Pastor Michael Harman,
St. Peter LCMS - Newell, IA
vacancies at ...
Immanuel, Pomeroy and First Evangelical, Fonda
February 27, 2011.
How are Christians really different than non-believers? Is it our
situation in life?
No. Christians the Mid-East, like pagans and infidels, face 'hunger and
thirst, are poorly dressed, buffeted, homeless' (1 Cor 4:11).
Closer to home, Christians suffer injustice, storms, wars, separation from
friends/family, auto accidents, loss of jobs, diseases, and each of the other
maladies in a world out of harmony with God. We deal with the same sorts of
troubles non-Christians face.
How then are Christians really different than non-believers? Is it our
reactions to life?
How we live/react is Law, Third Use. It guides us on how believers should
live in the forgiveness of Christ. Paul writes 'when reviled, we bless; when
persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we entreat (better translated: call
them alongside then answer kindly - parakalew)'. (not for sermon print: do a
word study on this verb).
Christ's Sermon on the Mount also describes such reactions. We heard some
last week. Don't take revenge (5:39), go the extra mile (41), love your
enemies (44), & act like Your Father in Heaven: perfectly (48). He goes on to
say give to the poor without thought of reward (6:1-4), pray for others (5-15),
lead godly lives without expecting any reward (16-23), and then we come to
today's text.
But He goes on in chapter 7 saying Christians should judge without
hypocrisy (1-6), seek God (7-12), try to obey God in all circumstances (13-20),
never forget we are saved by grace alone (21-23), and continue to build on the
Rock of Christ's total pardon (24-29). At least, this is how your Christian
life is SUPPOSED to look, according to God's holy Law. But your life does not
always look as-good-as God commands. Nor does my life. Many times, we live
not so different from the pagans.
In fact, in situations we face: we may pretend we are better than others.
But the very sins you complain about in others are often the same weaknesses
and failures you do; and so that is why they may bother you so much in others.
We more quickly see the speck of sinful sawdust in our neighbors' eye than the
2-by-4 of sin in our own eye (7:5).
Maybe there's a better question that needs to be asked of us today. WHY
AREN'T Christians always different than non-believers?
God's Law shows us our sins in Matthew 6:24-34. We feel we can be slaves
to two masters. We think we can serve ourselves as gods & yet serve the true
God perfectly.
You can't "seek first the riches of the world" and expect faith to be
added to you. You can't "seek first your family, friends, fortune, or fame"
then expect forgiveness, eternal life and God's other blessings to be yours as
well.
The consequences of trying to serve other gods in life, other masters,
shows up in the words of Jesus today. So we are anxious about life. We are
nervous about what to eat. We are fearful about our bodies.
When difficulties come to our nation, our community, our friends, our
family, and our personal lives: what are often our first feelings and
thoughts? How quickly we turn to our own resources! Is there money in the
bank? Is our job secure? Will I stay comfortably in my home? Do I have the
very best doctors? Can I make him/her love me? All these feelings and
thoughts eagerly spring up in us, don't they?
It is NOT wrong to use your God-given gifts to plan for the future and to
face the challenges of the day. What is wicked is that our Old Adam and our
tiny, feeble faith looks at our Heavenly Father more as the LAST resort rather
than as our first reaction to life's triumphs and tragedies.
God wants you to trust Him for daily bread; and all things. Remember: in
the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is talking to His disciples - to us. With all
the Biblical examples around us, He rightly labels us: "you of little faith".
God should condemn us for our failures to put Him first. Instead He sent His
Son and condemned Him.
So, Christ invites us to look at examples around us. God cares! Birds
work. Birds don't sit in their nests and lose sleep at night worrying about if
there are enough worms and seeds.
Wildflowers often only last a few days. But the Intelligent Designer has
put wonderful colors, intricate patterns, and distinctive fragrances in them.
Wild flowers don't sweat worrying if the right kind of bee will visit or wind
blows. They don't agonize how their seeds will travel and produce more. In
the 1st century grass grew, flowered, got cut down, dried, and provided fuel
for fires. It still happens today (in the third world countries).
Pick up a hand of snow. God designed the physics of water so thousands of
variables go into each flake. God provides many examples in nature to remind
us life did not come about by evolutionary chance, nor will He abandon us when
we fail Him.
If our Heavenly Father values birds, surely He values the crown of His
creation even more. If God took time to put beauty in something as simple as
wildflowers and snowflakes, surely He has the time for you as His beautiful
child. He knows our needs.
He has shown His love for us again and again in history. God's Word
records His many miracles in ancient times to save His people. The greatest of
these is His work to rescue us from eternal separation from Him in the fires of
hell. For all our failures to trust Him in day to day activities as-well-as
extraordinary calamities: the cross of Christ tells us we are forever forgiven.
Maybe we should ask, why CAN Christians be different from unbelievers?
Remember how He frames the Sermon on the Mount for us? "Blessed are
you." no matter what the circumstances in life have been, are, or will be; good
or bad, easy or hard, mundane or magnificent. By the work of the Holy Spirit,
you ARE God's salt in the decaying and flavorless world; you ARE His lights
shining in the darkness of death, sin, and despair. You ARE His child.
A father might forget his son due to Alzheimer's. A mother could grow weary
of life or cold of heart & then neglect or forsake the daughter God gave her.
But the LORD cannot forsake you. Our LORD can not forget you. The Only Son
was nailed to the cross. Your name remains engraved in the nail-prints of
Christ's hands as Isaiah 49:16 says. Even tho the Risen Christ Ascended into
heaven to plead for us as our Advocate, the marks remain.
Why CAN we be different? Why can we react differently than unbelievers
when blessings abound OR when troubles terrify our lives? We can because God's
mercy never ends. His compassion does not fail. We have His unbreakable
promise that He is working in all circumstances in our lives to bring us to
faith and keep us as His children. We see that in Christ's Passion for us
during Lent, Holy Week, and GOOD Friday.
Christians do act differently in situations as we look to our true Master
in faith. We know God is not punishing us; for He punished Christ for us. We
know the fallen world hates us; but God is our Refuge. He alone is our Rock,
Salvation, and Fortress (Introit).
May our LORD thru His Word and Sacraments continue to build us up in
nothing less than that Hope, and fill us with God's abundant grace and blessing
of faith to the praise of His holy Name. Amen.
O Lord, mercifully hear our prayers, and having set us free from the bonds of
our sins, deliver us from every evil; thru Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord,
Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and forever.
Amen.
Almighty and ever-living God, we thank You for loving us and making us Yours
through your Son. Teach us to live as Your people, and to show in our deeds
what we profess by our faith. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord, Who
lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
LSB 575 My Hope is Built on Nothing Less
LSB 736 Consider How the Birds Above
LSB 732 All Depends on Our Possessing
