Sunday March 1st 2015 at Saint Paul’s Lutheran Church of Irvine: “When Disciples Are Rebuked” (Mark 8:31-38)
Divine Service: 9:30 am
Bible Study and Sunday School: 11:00 am
Location: Crean Lutheran High School in Irvine: 12500 Sand Canyon Ave., Irvine, CA 92618
Directions: Exit Sand Canyon from the 405 or 5, head East towards the hills, cross Irvine Blvd., turn right on Saint's Way (this will put you on the campus of Crean Lutheran High School...we worship in the event center/gym)
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
The Lord bless you as we continue to journey through Lent, today -- Saturday, February 28th -- being the 10th day of the 40 days. Tomorrow is the Second Sunday in Lent (recall that the Sundays are "in" Lent and not "of" Lent as Sunday always marks the Day of the Resurrection so that Sundays are not counted as part of the 40 days). Nevertheless, the Gospel for tomorrow is rich in the theme of Lent. It is a humbling text! In Mark 8:31-38 St. Peter stands for us all as a true believer, a true disciple of the Living Lord Jesus Christ who speaks in two ways; in two radically different "languages" so-to-speak: Peter spoke words of God and then in practically the same breath spoke words of the evil one. How can this be? It's seems untenable, illogical, utterly contradictory, and grossly inconsistent! That's right...and this state of affairs describes us too!
If this is so -- and it is -- how then can we ever be saved?! We are saved because of the True Disciple and know that He is Jesus Christ. He followed God not for Himself (as He was already perfect and pure), but He followed God for you and for me. This Disciple, THE Disciple followed God so that WE would be saved!
Tomorrow, we will thoroughly get into this fascinating and crucial text that leads us to true humility for our Lenten journey, but don't worry, it will also lead us to the splendid Gospel that keeps us strong in the grace of God!
Most importantly, we will receive the Blessed Sacrament of our Lord Jesus Christ. At Saint Paul's we receive Holy Communion every, single Sunday, because this great gift is God's rich assurance and guarantee that the Gospel is most certainly for us...for you and for me! In this Sacrament of the Altar the True Disciple Jesus incorporates you into Himself so that there is no doubt that in Christ, yes, you do follow God!
This portion of tomorrow's sermon is all Law and no Gospel, but it is an important catechetical introduction teaching us about "sin" (singular) and "sins" (plural). A teaching that is frequently neglected nowadays:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ who suffered and was crucified for us to save us from sin and death. Amen. Today’s Gospel based on Mark 8:31-38 is a stunning section in the Bible. Why? Because St. Peter gave the best answer one could possibly give in rightly, accurately, and gloriously identifying Jesus. Based on his answer: “You are the Christ.” (Mark 8:29), case closed: Peter knew Jesus. But when Jesus went on to the rest of the story: not only verifying WHO He was, but for WHAT REASON He had come, this is where Peter got lost. And not just a little lost mind you, but totally and utterly confused! So much so that when Peter responded to the LORD explaining His mission he did not speak as he had before with words of God, but this time he spoke with words from Satan!
This is the stunning scene: after Peter rightly and boldly confessed Christ’s identity, Jesus – in Matthew’s parallel to our Mark text – actually tells Peter that his confession (his words on Christ) were from God. (Matthew 16:17) Peter had just spoken God’s word, but now in respect to the WHAT of Jesus (as in WHAT would the Christ do?) the LORD makes clear that Peter was now speaking not for God, but for the devil!
Again, this is so shocking a state of affairs that is appears unfathomable; the implications rattle us so that it’s easy to repress its traumatic impact; it is so unsettling that it’s almost as if we ignore the seismic contradiction, the cosmic inconsistency, the duplicitous destructiveness of the situation: the believer – and in this case – the apostle, and not merely the apostle, the leader of the band (even as Peter was assuredly speaking for them all) spoke for God and -- in practically the next breath -- spoke for Satan. The same guy. One man speaking holy and saving words in the one instance; and in the next instance, the same man speaking destructive and evil words.
