Wednesday 3/25 Sermon

Grace, mercy and peace be unto you all, from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Please pray with me. 

Heavenly Father, grant to us that Your Holy Spirit would fill us now in this moment wherever we are, that Your Holy Word would have its way in us, convicting us of sin, and filling us with the joy of Your Salvation by the Gospel of Forgiveness, life and Salvation Through Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever. Amen.

If looks could kill.  I’m sure we’ve all gotten one of those looks.  From a mother or father as we catch their eye in the middle of us doing what they have told us “a thousand times” not to do.  Or perhaps from an otherwise loving spouse as we take a joke too far.  Or maybe from a child, discontent with your parental authority. And while we can probably all remember times we’ve been on the receiving end of one of those looks, if we are honest we must all admit that we dish them out as well.  That evil eye.  It’s a look that sometimes says more than our words dare to express; it’s a look that lays bare the hidden, murderous desires of our own hearts.

In our reading from Matthew we heard Jesus confronting the scribes and Pharisees, calling them out, and not simply for their ancestors’ murderous acts against all of God’s holy prophets (the very men these men honored, by building monuments and decorating their tombs).  No, Christ called them out because he knew what was in their own hearts.  They were envious of Christ, seeing the people flock to Him at his teaching.  They were worried that He would cause trouble for them, perhaps inciting uprising and rebellion against Rome; and then what would happen to them? 

No, they could not let Jesus just keep on getting more and more popular.  But every time they tried to trip him up or make Him look bad…every time they tried to trap Him with His own words or get the people to turn on Him, Jesus just ended up exposing them… The anger in their hearts grew and as it did, I’m sure it didn’t take being Christ to read their faces.  They wanted to destroy Him. 

And that is just what they ended up doing.  They together with the Sadducees (unlikely coconspirators)…they plotted together to make Christ look bad.  How bad?  Bad enough to deserve the ultimate punishment. Death. Even death upon a cross.  But it wouldn’t be so simple.  They had to find witnesses (at least two) to agree independently on the blasphemy, or treason, or insurrection, or whatever other crime they could throw at Him that would stick.  But even this, they failed at.  They tried to twist His words to suit their purposes, but when it wouldn’t come together it was ultimately Christ’s own testimony that would lead to their judgment against Him. 

Now before we get too far.  It is important for us to realize that this is exactly what we do.  Whenever we sin we are actually turning our eyes toward our Creator and God and condemning Him for His word concerning the truth.  Yes we try and make God’s word fit our own sinful desires, but at the end of the day when we realize it just won’t say what we want it to, what do we do?  We condemn God and the testimony of His Word…His word concerning right and wrong…His word concerning how He has created us to live in relationship to Him and with one another.  We condemn Him for His testimony about Himself. 

“How Dare You say that You are Lord and ruler of All.  I don’t answer to you. I only answer to myself.”  That is what our hearts say each time we sin.  And doubly so for those of us who call ourselves Children of God.  We, like angry children, scream out in our hearts, “I hate you God…You’re not the boss of me.”

This was the response of Adam and Eve as they hid from their loving Creator in the Garden.  It was the same refrain of their eldest son, Cain, as he cried out against God’s judgment on his murderous act on his own brother.  And this was the counsel’s response when they asked Jesus, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” And they heard His reply, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.”  Christ spoke to them the word of truth concerning Himself, and the murder in their heart bubbled up to overflowing. 

What further witnesses do we need? You have heard His blasphemy. What is your decision?” And they all condemned him as deserving death. And some began to spit on him and to cover his face and to strike him, saying to him, “Prophesy!” And the guards received him with blows.

Christ, true God in the flesh, come into the world to save them and all sinners, and all they could do was envy and plot; they couldn’t wait to condemn Him to death.  That is what we desire in our sin.  We want to put God to death! We do not want a Lord…we want to be in charge.  We do not want a Judge.  But each of us judges everyone else, and like the Elders we even dare to Judge God Himself.  With outrage at God’s Word over against us, we look at God with murderous anger in our eyes.

Lord, have mercy!

Just a few weeks ago I was speaking with a guy who had been listening to a preacher paraphrasing Jesus.  The guy came to me and said, is it true that if I hate someone God looks at that the same way as murder?  I told him, yes that is what Jesus said.  The man was cut to the heart.  He had never heard that before.  He thought of himself as a pretty good guy, but upon hearing that, he thought of all of the people he regularly badmouthed and complained about.  He thought of the people that he looked at with disdain and he thought, “I’m a murderer in God’s sight!”  The illusion of being better…being good enough…or not that bad (as we Minnesotans are known to say)…That illusion gets dashed to pieces upon the Rock of Christ.

What hope is there for you, for me…for anyone?  We all give the evil eye.  If looks could kill how many deaths would you have piled up?  I know I would have lost track years ago. 

Cut off on the freeway?  Evil eye. Made to look bad by another student or worse yet a teacher?  If looks could kill.  Insulted by a friend?…the list goes on and on.  Is there a week that has gone by that I haven’t envied, hated or despised a friend, a neighbor, a loved one?

But God does love us.  He has loved from before eternity.  He loves us with an eternal love.  Christ was promised as Savior.  It was foretold what He would endure (though it was hidden from the murderous eyes of us sinful men until it was accomplished).  He faithfully, lovingly, faced His accusers even praying for them from the cross that they put Him on (that we put Him on)…He hung upon the cross praying for us, “Forgive them Father for they know not what they do.” 

People loved by God, our world, our nation, our communities, and even our own homes are filled with murderers.  The fifth commandment teaches that we should fear and love God so that we do not hurt or harm our neighbor in his body, but help and support him in every physical need.  But in our sin we have murderous, eyes and hearts; the chief of all our victims is Christ Himself. 

But Christ the victim, is also Christ the Priest.  He is the one who brings Himself (the once-for-all sacrifice), up to the heavenly altar and there calls out to us saying, “All your sins are forgiven.  All of your murderous sins of thought, word and deed have been paid for.  I, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, have borne the burden of every strike, every hand raised in anger, every thoughtless word, every envious thought.  All the judgment has been placed upon Me.  Through Baptism into My death and resurrection you have been brought through judgement, from death to life.  Like Adam and Eve, I have clothed you, but with My grace and righteousness, rather than skins.  Like Cain, I have marked you safe, but for eternal life. Trust in Me. You are free. Go in peace. Sin no more.  Find forgiveness in Me.  Find your life in Me.  Find Salvation in Me!” 

May we always trust in Christ, our Lord, our Judge, our Savior.  Amen.

Please pray with me.