The Lutheran Hour
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"Nowhere to Go"
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Text: John 6:68
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Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed. If this day, those words of the Savior’s resurrection victory are only words to you, I pray, by God’s grace, before the sun sets, the Spirit may lead you to know, that they are God’s truth, the only words which guarantee eternal life. Amen.
“What if?” Historians, in their private moments love to play, “What If?” For example, they might ask, how would the world have been changed if Hitler had been the first to develop the atomic bomb? What if Kennedy hadn’t been assassinated? What if the 9/11 terrorists had been exposed and captured? I remember a Twilight Zone episode where Rod Serling asked, “What might have happened if Custer had been given some modern weapons at the Little Big Horn River?”
Of course, you and I also sometimes wonder how our lives might have been changed, turned around if the path we had taken, or felt compelled to take, were changed. What if we had left home a half-minute later than we did? Would we have avoided that automobile accident, or would we have been involved in another accident far worse? What if we had been accepted into that prestigious university? What if we had married somebody completely different than the person we did? What if we had been given that promotion that went to our rival? What if our company had gotten that primo contract?
We all wonder, don’t we? Maybe that’s why, years ago, there was a TV game show called, What’s My Line. The premise of What’s My Line was for a group of panelists to look at a person, and by asking that individual a series of questions, try to guess what he, or she, did for a living. Now, my younger listeners won’t remember the program, but What’s My Line, in its day, was pretty heady stuff. Right up there with that show where you pick the million-dollar suitcase. In fact, What’s My Line was so popular that it holds the record for being the longest-running prime-time game show in television history. And then I wondered, what would happen if Jesus had appeared on the show. The panelists would have gone nuts trying to figure out Jesus and His job. Think about it. The first person might ask, “Jesus, are you younger than the age of 50?” To that Jesus might have replied, “I was born in Bethlehem during the time when Quirinius was governor of Syria, and Caesar Augustus was sitting on the Emperor’s throne in Rome. But, in the beginning of time I was there, and you can be sure, before Abraham lived I had already been around for a long time.” (John 1:1; 8:58)
Things wouldn’t have gotten any better with more questions. “Jesus, are You in the food-service business?” “Well, I have fed multiple thousands of people with a few loaves and fish, but no, food service is not my occupation.” “Do you work in the medical field?” “Good question,” Jesus might have replied, “Many of the people who have met Me might think so. The reports are pretty consistent: the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear and the dead are raised. But in truth, I have to confess medicine isn’t My major.” “Jesus,” the next question might have been, “You said that the dead are raised. Is it possible that You move cemeteries, like when a road is going through town and it cuts through a cemetery? Does Your company raise bodies and put them in another location?” Jesus might have laughed as He replied: “I can answer that one of two ways: first, I am definitely not in the funeral business. In fact, I’ve ruined just about every funeral I’ve come across. If you doubt Me, ask the widow at Nain about how her son is doing, or talk to Jairus about his girl, or the sisters of Lazarus in Bethany. They’ll tell you, I don’t much like funerals or death.”
“But Jesus,” the questioner might have pressed, “You said You could answer the question two ways. What’s the second way?” Responding, Jesus would have picked His words carefully: “Is My job moving cemeteries? Not so much up to this point in time, but I’m not stretching the truth to say that My Father and I will definitely be getting involved in emptying cemeteries all over the world. Still, the raising of bodies is a direct result of My work, but it isn’t My main job.” The more I thought about Jesus appearing on What’s My Line the more I had to laugh. Those poor panelists would never have figured Him out; would have never guessed Jesus’ job.
You shouldn’t be surprised. After all, nobody before His birth, and nobody since His ascension into heaven, has ever done the job that Jesus did. He is alone; unique; one-of-a-kind. Because He is so special, even those who walked with Him had a hard time understanding what He was doing. When Jesus asked the disciples, “Who do people say I am?” there were a lot of answers: “Some say You are John the Baptist, or Elijah, or Jeremiah, or one of the other prophets.” When Jesus rephrased His question, making it more personal, “And who do you think I am? ” Peter got it right when he said, “We think You’re the Christ, that is the promised Savior, the Son of God.” Of course, Peter got it right only because the answer had been given to Him by the heavenly Father (Matthew 16:13ff). On his own, Peter would have probably missed by a mile. There were a few others who managed get a glimpse into the true nature of the Savior and His work. One of Jesus’ friends, a lady by the name of Martha, got it right when she said, “I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world” (John 11: 27). Now, I don’t know how much Martha had figured out on her own. I do know that Jesus gave her a giant clue when He told her, “I am the Resurrection and the Life. Whoever believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die” (John 11: 25-26).