How can this be? One reason is that all of us underestimate -- like Peter did -- the article of the faith on sin. We have this really nasty habit of reducing this article of the faith called “sin” to bad behavior or the lack of good behavior (called “sins”). When we mistakenly reduce our sin (singular) condition with what we do and don’t do – our sins (plural) – we inevitably lose track of our actual diseased condition. How easy it is for us to become blind in any given situation when we feel confident about our actions while forgetting that we still have this horrific problem in us called “sin” (so that in one instance we are speaking the words of God, but in the very next instance we are speaking the words of Satan)?!
Our sin-reductionism puts us in the prime position to do this! Sin is the deeper root problem. It is a disease, a sickness that permeates our nature; it is what makes us sinful – as our Lutheran Confessions state – from “head to toe;” it is what makes us towards God “recalcitrant donkeys.” It is the incurvatus en se condition, that condition of being turned or curved inward. We are turned in and curved in to love ourselves, and turned in and curved in so that we stray away from loving God...in fact our curved in and turned in condition makes us love ourselves and love what we want. As a result, it is not that we simply do not believe in God in this sin condition, but in this state we actually hate Him. Peter hated Jesus so much – though he thought with all his might he was saying the right thing – that he was willing to destroy the very mission Jesus was conducting to save you and me (and Peter) from sin! In truth, we are just like Peter: we do both; we speak for and against our Holy God. This is the stunning part of all of this. This is what we are!
But this is nothing new and we are blessed in our Christian tradition to confess our condition this way every time we start our liturgy; our worship. Notice the wording that we used today. Let’s read it together and I ask you to take note of what parts are about your sin (singular) and what parts are about your sins (plural). We read together:
I, a poor, miserable sinner, confess unto You all my sins and iniquities with which I have ever offended You and justly deserved Your temporal and eternal punishment. But I am heartily sorry for them and sincerely repent of them, and I pray You of Your boundless mercy and for the sake of the holy, innocent, bitter sufferings and death of Your beloved Son, Jesus Christ, to be gracious and merciful to me, a poor, sinful being.
Note that in this morning’s confession, we are confessing both aspects: both our sin (singular) and our sins (plural). It is at the very beginning and the very end of this particular confession of sin that we confess our sin (singular)-condition with the words:
- “I, a poor, miserable sinner.” This is a confession of condition. We are by nature sinful and unclean, so that by nature we are poor, miserable sinners.
- “A poor, sinful being.” Our being (singular) is such that we are continuously committing sins (plural).
This is the core of our confession at the beginning of every Divine Service and is part and parcel of properly preparing to receive The Lord’s Supper. And just as it took God The Father to reveal to Peter WHO Jesus is; it takes God the Father to reveal to us what OUR sinful condition is all about. It is a terribly pessimistic article of the faith. It is not what people are looking for. People don’t go looking for churches in hopes that the pastor will tell them that they are an awful, God-hating sinner. It’s not usually on the top of anyone’s list for finding a church home...we want good music and meaty sermons (maybe), but do we actually go out looking for this revelation about our sin?!
Things came to a head with some former members in another congregation. They finally had to speak up! “Pastor, why do we say this about ourselves?! The Holy Scriptures say that we’re born again! The Holy Scriptures say that we’re a new creation! These words about being a poor, miserable sinner no longer apply to me! I was ONCE blind, NOW I see; I WAS Lost, but NOW I’m found! Again, I’m a new creation! In Christ, I’m no longer this despicable image! So why do we still confess this?!” Great question and whenever I get questions like this, I quickly pass them on to the other pastor! <smile>
So I answered the question. Our conversion, our crossing over from death to life, our being born again, and becoming a new creation in Christ are all descriptors of your most definitely receiving a new nature. It’s true! You are a new creation. You now have a living faith, with new thoughts, new desires, and new impulses. This is God’s gift to you through His Word which unites you to the Living Christ. This is a fides viva...a living faith, that is a saving faith and not the so-called “faith” of the demons (James 2:19), which is a cold and dead intellectual faith that is worthless (leaving one to live in fear as the demons do). Your faith, however, is living as you have been enabled by God to trust in Jesus and the forgiveness of all your sins (plural) AND the forgiveness of your sin (singular) condition...this too does the blood of Jesus cover!
