Pentecost VI (Proper 8 B) [Mark 5:21-43] (1-Jul-2018)

This sermon was preached at St Matthew's Lutheran Church, Maryborough, 8.15am, and Grace Lutheran Church, Childers, 10.30am.

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.

Prayer: May the words of my mouth, and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

In our Gospel reading today, we read about how Jesus is called to the home of a man called Jairus, whose daughter is dying, and when they get there, they find her dead, and Jesus raises her from the dead. But also, along the way, a woman in the crowd with a bleeding problem touches Jesus’ garments, and she is healed.

So our reading starts, where we read: Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet and implored him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live.” And he went with him. This man simply brings his needs to Jesus, and Jesus is happy to go with him. The man is particularly desperate because he has a daughter who is dying. He doesn’t want to see his child die, and he believes that Jesus is his only hope—or even his last hope—in preventing that from happening.

Then we read about something that happens as Jesus is walking along to his house. We read: And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him. And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years. Here we see another person who is very desperate. What a devastating thing it must have been for her to have this problem for so long! She must have despaired of life itself sometimes. And yet, like Jairus, she comes to Jesus as her last hope.

It also says about her that she had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse.

This little verse gives us a tremendous insight into this woman’s life and her struggles. There are many people in our society like this, and maybe you feel like this. Maybe you’ve suffered much under many physicians, and spent all that you had, and you haven’t got any better but you’ve just become worse. Anyway, in our country, where we have so many good things, and where we are able to benefit from all kinds of advances in technology, many people often wonder why they find it so difficult to stay healthy and fit. After all, those who hold to the theory of evolution have said that the human race is getting better and better, and it’s all about the survival of the fittest. But then, people ask, “why I am sick all the time?” There are many Christians who often only pray for themselves or for other people when they are sick, as if it’s the most important in their life.

Physical health is a good thing, and it’s a good gift from God, but it’s not the most important thing. Health can so easily turn into an idol, and we fear losing our health more than we fear God himself. Even many Christians can start to direct all their spiritual attention to their physical health, and become obsessed with it.

But before we go on, I’d like to say something about doctors, and the vocation of being a doctor or a medical professional. There are some Christians who don’t like doctors, and think that instead they should pray to God for healing. Now sometimes, we have no choice—some people who live way out bush in the middle of “Woop-Woop” can’t get to a doctor, and so they have to make do with their home remedies. But even if we go to a doctor, we should always also pray for our healing too. A good doctor is a wonderful gift from God.

In 2 Chronicles, we read: In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was diseased in his feet, and his disease became severe. Yet even in his disease he did not seek the Lord, but sought help from physicians. Now this passage is not saying that doctors are bad, but is accusing King Asa of never praying to God, even when he was very sick. On the other hand, we read in the bible, that Luke, who wrote the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts was a doctor. At the end of Colossians, Paul writes: Luke the beloved physician greets you. We can see from the examples of these writings how God used this doctor Luke for a wonderful purpose in his kingdom.

Now it’s a wonderful thing to have a good doctor. And we might go to the doctor, and get a prescription for some medicine. Now, doctors only ever do their best, from what they know from their studies and research. The actual task of healing belongs to God. Whether the medicine works, whether the particular medicine works in our particular situation, and exactly how long it takes for us to become well again—all those things are not controlled by the doctor, but by God. So we shouldn’t neglect praying for our health when we go to the doctor, but be ready and willing to become well or to stay unwell according to God’s will and according to his timing. It’s in him that we live and move and have our being. A doctor provides a treatment, but then we look to God to make that treatment effective in his time and according to his will.

Now the fifth commandment states: You shall not murder. The bible teaches very clearly that human life right from its very beginning in conception to the very last breath is exactly that—human life. And it is sinful to take away human life, whether it is at the very beginning, by aborting a child, or at the very end, by euthanasia. It is God who is the giver and the taker of life, not us. Job says: The Lord gives, and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. We need to pray for more Christian doctors in this country, because the medical profession has changed tremendously in recent years, because doctors are being asked more and more to take life, rather than to help preserve it. One of the greatest evils that has been unleashed on this country and throughout the world has been the murder of millions of unborn children, and one of the greatest evils that is underway in this country at the moment and throughout the world is the push to bring in euthanasia. A mother’s womb and a hospital bed are supposed to be safe places—and they need to stay that way.

Sometimes there are certain things for which modern medicine simply doesn’t have the answer. We also have naturopaths in our country too, and often they have a particular knowledge of herbs, or massage, or other things, that might be helpful. If we make use of people like this, we should also look to God for our healing through them.

But let’s come back to the woman in our reading for a moment. We read about her: She had heard reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well”. And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.

It’s quite an amazing thing that happens here. The woman is hidden in the crowd, and she simply touches Jesus’ clothes, and she is healed.

But then we read: And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my garments?” And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’” And he looked around to see who had done it. But the woman knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”

Now we might ask, “Why did Jesus single this woman out, and even maybe embarrass her a bit in front of everyone?” After all, we might think that her problem was quite personal and she might have liked to keep it to herself. But if Jesus hadn’t singled her out from the crowd, no-one would ever have known what had happened to this woman, including us.