Still, most of the time people never understood Jesus or His work. The Pharisees saw Him as a blasphemer; some of His countrymen thought Him a madman, an Individual possessed by the devil; His church considered Him a danger to the future of the nation (John 11:47ff); the Roman official who sat at His trial, Pontius Pilate, looked upon Jesus as a threat to his own political well-being (John 19:12). The day after Jesus had fed the thousands with a few loaves and fishes, the people wanted to make Him their king and permanent host for an ongoing all-you-can-eat buffet. When Jesus explained that multiplying loaves and fish was not His ultimate vocation, when He told them that if they really wanted Him to provide them with something to eat, He would be glad to let them eat His body and drink His blood.
Well, having heard that, most people left Him. I can understand why they went. Eating body and drinking blood sounds weird – but so did many of the things Jesus said. I mean, can you take Jesus seriously when He says, “Love your enemies”? Was Jesus just trying to shock us when He said we have to hate our fathers and mothers; that we have to give away everything we have to follow Him? Was He joking; was He serious? And this comment about eating His body and drinking His blood – it’s hard for anybody to stomach a literal interpretation of that idea. And please don’t think that everyone understood Jesus was talking about things spiritual. For centuries rumors circulated about those Christians who were involved in secret cannibalistic rituals, who were taking part in a clandestine ceremony called baptism where people were actually drowned.
That’s why I say; 2,000 years ago it was rare for people to get Jesus “right.” That’s why we take special note that as Jesus sadly saw the great crowds leaving Him and the salvation He was winning for them, He turned to His closest friends and asked, “You don’t want to leave, too, do you?” Now, there were many times when Jesus’ disciples didn’t get it right and they completely misunderstood Him. This, however, was not one of those times. They gave no indication that the thought of leaving their Lord had even crossed their minds. Peter, speaking for all, responded, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” On another occasion, Peter would add, “We have left everything to follow you” (Mark 10:28). Although full understanding of Jesus’ mission and purpose, His “line” if you will, would not come until after Pentecost, that day the disciples knew that only in Jesus’ words could eternal life be found. Only in His sacrifice could they, or anyone, find forgiveness and faith, hope and heaven, life and light. To give Himself up for us, to fulfill all the commands of God which we have willingly and unwittingly broken, to carry to Calvary’s cross all of the sins which we have committed, to die the death that our disobedience deserved; that was Jesus’ life and purpose, that was the business that the Father had entrusted to Him (John 6: 39-40).
As I said, the disciples eventually understood why Jesus had come; why He had been born; why He had lived; why He had died; and they believed in Him and the resurrection which assured salvation to all who believed. They understood Jesus’ “line,” but I would like to know: Do you?
The vast majority of the world’s leaders regard the Redeemer as nothing more than a competitor, a contender for the loyalty and love of their people. The great religions of the world object to the Savior who came to earth so that He might build a bridge between earth and heaven. They resent His claim to being the only Way, the only Light, the only Door for salvation. They cannot comprehend, nor do they share a belief in the grace of God which sent Jesus into the world to ransom the lost. They do not understand, nor do jealous governments who want their citizenry to reject the Christ and look only to them for assistance and aid, peace and prosperity, happiness and hope. Envious of the completeness of the crucified and risen Christ’s care and compassion, they banish His name from their classrooms, remove Him from their textbooks, penalize, punish, and persecute those who have come to believe on Jesus as the only one who upon whom they can cast their cares.
What was Jesus “line?” Why did He come? How will you answer? Are you a modern, macho man who finds the Savior’s words too gentle; His demeanor too gracious; His temperament too temperate for your taste? Look again, and see the courage that took the Christ to Calvary’s cross; look again and see the strength of His sacrifice that kept Him there, when the nails could never have held Him; see the power that could resist temptation; defeat the devil, and conquer the grave. Look again and know that this Jesus, whom you consider to be to so meek and mild will someday come and sit in judgment upon you. On that day, I pray you will be able to say, “Jesus is my all-powerful Savior, my loving Lord.”