Such a faith, such a condition, Peter had. He was a child of God and by the grace of God – again – He was able to accurately and powerfully confess that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Children of God cannot speak this way – genuinely in faith – without the Holy Spirit enabling them to speak this way (1st Cor. 12:3b).
But here we run into being sure that we do not succumb to a logical fallacy called the fallacy of “excluded middle” or an “either-or” fallacy. In this case, the frustrated parishioner was stuck on two options:
EITHER we have ONLY the ONE nature!
OR we have the OTHER nature!
What was missed was a third option. What is the third option? The third option is that we might – and indeed we do – have BOTH! Just like Peter did!
Even Ezekiel’s words of removing the old heart of stone (Ezekiel 11:19) is not an immediate eradication of sin in the life of the child of God, but is the introduction of a new spirit that is enabled to follow God just like Peter did (even as we await the day that is to come when our hearts of stone will be completely eradicated...and yes that day will come, but it is not yet...for now, it is not an “either-or,” but a “both-and.”
Dear One, come to our worship tomorrow and you will hear the Gospel that fills out the rest of the sermon! You are always welcomed to Saint Paul's!
In Jesus' Love,
Rev. Alfonso O. Espinosa, Ph.D.
Tonight Wednesday February 25th 2015 at Concordia University Irvine: Past 2 of our Lent Series: “The Sign of Peace” 7 pm in the Good Shepherd Chapel!
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Sunday February 22nd 2015 at Saint Paul’s Lutheran Church of Irvine: Testing and Temptation!
Divine Service: 9:30 am
Bible Study and Sunday School: 11:00 am
Location: Crean Lutheran High School in Irvine: 12500 Sand Canyon Ave., Irvine, CA 92618
Directions: Exit Sand Canyon from the 405 or 5, head East towards the hills, cross Irvine Blvd., turn right on Saint's Way (this will put you on the campus of Crean Lutheran High School...we worship in the event center/gym)
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Ash Wednesday at Good Shepherd Chapel at Concordia University Irvine 7 pm, February 18th, 2015
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
You're invited to our Ash Wednesday service at 7 pm at CUI's Good Shepherd Chapel...Concordia University is located at 1530 Concordia West, Irvine. We commence a six-part Lenten series entitled, "The Sign of the Cross."
We hope you'll come and that you'll invite a friend.
Below is the sermon, but remember, sermon's are meant to be proclaimed and not simply read...come and hear! Come and receive the forgiveness fo sins by the power of the Word of Christ!
