"The Shape of the Christian Life" Seventh Sunday of Easter June 5, 2011 1Peter 4:12-19; 5:6-11
It begins with the glory of God. It always does. That is, it begins with the cross. Too often when Christians talk about their faith or how to reach out to non-Christians with the Gospel or how Christians can get together in unity, there is no mention of Christ and His cross. Jesus had just taught His disciples what they needed to know for the time when He would leave them and now it was time. It was time to be glorified. He prayed to His Heavenly Father in this regard. He knew exactly what this meant. It meant the cross. To many people this will mean nothing. For too many Christians it will mean something that is a means to an end. What Christ accomplished on the cross is to many Christians a stepping stone to something greater. But for Jesus it is the thing. The cross is His glory. There is nothing greater than that. Now you may think that this is ignoring the reality and the glory of heaven. But it’s not. The cross has always been in view in God’s eyes. His glory is always known through the cross. Without the cross there is no heaven and there is no glory. Peter is right at home in the Epistle reading to associate God’s glory with the suffering of Christ. Consider how God works. For some people in history He has spoken directly to them. For some He came to them in some form, such as a burning bush or a vision. For some He sent angels. Then there is the premiere way, God in the flesh. Jesus Christ, the man who is God. For around thirty years not much is known of what God did when He walked around on the earth. For about three years there’s quite a bit said of what He did. The more you look at these things the more you see that it is all for the purpose of His glory. That is, it is all for the purpose of the cross. For thirty years Jesus had His sight set on His ministry. For three years He had it set on the cross. The cross is why He came. The glory He came to bring was brought about in the cross. His glory having been completed in His resurrection, He didn’t wait around long to leave. God was on the earth. God was in the flesh. He came to go to the cross and He suffered on the cross. Having accomplished that, He ascended into heaven. The ascension of Christ isn’t so much about Jesus leaving this earth as it is about His bringing His glory to us. When Jesus was on earth He did what could be done in no other way, He suffered on the cross for the sins of the world. When He accomplished that, He was no longer in need to be on the earth walking around, talking with people, healing them. But having ascended into heaven He has been very much alive and present in the world, bringing His glory to the people of this world. One man on the earth reached how many people in personal interaction? Hundreds? Thousands? There are billions of people on the earth. Jesus Christ comes to the people of this earth in a way where He actually comes as Himself. He ascended into heaven, He comes in the Word. There is the word of the Bible, of course. Honing in on the specific way in which He brings His glory to you, it is in the word that we normally call the Gospel. The Gospel is nothing other than the proclamation of the suffering and death of Christ on the cross for the sin of the world. When the Gospel is proclaimed you are receiving the glory of God because it is the cross that is being delivered to you. Christ came for the cross. What He accomplished there is what He delivers to you when you hear the proclamation of what He accomplished there. He does this through His word that is connected with physical elements as well. If God spoke directly to people, sent angels to talk to them, and revealed Himself to them in other ways, He comes to you and gives you His glory in tangible ways today as well. In your Baptism He did it. At this altar He does it. In water and in bread and wine Christ comes to you in the flesh. You are not the recipient merely of some wonderful notion that God loves you. You are the recipient of God! God comes to you in the flesh. Christ comes to you in your Baptism and in your mouth as you eat and drink His Body and Blood. As with the cross this will mean nothing to many people. For some it will seem like a fine thing that happens so that we can get on with the real work of the Church. But this is the work of God in your life and in the Church. It is, though, always a good question for us to ask, What does this mean? What does it mean that Christ comes to us in the flesh in His Gospel and in the Sacraments? It means that He is always with us as we live. This is vital. He is not with us in some generic sense. He is not with us in some mystical sense. He is with us because He has specifically entered our lives in Baptism and His Holy Supper. When you walk around and talk and live out your life you are a living breathing vehicle of Christ. Christ is in you. The cross is an indelible part of your life. You cannot live apart from the cross. You are a glorious new creation because Christ has come to you in your Baptism and comes to you in the Lord’s Supper. What it means is that you don’t have to wait until you get to heaven to receive the glory of God. You already have it. To the world, this will mean nothing because the glory you have looks nothing like glory and doesn’t necessarily feel like it. To many Christians it won’t seem like it because they will be thinking of glory in the way of the world. But when you see glory the way God sees it you will see that you have the glory of God every bit as much as if Jesus were standing right before you now. Since He’s not, you go with how He does come to you. In the flesh. In your Baptism. In the Lord’s Supper. What it means that God works this way is that the glory you have is hidden. What it means is that you do not live for yourself and your own glory. It means you live in the glory of Christ, which is always the glory of the cross. What it means is that you will recognize that though suffering is very much a part of your life as a Christian it always makes you stronger. There is glory in that suffering because in that suffering you are connected with the suffering of Christ and in that you are connected with the cross and in that you have salvation. There is nothing more glorious than that. You don’t have to wait till heaven. It is now. It is here. It is in the Gospel. It is in your Baptism. It is in the Holy Supper of our Lord. It is in your life because your Lord has come to you in these ways into your life. If you want to know what your life should be like as a Christian, look to the cross. If you want to know how your life should be shaped, remember how Christ has come to you and how He continues to come to you, in your Baptism, in the bread and wine of Holy Communion. You are a person who has been impacted. God has come to you in the flesh. Christ has entered your life. You live as a new creation. You life as one who lives as Christ. That means you serve. It means you suffer. It means you are sober-minded. It means you are watchful. If it’s hard to think in terms of Christ being very real, very present in your life, it’s hard as well to think in terms of Satan being real and present in this world. But just because you can’t see him doesn’t mean he’s a non-issue. He’s on the lookout. He is very aware of Christ having come to you in your Baptism and in the Lord’s Supper. He knows you are a child of God, an heir of the Kingdom and glory of God. If Christ was intent on going to the cross the devil is intent on devouring you. Resist him, firm in your faith. You are God’s, you have Christ. Satan will seek you out, but Christ has come to you. Satan doesn’t want you to live as Christ, he wants you to live for yourself. But you are a Christian, a child of God, a disciple of Christ. You live in God and for God. The shape of the Christian life is the cross. If you want to know what the Christian life looks like look at the cross. The vertical beam shows how God comes to you in Christ. The horizontal beam shows how God comes to others through you as you are Christ to others. This is the glory of God and how you share in His glory. You are called to eternal glory. It begins with glory and is always about glory. That’s why it is always about the cross. The cross is where God’s glory is revealed. As you are recipients of God’s glory in Christ in the Gospel and Sacraments so are the people of the world as you serve them, being Christ to them. You bring the cross to them when you serve them. It always begins with that. It’s always about that. Amen. -- Pastor Paul L. Willweber Prince of Peace Lutheran Church [LCMS] 6801 Easton Ct., San Diego, California 92120 619.583.1436 princeofpeacesd.net three-taverns.net It is the spirit and genius of Lutheranism to be liberal in everything except where the marks of the Church are concerned. [Henry Hamann, On Being a Christian] ___________________________________________________________________ 'CAT 41 Sermons & Devotions' consists of works that are, unless otherwise noted, the copyrighted property of the various authors; posting of such gives members of this list implied consent for redistribution _with_attribution_ unless otherwise specified by the author (as long as no charge is made for the work and it is not made part of a compilation), as well as for quoting or use in a congregational setting _with_or_without_attribution_. Note: This list's default reply is to the *poster*, NOT the list. Do *not* reply to the list with your comments, but to the poster. Subscribe? 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