The Lutheran Hour
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"It’s Embarrassing"
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Text: Luke 19:39-40
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Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! If you are among those who are embarrassed by this blatant and politically incorrect proclamation of the resurrection, then take my word, it’s going to get worse. Today, this message shares God’s good news of great joy. A Savior has come! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!
There was a woman who, around this time of year, went to the post office to buy stamps for her Christmas Cards. The woman said to the clerk, “May I have 50 Christmas stamps?” “Certainly, ma’am,” the clerk said, “What denomination?” “Oh my goodness, have things come to this?” the woman gasped. “All right, give me 6 Catholic, 12 Lutheran, 5 Baptist, 7 Assemblies of God, 9 Methodist, and make the rest stamps of Elvis. He shouldn’t offend anybody.”
You know, and I know, the government would never, ever put out a Catholic, Lutheran, or Methodist stamp. It would simply be too, too embarrassing, too politically incorrect. Yes, I’m sure the cost would be prohibitive because every religious group with five members or more would want their own stamp; but the real reason such stamps will never be published is this: it is politically incorrect. It’s no news to you that we live in a country where political correctness is the name of the game. Consider, many nursery schools, not wishing to offend their children, have changed the words of the nursery-rhyme, Baa Baa Black Sheep have you any wool? to Baa Baa Rainbow Sheep. Now, I cannot for the life of me think of why children who are just learning to identify colors would be offended by the word black. Think about where that kind of thinking leads… when the sun goes down, should parents tell their children: “It’s rainbow as night out there?” When they see a black cat, excuse me, a “rainbow cat,” scamper across their path will they say, “Look at that cat. He’s as rainbow as coal”? Political correctness can get crazy.
Black, of course, is not the only color which has taken a beating. Around Christmas last year, one state school principal, in the name of political correctness, banned green and red napkins at all school parties. How wise was that administrator to say people could bring any color napkin they wanted to school as long as it was white. Who am I to tell him that white is the color of our souls after they have been washed from sin by the blood of Jesus? I’d better be quiet… he’ll probably ban napkins all together and tell the children to use their shirtsleeves to wipe their noses and chins.
But, I’m wandering. I was talking about political correctness. Political correctness had the mayor of an east coast town offer his most sincere and abject apologies because he had done a very bad thing. Had he stolen from the public coffers; been guilty of dealing drugs out of City Hall? No, people are routinely forgiven for crimes like those. This mayor had terribly, tragically forgotten himself and, can you imagine the horror, called the community’s “Holiday Party” a “Christmas Party.” Political correctness. That’s what motivated the manager of one of our nation’s large shopping malls who, in explaining why he put up a menorah and not a crèche at Christmas, said something like: Although I don’t know much about it, I think Hanukah remembers a battle and not a religious event. Well, he doesn’t know much about it. Hanukah recalls a miracle of lights which happened in a temple and Christmas remembers the Miracle of God’s Light who was born in a stable. Still, I suppose the manager knows his clientele; maybe some folks would rather celebrate a war rather than the coming of the Prince of Peace. Political correctness.
Throughout the centuries, religions and rulers have tried to force their citizens into political correctness by minimizing the sacrifice of the Savior and the salvation that He has won. Two thousand years ago, King Herod was first to implement political correctness by killing the baby boys of Bethlehem. Herod was the first, but he was not the last. In the lifetime of many of my listeners, Communist governments tried to make their people politically correct by turning churches into gymnasiums, cathedrals into shopping centers, and worship services into a place where they could put forth political propaganda. Today, as this message is being delivered, many countries have constitutions which say Christians are so politically incorrect, so offensive to society that they have committed a capital crime and ought to be put to death.
Political incorrectness in regard to Christ is nothing new. There have always been people who wanted Him, and anyone who loves Him, to sit down and shut up. That’s not an exaggeration, nor a poor choice of words. Let me tell you what I mean. It was toward the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry that He, in raising His friend Lazarus from the dead, performed a most exceptional, and what many considered to be a most reprehensible, miracle. Now, although Jesus had brought others back from the dead, this miracle was… different. The raising of Lazarus was unique for two reasons: first, those other resurrections had always been performed within a few hours after the person had died. Second, all of the other resurrections had taken place in backwoods, unsophisticated Galilee where the event was witnessed by people whose opinions could be easily dismissed. The scholars and religious leaders of Jerusalem felt quite justified in disregarding those resurrections as nothing more than some simpletons being suckered in by a slight-of-hand con-man masquerading as the Messiah. But, as I said, the raising of Lazarus, that was different. Everyone knew that Lazarus wasn’t just really dead; he had been most sincerely dead. A prominent citizen of a Jerusalem suburb, Lazarus’ passing had not gone unnoticed. Everyone knew he had been dead for days before Jesus ever got near his graveside.