“The Sign of Forgiveness”
Luke 23:34
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our crucified Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. The Lenten series we’re journeying through this year is entitled, “the sign of the cross.” But I have to admit right off that by using the word “cross” instead of the better word “crucifix,” that we’ve already lost something in what we’re trying to convey. Crosses are quite popular, but what actually occurred at Calvary when our Savior was crucified is not nearly as popular. Crosses are everywhere. When you see them along the freeway, they mark the memory of loved ones who lost their lives at those locations thus marked. We don’t see many people marking locations with crucifixes. Crosses are stylish. How common is it to see entertainers donning them left and right? They are common hanging on necklaces, serving as earrings, and tattoos. Crucifixes aren’t quite so “in.” Crosses have seemingly become this “cool” thing. They are a powerful general sign of a type of spirituality. But again what is definitely not as common are crucifixes. The crucifix presents a narrow and precise message that is not at all embraced by popular culture. The crucifix is not just the cross, but the corpus (the body) nailed to the cross. These are much less common. They are esp. less common in churches that claim the name of Jesus. Why would this be? One mega-church pastor said on national television that it is “dangerous” to reduce the Christian faith to just one symbol. On one occasion a neighboring minister of a four-square Pentecostal church noticed my crucifix and felt compelled to remind me, “You know, Jesus isn’t on the cross anymore!” I felt for the poor chap. I knew he meant well, but there was something missing in his theology. But his comment betrays a widespread preoccupation that what actually happened on Calvary’s cross is somehow something quite negative. We know what happened (at least we think we do), but does that mean that we have to keep talking about it, esp. when we know what happened three days later?! Death, after all, is a downer; it’s a negative thing when everyone thinks that the best messages about God should be “uplifting” and focus on life, not death! That Pentecostal pastor had a point: Jesus isn’t dead anymore! Some have even explained that the general Protestant emphasis of crosses is precisely to convey an inherent reminder that Jesus is indeed no longer on the cross...so that the “empty” cross is actually a sign that Jesus is also risen. The cross is also – if one is esp. worried that one might be confused with Roman Catholicism – that which will protect you from being associated with Catholic and (for that matter) Orthodox Christians. But dear Christians, all of these issues are extraordinarily silly and I’d like to say categorically that our series is better named “the sign of the crucifix” and that we are among those Christians (like our Catholic and Orthodox brothers and sisters in Christ) who should not avoid this sign, but whole-heartedly embrace it and this by the way, is a very good Lutheran thing to do! Let me say it better, it is the sign of the Christian. It is great Christian sign to convey. The early church cherished the sign of our Savior on the cross and the churches of the Reformation did not hesitate to adorn their sanctuaries not with a cross, but with a crucifix.
It must be so if I’m going to offer a sermon on that which is the true sign of forgiveness (the title of this first installment in the series). We can’t know forgiveness apart from our Savior nailed to the cross. Apart from the crucifixion, forget about it: there would be no forgiveness. Period.
On this Ash Wednesday we receive the imposition of ashes, the ashes take us back to one fundamental truth: we are in desperate need of forgiveness. Dusty people who in themselves can do nothing but die, need the LORD to forgive their sins. Our ashes are a confession of sin; and that our sin has cast the curse of death upon us. But I need to lead you to take this one step further: death is a reminder of helplessness in which we cease to function. In effect – and to speak in very mechanical terms – you cease “working.” Your heart stops, the electrical impulses in your brain stop, and things like your vision stop. You can’t think. You don’t see right and wrong. You break down. Again, you don’t “work.” You can’t “see” anymore. And this is the language employed to convey the state of ashes...we are blind...we can’t see...we don’t even realize what we are doing...we don’t see the horrendous nature of our sin. And this means that ash people – people of sin and death – don’t know what they’re doing. And when you get this (by the seeing and knowledge-giving ministry of the Holy Spirit working though the Word of Christ) then our Savior on the cross (and those crucifixes which symbolize our Savior when He was on the cross) take on a whole new meaning...our Savior on the cross, His body nailed to the cross becomes THE sign of forgiveness. And when we see Him on the cross, though we were once blind, by His blood and by His grace-giving prayer, we are enabled to see...but only through His being nailed to the cross. This is the sign of our restoration; this is the sign of our forgiveness!
Our sin is unspeakable. It is has done more harm to ourselves than we can even begin to describe; it has done more harm to other people than we can ever begin to imagine; and it has ferociously fought against God and resisted the LORD in ways that would turn our stomach and make us sick if we could truly see the gravity of our resistance against the Lord of Life. Again, our sin means that we don’t even know what we are doing...that’s how bad our sin is; and this is why we receive this stunning reminder of our condition: we are but ashes.