The same goes for us as Christians: we often come on Sundays to meet Jesus as part of a crowd, sometimes a small crowd or a large crowd. And yet, he blesses us individually—he singles us all out from the crowd. He doesn’t simply say: I forgive you all your sins, to the crowd, but he addresses these words to you personally, with his stamp and his seal on the envelope. Your personal salvation is Jesus’ personal interest. None of us were baptised as a crowd with the pastor holding a great big fire hose! No—all of us were baptised individually, and Jesus gently and lovingly singles us out from the crowd to apply his message of salvation and forgiveness and eternal life to you personally, just like this woman here.

But also, we learn from this, that it wasn’t simply the mere touching of Jesus’ clothes that healed her. Jesus says: Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease. He says: Your faith has made you well. We read not only that the women touched Jesus’ clothes, but she also said in her heart: If I touch even his garments, I will be made well. She knew, and believed, what wonderful divine power belonged to this man, Jesus, and so when she touched his clothes in faith, the power of Jesus to heal her went out from him.

The same goes for us in a spiritual way—when we trust God’s word and believe the Gospel, and trust in the forgiveness of sins and the promise of eternal life, Jesus’ power goes out to us, and he fills us with the Holy Spirit. Now, when it comes to physical health, Jesus will heal us according to his will and according to how it benefits his kingdom. Don’t forget also, that eventually we will also all die, and it is a wonderful thing to be with Jesus in Paradise. Many times in our lives, we will recover from illnesses and all kinds of things. But in the next life, our bodies will be transformed and purified and cleansed of every single scrap of disease and illness and disability, because all of these things are present in the world because of sin. And so when we receive the forgiveness of sins in this life in the church, it points us forward to that time when we will also be given complete and physical healing of every single problem we endure in this life. Sometimes, even the things we have endured in this life will be transformed in such a way that they will be signs of our victory in faith. For example, after his resurrection, Jesus still had his wounds, but they were no longer a sign of his shame and humiliation, but a badge of honour and victory over death. St Paul says: The sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

Now, just one more thing I’d like to say about the verse, where it says that Jesus perceived in him that power had gone out from him. Here we see how our physical healing, whether in this life or the next, comes as a result of Jesus’ power going out from him. Sometimes, Jesus lets us stay a little longer than we might like in our sickness and trouble, and we start to wonder why he doesn’t fix us up.

In 1 Samuel, we read about how Saul went to inquire of the Lord, but he didn’t answer him. So instead, he went and consulted a medium (or a witch) instead. When he didn’t receive an answer from God, he then went and made use of the wrong spiritual powers, and made use of the occult. You see, in our country, we have doctors and naturopaths, but then there is also a third category, which we might call “supernatural” healers. And these people are not always easy to spot. But as our society becomes less Christian, there has been a rise of strange healing practices which rely on spiritual forces, and sometimes stray into the occult. But we need to be aware of this, because there are many, many practitioners of occult medicine that are around.

But listen to what it says about Jesus: He perceived that power had gone out from him. It’s one thing to go a doctor or health practitioner and get a prescription, or some herbal remedies, or whatever, but we have to also be careful that we use the means that God allows to us and not make use of the wrong power. So in giving a little warning, I’ll mention a few things that you should watch out for and avoid.

Firstly, be careful of when people say that the “mind” can heal the “body”. Let God heal your body, but don’t elevate your mind in the place of God. There is a whole church dedicated to mind healing which is called “Christian Science”, which are neither Christian nor scientific. Medicine should work whether you believe in it or not. If a practitioner says the reason the treatment didn’t work is because you didn’t believe in it, then it probably means that they are relying on your mind-power more than the treatment. Also, beware of things that claim to be “holistic healing”, if it claims to deal with your soul or spirit in some strange way, or involves some strange prayer which has nothing to do with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Second, be careful of healing practices that talks about manipulating energy or forces or magnetism, and things like that. There are many alternative medical practices that speak in scientific terms which are completely unscientific and are really talking about some mystical, psychic, occult power. An example of something like this is a practice known as Reiki.

And especially, avoid like the plague anything that claims to be obviously occult, like a medium. I once heard of a woman who went to a psychic medium and was healed of some condition, only then to be diagnosed with another serious disease.  And she was angry with God, and began to blaspheme.  Fortunately, a Christian person heard her blaspheming and spoke to her and she renounced her use of the medium. I’m saying these things because I don’t want you to suffer much under many physicians, and spend all that you have, and instead of getting better you just get worse.

Now, when we were baptised, we took a vow: I renounce the devil and all his works and all his ways. And sometimes, during our lives, God then shows us something that we have done—maybe in trying to make ourselves well—which was not from him, and made use of some other spiritual power or an occult power, and sometimes when we didn’t realise it. Don’t despair! The door of forgiveness stands wide open for us. If only we would touch the hem of Jesus’ garments we would be made well. For us, when we hear Jesus’ words of forgiveness and receive the Lord’s Supper, “given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins”, we touch the hem of Jesus’ garment. And Jesus says: Your faith has saved you; go in peace.

At the end of our reading today, we read about where Jesus raises up Jairus’ daughter from the dead. When they arrive at the house, someone comes out and says: Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?

But what they don’t realise is that Jesus doesn’t just have power over disease, but also over death. There will come a time when this little girl will die again in the future, but in the next life, when her body is raised from the grave and she is transformed and transfigured just like Jesus himself, Jesus will make her even more beautiful than she has ever been in this life.

And so Jesus says: The child is not dead but sleeping. And it says: And they laughed at him. Our world likes to mock the Christian faith, and say that when a person dies, they die, and that’s it. But Jesus knows better than we do. When we die, it is only a sleep. Our soul goes to be with Jesus, just as he said to the thief on the cross: Today you will be with me in Paradise. But at the end of the world, he will also raise our bodies, just like Paul says: Behold! I tell you a mystery! We shall not all sleep, but we shall be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. We also read that Jesus will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body.