That’s why, when Lazarus started breathing, people started believing – believing in Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah. The situation was so unsettling, so unnerving and upsetting that the religious leaders called a high-level cabinet meeting to discover a suitable response. Obviously, they couldn’t let Jesus keep going. Leaving Jesus alone would have catastrophic consequences. More and more people would believe on Him as their Savior, and if that wasn’t bad enough, the Romans would probably get involved. From first-hand experience, the Jewish leaders knew the Romans would cruelly and completely crush anyone who thought he had the qualifications to lead the people in a revolt and upset the status quo. To prevent both of those possibilities, Caiaphas, the high priest, proposed a solution. To all who were still debating; who were still wondering, he said: Don’t you guys get it? You don’t have to be rocket scientists to figure out it’s better for one man to die than for the nation to die; it’s better for us to eliminate one, very dangerous Messiah, than for the Romans to eliminate all of us. Let’s get rid of Jesus before the Emperor gets rid of Israel (paraphrase of John 11: 45-52). It was a politically correct thing to say.Scripture points out that although Caiaphas didn’t realize it, that day he was actually speaking the truth. Jesus would die to save the people, all of God’s people. No, Jesus wasn’t going to die sacrificing Himself in the defeat of some small, inconsequential enemy like the Romans. To the Lord whose omnipotent Word had called into being all that is, the defeat of a Roman legion would have hardly been worth the effort. Jesus had bigger fish to fry than the Romans, bigger enemies to conquer than the emperor. Jesus never forgot, nor should we, that He was involved in a life-and-death struggle against sin, the devil, and our eternal damnation. Every day of His life had been spent, been dedicated to walking the path that would take Him to His cross on Calvary’s crest. So that we might be forgiven of our sins and the law which convicts us, Jesus had lived His days in perfection. So we might be saved from Satan who wishes to condemn us and claim us, Jesus had resisted every temptation. When Caiaphas addressed the religious leaders, he was right; he was in agreement with the heavenly Father who also thought it would be better that one should die for the many; that the innocent should suffer to redeem the guilty.
Of course, as I said, politically correct Caiaphas didn’t realize any of those things. Nor could he have known that Jesus would, on the third day after He was buried, return to the land of the living and show to all the world that death, invincible death, had been defeated. Caiaphas only knew that he wanted to keep the Romans away from Israel, and the Jews away from Jesus. Apparently, and without much discussion, the others listened to their high priest. They agreed and committed themselves to silencing the Savior; they dedicated themselves to a politically correct course of action: The Apostle John records: “So from that day on they made plans to put Him (Jesus) to death” (John 11: 52). A little harsh? You might think so, but this past year, in Afghanistan, a man was similarly condemned because he had been turned from faith in Islam to belief in Jesus. I’m pleased to report that the outcry of Christians and humanitarians throughout the world was so loud, so outraged, that a court set aside the death sentence and declared the man to be legally “insane.” They offered to their people the politically correct explanation which said since the man was insane, he couldn’t be held responsible for doing anything as crazy as being committed to Christ.
Thankfully, in our country, no one could ever be condemned to death for being a Christian. Such an act would be brutal and barbaric, unthinkable and unimaginable. Besides, atheists, agnostics, pagans, and Christian-haters find it is far easier, and far more effective, to silence the Savior and His story of salvation by intimidating school districts, communities, and citizens by threatening to entangle them with endless and crippling law suits. In our country, no one could ever be declared insane for believing on Jesus. That, too, would be politically incorrect. Far better, goes the thinking, to fire a Christian from his job and put him in the unemployment line for greeting one of his customers with a politically incorrect “Merry Christmas.” Political correctness mandates that the Savior be silenced.