But the sign of our Savior’s cross (and the crucifix which reminds us of this singularity of salvation) is what conveys the LORD’S response to our terrible ignorance and blindness: listen to Him as He prays while nailed to the cross (making the cross a crucifix): “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
These words of Jesus from His crucifixion are recorded in the Gospel of Luke, the gospel among the four gospels that probably conveys God’s universal forgiveness better than any of the others...Christ nailed to His cross forgives ALL: .men, women, children, the sick, the weak, Jews, Gentiles...you. “Therefore, it is entirely in keeping with Luke’s portrait of Jesus that Jesus should ask the Father to forgive those responsible for his crucifixion: not just the soldiers, but also Pilate, Herod, the Sanhedrin, the chief priests, the rulers, and indeed all people...The hearer of the gospel knows that this absolution [“Father, forgive them”] flows from the full and complete atonement Jesus is accomplishing for the sins of the whole world as he speaks these very words. Forgiveness flows from the cross, so how fitting it is that Jesus’ first word from the cross is a word of universal forgiveness.” (Just, Concordia Commentary, 933).
Crucified, Jesus was speaking your forgiveness even as His shed blood was accomplishing it. Ash people say, “He must have been speaking about ME...about ME...because I’m but ashes and that means that my sin is so bad that I don’t even know what I’m doing!” But that means you were included in His prayer. Hear it again, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” That’s a reference to me; that’s a reference to you. Therefore, in speaking of us; in praying for us, He was forgiving us. He was forgiving you. Before your violations of the Law of God; before you scarred yourself with your sin for life; before you hurt those whom you have hurt; before you ever sinned in thought, word, and deed by what you’ve done and left undone, the LORD knew in what state you would commit these sins: as one who did not know what they were doing...for these He prayed, for these He was crucified, for these He shed His blood...for these He repaid good for evil; your evil covered by His good; your cursing against God repaid by God’s prayer on the cross...”Father, forgive them.” “When he was praying as he hung on the cross, he could see and foresee...[sinners] were raging, but he was praying...He was asking for pardon for those from whom he was receiving [and would receive] hideous treatment.” (Augustine, Ancient Christian Commentary, vol III, p. 361) “It was for enemies that he shed his blood, but by his blood that he converted his enemies...[and He knew] ‘it is blindness that is crucifying me.’ Blindness was crucifying him, and the crucified was making an eye-salve for them from his blood.” (ibid, p. 361) By His prayer and by His blood our eyes and our minds have been healed. We see now, we understand now...we now carry Christ’s crucifix upon our foreheads...His baptism upon us marks us: those once who were only ashes not knowing what they do; are now forgiven...these ash people shall now be raised; their blindness shall receive sight; their lack of knowledge will be given the knowledge of the Savior whose cross is not this negative thing whatsoever, but a glorious thing; their source of life...we know this with certainly, because He prayed...He prayed for us; He prayed for me; He prayed for you: listen to His prayer...this is your guarantee of forgiveness: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Your ashes testify: “I know that He was praying for me!”
In Jesus' Love,
Rev. Alfonso O. Espinosa, Ph.D., senior pastor, Saint Paul's Lutheran Church of Irvine
Divine Service: 9:30 am
Bible Study and Sunday School: 11:00 am
Location: Crean Lutheran High School in Irvine: 12500 Sand Canyon Ave., Irvine, CA 92618
Directions: Exit Sand Canyon from the 405 or 5, head East towards the hills, cross Irvine Blvd., turn right on Saint's Way (this will put you on the campus of Crean Lutheran High School...we worship in the event center/gym)
Dear Christians,
(2nd Corinthians 3:12-13; 4:1-6)
Pastor Espinosa
Introduction: The Christian is very bold:
(1) Having conviction about what life is all about!
(2) That is because of the true source of life, we know vitality even when we are tired, pressed, or going through difficulties!
Why? Hope
(1) Certain hope, objective hope! Not a wish, but something real.
(2) Based on the risen and glorified Savior, the Lord Jesus!
