March 16, 2022 – Lent                        Text:  John 18:1-11

    On January 17, 2004, a sixty-ton sperm whale died and was beached in Taiwan.  Two weeks later, authorities decided to truck the whale to a lab to perform an autopsy.  People gathered in the streets to watch the whale carcass being driven through their town.  Then it happened . . . as the truck crawled through the city, with crowds watching . . . the whale exploded.  The insides of this whale splattered cars and people and shops.  Traffic stopped for hours.  The smell was unbearable.  I think we can safely say no one saw that coming.

    Isn’t that our life?  Cruising the road of life and a whale explodes.  We are left hurt and a confused and a mess.  We ask why?  Why did she leave me?  Why did my son get arrested?  Why a cancer diagnosis?  Why did we lose so much?  Why?  Why?

    Our sermon series on the Witnesses of Christ continues tonight with John 18 and we meet Malchus.  He was just doing his job, minding his business and boom – a whale explodes.  A fisherman from Galilee cuts off his right ear.  No one saw that coming.  But that night and today daily in our lives . . . 

“JESUS ENTERS OUR MESS”

    Let’s set the scene.  Judas had with him a band of soldiers with lanterns and torches and weapons.  They have come to arrest Jesus.  These same soldiers the next day will mock Jesus, flog Jesus, and crucify Jesus.

    Who is leading this Jewish posse with so much firepower?  Judas.  What is Judas up to?  Betrayal.  You hear it every time we celebrate Holy Communion, “Our Lord Jesus Christ on the night when he was betrayed.”  This is the night.

    Then the chaos begins.  After some brief chatter . . . a whale explodes.  Peter draws a sword and cuts of the right ear of Malchus.  Ouch!

    You’ve had something similar, haven’t you?  A burn.  Ouch!  A turned ankle.  Ouch!  Bumping your head and having it bleed.  Ouch?  More than physical pain, you have had emotional pain.  A daughter that just can’t seem to get out of her own way.  A death that pervades your thoughts.  A conflict where you see no ending.  What are you doing about it?  Consulting an attorney.  Going to a counselor.  Crying at night.

You are trying to control it the best you know how.

    In our text it appears Judas is running things.  But is that true?  No.  Christ is really in control.  How so?  Verse 4, “Jesus, knowing all that would happen, came forward.”  The control is clear.  The enemies come and Jesus goes to meet them.  Jesus doesn’t run.  When the sword strike happens he tells Peter to put his sword away.  Jesus says in John 10:18:  “No one takes my life from Me, I lay it down of my own accord.”

    During World War II, psychologists compared ground troops with fighter pilots.  They determined that after 60 days of fighting, the anxiety of the ground troops was astronomical.  After those same 60 days, an incredible 93% of fighter pilots were happy and at peace.  Why the difference?  The fighter pilots had control.  Ground troops felt helpless, like they were targets in a shooting gallery.  The point?  Popular wisdom tells us, “Always seek control.”

    We don’t need war to tell us that.  Just sit in traffic on an interstate.  Or board an airplane.  So what’s the plan when the whale explodes?  An alternate route, please.  Or have a parachute on the plane.  We face the exploding whale by taking control.

    The problem is, it doesn’t work?  You can’t just hop off the interstate.  Security will never let you on with a parachute.  What does work?  Relinquish control.  Give it up.  Let go.  Resign as CEO of the universe.  Give your entire mess to Jesus.  His control is clear.

    Let’s read verse 9, “This was to fulfill the word that He had spoken:  ‘Of those whom You gave Me I have lost not one.’”  Christ is calm.  His calm is contagious.  He trusts the Scriptures. 

    “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”  Christ is in control of sin and He takes it all away.  “I am the light of the world.”  Christ is in control of darkness.  He takes yours away through the light of His grace and mercy.

    Ever sign one of those pieces of paper for your child that you are the responsible party?  Christ signed His name for us – and He wrote it in His own blood.  When we were baptized, Jesus took full responsibility for us.  When the whale explodes, Jesus is the responsible party.  Not us.  It is His job to see us through the mess.  Christ the Shepherd, we the sheep.  Christ the Bridegroom, we the Bride.  Christ the Rabbi, we the disciples.

    One of these three is happening right now.  We are heading for a mess.  We are in a mess.  We just went through a mess.  No matter, we don’t become hopeless or anxious or faithless.  We can stay calm.  Why?  When whales explode, Jesus delivers perfect peace.  He reaches out his hand and heals.  Just ask a man named Malchus whom Jesus healed.               Amen.     