And so, he says to the girl: Little girl, I say to you, arise. Here Jesus gives a wonderful example of just how easy it is for him to raise someone from the dead, and gives a little foretaste of what will happen at the end of the world. As Luther writes in the Small Catechism: On the last day, he will raise me and all the dead, and give eternal life to me and all believers in Christ. This is most certainly true.

We also learn here that even our faith is a gift. The woman with the bleeding had heard about Jesus’ reputation, and a living faith was created in her. The same with the girl’s father. But when Jesus spoke the word to the girl and raised her up, she made absolutely no contribution to this resurrection whatsoever. She was dead, but when Jesus’ spoke his word to her, she arose. In the same way, when Jesus speaks his words of salvation, of eternal life, of the forgiveness of sins, of the resurrection of the body, it is his powerful word that does the thing, it is his power that goes out from him. We simply receive in faith the gift that he gives, and Jesus’ words create that faith.

And so, let’s place our weak bodies into Jesus’ forgiving and transforming hands, and ask him to use us however and wherever he sends us, and finally, to give us the gift of eternal life, where our bodies will be transformed and purified from all disease and death to be like his.

Amen.

Dear Jesus, we thank you for healing this woman in our reading, and for raising this girl. Forgive us, heal us and use us as you will. Amen.

Good Friday [Hebrews 10:19-20] (30-Mar-2018)

This sermon was preached at St Matthew's Lutheran Church, Maryborough, 8.15am, and Grace Lutheran Church, Childers, 10.30am.

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.

We have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh.

Prayer: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

In the Old Testament in Leviticus chapter 16, we read about the Day of Atonement. In Hebrew, the Jewish people even today call it “Yom Kippur.”

And on this Good Friday, I want you to picture in your minds the Jewish ritual of this occasion. In the second half of the book of Exodus, God commanded Moses to build a tabernacle. The tabernacle was a tent, which the people of Israel—the Jewish people—carried around with them from Mt Sinai and into the land of Canaan. The tabernacle was the place of worship for the people of Israel, and God commanded them to make all kinds of offerings and sacrifices there at different times. Later on, when King Solomon ruled Israel, the tabernacle was replaced by a temple. During the time of Jesus, this first temple had been destroyed and had been replaced by a second temple. The second temple was destroyed 40 years after Jesus’ death and resurrection, and to this day has never been rebuilt.

Now picture the tabernacle (the tent) in your mind: the whole thing is a rectangle shape. It is about 45 metres by 22.5 metres. If you draw an imaginary line through the middle of the rectangle you would have 2 squares, 22.5 metres by 22.5 metres. In Hebrew, they would have said 50 cubits by 50 cubits.

If you were to walk in the front, in the middle of the first square area, there was a large altar: the altar of burnt offering. This is the place where they burnt the various animals that had to be offered there.

In the other square area, there was the tabernacle itself, the tent of meeting. This was a small narrow rectangle tent. Inside it had two parts, the first part was called the Holy Place, where there was the Altar of Incense.

You might remember at Christmas time, when John the Baptist’s father, Zechariah, was on duty in the temple and saw the Angel Gabriel he was standing at the Altar of Incense. The Altar of Incense was inside the Holy Place.

But then, if you imagine walking into the tent, where the Holy Place is, at the back you would see a curtain, and behind this curtain was a place called the Holy of Holies, or the Most Holy Place. Inside the Most Holy Place was the Ark of Covenant, which is the box that the Jewish people carried with them from the wilderness into the promised land. On top of the Ark of the Covenant there was carved cherubim—that is, angels with their wings outstretched and touching, one cherub on either side of the Ark of the Covenant. On top of the Ark of Covenant, between the two cherubim was the area which was called the mercy seat.

Can you picture all this? Let’s walk outside and come back in again. You come through the front of the tent, and in the middle of the open courtyard is the Altar of Burnt Offering. In front of you, is the Tabernacle itself. If you went through into the Tabernacle you would see the Altar of Incense in the Holy Place. Behind the Altar of Incense was a curtain, and behind the curtain was the Holy of Holies, the Most Holy Place. In the middle of the Most Holy Place was the Ark of the Covenant, which had the carved cherubim with their touching wings, and on top of the Ark of the Covenant was the mercy seat.

Of course, as any old Israelite, you would never have been allowed to have a pleasant stroll around the Tabernacle, a guided tour just as I’m trying to get you to imagine. Only the priests were allowed to enter the Holy Place.

But now I want to describe for you the Day of Atonement, or “Yom Kippur”, in Hebrew.

The Day of Atonement was a particularly special day and a particularly special Jewish festival. The High Priest would enter the Holy of Holies, the Most Holy Place. This was the only day of the year, when anyone was allowed to enter the Most Holy Place, and the only person who was allowed to go in was the High Priest.

The first thing he would do would be to take two animals, a bull and a ram. Then he would have to put on special clothes, which he would only wear on this one day of the year. He would put on a linen robe, and linen underwear, with a linen sash, and a linen turban on his head. He had to wash his body with water and put them on.

Now, after he had the bull and the ram, and put on the special clothes, he would also take two goats.

Now he was all prepared for the next part.

He would then bring forward the bull—it was going to be offered for himself and his family.  Then he would take the two goats and put them at the entrance of the tent. Now one goat would be chosen for the Lord, and one goat would be chosen for Azazel. Azazel means a demon, for the devil, for Satan.

