Jeremiah 26:8-15, Philippians 3:17-4:1, and Luke 13:31-35

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Jeremiah prophesies against a city that doesn’t care to hear him, a city that would sooner kill him than listen. Paul cries tears when he warns the Philippians not fill their bellies but to set their minds on what’s above. Jesus laments over a Jerusalem that kills prophets and stones messengers.

In all three readings, these faithful kinds of people all have to speak hard words to the people of God, and frankly, after the readings are read, it is difficult to respond with “Thanks be to God.”
I’d invite you to keep in your mind a person or two that you are in conflict with, someone to whom you have to speak hard words, or someone that you’ve let down.
Because the question for today is, how does the Christian speak hard words when they need to be spoken? How do you avoid, on the one hand, being a marshmallow that never deals with conflict and, on the other hand, being a hard-nose that always burns your bridges? How do you speak truth, but speak it in love? Three parts today, from the three readings, with three don’ts and three dos.

First don’t: speaking hard truths, it doesn’t come from a place of satisfaction. It’s not about sticking the knife in further and watching them squirm. That’s why the officials of Judah charged Jeremiah. They assumed his motives. They thought he was speaking from a place of satisfaction. They thought his personal agenda was getting in the way of his judgment, and they respond accordingly.

And that’s pretty easy to do. I was thinking just the other day: After a long day at work, with my bouncing baby boy Benjamin Button a little bit fussy, and Laura came home a little bit later than I expected, and the whole day had put me out of sorts. Now, instead of putting on my big boy pants and admitting that I was out of sorts, my first inclination was instead to make her pay, to ignore her, to let her stew and guess at what I was mad at. To just make her feel bad before I tell her what’s wrong. Who does that? Now, when I eventually came around and asked for her forgiveness, but the point is....

That’s not the way to speak a hard truth. Instead, notice Jeremiah’s response: “The Lord sent me to prophesy. Turn from your deeds, mend your ways, obey the voice of the Lord. Turn and the Lord will relent.” Now, notice what he doesn’t say. He doesn’t say, “Turn and maybe the Lord will string you along for a while and then forgive you.” He doesn’t say, “Turn and guess what I’m mad at.”

The intention when the Lord speaks hard words is repentance, and when that end was achieved, immediately the Lord comes with goodness and mercy. Immediately his wrath is ended and his love shows. Luther calls this “the over-burning love of God,” that he would love us enough to tell us when we stray, and love us enough that when we repent he is there with forgiveness.

More often than not, married couples going through hard times have great difficulty with this. They have been at conflict for so long that the expectation of repentance is that it’s total and incredible. You have to be perfect in absolutely every way before I will begin to think about forgiveness. You have no room to make mistakes. You’ve got to prove yourself each and every day until I decide you’re ok. Thank God that he doesn’t work that way. He is absolutely quick to let forgiveness flow. The angels in heaven rejoice to see another sinner stumble his way through confession and hear what God has already done.

Second don’t: speaking hard truths, it doesn’t come from a place of retribution. It isn’t an eye for an eye. It isn’t about taking what’s owed and then just leaving you alone, right?
I mean, could you see Paul doing that in our text from Philippians? Saying, just stop setting your mind on earthly things, remember your citizenship is heaven, and then I’ll leave you well enough alone. Do that and you can go your way and I can go mine.

He doesn’t say that. He says, “Join in! Imitate me and walk with me and gather around with others and stand firm, because you are my brothers, and you are beloved.” The Christian does himself a disservice when he fails to recognize all the kinds of people that walk with him on the path of life. The Christian does himself a disservice when he doesn’t see the great depth and width of different stories contained in even our little church, even here in our little town. The Christian does himself a disservice when he assumes that conflict is just about giving back what’s owed, because conflict is first about restoring relationships.

And here’s the point: Paul sorrows over their sin. With tears in his eyes he writes about how they walked as enemies of the cross of Christ. With tears in his eyes he sorrows and suffers over their sin, even if they wouldn’t sorrow or suffer with him. With tears in his eyes, he would face their shame, their destruction, even if they wouldn’t for themselves. Are you willing to suffer for someone, so that you can do what’s right for them?

Third, speaking hard truths: It doesn’t come from a place of self-righteousness. It’s not about saying, “I’m better than you, and you should come crawling back.” Out of all of us, Jesus would have the most reason to say this. As perfect Son of God, he could say you better come to me. But he doesn’t. You see it in what Jesus say, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets. Nevertheless, I will go to you. I will gather you. I will finish my course.