March 13, 2022                              Text:  Jeremiah 26:8-15

Dear Friends in Christ,

    A few years ago in Cape Jarvis, Australia there was a film clip of a tourist boat ferrying people to the site of a dead whale.  There they could stand on the whale and watch the sharks eat the carcass.  A local official was outraged and immediately sought legislation to, “protect people that were too stupid to protect themselves.”  

    We might agree with that official but we are foolish when God warns us of sin and we still go forward in spiritual danger.  In our text, God sends Jeremiah to warn the Lord’s people of their wickedness so they can repent and receive forgiveness.  They didn’t want to hear it and they want to kill Jeremiah.

    God always has a purpose and He does this morning as well.  What is it?  Let’s see together how God can find salvation in . . . 

“HOLY DESTRUCTION”

    God’s holy things are subject to destruction when his people ignore his Word.  Jeremiah speaks of this holy destruction to the Lord’s house.  It was going to be desolate and deserted like Shiloh one of the original places for Israel’s worship.  Shiloh was destroyed because they worshipped false gods.  So how does everyone react?  They want to kill the messenger.  They want Jeremiah to be destructed.

    Paul warns of holy destruction of people in our Epistle.  If you walk as an enemy of the cross your God is your stomach, your glory is in your shame and your thoughts are all on earthly things.  This is a path to destruction.

    In the Gospel Jesus speaks of the destruction of those who resist the Lord.  Jerusalem will be desolate by AD 70 after they kill Jesus who is just one in a long line of prophets who have been killed for teaching and preaching God’s Word.

    Today’s lessons are a warning for us, that even we are subject to destruction if we ignore His Word.  Whole church bodies are left desolate if they abandon the Lord’s Word.  Congregations can self-destruct if they fight among themselves.  As individual Christians we struggle constantly against sin.  We don’t always take God’s Word to heart if it challenges our beliefs.  If we don’t heed God’s warning, we can forfeit our holy status and be destroyed eternally.

    In 2017, Adidas, sent a promotional e-mail to the Boston Marathon participants.  It read, “Congrats, you survived the Boston Marathon!”  Adidas, could have a great crisis on their hands, thinking back to the Boston Marathon bombing of 2013.  Adidas got a spokeswoman out front – Maria Culp – yes, her real name – and this company was smart enough to accept responsibility and issue a mea culpa:  “We are incredibly sorry.  There was no thought given to the insensitive e-mail we sent Tuesday.  We deeply apologize for the mistake.”  The apology was well received.  Besides, chuckling at the ironic humor of her name, her audience took the apology as heartfelt, straightforward, and, most important, immediate.  Adidas avoided a crisis.

    For us, we avoid a crisis, a holy destruction, when the Lord sends us His Word that brings us to repentance.  Out of the wreckage of our sin, the Lord can rebuild us in His image.  This is what Jeremiah was doing for the people.  He was warning them only to bring about repentance and prevent suffering.  

    The Lord has done the same thing for the New Testament Church.  He brought the Jews and Gentiles together as a holy nation, the New Israel, the Church of Jesus Christ after His Ascension.  He raised up a new visible church during the time of the Reformation after the church’s teachings deviated from the Word of God.  Even our individual destruction takes place when the Lord admonishes us into turning from our wicked ways and listening to His Word.  Our soul is saved.

    All of these “holy destructions” are able to bring blessings and restoration because of the destruction of God’s Holy One.  Jesus’ destruction on the cross was a holy destruction.  He was destroyed, but God raised Him up again, bringing something good out of the destruction.

    His destruction was a painful experience.  He had done nothing wrong and helped people His whole life.  By the scheming of wicked men he was destroyed, and, amazingly, this was according to God’s holy plan.  Out of the destruction, God brought the highest good.  After three days in the tomb – resurrection!  His resurrection is our resurrection.  Out of Christ’s Holy Destruction comes our salvation.

    Jeremiah showed his faith when he said, “But as for me, behold, I am in your hands.  Do with me as seems good and right to you.” (v. 14)  Because of Jesus’ holy destruction and resurrection, we can cling to the same faith.  Our sins are forgiven.  The Words of absolution are certain.  Our Baptism remains.  We will not be destroyed eternally.  We are saved.  Holy Destruction!

                                Amen.