Now, he would kill the bull as an offering for the sin of himself and his family. He would then have to take a pan full of hot coals from the altar and put incense on it and take them behind the curtain into the Most Holy Place. The Most Holy Place would be covered in thick smoke so that the Ark, the priest –and also God – was hidden from anyone’s sight. Then he had to take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on top of the mercy seat once, and then he would sprinkle it seven times with his finger on the front of the mercy seat on the floor.

So after he had done this with the bull’s blood, he would then go and do the same thing with the goat that was set apart for the Lord. The goat was for the Israelites, and for their sins. The priest would kill the goat, and then take the blood and sprinkle it on top of the mercy seat and then in front of the mercy seat seven times. The reason for doing this was the cleanse the people from their sins.

Now, when the High Priest does all this, he would come out into the Holy Place to the Altar of Incense. Here he would put the bulls blood on the four horns (the four corners) of the altar, and seven times on the floor. Then he would do the same with the goats blood: on the four horns of the altar and seven times on the floor.

Now after this, the priest would then come out of the Holy Place and mix the bull’s blood and the goat’s blood together and put it on the horns of the Altar of Burnt Offering. Then he would also have to sprinkle the blood on it seven times. The reason for doing this was to clean the altar and make the altar clean from the sin of the people. So you can see that the priest goes into the Holy of Holies to make atonement, then he goes to the Altar of Incense in the Holy Place, and then he brings the blood out to clean the Altar of Burnt Offering. The holiness of God comes out and then makes everything clean.

Altogether there was 49 sprinklings of blood, which is very significant, because 49 is 7 times 7, which is a special number.

Then after this, he would take the live goat and he would put his hands on the goat’s head and he would confess all the sins of the people over it. The High Priest would confess the sins of the people as if their sins were his own sins, and he was place these sins on the goat. Then a man would take the goat away into a remote place in the wilderness somewhere.

Now, after the goat had been sent away, then the High Priest would have to go into the tent of meeting and take off his linen vestments and leave them there. Then he would have to wash his whole body with water somewhere in there and put on his regular vestments that he would normally wear. Then he would make the normal burnt offering on the altar of burnt offering and sacrifice the ram.

You see how the Altar had to be cleaned first through the blood, and then the High Priest would offer the burnt offering. Also, after this, the bodies of the bull and the goat which were killed for the atonement in the Holy of Holies had to be carried out and burnt outside the camp.

You can see how the atonement is made in the Holy of Holies, and then the priest goes out to the Holy Place, and then to the Altar of Burnt Offering and everything becomes clean. The altar is made clean through the blood, and the dead animals are taken outside to a faraway place outside the camp.

Now, it’s taken me a long time to describe all this, and you might be scratching your head wondering what all this has to do with Good Friday.

On the day that Jesus died, as soon as he had breathed out his last breath on the cross, we read that the curtain of the temple was torn in two. In the past, the High Priest could only enter into God’s presence once a year and with very strict conditions. Now the blood of Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, is presented before the Holy of Holies, and Jesus opens up the curtain for us to enter into God’s presence. You can see in our churches today, there is no curtain in front of the altar. We all come and enter into the sanctuary and receive Christ’s body and blood.

Jesus’ blood has been sprinkled on the mercy seat, not on earth in the temple, or in the tabernacle, but before God’s own throne in heaven. Jesus’ blood makes atonement for all our sins and gives us full access into God’s presence. We don’t come into God’s presence because we are pure, but we enter into God’s presence because of the blood of Jesus Christ, which he shed for us on Good Friday.

The High Priest only entered in once a year, but now we are all made priests through the blood of Christ, and we enter into God’s presence with the blood of Christ shed for our sins, and we offer our prayers to God. When Jesus ascended into heaven, he brought his holy and precious body and blood with him and stands there as the one perfect sacrifice for all sin. There is no need to atone for our sins once a year, but on Good Friday atonement was made for every day to come.

And just as Jesus goes into the Father’s presence, so he is always coming out of the Father’s presence to make everything clean, offering us his gifts of baptism, washing us pure from all condemnation, and giving us the gifts of his body and blood to eat and drink in the Lord’s Supper. And he gives these things and applies them to us.

Jesus death tore the curtain in two. His atonement, his death, his sacrifice, ripped through the curtain and cleanses us of all sin. Jesus is true God and true man. Because he is a man he has blood, and because he is true God that blood has divine power to make us clean not just outside but inside of us: our hearts, our minds, our souls, our consciences. And we go and we enter through a new and living way through the curtain. We enter into a new and living way into the Father’s presence through the holy and precious blood of Jesus.

All our sin and condemnation is laid on Jesus. Jesus absorbs it just like the goat. He went out into the wilderness with Satan, and he won the victory over the devil. All the sins of the world are placed on Jesus just as if they were his own sins and he dies for them. And just like the bull and the other goat, Jesus was carried out of the city and burnt on the cross. He endured all the fire of God’s anger against sin and all the fire of his love for the world, and was made a perfect burnt offering for us. And when he had done it all and when he had made his atonement, he said, “It is finished.”

So Good Friday brings an end to the Jewish Day of Atonement. We have been reconciled to God through the blood of Jesus.

Hebrews 13 says: The bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured.

