The Lutheran Hour
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"Approaching God"
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Text: Ephesians 3: 1-14
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Christ is risen. He is risen, indeed! Because the Holy Spirit calls God’s people by the Gospel, all who believe in the victory symbolized by the open, empty tomb know Jesus Christ has conquered death. No longer need we be afraid. We have been moved from death to life, from darkness to light. We are, by Jesus’ blood, able in complete safety and security to approach God with freedom and with confidence.
John the Baptist was born for the purpose of helping the world see God’s salvation. To do that, John became a voice from the wilderness calling out: “Prepare the way for the Lord. Make straight paths for him. Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth” (Luke 3: 4-6). With his words, John was very plain and understandable. His message was: “Repent, prepare, be baptized. Believe.” On Pentecost Sunday, when people asked Peter and the other apostles what they should do to be saved, they also heard a simple message: “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38). Sadly, since that time, many ministers, and I certainly don’t exclude myself from guilt here, have made God’s religion and His simple message of salvation, which comes through the blood of Jesus Christ, quite complicated.
Let me tell you what I mean. Regular listeners to “The Lutheran Hour” know every broadcast includes the Lord’s Prayer. Coming from the lips of the Savior, that prayer is the ultimate model of simplicity, sincerity, sanctity and supplication. From the beginning of our spiritual journey to its last moments, those familiar words of prayer provide power and peace and a link from sinner to Savior; from earth to heaven, from the temporal to the eternal. See what I mean? I’m doing it now. Ministers sometimes take the simple and make it complicated.
Today, on “The Lutheran Hour,” we’re going to put away the 25 cent words and speak simply of the Savior’s salvation. Let’s start this way. All of you listening to this broadcast have three things in common. First, each of you had to be born. I know that’s not very deep, but we said we were keeping it simple. Regarding your birth, you had no input. Your parents did not consult you for preferences. Since, at this point, you can’t do a whole lot about your birth, we won’t spend any time discussing it. The second thing all of us share is that unless the Savior comes in the fairly foreseeable future, we will all have to die. In this event, as well, you will have little or no input and generally will not be consulted. Once again, we will not spend a lot of time talking about dying–at least not directly. The third and final similarity we share and the topic and focus of this message is each and every one of us will have to stand before our Creator, our Judge. At that time, He will either take us to heaven or send us to hell. It’s just that simple.
There are, I imagine, a lot of reactions, objections, and protests to that last statement about too-late-day. But, when you think about it, I believe you’ll find your options and opinions, are pretty much the same as if you were sitting on some railroad tracks and I warned you, “A train is coming.” To that simple piece of information, you can go one of three ways. First, you can ignore me-ignore the possibility of a train and live your life as if those tracks upon which you sat had absolutely no purpose. You could say, “I’ve never seen a train. I’ve never touched, tasted, smelled or heard a train. You’re pulling my leg. I think such a machine is impossible and your warning is preposterous.” If this was your opinion, you could continue on as if those tracks were there solely for decoration, and of course, to help third-grade art instructors teach their children how to draw “in perspective.” In disregarding these words of warning, you would eat on those tracks, sleep on those tracks, work on them, raise your family, build a house and, all-in-all, live unaware, unmindful and unprepared. You would never be worried, never be concerned. You would live and die believing those tracks were merely a happenstance, a unique freak of nature.
Is that your assessment and appraisal? Is that what you really believe? You are not alone. Hundreds of millions of people agree with you. They, like you, dismiss the probability of God, His guidance, His grace, as well as the possibility of His judgment. No, you are not alone in your belief.
Thousands of years ago, before the flood of Noah, most people held to that position. When God, in an act of divine recycling, sent a global flood they found out they were wrong. Scripture, recounting that time, says: “… In the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man” (Matthew 24:38-39). Did you get that last little bit? Just as the flood showed the deniers and doubters, they were wrong, dead wrong, so you should know that Jesus is coming in judgment. The train is rolling down history’s tracks, and unless you move, your eternal future is hopeless.
Look, aren’t you willing to admit the complexity of a train with all its mechanical bits and pieces, shows the hand of a maker? Of course you do. I do, too. It would be foolish to deny it. Having allowed that, I encourage you to look to the heavens. The cycle of the sun and stars is far more complex than any train system. Their schedule is more intricate than any train timetable. Are you saying the train tracks could only come from some rational being? I agree. Someone designed them to go somewhere, to do something. So, too, God has designed everything, everything you see around you with a purpose. God has made it so you might know He exists and, therefore, praise and glorify Him (Psalm 97:6).