How is this hope FORMED? Christ’s doxa (glory; splendor)
(1) The doxa of His crucifixion
(2) The doxa of His resurrection
(3) The doxa of His second coming (we get a glimpse today, Transfiguration Sunday)!
One of a Kind: Why? Answer: Not like Moses
(1) Moses’ was a fading covenant. The law which condemned was being replaced with a new covenant that would forgive sins!
Romans 10:4: “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.”
(2) Ours is a lasting covenant!
In Christ, there is no limitation.
In Christ, nothing can cancel it or make it fade! It is too glorious! This is what makes us bold!
Part 1: So we do not lose heart:
(1) In the face of the positive reasons: having this ministry!
(a) Our own salvation.
(b) Our mission to serve others for their salvation.
(2) In the face of the negative reasons: even when many people reject the gospel.
Part 2: So we live a new life:
(1) Renounce disgraceful ways!
Gregory of Nyssa: “Lives filled with light” = it is necessary for our lives also to be illuminated by the rays of the true light. (Ancient Christian Commentary, Volume 7, pg. 227-228)
Clement of Alexandria: “We must try, then, to resemble Him in spirit as far as we are able.” (Ibid., pg. 229)
We esp. strive to avoid intentional or deliberate sin!
(2) Refuse cunning (trying to be spiritual or religious through man’s efforts, not God’s) or adulteration of the Word (changing the Word in order to please people).
(3) Stick to the open statement/publishing of the Truth!
“It is the plain unadulterated gospel of the grace of God revealed supremely in the death and resurrection of Christ that alone strikes home to his conscience.” (Buls, B, Festival Epistles, pg. 68, Buls quoting Tasker)
Part 3: And we understand the battle:
(1) Veiling is going on in those who are perishing...only applies in this text to those who hear the gospel.
(2) So this is also a warning to us since we hear the gospel.
(3) But what is really veiled?
(a) Not really the gospel itself (though it seems this way and that’s why Paul says what he says at 4:3).
(b) But nothing can actually veil the glory of the gospel itself.
(c) Nothing could veil the glory of Jesus at the Transfiguration!
(d) So what is really being veiled are hearts and minds towards the gospel.
(4) Who does the veiling?
(a) The “god of this world” actually the “god of this age” or “god of this aion/this time”.
(b) This is a reference to the devil, not a reference to God.
(c) He is called “god” lower case because he is powerful and can deceive us, but he is not God!
(d) Similar references to the devil in other Scriptures: John 12:31: “the prince of this world;” Ephesians 2:2: “the prince of the power of the air.”
(e) The Lutheran theologian Calov called the devil “the ape of God”...he apes God, tries to imitate God’s authority, but he is a fraud, a fake, a deceiver.
(f) His realm or stage of operations = Aion = “all that floating mass of thoughts, opinions, maxims, speculations, hopes, impulses, aims, aspirations at any time current in the world.” (Buls, C, Festival Epistles, pg. 62, Buls quotes Rienecker who quotes Trench)
(g) So the devil relies on change and instability to deceive you. The gospel, however, is unchanging!
Lenski, pg. 960: “the god of this eon blinded the thoughts of the unbelieving so that the illumination of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, did not get to dawn...”
(5) Elements of his strategy:
(a) He wants you to deny his existence. This is the most direct and effective, because if you deny his existence, then why would you ever be worried about him trying to deceive you?! In our sin we act like he’s not real. But the Christian knows better: when we are confronted with temptation, or fear, or discouragement, then we are confronted by the devil. He tries to take you away from your faith -- that conviction and vitality that we mentioned previously -- in Christ.
(b) He also wants you to deny the foundation of absolute truth: the world hates the notion and wants us to capitulate to relativism; that truth has many versions. If there is no single truth, then who are we to say this is true and that is false; or this is right and that is wrong?! In our sin we make exceptions to God’s Word and this is a slap in the face to the Lord. We say we believe in Him, that we follow Him, but then choose to ignore or violate His Word when it is no longer convenient to us. When this happens, we lose our conscience and we give in to sin. This can destroy faith.
