The Lutheran Hour
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"Stumbling Over the Savior"
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Text: 1 Corinthians 1:23
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Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed. Can a 2,000-year-old Roman cross which once carried the corpse of a carpenter’s son remove Satan’s stumbling blocks from your life? Can a borrowed, empty tomb be God’s method of providing you the stepping stones that will take you into eternity? To the world, God’s faith filled facts seem like foolishness. But all who hear these statements today should know they are God’s Good News to transform their lives. Have you noticed, more often than not, the biggest stumbling blocks people encounter are themselves and their own foolishness? Not so long ago, in South Dakota, the state highway department got a call from a rancher to remove the Deer Crossing sign on the road that went by his house. His thinking was too many deer were being hit by cars, and he didn’t want them to cross there anymore.
Have you noticed the biggest stumbling blocks people encounter are themselves and their own foolishness? Not too long ago, a man, wanting to rob a downtown Bank of America, walked in and wrote his note: “This iz a stikkup. Put all your muny in this bag.” While waiting in line to give his note to the teller, he began to worry. Had someone seen him write the note? If so, they might call the police before he could finish the robbery. He left the Bank of America and crossed the street to the Wells Fargo bank. The clerk at Wells Fargo, having read the note, figured this fellow was not the brightest bulb in the string. She told him she couldn’t accept his stick-up note because it was written on a Bank of America deposit slip. She said he would either have to fill out one from this bank, or go back to the Bank of America. The robber said “OK,” and left. The police arrested the man as he was waiting in line at the Bank of America.
Have you noticed, more often than not, the biggest stumbling blocks people encounter are themselves and their own foolishness? One of my friends shared this one with me. He and his wife were picking up their new car at the dealership. Somewhat embarrassed, the salesman said their keys had been locked in the vehicle by accident. They went to the service department and found a mechanic working feverishly to unlock the driver’s side door. As they watched from the passenger’s side, my friend instinctively tried the door handle and discovered it was open. “Hey,” he announced to the technician, “It’s open!” “I know,” answered the young man. “I already got that side.”
Now, up to this point in our message, I’ve been sharing some silly stories–silly, but sad. Sad because those stories are true–which ought to make you glad they’re not your stories. Now, I’m not saying that in a facetious way. You probably are smarter than the folks I’ve been talking about. But you can’t get too smug. We may not stumble like the people in the stories. But we have stumbled, haven’t we? I don’t know what block has caused you to stumble, but I bet if I asked your children, your spouse, your parents, or your best friends, they would be more than glad to enlighten me. They’ve got a story or two about you that brings a smile to their faces and a blush of embarrassment or a flush of anger to yours. If you’re with them right now, they’ve already given you a knowing look, haven’t they? Odds are, you gave them a knowing look right back. None of us are immune to slipping on stumbling blocks. Most of the time those stumbles are nothing more than a bit of embarrassment. But if you stumble over something that stops you from seeing the Savior, it can be downright damning.
Goodness, did you hear that? That electrical snap was the sound of 10,000 brain synapses thinking the same thought. And that thought was, “This is another sermon. I’ve listened to sermons before and I don’t need another one. Christianity is dull and dreary, mind numbing and monotonous.” Those thoughts are what I might call stumbling blocks of the spirit. They are stumbling blocks that Satan is setting up to short-circuit the Lord’s message. Evil doesn’t want salvation to reach you, reclaim you, recycle and inspire you. For you, God’s message of Christ’s cross may seem like foolishness.
Is your life so perfect, so devoid of depression and dejection, despondency, misery and melancholy, that you don’t need to hear what God is trying to say to you? Are you absolutely positive what the Lord is saying to you today is foolish, fake, false and futile–a fairy tale for little children and a musing memory for old people? Watch where you’re walking, friend, because if that’s what you think, you’re tripping over Satan’s stumbling stones.
As long as the church has been preaching Christ crucified and risen, she has watched skeptics and cynics walk away from the Lord’s Good News of great joy. As they walk, some of them call over their shoulders, “I’ve heard it all.” They say, “When I was young, religion was stuffed down my throat.” Others say, “I’ve seen Christians. When I visited a church, they ignored me. When I heard a sermon, it bored me. When I work with Christians, they scandalize me.” Is that what you’re thinking? You think you know the Savior? Let me tell you, the disciples walked with Jesus for three years, and at the end of that time, they still didn’t really know Him (Acts 1:6). Odds are, if you haven’t come to Him and said, “Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner,” you don’t know Him either.
