that you need to change your bad mental picture of
that person whom you cannot stand to be around. “From now on—that is, since
Jesus died and rose again for our forgiveness and salvation—we regard no one
according to the flesh.” The death and resurrection of Jesus has changed our
view of this world and everything in it, Paul says, including the people whom
we do not like. Keep in your mind that mental image of the person whom you
cannot stand to be around. Now picture Jesus dying on the cross for that person
and rising again for that person, cleansing and forgiving every aspect of that
person’s life and conduct that you find so terribly hard to tolerate. How bad
does that man or woman look now?
2. Okay, make that person go away. Now picture in your mind one of those people
in your life whom you especially admire. Bring that person into your mind and
hold a mental image of him or her for a while. What do you see? Someone who
always seems to get it right, no matter what he or she does? Someone who
manages not to put his or her foot into the mouth too often? Someone who seems
not to struggle with anything? Someone who seems too good to be true?
As with the person whom you cannot stand, you have probably drawn your
conclusions concerning the person whom you especially admire because of your
personal experiences with him or her. He or she ended up on that pedestal
because you placed that person there. Stated in a way that again reflects the
wording of today’s Epistle, you probably admire that person because you regard
him or her “according to the flesh.” You have seen this person in action, and
you really like what you see. You have worked together with this person and it
would be wonderful to do so again. You never have to try too hard to get along
with this person because he or she seems to be really good at getting along
with you.
Paul is telling you today that you need to change your high and lofty mental
picture of that person whom you admire. That man or that woman needs to come
down off the pedestal you have created. “From now on—that is, since Jesus died
and rose again for our forgiveness and salvation—we regard no one according to
the flesh.” The death and resurrection of Jesus has changed our view of this
world and everything in it, including the people whom we like. Keep in your
mind that mental image of the person whom you especially admire. Now picture
Jesus dying on the cross for that person and rising again for that person
because that person so deeply needs it. Think of that person whom you admire as
so profoundly corrupted, so indelibly stained by sin, so intrinsically
self-oriented in word and in deed that only the death of God would be
sufficient to redeem that person from sin, death and hell. How good does that
man or woman look now?
3. “From now on—that is, since Jesus died and rose again for our forgiveness
and salvation—we regard no one according to the flesh.” Do not make your mental
image of the person whom you admire go away just yet. Rather, bring back that
person whom you cannot stand and have the two of them stand next to each other
in your mental picture. Look at these two together: what do you see? Your Lord
Jesus would like for you to picture these two people in the same way that He
would like for you to picture yourself: cleansed, redeemed, justified, holy,
forgiven, healed, and restored.
· The person whom you dislike is covered with the blood of Jesus, so that
all his or her faults have been hidden in Jesus’ flawlessness and perfection.
· The person whom you especially admire is likewise covered with the
blood of Jesus, so that his or her personal traits no longer amount to a hill
of beans. What matters about this admirable person is the same thing that
matters about the less-than-admirable-person: “the blood of Jesus” (1 John 1:7).
4. Time for one more mental picture: Bring your Lord Jesus into your mind and
hold a mental picture of Him for a while. It does not matter if you picture Him
hanging on the cross, or walking on the water, or gathering the little children
around Him. As you look at Jesus, what do you see? One Who is tempted in every
way, just as we are, yet without sin? (Hebrews 4:15) One Who trusts God His
Father so unfailingly and so completely that He would rather suffer hunger than
turn stones into bread? (Luke 4:1-4) One Who had done no violence, who had
committed no sin, nor was there any deceit in His mouth? (Isaiah 53:9, 1 Peter
1:22)
Paul is telling you today that you might need to change your mental picture of
Jesus. “From now on—that is, since Jesus died and rose again for our
forgiveness and salvation—we regard no one according to the flesh”; no one,
that is, including Jesus.
Paul wants you to know that Jesus was not so sinless as you might think. To be
sure, Jesus committed no sin and fell prey to no temptation. But what does Paul
say about Jesus here in today’s Epistle? “For our sake [God the Father] made
Him [Jesus] to be sin for us who knew no sin.” With these Words, Paul pushes
the boundaries of the usual way we speak about Jesus. That is to say, Paul goes
beyond merely saying that Jesus carried our sin or shouldered our load. Paul
states that Jesus personally became our sin: “God made Him to be sin.” That is
to say, God the Father regarded Jesus as everything He hates. Sinless Jesus was
made into a sinner. Innocent Jesus was transformed into the One who is guilty
of every crime. He committed no violence, but was held guilty of all violence.
He spoke no deceit, but was held responsible for every curse and blasphemy and
lie ever uttered. He was without sin, and yet God His Father made Jesus become
sin itself.
God your Father did this so that you may have a new and transformed mental
image of yourself, that is, so that you may come to see yourself in the same
way that your God now sees you. “For our sake [God the Father] made Him [Jesus]
to be sin for us who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteous
ness of God.” Again, Paul pushes the language. He does not merely state that
you and I have been covered in righteousness or clothed in righteousness or
credited with righteousness. Paul says here that, by Jesus’ death and
resurrection you and I have become the righteousness of God. The forgiveness of
your sins is so thorough and so complete that God’s mental image of you is now
perfect and flawless in every way. You might not always feel so good about what
you see in yourself, but Paul has a remedy for that: “From now on—that is,
since Jesus died and rose again for YOUR forgiveness and salvation—regard no
one according to the
flesh”, NOT EVEN YOURSELF. “For our sake [God the Father] made Him [Jesus] to
be sin for us who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteous
ness of God.” Yes, you are coated in the righteousness of Jesus, but
righteousness of God also goes through and through. Picture that.
___________________________________________________________________________
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