No, when the righteous one comes among us, you can see how he acts. Christ looks your sin full on in the face, and he doesn't flinch. Righteousness incarnate runs after all kinds of people that don’t deserve him to run after them. Righteousness Incarnate longs to gather together under his wings those who would scream “Crucify him, Crucify him!”

And here’s the point: Jesus Christ looks to do what a person needs, even if we would fight him on it. His love is absolutely relentless and his grace is overwhelming. His path for you led to the cross, and it led through the grave, so that he could bring to you what you were too dead in your own trespasses to long for – salvation. And all who would follow after him look to do what a person needs, not what they want, not what you want them to want, but what a person needs.

It isn’t the Christian’s calling to avoid conflict or eschew sin. It is our calling to see the places where sin wreaks havoc, and then do all that we can to bring the healing power of the Gospel to bear. That’s our aim, our every hope, in every situation, with every person, that we would see Christ gather all of us sinners like a hen gathers her chicks, that we would love and long for the reconciliation of our brethren, and that whether or not God calls us to speak like Jeremiah, we would know the power that the Gospel brings to bear.

In conclusion, we see three questions to ask in our texts, three questions that shed light on how Christians deal with conflict. First, “Am I eager to forgive as Christ has forgiven me?” Second, “Am I willing to suffer with them for what they need, just as Christ suffered on my behalf?” Third, “Am I seeking this person’s good as Christ has sought mine?”
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Christians follow after Christ, and we stand in a long line of faithful men and women who spoke truth in love, no matter what the consequences, because we know the end of the story. Amen and Amen.

Today You Will Be With Me In Paradise
Second in a Series of CrossWords

One of the criminals who were hanged railed at Jesus, saying, ‘Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us! But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.’ And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ And he said to him, ‘Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.’” Luke 23:39-43
Dear Friends in Christ,

Once again we invite you fix on the artwork of James Tissot, the French Artist, who painted this watercolor with the title, “The Pardon of the Good Thief.” Come with me to Mt. Calvary, where

• That place where the soldiers are crucifying and the women are crying and the disciples are hoping and Jesus is forgiving.

• That place where Pilate is pretending and Judas is betraying and Peter is denying and Jesus is suffering.

• That place where Mary is needing an adult son to take care of her and Jesus is making sure that is happening.

• That place where our Father in heaven is forsaking and His Son is suffering 

• That place where the very source of living water is thirsty and one prophecy after another is getting fulfilled

• That place where our salvation is finished and our Savior is giving up His Spirit.

Paradise for the thief on the cross was wherever Jesus was. Paradise for my dad, at least here on earth, was wherever Mom was. Story of Dad in a nursing home and wanting to be reunited with Mom. The day I took him out of the nursing home, I took too much time visiting, and pretty soon, he wheeled himself out to the side door and was pretty much beating down the door, to get out of there, to get to that place where Mom would be!

Here in this place, we would learn three truths. First we learn how natural it is for us to take a bad situation and make it worse. Secondly, we see how beautiful life can get as often as we cry out for mercy, and third, we learn how anxious is our Savior for us to be in paradise with Him.
First, we learn how natural it is for us to take a bad situation and make it worse.

• My high school football story of Laurie Paulson.

• Alex story of leaving the milk out, getting scolded by Grandma, smarting off, and getting grounded for a month

• Criminal #1 is identified by Matthew as a thief, and what we know about Roman justice was that it was severe – one strike and you’re out! This thief wasn’t sorry for what he had done, he was sorry for being caught. The really good news for him was that Jesus was near, Jesus was dying for him, and Jesus so very much wanted him to be saved – but he would not be saved, he would not be gathered as a chick is gathered under a mother hen, he was more interested in smarting off. More interested in taunting this would be Savior to come down from the cross. More interested in getting in a few jabs and pokes than in receiving what Jesus was trying to give Him.

• Thief #1 is like a student who was too lazy to finish his homework. When confronted by a teacher, his first inclination is to make matters worse by making excuses instead of offering an apology and asking for forgiveness. Thief #1 is like a man with a drinking problem and when he is confronted by a friend, his first inclination is to make matters worse by smarting off instead of admitting his failures and looking for help. Thief #1 is like the well meaning couple who is working hard and playing hard. So hard that they are too busy most days to pray, too busy most days to search their Scriptures, too busy many weeks to be still in the sanctuary and revel in the grace of their God. When confronted, their first inclination is to explain instead of being corrected. And in so doing, they make matters worse.