So on this Good Friday, let’s praise our Lord Jesus Christ for his perfect sacrifice made once and for all. Let’s praise him for the atonement for our sins which he made with his own blood. Let’s continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, because on this day, on this Good Friday, the perfect blood of Jesus—true God and true man—was shed for you, so that you can enter into the Holy Places of heaven, and walk into the heavenly Jerusalem with him. Just as he said to the thief next to him, “Today, you will be with me in Paradise.”

Amen.

Lord Jesus Christ, we praise you for your sacrifice, for your offering, for your atonement which you made for us with your blood and with your own body and life. Forgive us and purify our hearts with this same blood, and give us the confidence to enter into the Holy Place of heaven. Send us your Holy Spirit from the Father’s throne, and make us holy together with you. Amen.

Funeral for Brenda Avis [1 Corinthians 6:19b-20a] (5-Feb-2018)

This sermon was preached at the Maryborough Crematorium, 1pm.

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and form our Lord Jesus Christ.

You are not your own, for you were bought with a price.

Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus, send to all of us your Holy Spirit, to me that I may preach well, and to all of us that we may hear well. Amen.

At a Christian funeral, we come together to hear about two things. The first thing is that we come to remember the life of a person who has died. Today we have heard the life-story of Brenda, who was a wife, a mother, a grand-mother and friend to all of us who have gathered here today. She lived a particular life that no-one else has lived.

But also there’s a second thing that we also come to hear about at a Christian funeral, and that is that we come to remember the life of Jesus Christ, who also died, but three days later, rose again from the dead. Jesus also lived a particular life that no-one else has lived, and because he has risen from the dead, he is still living, he is still alive, and is the Saviour of the world.

And we might think: what has Jesus got to do with a funeral? We’re not having a funeral for Jesus. However, when we come to a funeral, the death of our loved one, the death of Brenda, is sad news. But the death of Jesus and the fact that he rose again from the dead is good news. The fact that Brenda has died is the reason we have come together today in our grief. But the fact that Jesus has died and rose again is the reason why we have comfort.

When we sit and write a eulogy or an obituary for a person, we like to give a picture of that person, and we have been given a bit of a picture today of who Brenda was and the impact that she had on us. Also, there are certain facts about her life: her mum gave birth to her in Kingaroy, she was baptised there—here’s the beginning of her life. But also in the last few days, her earthly life has come to an end.

And also, we read in the bible about the life of Jesus Christ. He was born at a certain time, not in Queensland, or in Australia, but in Israel, in a small town near Jerusalem, called Bethlehem. He was born of a human mother, but didn’t have a human father. God the Father was his Father, and his mother was a virgin. And just as many people today are born in very humble circumstances, Jesus also was born in a stable, and put in the feeding trough that the animals would eat out of. Christians believe then that Jesus was both a true man, and a true human being like each of us, and also that he was true God, at the same time. He is both a true man and true God in one person. Everything that Jesus did was God’s work. When he touched someone or spoke to someone, it wasn’t just a man touching or speaking to someone, but this was God. He had God the Father as his Father, and also a real human woman as his mum.

Now, all of us are not God. We have two human parents—and we all know that all of our parents have their faults. And right from childhood, no-one ever needs to teach a kid to be naughty, they do it completely by themselves. So when we were born, we were born as sinners. Sin is not just doing wrong things, but includes wrong words, wrong thoughts, and also sin is the way in which our whole thinking and our minds and our hearts are turned away from God from the very start. Just as we inherit all kinds of good things from our parents, we also inherit a family debt, which is passed on from generation to generation. We are all part of the human race, and even though God created us, and was pleased with human beings, the human race fell into sin. So when we come to the funeral of a person who has died, we have many things to be thankful for which we received from their unique life. But also, as Christians, we don’t pretend that the person was sinless, or perfect.

Now, when we look to Jesus, the exact opposite is the case. Because Jesus was not just a man but also true God, he had no sin at all. There was nothing wrong in anything that he thought, that he said, or that he did, and his whole mind and heart and thinking was completely in harmony with God the Father in every single thing that he did. The book of Hebrews in the bible says that Jesus in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. So with us, we were created and made with a body and a soul at a particular time in our mother’s womb. So was Jesus in his mother’s womb, but unlike us, he also existed right from before the beginning of time, because he was God, and so when he was conceived in his mother’s womb, he entered into the world and he took on a human body and human flesh.

Now, even though Jesus was not a sinner like us, he took on himself all the sin of the world. You see, a crime needs to be punished. If we find ourselves in a situation where someone has committed a terrible crime against us, and they do not serve their time in prison for it, we think that justice wasn’t done. And we might look at our life and have some really serious regrets for the things that we did or didn’t do. And then we start to think, “Now I have to live with it.” “I did the crime, now I have to do the time.” Or we think, “God’s already done with me. There’s no hope for me. There’s no turning me back. I’m getting my come-uppance. I deserve this.” And then we start to think, “I have to carry all of this by myself, because no-one can pay off someone else’s wrongs. I have to do the time for my own crimes.”

But here’s where Jesus comes in. All of that come-uppance, all of that payment, all of those loads that we all carry around, all the time for the crimes, all of that, Jesus took upon his shoulders. And what did he do with it? He made a payment. He was crucified, he was nailed to a cross. Getting yourself nailed a cross was the punishment that the Romans gave to rebels. If Ned Kelly or someone like that lived in Roman times he would have been crucified too. Jesus wasn’t a rebel, but he died the death of a rebel, and died for all the rebels in the world like you. We’ve all rebelled against God. And all that rebellion against God is on Jesus’ shoulders.

