Psalm 130 & 143 – God is a lousy counter

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Here is my double interview on Psalms 130 and 143 from Issues Etc. from yesterday.

This is the end of my seven part series on the Penitential Psalms.  It follows on the heels of a 4 or 5 part series I did last fall on the complaint Psalms.  It’s been a lot of fun, and Rev. Todd Wilken is a master interviewer.  I really love the Psalms.  They speak of the heartache and sadness that all sinners experience, and yet point us to the hope that is in Christ Jesus.  It’s been a fun ride.  Hopefully the next cycle will be on some “happier” Psalms.  I wouldn’t want everyone to think I’m all gloomy or anything!

Anyway, enjoy.

-LL

Hosanna! Save us now (Palmarum)

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Todd A. Peperkorn, STM
Messiah Lutheran Church
Kenosha, Wisconsin
Palm Sunday (March 28, 2010)

TITLE: “Hosanna!”

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text is the Gospel lesson for Palm Sunday from St. Matthew chapter twenty one as follows: “Hosanna to the Son of David! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’ Hosanna in the highest!”

Years before our Lord entered into Jerusalem, another unrecognized King came into the Holy City. A young man, David by name, had been anointed king by the prophet Samuel. He had defeated the giant Philistine, Goliath. Although he was little more than a boy, God had made him a king and a mighty warrior. How is it that this boy defeated his enemies? He defeated them by trusting in the Word of God. He defeated them not because he was strong or sneaky or fierce. He defeated them because David knew that it was the Lord that fights for us, and not we ourselves. So it was that when he entered into Jerusalem with King Saul, the women of the city sang to one another:

“Saul has struck down his thousands,
and David his ten thousands.” (1 Samuel 18:7)

You can imagine that King Saul was not happy with this turn of events. David had done nothing wrong. He had done everything right, in fact. He had defeated Goliath. He had become King Saul’s right-hand man. King Saul’s son, Jonathan, had befriended him. All he did was serve the King. The people recognized this, and cried out to him in love and support.
Let’s come back to Jesus now. It is Palm Sunday as we know it, a week before the Passover. Jesus came into His city, Jerusalem, to celebrate the Passover with his friends and disciples. Jesus, the Son of David of Bethlehem, had come to His city. Jesus, the Son of God, had come to redeem His people from their sins. He entered into the city on a donkey, an animal of peace. He came because He loved them. He came to die.

The people on that day spread their coats on the road, and they cut down palm branches from the trees and spread them along the road so that the dust would not be stirred up. As they did this they cried out and sang to Jesus,

“Hosanna to the Son of David! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’ Hosanna in the highest!”

Hosanna is an Aramaic word which means “save, I pray” or “help us now, I pray”. It’s the cry of a people who knew what Jesus could do. He had healed the sick and diseased. He had forgiven sins and walked on water. He had preached in their synagogues and on the steps of the Temple. He had raised the dead, even Lazarus, who had been dead four days. It was right they call out to Jesus to save them. That’s what Jesus does. He is the Savior, after all.

So what does this mean for you, dearly baptized? What does this mean for you, who languish in your sins, who suffer under the weight of sickness and death, and who long for the peace that passes all understanding? What it means is this. Christ our Lord entered into Jerusalem much like his forefather, David, did. Jesus was anointed to be your Messiah, your savior from sin, death and hell. When He entered into Jerusalem on a donkey, He did so for you. He did this so that you would not be afraid of Him, so that you would know that He has entered into our domain humble and lowly, and so that you would be at peace.

He did this by defeating the devil at his own game. David defeated Goliath by trusting in the Word of God and not in His own strength and might. Our Lord in the same way defeated the devil by humbly trusting in God’s Word. He knew that the Devil could never understand the depth of God’s love for sinners like you and I. One early Christian pastor put it this way:

So that He might deliver man from the bonds of the death-bringing transgression, Our Lord Jesus concealed the power of His majesty from the fury of the devil. Instead, He offered him the weakness of our inferiority. For had this proud and cruel enemy known the plan of God’s mercy, he would have tried not inflame the Jews with evil hate, so that he might not lose the slavery of all his captives. And so the devil was tricked by his own wickedness. He inflicted a torment on the Son of God which was changed into a medicine for all the sons of men. He shed innocent Blood, which then became both the price and the drink which restored the world. (St. Leo the Great)

He gives that drink today in His Holy Sacrament. This week we journey with our Lord to His cross and death, and He gives us holy food and drink to sustain us on the journey. You king has come to you now, humble and lowly. He comes to lift you up from the depths. He comes to raise you up to the right hand of God Himself. Come now. All things are ready. Come now and meet Him where He is. Amen.