Lenski, pg. 961: So though the truth is presented “all...thinking and reasoning are as if it does not see it at all. The thoughts are blinded.”
Warning: remember that all of this “perishing” refers to some who are receiving the gospel! One of the most vivid pictures of this is the parable of the sower (Luke 8:12):
“The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they many not believe and be saved.”
(c) This is isn’t God’s fault; or the gospel’s fault, but the fault of the person whose heart and mind is veiled or covered towards the gospel!
Part 4 & Conclusion: The Source of Glory/Keeping Us Faithful!
(1) Vs 5: the proclamation of Jesus Christ/the gospel!
Lenski, pg. 964: “In him [Jesus Christ] now shines forth forever all God’s love for us, and in him we are to behold all that this love has wrought for our salvation.”
(2) Vs 6: Light = Knowledge of the Glory of God = Jesus Christ.
Think of how God shattered the darkness at creation. The universe has been bathed with light ever since!
In the same way, your darkness has been shattered! God has “come to shine” in your heart; His light coming through the knowledge of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord!
Lenski, pg. 970: “Mere nature shines with light; the center of our personal being, shines with the knowledge of the glory of God, with his living, gracious presence in Christ.”
(3) So we get back to the gospel, the source of God’s light in your life to keep you bold without losing heart! And this is your source Christian:
(a) The doxa of the Lord’s crucifixion!
(b) The doxa of the Lord’s resurrection!
(c) The doxa of the Lord’s second coming! (remember The Transfiguration)
This is why we have hope; this is why we do not grow weary. Ambrosiater says that is why we do not lose heart: the mercy of God which cleanses us and makes us righteous; adopts us as the children of God and endows us with a glory like the glory of Christ! And Chrysostom says that this is all attributed to the loving kindness of God so that we do not sink under trial, but we rejoice and speak boldly! (Ancient Christian Commentary, vol 7, pg. 227)
Tomorrow Sunday February 8th, 2015 at Saint Paul’s Lutheran Church of Irvine: “Our Savior Who Heals As He Prays and As He Preaches” (Mark 1:29-39)
Divine Service: 9:30 am
Bible Study and Sunday School: 11:00 am
Location: Crean Lutheran High School in Irvine: 12500 Sand Canyon Ave., Irvine, CA 92618
Directions: Exit Sand Canyon from the 405 or 5, head East towards the hills, cross Irvine Blvd., turn right on Saint's Way (this will put you on the campus of Crean Lutheran High School...we worship in the event center/gym)
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
(Mark 1:29-39)
Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany, February 8th, 2015
Pastor Espinosa
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
It is a well known concept that words are very powerful. We tried to protect our fragile childhood psyches by relying on the mantra: “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never harm me.” Wishful thinking. How easy it was for us as children to be completely devastated by something we heard about ourselves…how hard it is now that we’re all grown up to pretend we don’t care, but even now we do and we are effected! Gary Chapman in his book The 5 Love Languages identifies the languages – ways of communicating love – that different people need to know or at least feel that they’re getting love/being loved from those they care about. Chapman has ingeniously identified that some folks are affirmed in believing they are loved through quality time, physical touch, receiving gifts, acts of service, and the fifth one is – personally – my most important one: “words of affirmation”…no one knows this better than my wife Traci. She knows how to lift me up; she knows how to encourage me and how to inspire me. Her words are powerful and as I get older and while her words have always been very influential, as of late in the last several years, her words have become extremely influential. Not long ago when I was a little shaky due to some anxiety coming upon me, she put her hands on my face and looked at me with those tender ocean-blue eyes and said with gentleness and yet with great conviction (as she stared into me): “You’re going to be ok.” Her words seeped into my soul and they were as a medicine to me. I calmed down. Her words helped me and they continue to help me a great deal. Indeed, the words we use will either make a marriage stronger than one can imagine, or words can rip into the fiber of a marriage…it matters what we say and do not say; and how we say it or do not say it! It matters, it matters, it matters!