Now with Brenda, she was sick for a long time and struggled with bad health, and when she died, she died a very quiet and peaceful death at home in bed.

Jesus died quite a different death. He was whipped, beaten, flogged with whips, stripped of his clothes, made to carry his wooden cross, and then they nailed him to it. And in enduring all of this, Jesus suffered and died for the sin of the whole world. He made a perfect sacrifice for you. All your debt, everything in your life that you’ve ever completely stuffed up, every single second of the time for your crimes, all your come-uppance was put on him and came down on him. When someone says to you that you’re getting your come-uppance, you can say that what has “come up” on me “came down” on Jesus. That’s what the little verse means that I read at the beginning of the sermon: You are not your own, for you were bought with a price.

But here’s the next thing: After Jesus died he was buried. And he didn’t stay buried for long, but he rose again three days later on Easter Sunday. He’s not a ghost, he’s not an angel, he’s not a disembodied spirit… but his body and soul came back to life, he walked out of the tomb, and he will never die again. And he goes to his Father with all of our accounts, with all of the debts of our sins and crimes, and all of our rebellion, and he presents it to his Father, with a red stamp on it. This is the red stamp made with his blood which he shed for you. And the stamp says: Paid in full. Nothing owing. You were bought with a price. You belong to me.

And sometimes, we might think: Yeah… maybe Jesus died only for the good people, but not for me. That’s not what the bible says. It says: God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. It doesn’t say: God so loved the good people. It says: God so loved the world. Also John says: He is the propitiation for our sins—propitiation means atonement, or sacrifice, or payment—and then he says: and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. And if it says: the whole world, it means, that your sins have been paid for too.

You are not your own, but you were bought with a price.

And so, here we see how when we come to grieve a loved one, like Brenda today, because God created her, we see a life full of blessings that we have received, and we also see because of sin a life with debts still owing and payment still to be made.

But all of our debts and payments that all of us have, were never going to be paid by any of us individually, because that would be completely impossible. And so at a Christian funeral, we also remember the life of Jesus Christ, because he is our Saviour, and he is not just a true man, a human being like you and me, but also true God. And because he is God, we know that there is going to be nothing owing, nothing still to be paid, nothing wanting, but everything paid in full, everything dealt with, everything stamped and sealed with his holy and precious blood.

You are not your own, but you were bought with a price.

And that same Jesus says to us today: Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted. Amen.

Dear Jesus, we commend our hearts and our minds, our bodies and souls, into your hands. Strengthen us in the comfort of your word in our time of grief, and send to each one of us your Holy Spirit. Amen.

Memorial Service for Roy Hoffmann [1 Corinthians 15:51-58] (28-Nov-2017)

This sermon was preached at Grace Lutheran Church, Childers, 11am.

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on immortality, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Prayer: Lord, sanctify us in the truth. Your Word is truth. Amen.

You know: death really isn’t all that mysterious.

At least, it isn’t mysterious in the same sense that St Paul says in these words for us today: Behold! I tell you a mystery!

Death happens, we see it, we know it. We could say it’s kind of mysterious how death has such a profound effect on us. We could say it’s mysterious how death arouses in us a desire for eternity. We could say that it’s kind of mysterious how we grieve when someone dies, like Roy. We could say it’s mysterious.

But that’s not what St Paul’s talking about when he says: Behold! I tell you a mystery!

When St Paul says these things: it’s a bit like when the Prophet Isaiah says: A voice says, “Cry!” And I said, “What shall I cry?” All flesh is grass... the grass withers, the flowers fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. That’s a mystery!

Or when Jesus gathers his disciples together on top of a mountain, sits down like a king on his throne with the majesty that belongs to him, opens his mouth and teaches his disciples and says: Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted. That’s a mystery! – Blessed are those who mourn.... for they will be comforted. What a promise! But what will they be comforted with? They will be comforted with the mystery of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Therefore, as St Paul says, we do not grieve as others do who have no hope.

And it’s this mystery that Paul wants to tell to the church of all times and all places when he says these words: Behold! I tell you a mystery. He wants to draw you in. He wants to invite you into the hidden chambers of God’s heart and show you what lies in store for each Christian who dies in the faith.

In Ephesians, St Paul says: To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things.

This mystery – he says – was hidden in the dark recesses of God’s heart. It wasn’t for us to know about it yet. But Paul says, I am called to preach this mystery to you. I am called to tell you that the unknown God has a name, and he has risen his Son Jesus Christ from the dead.

So, what St Paul says in our text today, echoes those words of Jesus: Blessed are you ears for they hear and your eyes for they see. For many of the prophets longed to hear what you hear and did not hear it, and to see what you see but did not see it. And so St Paul says: Behold! I tell you a mystery: we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.

Ask yourselves: Do you believe those words? Listen to how simple they are, and feel their power. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. As we come together today for Roy’s funeral, we come to give thanks for the life of a man that all of us so much enjoyed. We come to thank God for the great gift that he gave many people through the person of Roy.

And in some sense, Roy’s death marks somewhat the end of an era. It brings to end a chapter of family history. All of us here will miss Roy together, but in different ways and for different reasons. But it’s not the end, full stop. People outside the Christian faith will sit and ponder and consider whether or not there is an afterlife, or as people often say, a “here-after”.

But Christians not only believe that there is a “here-after”, but that it is takes a certain shape and has a certain form, and structure and order to it. It’s not something that’s non-descript, but in all its indescribability, St Paul, with such confidence, with such boldness, almost arrogance, and with such simplicity, sets out to describe what it looks like. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.