Secondly, we see how beautiful life can get as often as we cry out for mercy. Thief #2 had messed up as badly as thief #1, maybe worse. He knew that he was getting exactly what he deserved, but when he looked at Jesus, he saw a king. And the more he thought about what it, he realized that Jesus had a kingdom, one that was not of this world. His simple request was that Jesus would remember him when he went into his kingdom.
Perhaps thief #2 had heard Jesus cry out for forgiveness for the soldiers, “for they know not what they do.” No doubt thief #2 could see that the soldiers were not apologizing, they were not saying they were sorry, they were not asking for forgiveness, they were not planning on changing their sinful ways – and yet Jesus wanted them to be forgiven! Somehow and in some way, the Spirit of God had worked in the heart of thief #2 a faith that asked to be taken along into the kingdom. A faith that was sorry for what he had done, not just sorry for getting caught. A faith that wanted to be forgiven, not just that wanted to smart off. A faith that had this inkling of how beautiful life could be if only he could go wherever this Jesus was going.
As the Canaanite woman cried out for a crumb, as dogs beg for something to eat, as thirsty travelers plead for just a little cup of water, so did thief #2 ask for a place. Not a throne and not a seat of glory among the angels and not a place at the right or left of Jesus, but just a place in the kingdom. In the moment that he asks, Jesus says yes and in the moment Jesus says yes, the angels of heaven break out in a victory dance, and in the moment the angels break out in a victory dance, paradise is his. 

Third, and finally today, we learn how anxious is our Savior for us to be in paradise with Him. Jesus had disappointed King Herod with his silence, He had irritated Pilate by not answering the questions, but He was quick to speak to this thief. He had suffered getting slapped and beaten in silence, he had endured ridicule and mockery without words, but as soon as a sinner repented, he was all over it!

So also with you, dear precious and redeemed people of God. Your God is slow to anger, but quick to forgive. The thief had done nothing good before or after his conversion which could have counted before God. He could not walk the straight path, for his feet were nailed tight. He could do any good with his hands, not even fold them in prayer, because they were fastened too. He could live a better life, because he was dying. He could not step forward for His Lord’s Supper, he could offer no church membership nor gifts to charity, he had no opportunity to make things right with those he wronged, all he could do was call on Jesus to remember him when he went wherever he was going.

I tell you the truth, Jesus says. Paradise is yours, not some day in the future, but today. Paradise is yours, not in that day when you get your life figured out and your good habits have replaced your nasty ones, but today. Paradise is yours, not if,when, and maybe, we’ll think about it, but today. 

The kingdom of God is like a large church in a small town full of people who spend their days rejoicing that their Savior is ever so anxious to be in paradise with them.

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February 13 and 14, 2016
First Sunday in Lent

Romans 10: 8b-13“The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Dear Friends in Christ,

My aunt Linny was a favorite aunt kind of a lady.  She was the life of the party.  She was a woman of strong faith who lived the last 45 years of her life as a widow.  She was one of the dearest Christian women I have ever known, and I’m certain I could find another 200 or 300 people in the Wahpeton ND area who would absolutely agree with me.  But there were at least that five mistakes you would never want to make with Aunt Linny (her actual name was Gerlinda Wilhemina Magdalena Mindeman Luebke, by the way).   #1- you never wanted to touch her hair. #2 – you never wanted to cause her to miss her Thursday morning hair appointment.  #3 – You never wanted to splash her hair while swimming in the lake or pool. #4 – You never wanted to comment on her age or ask her how old she was. And #5 - You never wanted to ask her who she voted for.  I asked her that question after a presidential election one year, and I thought she was going to do bodily harm to me.  Her exact answer was “that’s none of your blanket blank business.”  And when I stuttered a follow up question, she told me in no uncertain terms that politics and voting was a private matter.  Who you voted for was nobody else’s business.  Since that conversation, I have remembered learning from one of my great uncles that there were actually three taboo subjects in our family – sex, politics, and religion.   Sex, politics, and religion, at least in my family, were considered to be not only personal, but private matters, absolutely ineligible for open and honest conversation.

I tell you that story about my family so that I can tell you another story, a story that invites you to think about what it means to live in a society where just about everything is to be tolerated except for traditional values.  Where just about every idea is to be accepted except for the idea that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life, and that no one can be accepted into heaven except through Him.