What you probably do know is the Hollywood version of our Lord. Hollywood has emphasized His fairness and taken away His fire; shown His seriousness and skipped His smile; promoted His poverty while denying His power; shown His suffering without understanding salvation; kept Him in a Christmas cradle and neglected Calvary’s cross; they have shown His sacrifice without understanding the salvation He died to win. In this partial picture of the Christ, the world joins in most gladly. The end result is most people see Jesus as a very boring man, who walked around telling people to give up this and stop doing that. This view, maybe yours, is Satan’s spiritual stumbling block designed to trip you up. If I had such an incorrect, incomplete, one-sided view of the Savior, I wouldn’t follow Him, either.
Maybe Hollywood’s stumbling block isn’t yours. What is your stumbling block–the one Satan has put in your path? Are you smart? Satan can use that smartness. He will whisper in your ear all kinds of smart questions. There will be questions that make you feel superior to those who have a simple faith that trusts the truth of Scripture. Are you lonely? Satan can use loneliness as a stumbling block, too. All he needs to do is send you someone who will give you the positive pats you long for, and soon you will find yourself separated from the Savior. Are you poor? Satan likes people in poverty. It’s easy to get them to believe that God doesn’t care. Have you suffered a loss–possibly loss of health or wealth or status or position? Satan has stumbling blocks labeled with those reversals. Each of them comes with Satan’s suggestion that the Lord has it in for you.
I don’t know what stumbling blocks Satan has placed before you. I can, however, even without having met you, describe what is happening in your life. See if this doesn’t fit. Things haven’t turned out like you thought they would. You go through your daily routines, but those routines are performed without joy. You wanted to make a difference with your life, but now the best you can hope for is that life won’t make too big a difference in you. The things in which you had hoped are threadbare and have holes. That which you thought would keep you secure is shoddy and no longer safe. The future which once seemed fair is futile. Your happiness has been scarred by stress and sorrow. Your dreams have darkened and you no longer are sure the sun will come out tomorrow. You have tried–tried as hard as you could to hold onto what was good, to be a compassionate and concerned individual, a faithful family member, a loyal employee, a responsible and reliable citizen. You tried, but it hasn’t worked out right. Everything seems sort of empty, kind of dark, and mostly hollow. If that is your life, then it’s time for the Holy Spirit to lead you up, over, or around Satan’s stumbling stones. If that is your life, I have good news.
Years ago, one night when I was serving my congregation in southwestern Minnesota, I was called to visit a parishioner in the hospital. I walked down the darkened corridor. Nobody was there except for the wonderful nurses on night duty. Suddenly and quite shockingly, a man I had never met before exploded out of one of the patient’s rooms. That’s usually not a good sign in a hospital. Seeing my clerical collar, he ran up to me, although I imagine just about anybody would have been suitable at that moment. At any rate, he ran up to me, grabbed my shoulders and said, with a beaming smile, “She’s going to make it. She’s better. She is going to make it.” And having shared that news, he kept on going. That’s it. He had good news, and it had to be shared. Never saw the man again. Don’t know the person he was talking about. I assume it was someone very special to him. I don’t have to guess that his good news couldn’t be contained. He had to tell somebody. He was ready to tell everybody.
That, my friends, is the situation in which I find myself today. I’ve got Good News. For those who have been stumbling around, my Good News is the Lord has led you to stumble upon the Savior. It isn’t accidental. It didn’t just happen. The Holy Spirit is calling you today. He has Good News. He’s given it to me, and I have to tell you about it.
Now the world doesn’t want that news to be told. Some years ago, the pastor of a North Carolina Catholic Church placed an array of Lenten crosses on the front lawn of his little congregation. It wasn’t long before he received a call from the Chamber of Commerce. He was told, “Look preacher, we’ve been getting complaints about those crosses in your churchyard. Inside the church, who cares? But out front, where everybody can see them, those crosses are offensive. The retired people don’t like them–they find them depressing. The tourists probably won’t like it, either. It’ll be bad for business. People come down here to get happy, not depressed.” No, the world doesn’t want you to hear about the cross of Christ. But I’ve got Good News to tell, and it’s got to be shared.