Are you a self-sufficient, self-actualized woman who thinks of Jesus as someone who wishes to oppress, suppress, and repress; who demeans, demands, dominates, and dictates; who subjugates, subdues, and suppresses your gender? Then, you, too, would do well to look upon Him again. See clearly the Lord who, in a world which treated women as second-class citizens and slaves, was glad to run interference for a lady caught in adultery and extend forgiveness to her (John 8:3ff); see the Savior who reached out to a woman who felt rejected by society and, having called her away from sin, offered her a new life (John 4:7ff); look at the Savior who would heal a woman who was, because of an issue of blood, considered unclean by all those around her (Matthew 9:20); look clearly at your Lord who honored all women by allowing your sisters to be the first to see Him after He had risen from the dead. If Jesus is so prejudiced against you, why would He have His apostle write: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). Look and see and know that as Jesus hung upon the cross, as He carried the world’s sins, Jesus made no differentiation, no delineation between men and women. He saw only souls that were steeped in sin, souls that needed saving. God grant that your soul has been saved by Him.
What was Jesus’ “line?” Why did He live? Why did He love us? Are you an educator who thinks Jesus’ life was dedicated to keeping people in ignorance? Look again. Jesus taught with a wonderful wisdom that has never been reproduced or replicated. If the Lord’s line had been confined to teaching truth, He would, because of His influence, be placed at the top of the world’s educators. Truly, His teaching and His thinking have shaped more lives, and shared greater wisdom than the words of any other person who has walked this sinfully sad world. But if you were to say, “Jesus is only a teacher;” if you were to confine Him to a classroom, you would be minimizing His life and ignoring His love. What was Jesus’ “line?” Was He a healer? He was that, and more. He delivered people of diseases and demons, but He also saved souls from sin. Was he a leader? Yes. A pioneer? Yes. An explorer? Yes. A supporter? Yes. A moralist? Yes. A friend? Yes! But first and last and always, Jesus is the Savior. To see Him, to keep Him, to confine Him to anything less, is an insult to His life and a sorry and scandalous slur upon His blood-bought sacrifice.
It is my prayer, that the Holy Spirit will fill your heart with the desire to know who Jesus is and the work that He has done to rescue you. I pray that you may join with Peter and, with Spirit-given wisdom say, “Lord, I have no where else to go, no one else to turn to, other than You. You alone have the words of eternal life.” And what are these words of eternal life? I could recite them, but it would be far better if you hear the Savior say them Himself. From the book of John, and from 20 centuries ago, with reverence hear what the Savior said about Himself and His work. To those of you who feel nothing but depression and night, Jesus said, “I am the Light of the world. Whoever follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). To those who feel unloved, uncared for, and alone, Jesus says, (John 10:14-15 excerpts) “I am the Good Shepherd, and know my sheep, and …. I lay down my life for them.” Are you puzzled, perplexed, confused, confounded? Jesus provides words of eternal life when He assures, “I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” Have you been betrayed by those who are closest to you; has life lost its purpose and meaning? It doesn’t have to be that way. Jesus wants you to know that while others in the world come to kill and destroy, He came so that you might have life and have it abundantly; He lived, died, and rose so that you might have life and have it eternally (John 10:10). Read the Gospels. There is more, far more than I can share with you in these few moments. Study the Word – the Bible – investigate the Savior’s story which alone gives eternal life. See for yourself the value of knowing the Savior and His work begun and completed for your salvation.
It was a good many years ago that I heard about a high-school senior who was filling out her college application papers. She debated a long time on the question, “Are you a leader?” Finally, honestly, she wrote on the paper: “No,” and sent the admission form in. It didn’t take but a short time before she got an answer from her school of choice. The letter said, “Congratulations on being the newest member of our academic community. A study of our application forms this year has shown that we will, in the freshman class, have 1,452 leaders. We are accepting you because we feel it is necessary for your class to have at least one follower.” I don’t know if the story is true, or not. It ought to be. Every class should have at least one follower, and each of you should have the one and only Savior. If you need to know more about Him, and His work of redemption, please, call us at The Lutheran Hour. Amen.
LUTHERAN HOUR MAILBOX (Questions & Answers) for August 20, 2006
ANNOUNCER: And now Pastor Ken Klaus answers questions from listeners. I’m Mark Eischer. A listener writes, “Some Christian broadcasters spend a great deal of their time talking about the government, economics, the environment, and Supreme Court rulings. Even my parish pastor preaches about economic justice and the minimum wage. However, The Lutheran Hour doesn’t do that. Can you explain why, or am I just missing those broadcasts when you do that?”