Right back in Genesis 3, after the fall into sin, God said to Adam: For you are dust and to dust you shall return. There’s also a famous passage in Ezekiel where the prophet is brought into the middle of a valley of dry bones, and God says to him, Son of Man, can these bones live? What a wonderful confession of faith it is to come to the church today and say Amen to these words: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.

In our Gospel reading which we read today we heard about Lazarus, and his sister Martha. Before he arrives at Martha’s house, Jesus says to his disciples: Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, and I go to wake him up.

There was also an occasion when Jesus saw all the people outside Jairus’ house, weeping and carrying on because of the death of his daughter, and he said: Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.

So our confession of faith today is not simply that Roy Hoffmann has died, but something even more profound, he has fallen asleep with Jesus, in Jesus, he rests in Jesus.

Behold, I tell you a mystery! We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.

We shall not all sleep, but we shall gathered together again and transformed and glorified, and awake again to see another day, a more glorious, and a brighter day that we have ever seen before.

We shall all be changed. How? In a moment, in a twinkling of an eye. When? At the last trumpet.

For the trumpet shall sound, says St Paul, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.

It’s true when the prophet Isaiah says: All flesh is grass. The grass withers and the flowers fade.

And for many of us, it’s been a difficult thing to see these words come to fulfilment in Roy’s body in the last few months. We’ve learnt from experience now, that this body is in actual fact perishable. We learn this from our observances, our experience.

Now, we learn something new by faith, and only by faith. We learn something new now not through our eyes, but through our hears. St Paul says: Faith comes by hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

For the trumpet will sound and dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.

Today we are not here to just commemorate the end of something. Christian funerals and memorials are occasions where we commemorate the preparation for something new, for the future work of God that we still wait for – we look forward to the resurrection of the dead.

St Paul writes: When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”

Do you hear those words: Death is swallowed up. Devoured! Chewed up and crunched to bits.

Death is swallowed up in victory!

Dreams are swallowed up with realities!

Hopes and wishes are swallowed up with real things!

Faith is swallowed up by sight!

Tears are swallowed up with joy!

Suffering is swallowed up with peace!

Mourning is swallowed up with comfort!

Death is swallowed up with resurrection, with victory.

That’s what we come here today to confess as a Christian church: that each Christian will be healed by Jesus from their perishability, each Christian will be healed from their mortality, each Christian will be healed from their corruption.

In the Apostles’ Creed we say: I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Christian church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

Can you see the order, the structure here? The Holy Spirit calls us by the gospel into the church, in the church we become a fellowship, a communion of holy people, of saints through Holy Baptism, in this Christian church our sins are daily and richly forgiven, and then this forgiveness of sins blossoms into the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.

Everything in our text today from St Paul is completely beyond our experience. These are things that are only grasped by faith. In a sense, the Scripture speaks to us from the other side of the grave from one who has seen what is there and now tells us who are still here. And what is seen there on the other side of the grave is so great and so magnificent, that it can only be told to us, by saying: Behold! I tell you a mystery!

In the last two verses of this text today, we read:

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

The death of a person is a testimony that they like everyone was conceived and born in sin. The only exception to this is Jesus Christ himself, who became sin for us, and took on sin for us.

That’s the sting we feel and experience today. The sting of death is sin. As St Paul says: The wages of sin is death.

But then we also read: But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

We already heard before that death will be swallowed up by victory. But here’s the thing: Here, the text says: But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

We don’t earn the victory! We don’t work for the victory. God simply gives us the victory, as a free gift, through our Lord Jesus Christ.

And it doesn’t say, he will give us, but he gives us the victory, now, in the church, through Holy Baptism and through faith. He gives us the victory every time we eat and drink the body and blood with all those who have been given the victory before us, with the angels and archangels and all the company of heaven.

Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

May God bless us today as we remember Roy, whom we knew and loved. Jesus himself knows the sting: he wept himself at the death of Lazarus. But he has died for your sins on the cross, and risen again for them, as a physical and historical proof that you will also rise with him, and also, as St Paul says, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.

Jesus himself says: Blessed, blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted.

Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep but we shall all be changed. Amen.

And the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

Funeral of Elaine Hansen [Luke 23:39-43] (8-Nov-2017)

This sermon was preached at the Maryborough Crematorium, Maryborough, 1.30pm.

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.

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.”

Prayer: Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

Today as we come here for Elaine’s funeral, we have the wonderful privilege of entering into God’s presence, and receiving our comfort from him. Every time we gather together to hear God’s word, there is always something new to learn from him. God’s own comfort is not something that is natural to us, because we are human and he is God, and so it always must be taught. Especially today when we gather for a funeral in the face of death, it is a wonderful privilege and joy to receive our strength and comfort from God himself.

And so today we come together to thank God for Elaine’s life, to remember the good things that God has given to us through her, and to commend her to God and his mercy and grace.

Today for our funeral text, I’ve chosen a passage from the Gospel of Luke, from the part where he tells about the events of when Jesus was on the cross. Often when we see the cross depicted in a painting, or something, there are three crosses. The reason for this is because Jesus was crucified between two criminals, one on his right and one on his left. And our reading tells of a discussion that occurs between the two criminals and Jesus while they are there.