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in true faith, unto life everlasting. Amen.

The Taste of Life (Judica, Lent 5)

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Todd A. Peperkorn, STM
Messiah Lutheran Church
Kenosha, Wisconsin
Judica, Lent V (March 21, 2010)
John 8:46-56

TITLE: “The Taste of Life”

How many of you know who the quarterback for the Packers was the last time they won the Superbowl? I thought so. How many of you would sit in the rain and sleet and snow to go to Lambeau field for a game? I thought so. Many of you would drive hundreds of mile and sit in terrible weather to watch the Packers, even if they lost. And I bet many of you, five months away, could tell me when the first game of the season is in September. And if it isn’t the Packers, it’s the Bears. And if it isn’t football, it’s baseball, or golf, or basketball, or sewing, or needlepoint, cars, or stamping, old movies, or some things I’ve never even heard of! If something is important to you, if it gets you going, then you will go through most anything and suffer quite a lot to make it happen. We all would.

Now let me ask you another question: How many of you know who the grandson of Boaz was? How many miracles did Jesus do in John’s Gospel? Why was it important for Abraham to say, “God Himself will provide for us a lamb” in our Old Testament lesson? For these and other questions of the faith, our answers are not so forthcoming.

Why is it that we will indulge our hobbies or even work to no end, and when it comes to spiritual matters they always get second place? That’s a pretty uncomfortable question, isn’t it? The fact is that each one of us makes choices and decisions that have deep spiritual consequences every day. We may not recognize them as such. Where do you put your time, treasures and talents? It is so easy to take Christ and the Gospel for granted, to assume that it will always be here or that this is just kind of window dressing to your life. You have more important things to do that hear God’s Word or send your children to Sunday School or the Academy, or even to pray for your nation in the time of war, or for your friends and family when they are in need. These things don’t come naturally, and so it is very easy for each of us to ignore them or reject them entirely.

There was another man, many years ago, who faced such a crisis of faith. His name was Abraham. Take your son, God said, your only son, the one whom you love, and go and sacrifice him on the mountain I will show you. God demanded perfect obedience from Abraham, even in the face of a request that seemed impossible and perhaps even sinful and wrong. Sacrifice your son. What kind of a God would make such a ridiculous and horrible request? Sacrifice your son. I am to give up my family, perhaps even my very life, or the life of my son, for God? It’s not reasonable. No, more than that. It’s wrong.

But God is always making impossible demands upon you, isn’t He? Keep my Law perfectly! Not when you feel like it. Not when it’s convenient. Perfectly. No exceptions. No backing out. That is God’s expectation.

Now, you might say, how can God demand something of you that you cannot possibly do? Think of it this way. When your credit card is maxed out, when you are up to your ears and debt and in mortgage, sooner or later the creditors are going to come to you and say, PAY UP! They’re not going to ask if you are able to pay or not. They’re not going to ask you if it interferes with your vacation plans this summer. They don’t care. You owe a debt. It is your responsibility to pay. If you can’t pay, well, that is not their fault. It’s yours for going into debt.

This is what scandalized the Jews. They knew they could not pay the debt of the Law. Their sin was overwhelming. Now when you are confronted with your sin, you have three options: repent, ignore it, or attack. They had tried ignoring their sins, and Jesus, to no avail. They could not see their sin and so could not repent. The only thing that was left for them to do was to attack. As our text says, Then they took up stones to throw at Him. At this point in John’s Gospel, the leaders turned against Jesus. They could not control Him. They could not ignore Him. They had to destroy Him. And in destroying Him, they actually brought about the salvation of the whole world.

Now what does this mean for you this Passion Sunday, and as we approach Holy Week, Good Friday and Easter? It means this for you. God’s Law is before you. He has declared you guilty. He knows your sin. You cannot hide from him. He calls on you to repent of you sins and recognize that you cannot save yourself. How will you respond to His call to repentance?
Understand, though, that the real scandal for the Jews and for us is not God’s Law, but it is His Gospel. What He demanded of Abraham, and what He demands of you, is what He Himself did on Calvary for you. You and I can’t make heads or tails of our lives. We can’t keep His Law, even if we wanted to do so.

But He did. He is the eternal Son of God. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He is the ram caught in the thicket that saved Isaac’s life. He is the lamb of the Passover that saved the lives of the Israelites. He is your sacrifice. He poured out His lifeblood on the cross so that you do not have to live under the threat of the Law. Cling to Christ, for in Him lies your redemption and your salvation.

Believe it for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

And now the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in true faith unto life everlasting. Amen.