The Jewish Supreme Court that tried and condemned the Christ, might, if they were still around, be glad to take a page or two out of our generation’s playbook. As it was, they went forward with their plans to put Jesus to death. There was only one very small problem: the people loved Jesus. Some loved Him because His authoritative teachings were a breath of fresh air; others loved Him because He had healed their illnesses of body, mind, and soul. A few of them even loved Him because He was their Savior. Lazarus’ sister, Martha was one of those special people. Even before Jesus had brought her brother back to life, she confessed. “…I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world”(John 11: 27). Martha loved the Lord, and so have millions of others. Indeed, whenever Scripture is allowed to speak, and people are permitted to hear and see what Jesus has done for them with His life, death, and resurrection, they cannot help but fall to their knees, and with humble hearts confess, “My Lord and my God.” How can anyone not love a Savior who offers redemption and forgiveness? It is almost impossible not to love such an individual. Almost impossible, for the religious leaders of Jesus’ day never found it within themselves to love Him.
That’s why, the day when Jesus triumphantly rode into Jerusalem, those leaders were beside themselves. I would imagine their blood pressure went screaming skyward as they watched the people warmly welcome the Lord. They would have been close to a stroke when they saw the people throwing their cloaks down on the road to pave the way for the donkey on which Jesus was riding. Talk about the red carpet treatment! How it must have rankled the Savior’s enemies to hear the crowds calling out, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord” (Matthew 21:9). “Look at Him,” they would have grumbled to each other, “He’s coming into town like a king. This won’t do; this simply won’t do at all.”
And what did Jesus’ enemies do? Did they confront Jesus face-to-face and man-to-man telling Him where He had gone wrong? They did not, that would have called for too much courage. Were they honest enough to approach Him and say, “Jesus, either You end this Messiah-stuff, or we will end it for You”? They didn’t do that either; that would have been too straightforward. Did they address the crowd and, on the basis of God’s Word, show the people why they were wrong to believe on Jesus? Did they point out His flaws, His failures, His falsehoods? Jesus’ enemies did none of those things. For three years they had tried to discredit and bring dishonor to the Savior. For three years they had tried and they had failed to disgrace Him. No, the best they could do on that Palm Sunday, the most courage they could muster is to slide up to the side of the Savior and suggest, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples” (Luke 19:39). That’s a very nice way, a very politically correct way of saying, “Jesus, we want your followers to shut up.” And Jesus said, and I’m giving you a very loose paraphrase here, Jesus said: I don’t think so.
Maybe it ought to be our answer, too. You see, right now, as many of us are getting ready to remember the birth of the Savior, the world is also getting ready. The world is getting ready to tell us to shut up about the Lord. No, they won’t say it that way, but that’s what they want. There are corporation boardrooms and legal organizations and even some religious broadcasters trying to figure out how to make money at Christmas time without mentioning the Savior and the salvation that He has won. They want us to shut up about the Savior; and there’s no reason for them to think we won’t. Most children’s Christmas specials don’t mention the Savior. They don’t talk about why Jesus was born, lived, died, and rose. The world has said, “shut-up” to the people who plan these programs, and to the people who sponsor these programs, and those people have, without complaint, done the politically correct thing. They shut up about the Savior.
Now I love the movie, A Christmas Story, and I’m always glad when Ralphie gets his Red Ryder BB gun, but that’s not what Christmas is all about. I’m happy when Kris Kringle gets all that mail from the US Post Office and is declared to be Santa; but Kris is not Christmas, and giving a doubting little girl the house of her dreams isn’t Christmas either. I like the story of Rudolph… I like it a lot, especially since I know it was written by a Christian man to explain to his daughter why her dying mother was different than other mothers. Even so, Rudolph and his red nose aren’t Christmas. Do you want me to go on? The Grinch can’t steal Christmas; and when Clarence gets his wings in It’s A Wonderful Life I’m happy as can be, but Clarence isn’t Christmas either.
Christmas is the Son of God coming to save us… and this year, when the world says, “Jesus, tell Your people to be silent;” I think I’m going to join with Him and say: I don’t think so. No, I’m not going to hire lawyers and call for new laws to be written; but I’m not going to get apologetic, either. I’m just going to say, “I don’t think so.” When the world tells me, “Send out a politically correct Christmas card;” I’m going to say, “I don’t think so.” I’m not going to send out a Christmas card which says, “Have a blessed Festiva, Kwanzaa, Hanukah, Ramadan, and winter solstice.”