Let me put a dent in your doubts. Look at a baby in her crib. Is it possible that this child, so intricately and wonderfully made, has the sole purpose of being born in pain, using up the earth’s resources in ignorance and then, after a short time die, only to become food for worms? The philosophers of the world say “No.” The great religions of the world all say “No.” If you look within your heart, you will hear a wonderful whisper; a God-planted thought that says, “No. There is a God. He has a purpose and has given you one, too.” My friends, the train is coming and you are on the tracks. Believe what you want, as hard as you want, as long as you can. The train is coming. Death is coming. You will be judged. On that day how will you approach the Judge? Will it be with Jesus’ blood-bought freedom? Will it be with complete confidence in Christ?
It is my prayer, and I imagine the prayer of many of your friends, that you do not continue to keep clutching at your position, which is based on such invalid and indefensible perceptions. If you are at this moment unsure of your past position; if you feel the least bit shaky, you should know what you feel is the Holy Spirit tugging on your heart. He is reaching out to save you. He is calling you to faith. He wants you to turn from what you were, what you didn’t believe, and where you were headed, to a faith that can offer you so much more than “we live, die, and goodbye.” The train is coming. Death is coming. Judgment is coming. Get off the tracks. If you want someone to take your hand and help you relocate spiritually; if you’re not sure which way to go; if denial is all you have ever known, Lutheran Hour Ministries is ready to help Call us.
Of course, there are other opinions to the train’s approach. Denial of Jesus’ impending judgment is not the only position people hold onto. For example, there are some listeners, who, having looked at life, are convinced there is a caring Creator. You believe you are a sinner. You believe you need a Savior. You know there is a right and wrong, reckoning, and retribution. In short, you believe there is a train, and you believe it’s coming. You want to get off the tracks – but you want to do so at your time and on your terms.
If you believe you can negotiate death and judgment day; if you think you can postpone your commitment to the Christ, then you may draw some limited comfort from the knowledge that you also are not alone. But this comfort will be very limited. In Jesus’ day folks played the same game with God. For years, Jesus, God’s Son, and our saving substitute, preached the train was coming and everyone should get off the tracks. He didn’t say it that way. That’s what He meant. He said, “The kingdom of God is at hand, that people should repent of their sins and follow Him” (Mark 1:15).
When the people heard the train coming, some of them said, “Jesus, we will follow You. We have every intention of doing so, but first we have some family obligations to take care of” (Luke 9:59). Some said, “We’re going to follow You Lord, but, you know, if You don’t mind all that much, we’ve got to watch over our investments” (Mark 10:22). These people knew the train was coming. They knew they should get off the tracks. But it didn’t happen. Why? Because they were willing to move only on their terms and their timetable.
Now, let me ask-if you were God-if you had loved a sinful world enough to send and sacrifice Your only Son so all who believe might be saved, how would you react when you heard excuses and negotiations? If you were God, what would you do if people minimized the mission of the Christ and presented their priorities as being of prime importance? If you were God, how would you feel about humanity’s excuses?
I know, I know, some of you are saying, “If they were good priorities and good excuses, I wouldn’t mind so much.” You’re thinking, “I’m considerate and compassionate, empathetic and sympathetic. I respect people when they make excuses. I think God ought to do the same.” Really? If your paperboy failed to deliver the news on Mondays and Fridays, you wouldn’t get upset, would you? You wouldn’t call his boss and complain. No, you would think, “I’m sure that paperboy had a good reason for missing me and then you would forget it.” And suppose your car started two out of three times, you wouldn’t get cranky. You would say something like, “A car is a very complex bit of machinery. I know beyond any doubt there must be some very good reason why it doesn’t run.” If your electricity or freezer quit every once in a while, you would be content with the knowledge they work most of the time. If your water heater slaps you with a cold shower one or two mornings a week, it would be OK, wouldn’t it?
Similarly, if you didn’t show up at work two or three times a month, your boss would be content with your excuses, wouldn’t he? He knows you have some very personal and particular priorities. I’m absolutely positive if you miss a couple of mortgage payments or a car payment or two during the course of the year, the people to whom you owe the money would sigh and say, “You know, 10 months out of every 12 isn’t bad. We’ll just forget it.”