We underestimate the power of our words and we do not watch the portal of our mouths…and we sin…we cut up people and pull them down closer to destruction. And some people wonder why Jesus associated murder (the violation of the 5th commandment) with words (Matthew 5:21ff.).
And words can most definitely destroy right? The LORD warns us about the potential damage that the human tongue can cause: “How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell…It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not be so.” (James 3:5b-6, 8b-10)
Words, words, words…we underestimate their power. Last week was a big one for me. I traveled to serve our Lutheran Church Missouri Synod on the national level and while attending meetings for the Board for National Mission I was also equipped with tools that I am able to bring back to serve our congregation here in Irvine…I received equipping words. During that week I also traveled to see my daughter Esbeydi on one day and then my son David on another…we shared words at both visits that were loving words and words of grace! I received healing words and I extended healing words and by the grace of God, they were seemingly well received. Then there was a meeting with the CTCR (Commission on Theology and Church Relations) on a draft I’ve been working on to serve the church – and esp. her pastors – through the gift of private/individual confession and absolution. The commission gave me affirming words and the work is 95% complete…but the week was also busy, so as I was driving in between all of this, I needed to hear some good words, so I started scanning all the radio stations and I was reminded of how shallow the words in our music can be: words of desperation, lost desire or corrupt desire, conflict, sadness from the idols of the world that people blindly pursue, on and on and on…so I turned off the radio and opened up a hymn…when it was safe – as I drove -- I put these words into my mind and they became my words for travel last week: “Come, Thou Fount of every blessing, Tune my heart to sing Thy grace; Streams of mercy, never ceasing, Call for songs of loudest praise. While the hope of endless glory Fills my heart with joy and love, Teach me ever to adore Thee; May I still Thy goodness prove.” (LSB 686 “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing)
Good, good words! Energizing words, words that make all the difference.
But think about this: if your words are powerful (and they are), and if my words are powerful…and if the words that we hear on the radio can influence us…if all words from all people are significant by virtue of the fact that they affect us, how much more impacted are people when God speaks?
We have to be careful because we get accustomed to certain terminology and we start to take it for granted. You all know that when we refer to the Holy Bible, we often say “The Word of God,” or “The Word of The Lord”…this is a true designation, but we mustn’t permit these words to be taken for granted; to be cheapened, because if your words are powerful…how much more powerful is the Word of The Lord? If when you speak, you impact lives, how much more are lives impacted when God speaks? But perhaps part of the problem is that we forget that that is exactly what is happening when the Word of The Lord is proclaimed and shared…God is speaking. GOD is speaking!
When He speaks, He creates. What He says comes to be. “Let there be light” He once said (Genesis 1:3) and there was light. He spoke to dead Lazarus and dead Lazarus was no longer dead (John 11), but restored to life. He spoke at your baptism, and you came to new life. He spoke at your absolution this morning and you were completely restored in the forgiveness of sins…for absolution is not a wish, but a bestowal; God gives you His grace; He bestows His mercy and love upon you (you receive it as new clothing)…it becomes yours…again, no mere wish, no “hoping for the best;” absolutely is God giving and absolutely you are receiving forgiveness over and over again! This is how powerful His Word is! He will speak again for Holy Communion, and these words of God will guarantee the real body and blood of Christ given to you. I have recently spoken to some grieving people and once again it was celebrated that when we receive Christ in the Sacrament we experience a reunion with all the heavenly host…how precious is this gift? How invaluable are these words that bring heaven and earth together in one place; here through the Words of Christ the veil of heaven is lifted and God comes to you…how fantastically invaluable is that?!