But let’s just leave this passage for a moment, and come back to Elaine. On the 18 March 1928, at the Nitschinsk family home, Elaine was baptised in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. The reason why this was because we Christians believe that Jesus died for the sin of the world on Good Friday and on Easter Sunday he rose from the dead. After he rose from the dead, he sent his twelve apostles out on a special mission and to them: Go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age.

And so when the pastor, all those years ago baptised Elaine at her family’s home, he didn’t baptise her in his own name, and by his own authority. Instead he baptised her in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And Jesus promised the apostles: I am with you always to the end of the age. So it’s not simply a pastor, or a human being, who baptises people, it is Jesus who does it. He is the one who works invisibly alongside and behind the pastor doing it.

So who is the Father, Son and Holy Spirit? Well, let’s go back to the very beginning of the bible, where it says: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. It also says that he made people in his own image, male and female he created them, and God blessed them. We also read where it says: And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. Later in the psalms, the poetry written by King David, it says: You formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

We learn here from these passages that God is our creator and maker. God has made each person on this earth in his own image, but also makes each person unique. And it’s not as if God simply wound the world up like a clock, and then went on holiday ever since. He still provides for people and for the world. And so, when Elaine was a child, God provided her with a mother and father and a home. When she was older, God provided her with a husband, and children, and a home of her own. God provided her to you, however you came about to know her. And so all of this is part of God’s way of ordering the world, and providing for us and looking after us.

We also learn from the Scripture, that the world fell into sin. Adam and Eve, the first people, disobeyed God’s commandment to them, and they came under God’s judgment. They once could enjoy God’s presence in a perfect and wonderful way, but then after they had brought sin into their lives by their own doing, they could no longer live in the same way together with God anymore. With sin, came also suffering and death into the world. What this means for us today is that on one hand, all of us have been created in a wonderful way by God. And from our parents, we have inherited all kinds of good things. But also, because of sin, we also inherit the family debt. With all the good things that are passed down from generation to generation, sin is also passed down. We know that you don’t have to teach a child to do wrong—they do it all by themselves, because it’s already there, and it doesn’t need to be taught! St Paul says: There is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. And later he says: The wages of sin is death.

But this brings us back to words that were spoken to Elaine on the day of her baptism: in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. We have spoken about God the Father, our wonderful Creator, but also about the terrible way in which sin has come into the world. God the Father also sent his Son into the world, Jesus Christ. Jesus is both a true man, a real human being in every way, but also was true God at the same time. This is because Jesus had a human mother—the Virgin Mary—but had God the Father as his Father. And so, Jesus also lead a life that was completely and totally sinless.

Now, at Christmas time, we remember the event where Jesus was born. We remember the wonderful event where the Son of God who had existed from all eternity, who had been there with his Father at the creation of the world, now took on human flesh, and was born as a baby, just like you and I were. Christmas is the event where we remember who Jesus is—both true God and true man in one person. And then at Easter time, we remember the event what Jesus did, how he died on the cross, and rose again from the dead.

And this passage that I read before about the two criminals shows to us why Jesus died. And these two criminals in some sense give a picture of the whole human race. Everyone is a sinner without exception. And so the first criminal, we read, railed at Jesus—we might say, he mocked him, heckled him. And said: Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us! What he meant to say was: If you really are the Son of God, why don’t you just get down off the cross? You don’t have to go through this!

And in some sense, he’s right. Jesus didn’t have to go through it, but he chose to. Jesus had once said: No-one takes [my life] from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. So why doesn’t Jesus just get off the cross, if he has the power and the authority being the Son of God to do so? He doesn’t get off the cross, because he is doing something very important, in fact, he is doing the most important thing that has ever been done in the whole history of the world. He is making an atonement for sin, he is paying the price for our wrongs with his own life and with his own blood. And without him doing this, not one single one of us would have any hope at all.

And so this is where the other criminal comes in. We read: The other [criminal] rebuked him, meaning, he told him off, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.”

He says: What’s wrong with you? We’re being crucified because we committed a crime. The Romans used to crucify people who were rebels. And so these rebels knew that they were rebels, and they knew what the punishment was if they were caught. And now they had been caught. And the criminal says: we deserve what we are getting. But Jesus hasn’t done anything wrong. He doesn’t deserve crucifixion, but he is doing it for you. He has done nothing wrong, and he makes a payment for you, who have done plenty wrong. And so, Jesus takes all of your sin and dies for it, and he gives you all of his innocence and perfection and he gives it to you, completely freely. St Paul says: The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. For Jesus eternal life costs him his life, but because of this, he offers and gives it to you for free.

And so the criminal then says to Jesus: Jesus, remember me, when you come into your kingdom. And [Jesus] said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” Jesus does not require anything from this criminal. The criminal commends himself to Jesus and his mercy. And Jesus promises him the gift of eternal life.

There’s a wonderful text in the book of Romans, where St Paul says: God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all. What this means is that the only person God has mercy on is a sinner. The only people that Jesus died for are sinners. This is what the thief on the cross came to recognise. He knew he was guilty, and that Jesus was innocent, and Jesus takes him with him, just as if the thief were innocent. The reason Jesus did this is because Jesus had taken the thief’s guilt on himself, and died for it himself.

And so, in the same way, we thank God for giving Elaine to us, and for blessing us with her. Let’s thank God for creating her, and thank Jesus for the wonderful way in which he died on the cross, and made an atonement for the sin of the whole world. And so, as we remember all the many blessings we have received from God through Elaine, let’s commend her to God’s mercy and grace.

Jesus says: Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted. Amen.

And the peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and your minds safe in Christ Jesus. Amen.