Ready? Here it is: “Jesus Christ, God’s Son, came into this world to save sinners. That’s you. It’s also me. Well, it’s everybody. He lived for sinners. He suffered for sinners. He died for sinners. He rose for sinners. He sends His Holy Spirit to rescue sinners. And you, my friend, are a sinner.” To which you may reply, ‘That’s good news?’ And I say, “Oh, yes. It is the best news you will ever hear.” It’s Good News, because, like that man in the hospital, I don’t know your name. I don’t know your situation. It doesn’t matter. I’ve got Good News, and that Good News says, “You’re going to get well.” By God’s grace, you’re going to get well. Jesus is the medicine that will make you well. No matter what’s gone wrong, no matter how bad a sinner you’ve been, by God’s power–through His Son–you can get well. This is God’s Good News that says you no longer have to be what you were. It’s God’s Good News that says your cure can be complete. Believe in this grace of God that comes to you on Christ’s cross. Nobody else can give a sinner that Good News. It comes through Christ alone. And I had to tell you.
It’s just that simple. God has a cure for what ails you. It is a cure which will change your life. Have you been searching for something you can rely on? The love of Jesus, His presence, His concern, His care, His power will always be there (Matthew 28:20). Have you been lonely? There is nowhere you can go where you can ever be separated from the love of God which comes to you in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:35-39). Have people let you down? Jesus Christ will always lift you up (James 4:10). Has your life been a fiasco of falsity and foolishness? Jesus has come so you might have life, and have it to the full (John 10:10). It’s there. With nail-pierced hands, He reaches out to you. He gives it to you. The peace that passes human understanding can be yours (Philippians 4:7). And that, my friends is not foolishness. That is not a stumbling block to trip you up. It’s God’s stepping stones to lift you up.
Years ago, an executive from a soap company and a famous pastor were walking down the street together. They were to attend a meeting where they were going to be honored by their city for their contributions. With a snide sort of smirk, the soap manufacturer offhandedly said, “Reverend, you know when you get right down to it, the good news the church has been preaching for a few thousand years hasn’t done that much good, has it? Take a look. Read the paper. Observe. There is still a whole lot of wickedness in the world, and a whole lot of wicked people doing that wickedness, too!” The pastor was quiet for a while. Not because he had nothing to say, but because he wanted to say his piece in the right way. They went about half a block down the street, passing a little child who was making mud pies in the gutter. The boys hands were dirty. His face was dirty. His clothes were dirty. Realizing the opportunity, the pastor said, “You know, I see that soap hasn’t done much good in the world. That boy shows me there is a whole lot of dirt and a whole lot of dirty people playing in it.” The soap executive rose up in defense and instantly replied, “Oh, Reverend, you know, soap is only useful when it’s used.” And the pastor said, “Exactly. So it is with the Good News of Christ crucified and risen.”
I’ve got Good News for you. Christ died and rose for you. I’ve got Good News. That cross of Christ can change things–can change you–if it is used. The mark of this sermon’s effectiveness is not whether you have listened, or if you turn to those around you and say, “That wasn’t as painful as I thought it would be.” The mark of a good sermon is if the Holy Spirit touches your heart, leads you to repentance, turns you around, and changes your life. The cross of Christ can do that, you know.
Last week I read about a little girl who proudly wore a shiny cross on a chain around her neck. I don’t think the cross was made of gold, or was especially valuable. But it was pretty and had found a special place over her heart. Things would have stayed that way, until one day she was approached by a man, one of those crabby kind of guys, that, thank heaven, you don’t meet very often. The man said, with acid in his voice: “Young lady, I imagine you think Jesus died on a cross for you. If He did, and I’m not saying He did, I don’t think that cross was pretty like the one you’re wearing. I think it was an ugly wooden thing. I don’t think you should wear it as a piece of jewelry. After all, you wouldn’t wear a hang-man’s noose or an electric chair around your neck, would you?” That little girl, placed in a position far too personal for her to deal with, responded with respect: “Yes, sir, I do believe Jesus died for me on a cross. And I know that His cross would not have been as pretty as mine. But I also know, sir, what they told me in Sunday school.” “And what was that?” the man queried. “In Sunday school, my teacher told me that whatever Jesus touches, He changes. I think that is true for this cross. I know that is true for me.”
I have Good News for you. We preach Christ crucified. Christ’s old, wooden cross has changed things in the past and will change things today. Once a hated and despised form of execution, a torturous form of death, it now is a symbol of hope and happiness. Jesus’ touch on the cross has changed things. Jesus’ touch on your life can change you as well. I have Good News for you. If you want to know more about this Good News–if you want to hear more about Christ crucified and risen, Lutheran Hour Ministries is prepared to help you. One of our friends will put you in touch with folks who can tell you about Jesus who changes things. The Good News waits. Come. Hear. Believe. Be touched by Jesus who is Good News of great joy. Amen.