No, you expect a paper to be there because you’re paying for it. You expect a car to run, electricity to flow, a freezer to freeze, and a water heater to heat. Your bank expects you to make your house payments, your car payments, because it’s right that you do so. Because your boss is paying you, he expects you to be at work more than most of the time. Excuses are unacceptable; negotiations are non-negotiable. Following the Savior who paid for your salvation at the cost of His own life, is not something that should be debated.
Are you too busy for the Savior? Do you have excuses as to why you aren’t ready to follow Him? Are too many things shoving Him to the side? My friends, when has He ever been too busy for you? Read the Gospel accounts. He left heaven, a major inconvenience, a mighty sacrifice, to be born in a Bethlehem stable so you might be adopted into the family of faith. So you might be able on judgment day to be freed from the sentence that sin brings; so you might approach God with freedom and confidence, rather than fear and terror. Jesus fulfilled the law.
You slip on Satan’s stumbling stones, but Jesus always walked a straight path for your salvation. He offered no excuses. He didn’t wake up one morning and say, “I think today I’m going to do a little lusting, a little stealing, a little cursing, a little coveting and a little killing.” Every minute Jesus lived, in every situation He encountered, saving you remained His highest priority. Do you have friends? Jesus could have had friends. With His ability to perform miracles, He could have had friends, fortune, family, fun and anything else that touched His fancy. He chose to save you. He carried your sins. He didn’t leave a single one of them behind. Your most loathsome thought, your most twisted perversion, your most devious deed, Jesus saw that sin, picked it up, and carried it to His cross. No excuses. No negotiations. No exceptions. Without complaint He died for you (Isaiah 53:7). You were His priority. Following Him, believing on Him, trusting Him, should be yours. The train is coming, and as you know, trains accept no excuses, exceptions, or negotiations.
Today, not tomorrow, not someday, but right now, the Lord is giving you a warning-the train is coming. Listen to the Lord’s alert. Tomorrow may be too late.
Years ago, a British express train was racing through the night. Its powerful headlamp speared the fog ahead. This train was special for it carried Britain’s Queen Victoria. Suddenly, revealed in the beam of the train’s headlight, the engineer saw a figure in a black cloak. On the middle of the tracks, he was waving his arms. It took but a second for the engineer to throw the brake lever, a little longer for the train to scream to a halt. The engineer, along with the other railroad employees, got out to find the fellow who had stopped them. The man was gone. They did, however, find a section of track that had been washed out by a swollen stream. The engineer cringed at the thought: if the unfound man in the black cloak had not stopped them, they would have derailed, creating a national catastrophe. Eventually the bridge was repaired and the train finished its trip in London. There, the mystery of the man in the black cloak was discovered. At the base of the engine’s headlamp was a great moth. The engineer studied it, wet its wings and pasted it to the glass of his lamp. Climbing back into his cab, he switched on the lamp and saw the “phantom flagman” in the bright beam. Seconds before the train reached the ruined track, the moth had flown onto the lamp. In the fog, it appeared to be a black-cloaked man waving his arms. Queen Victoria’s reaction to the strange occurrence? She said, “I’m sure it was no accident. It was God’s way of saving us.”
This simple sermon, unlikely as it may seem, may be God’s way of saving you. You have tuned into a message that is reaching out to you. Coincidence? Possibly. Accident? Unlikely. The same Lord who can allow a moth to save a queen is powerful enough to lead you to listen to a Sunday sermon about salvation. Get off the track; God warns a train is coming. He wants you to be ready. He wants you to get out of the way. He wants you to be prepared. For that reason, He sent His Son to this world. So that you may, in faith, approach God with freedom and confidence, the Lord calls you today. If you are ready to listen, call us at “The Lutheran Hour.” We will not ask you for money-never have. All we want to do is help you avoid disaster.
Yes, the train of judgment is coming and we want you to be able, through faith in Jesus, approach God with freedom, not fear; with confidence, not cowardice. The train is coming. You can deny it or you can argue it or you can be moved. How I thank the Lord for those listeners who have, by the Spirit’s intervention, heard God’s warning and were moved off the track. For you, no longer is death a dreadful prospect; no longer is your earthly end an eternal termination. By the blood of Jesus Christ, you have been freed. True, you’ll still have problems, crosses, pain and suffering. But you know Jesus is with you. And standing by His side, you are confident when the train comes, it will not hurt you. When the train of judgment comes, well. . . let me finish with a final train story.