The story to which I refer happened about 6 years ago, when the famous golfer Tiger Woods was caught red handed by his wife cheating on their marriage.   All kinds of hell broke loose in his personal life, and as a result all kinds of journalists and pundits weighed in.  Tiger Woods happens to be a Buddhist, and so Fox News Anchor Brit Hume weighed in by recommending that Tiger should seek his answers instead in Christianity, saying, “I don’t think that the Buddhist faith offers the kind of forgiveness and redemption that is offered by the Christian faith. So my message to Tiger would be, ‘Tiger, turn to the Christian faith, and you can make a total recovery and be a great example to the world.”

The reaction against Brit Hume came fast and furious.  Jay Brookman of the Atlanta Journal Constitution asserted that “faith is a private matter between that person and God, and is not a matter to be judged by some pompous TV anchor.”  Bookman called Hume “rude and crass” and guilty of “bad manners.” An anchor from a different TV David Shuster maintained that Hume had somehow “denigrated” and “diminished” Christianity.  USA Today religion writer Cathy Grossman asserted on her blog that the commentator Brit Hume was “talking trash.”
And so what some would consider “talking trash” we would consider confessing that Jesus is Lord.  What some would consider really bad manners, we would consider simple and true testimony to the fact that they and only they who call on the name of the one true God will be saved.  What some would consider bigoted and extreme religious views, we consider the best news that could ever be delivered.  

Jesus said it this way, “You are the light of the world.  A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.   You can no more hide your affection for Jesus Christ than new parents can hide their affection for their infant child.  You can no more hide your confidence in your Savior’s Easter Sunday’s victory than the Denver Bronco fans can hide their joy in their team’s recent Super Bowl victory.

The fact that God has raised His Son from the dead may not be all that recent, but it is historical and never to be forgotten, never to be denied, never to be ashamed of, never to be kept to ourselves.  Could you imagine possessing a bottle of pills that would cure breast cancer or colon cancer or you name it cancer and keeping it to yourself?  Can you imagine knowing the perfect strategy for preventing war or doing away with terrorism or eliminating drug and alcohol addiction and considering it a private matter not to be released into the general public?
In Matthew 10, Jesus was releasing His 12 disciples out into the general public, and their assignment was clear.  What He told them in the dark, they were to say in the light.  What He whispered in their ears, they were to proclaim from the housetops.  They were to never forget that the very hairs on their head were numbered, that not a single sparrow would fall to the ground without their Father’s permission, that they were way way more valuable than many silly sparrows, and then Jesus looked them in the eyes, and said it this way, “So everyone who confesses me before men, I also confess before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.”  Saving faith – personal but by no means private.

 This past Wednesday evening, the grandson of one of our members, Marlyn Gekeler, died in a car accident near Germantown, Ohio.  Zach was 20, and if my memory serves me correctly, he was baptized as an infant in this sanctuary.  His mom Andrea poured out her broken heart the next day on Facebook, I am at a loss for words…I hurt, so very much my son. I don't know how I am supposed to go on doing my day, without you. I woke up this morning and checked my phone to see if you texted me. I look out in the driveway for your car. I listen for the fan in your room to know you made it safe, but the fan is silent. The house is dark, my heart is broken. I don't know how to do this. I don't know where to go. I've longed to hear your voice, I wait for you to walk up the sidewalk. I don't know why you had to leave me, but I know I will never, for the rest of my life feel whole again. ….even though I know this is real, I can't wrap my mind around my worst nightmare that has come true. I never imagined you would go before me. I never imagined this would be my life.

The kingdom of God is like Christian pastors and family and friends who are surrounding and loving and encouraging and lifting up those parents bent low with grief.  With their hearts they are believing that God has raised His one and only and beloved Son from the dead,  because the resurrection of Jesus Christ is true, it is also true that He is Who He said He is, the very Son of God……and because the resurrection of Jesus Christ is true, it is also true that everything the Bible says is true  ………and because the resurrection of Jesus Christ is true, it is also true that the sins of those who have been baptized and are believing have been forgiven……and because Zachary was baptized into the Name of the Triune God, it is true that God has been faithful to the promises He made in Holy Baptism, and because Jesus Christ has risen from the dead, so shall Zachary rise again from the dead.  

The Kingdom of God is like a large church in a small town where hurting and broken sinners get tempted in every one of their days to live by bread alone, but in their hearts, they know there is a better way.  They get tempted in every one of their days to bow down before the gods of pleasure and entertainment, but from their mother’s knees they have been taught there is only one God deserving of their worship.  They get tempted in every one of their days to keep the forgiveness of sins to themselves, but the Word of the living God is near them.  It is in their hearts and it is in their mouths.  As often as they hear that word, they find that their hearts are believing and their lips are confessing.  Their faith is personal, but by no means private.