LUTHERAN HOUR MAILBOX (Questions & Answers) for March 23, 2003
ANNOUNCER: We’re here in the studio with Pastor Ken Klaus. I’m Mark Eischer. Pastor Klaus, in today’s message you talked about the different stumbling blocks that keep people from finding peace with God through Jesus Christ. But I’ve noticed for many people, the Lord Himself is the stumbling block. Why is that?
KLAUS: Jesus has always been a stumbling block for people. He isn’t the Savior the world wants. Out of sinful human nature, it’s normal for people to want to do things–how did the old Frank Sinatra song go–do it “My Way.”
ANNOUNCER: Why do you say Jesus isn’t the Savior we want?
KLAUS: People never want God’s plans. They want their solutions. Look at the world after the Flood. God said, “Follow me.” The people said, “No, we’ve got a better idea.” The children of Israel in the wilderness wanted to do things their way. They wanted to go back to Egypt. They wanted to run away from the promised land. The people that felt that way died in the desert. When Jesus came into this world to give Himself for us, the world didn’t want Him, either. He became a stumbling block.
ANNOUNCER: Could you give us an example of that?
KLAUS: Certainly. The Pharisees wanted someone to follow the law. They weren’t talking about God’s law, here. They meant their own interpretations and additions. Jesus didn’t do that, and the Pharisees had no use for Him. The Zealots, the Jewish revolutionaries, wanted a Savior who would throw off the oppression of Rome. Jesus didn’t do that, and the Zealots turned away from Him. The people wanted someone who would feed them, heal them, and take care of their bodies. But Jesus came to feed and heal souls, not bodies. Jesus wasn’t the Savior the people wanted, so after Jesus’ first year of ministry, many of those people that had once followed him disappeared.
ANNOUNCER: Is that kind of thing still true today? Do people still find Jesus a stumbling block?
KLAUS: They do. But it’s probably worse today than it was in the days of Jesus.
ANNOUNCER: How so?
KLAUS: In Jesus’ day, people at least were looking for a Savior. But today, people like to think of themselves as self-sufficient, just as good as anybody else. To suggest that people need a Savior means they have to admit they’ve done something wrong, and people don’t like to admit that. They don’t like to think they need to repent. Although they may not put it in so many words, they think God is pretty pushy suggesting His commandments need to be followed.
ANNOUNCER: I suppose most people’s idea of repentance is to say, “Well, I’m not as bad as my neighbor.”
KLAUS: I had one pastor say that.
ANNOUNCER: So, Pastor Klaus, what is the answer?
KLAUS: I think it’s this way: I’m a Chicago boy. I don’t know a whole lot about farming. But I was a pastor in a farming community and know that in spring the farmers broke up the soil to do their planting. They knew the ground had to be ready if the seed was to grow, to get a harvest. In the same way, the Lord breaks up people’s self-assuredness so the seed of His Word will grow and they can be saved.
ANNOUNCER: How does the Lord break up our self-satisfaction?
KLAUS: By making us realize we’re helpless. I remember a young girl who was usually good in church. But one Sunday she was especially wiggily, disturbed the people, and ignored her dad. Eventually, her dad picked her up and started walking toward the rear of the church for an attitude readjustment. Before they got to the back of the church, the little girl called out, “Help, somebody save me.” That’s what the Lord does through His law. He gets us to the point where we say, “Help, save me.” In the law, the Lord holds up His perfection and says to people, “Can you do this?” An honest person, looking at God’s law will say, “Nope. Can’t begin to be perfect.”
ANNOUNCER: And then we call out, “Lord, save me. . . .”
KLAUS: The Lord tells us how we can be saved. The Lord shows us our sin through the law and He shows us salvation which comes to us through Jesus.
ANNOUNCER: But what did Jesus do?
KLAUS: He fulfilled the law. We couldn’t do that. He carried our sins, died our death, and rose from the dead to give us life.
ANNOUNCER: But since people don’t like to hear that, Jesus the Savior becomes Jesus the stumbling block.
KLAUS: Jesus becomes the stumbling block. Something God doesn’t want, and something we at Lutheran Hour Ministries–as part of Christ’s Church–don’t want, either.
ANNOUNCER: That’s why, friends, with God’s help, this broadcast will continue to preach a changeless Christ to a changing world. Thank you, Pastor Klaus. We thank you for your continued and faithful support. The next Lutheran Hour message is titled, “Under Construction.”