A missionary was returning home after having served several seasons overseas. As he rode on the train cross the U.S., he met a man who asked, “Was anybody there to welcome you when you got off the ship?” The missionary acknowledged there hadn’t been. The man laughed and said to God’s servant, “Sir, your life has been wasted.” The missionary could only reply, “I’m not home yet.” Hearing the remark, the unbeliever thought the missionary was implying he would be met at his last stop, a small town in the Midwest, by bands, speeches and great crowds of Sunday school children. It was not to be so. When they arrived at the home station, there was not a soul on the platform to greet the preacher. The unbeliever smirked as he strode away. Standing alone, even the missionary felt a little down. He had done what God had asked him to do, to the best of his ability. Would it have hurt somebody, anybody, to remember him and come out in welcome? Then, as he stood, the Lord talked to his heart and said, “You’re not home yet.”
For those of you who have heard God’s warning, who have been saved by the Christ, who are living in service to Him, don’t get discouraged. Believe. The train is coming. Wait for it. Look forward to it. The train is coming and it will take you home. It will take you home, and when you arrive, you will not be forgotten. Your Savior is waiting, and with faith in Him, you will be able to approach God with freedom and confidence. God grant it be so. Amen.
LUTHERAN HOUR MAILBOX (Questions & Answers) for August 3, 2002
ANNOUNCER: The resurrection of the body is a unique Christian hope. And here to tell us more about that is Dr. Jeff Gibbs of Concordia Seminary. I’m Mark Eischer. Dr. Gibbs, how does the resurrection affect what is said at a funeral?
GIBBS: Well, it affects it greatly. This is something, frankly, that distresses me. I have attended a number of funerals in recent years, not just as a mourner or a worshiper, and I have heard no mention whatsoever of this great hope. It’s almost as if a believer’s body has now died and sin has temporarily, but nevertheless, had its way with this person, this beloved child of God. This body which was baptized-it’s almost as if death isn’t significant and God doesn’t really care about it. So, all that’s said is the soul is with Christ and then sometimes, things are said that aren’t exactly true. Yes, it is very good news when suffering is over and rest has come. But you know, Mark, that only tends to work with an older person. You can’t say such things when the casket is three feet long. So let’s, at funerals, not only talk about this blessed rest, but the Good News of Jesus is better than that. It is even better. We can hold out for God’s people the hope of the resurrection of the body, and a happy reunion in heaven. This is the hope that honors Christ, because it not only trusts what He’s already done on the cross and in His own empty tomb, but it looks forward to what He will do on the day when He empties our tombs.
ANNOUNCER: And what does Christ’s resurrection say about this resurrection?
GIBBS: His resurrection shows us our future. His victory, His personal victory over death is complete. He died once – He can die no more. Easter morning shows us our own future and the future for all who are in Christ. Again, this simply means baptized into Him and trusting in His promise. When the pastor commits the body to the ground, at least if he uses the agenda, he says words to this affect: “May God the Father who created this body, may God the Son who by His blood redeemed this body together with this soul, may God the Holy Ghost, who through baptism sanctified this body to be his temple, keep these remains until the day of the resurrection of all flesh.” So Jesus’ resurrection shows us our own future and the promise that one day, in Him and because of Him, death will completely be conquered for us.
ANNOUNCER: As we’re talking about the resurrection of the body, what does this really say about who we are or who God has created us to be as human beings?
GIBBS: I suspect, again, this might be the influence of some philosophical ideas. I’m not sure where they come from. But it’s the idea that our bodies are kind of irrelevant or secondary in who we really are. Our essential being, or something like that, is a soul. Now again, this is not a biblical idea. You don’t baptize a soul – you baptize a person. When Adam and Eve were first created perfect, before sin, they weren’t souls – they were people. God means us to be body and soul together and that’s reflected in the Sacrament of Holy Baptism and also in the Sacrament of the Eucharist. In order to have a mouth, you gotta have a body. With my mouth, I eat the very true body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
ANNOUNCER: So, in contrast to worldly notions of spirituality, when God thinks of spirituality, it is real physical …
GIBBS: . . .stuff. He does not disdain “stuff.”
ANNOUNCER: Because He made it.
GIBBS: He made it. He came down into it and He redeems it.
ANNOUNCER: We’ve been talking with Dr. Jeff Gibbs, Professor at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis. The next “Lutheran Hour” message is titled, “We’re Broke.”