KLAUS: Well, let’s answer the easy question first. No, they’re not missing the programs when we talk about political and social issues.
ANNOUNCER: And why don’t we talk about those?
KLAUS: Simple. Seventy-five years ago this broadcast was conceived for the sole purpose of preaching a changeless Christ to a changing world. Since that time the world has seen depressions, recessions, wars, terrorism, spread of communism, fall of the iron curtain, the arrival of computers, microwave ovens, I-pods and cell phones.
ANNOUNCER: A lot of changes.
KLAUS: Yeah. You know, but one thing hasn’t changed. God still wants to save sinners and He does that through the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That is the message that we preach week after week, year after year. For three-quarters of a century The Lutheran Hour has shared God’s Good News – God loves you and He sent His Son to save you by dying for your sins and rising from the dead. By the Spirit’s power you can be given faith in the Good News that your sins are forgiven and your soul is free from damnation.
ANNOUNCER: But what about all those other things the listener mentioned? Aren’t those also important for making the world a better place?
KLAUS: They are important. We can’t pretend they’re not. They affect us. But our job on this broadcast is to share the Savior who can lead people through whatever difficulty, pain, hurt, sadness, or loss this world can throw at them. We preach Christ crucified and risen. That’s God Good News to a world that’s filled with bad news.
ANNOUNCER: But why should The Lutheran Hour be different? Why not just do what everybody else is doing?
KLAUS: Why do we do what we do? I’ve a number of answers to that, Mark. I’ll try to keep them short. First, every week I stand in front of this microphone I’m speaking to millions of people, some of them are dying and they know it. Some of them will die and death may come to them unexpectedly. The words of this broadcast are the last words the Savior will speak to some of them. I have about 16 minutes to tell them that without the Savior they are eternally lost. But with the Savior they are saved. How’s that for relevant? I’m simply not ready to spend those minutes talking about something else.
ANNOUNCER: But are those other things trivial?
KLAUS: Certainly not. Still we need to keep them in perspective. Let me tell you what I mean. Great Depression – terrible thing. Yet today some of the people who lived through those times refer to those years as “the good old days.” Adolph Hitler was once a great evil in this world, but now he’s primarily relegated to The History Channel. The Red Menace was a great threat to democracy, but now the dream of communism has, in most places, collapsed. That’s the way of things. These things which appear as a headline of the newspaper, which are on the opening stories on the 6:00 news, aren’t trivial, but they’re not all-important either. What is all-important is that people know the Savior who is reaching out with His nail-pierced hands to save them from the ultimate evil that awaits. No speaker on The Lutheran Hour has ever forgotten that fact. We are given a chance to share the Savior with those who are lost, and we will not squander that opportunity.
ANNOUNCER: And you said you had other reasons why we do what we do?
KLAUS: I do. At least two reasons. The next reason is a simple one. People don’t need to hear my opinions. What Ken Klaus or any of my predecessors have thought about social or political issues isn’t that important. Times change, more information comes in, circumstances modify what we thought we knew. I’ll give you an example. We all know good nutrition is important for health. Suppose I were to preach about nutrition. At one time eggs were considered to be good for you. But then someone decided eggs were bad for you. Now they’re good again. Any sermon that I preached about eggs would be out-dated. On the other hand, The Lutheran Hour has always preached a message that is never out of date and can never be contradicted by new information. We are all sinners and we all need forgiveness. Only in Jesus is that forgiveness possible. That’s what we preach: God’s truth, God’s salvation, God’s Son crucified and risen, for you, for me, for our listeners. When people tune in they can be sure they will hear God’s Word not man’s or more specifically, Ken Klaus’.
ANNOUNCER: And we’ll have much more to say about this next week. This has been a presentation of Lutheran Hour Ministries.
Music selections for this program:
“A Mighty Fortress” arranged by John Leavitt. Concordia Publishing House/SESAC
“Praise to the Lord, the Almighty” arranged by F. Melius Christiansen. Sung by the Concordia University Choir, Portland, Oregon
“Verleih uns Frieden” by Felix Mendelssohn. From Bunt Gemixt by “1 plus 3” Quartet (© EinLaden e.V, Weigersdorf, Germany)
“Lift High the Cross” by Charles Ore. From From My Perspective, vol. 3 by Charles Ore (©1995 Organ Works Corporation) Concordia Publishing House/SESAC