Similarly, if people on my block want to put up an eight-foot-tall inflatable snowman, more power to them. If the folks next door want to have a display that takes enough electricity to power a small African nation, that’s great. But if anybody says that’s what I ought to do, I’m going to say, “I don’t think so.” And I’m going to dust off our crèche and spend some time looking at it, and thinking about the Savior. When the folks at the department stores wish me, “Happy Holidays,” I’m going to say, “I don’t think so,” and wish them a politically incorrect, “Blessed Christmas.” Not a “Merry Christmas,” mind you, because Christmas isn’t always “merry.” But because it remembers the Savior, and the salvation His sacrifice gives me, it is always a “Blessed Christmas.”
If that’s being politically incorrect, then so be it. I’m not forcing anyone to welcome Him who has come in the name of the Lord; I’m not demanding anyone else give their gold, frankincense, and myrrh to the Baby Jesus; I’m not demanding anyone kneel in humble repentance before Him. But when anybody says, in the name of political correctness, that I can’t worship my Savior; my reply is going to be, “I don’t think so.” I’m not going to shut up and I won’t be silent. The angels said the Babe of Bethlehem was “good news of great joy,” and so He is. And if you won’t come see Him, don’t try to stop me. Don’t threaten me or get politically correct. ‘Cause if you do, I’m gonna’ say, “I don’t think so,” and I’m going to bow down and worship Him who has come in the name of the Lord. Would you like to join me? If so, or if you need to know more about this Savior that the world finds to be so politically incorrect, call us at The Lutheran Hour. Amen.
LUTHERAN HOUR MAILBOX (Questions & Answers) for December 3, 2006
TOPIC: Will unbaptized believers go to heaven?ANNOUNCER: Now, Pastor Ken Klaus responds to questions that arose from our discussion of questions generated by Lutheran Hour Ministries’ Equipping To Share workshops. Did you get all that?
KLAUS: Mark, that was just about the most complicated intro I’ve ever heard.
ANNOUNCER: Well, I know, but I had to cover a lot of ground.
KLAUS: How about, “Pastor Klaus left some questions unanswered the first go around, and he’s going to try to answer them now.”
ANNOUNCER: That works, too.
KLAUS: Thank you. And our question for today is:
ANNOUNCER: Some folks want to know what happens to a Christian who dies before they have been baptized? Do they go to heaven?
KLAUS: I can see why I didn’t answer that.
ANNOUNCER: It’s a tough one?
KLAUS: Well, yes and no.
ANNOUNCER: Which means it’s a tough one.
KLAUS: Well, sort of. Let me give an answer and then amplify. Will an unbaptized believer go to heaven? Yes, it’s possible, but it’s not desirable. First, we know it is possible. When Jesus was hanging on the cross, there were two thieves who were crucified next to Him. You can read that story in Luke chapter 23. When one of the criminals made fun of Jesus, the other thief-I’ll refer to him as the “good criminal” since the Bible doesn’t give us his name-the good criminal said to the other, “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 actions; but this man-Jesus-has done nothing wrong.”
There are a number of important things to note in that man’s statement. First, he confesses he is a sinner. Then he references his faith in God. Then the good criminal turns to Jesus and says, “Lord, remember me when You enter into Your kingdom. ”
ANNOUNCER: So here we have a confession of sins, a statement of faith, and then a plea to Jesus for mercy. That’s a lot to put into a few short lines.
KLAUS: It’s a lot for someone to gasp out while they’re being crucified. Now all of this is a prelude to what happens next. Jesus turns to the good criminal-the believing criminal-and He says, “Truly I say unto you, today you will be with Me in paradise.”
ANNOUNCER: So the thief was saved.
KLAUS: The believing criminal received an iron-clad promise of eternal life in heaven.
ANNOUNCER: And, getting back to our question, what does that have to do with Baptism?
KLAUS: When would that criminal have been baptized?
ANNOUNCER: Well, we really don’t know, do we?
KLAUS: Actually, we do know. He wasn’t.
ANNOUNCER: How do we know that?
KLAUS: We know that because the Sacrament of Christian Baptism had not yet been instituted. Jesus didn’t give the command to baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit until His ascension… an event that came well over a month later, after His resurrection.
ANNOUNCER: So you’re saying the thief on the cross couldn’t have been baptized.
KLAUS: That’s what I’m saying. Even so, we know that he was saved.
ANNOUNCER: Do you have a Bible passage that supports this?
KLAUS: I do. Mark 16:16 says: “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” It is lack of faith, not a lack of baptism that sends someone to hell.
ANNOUNCER: Now earlier you kind of qualified your answer somewhat when you said that dying without the benefit of baptism was not, what did you say, I think “desirable.”
KLAUS: Right. Christ gave us baptism for a purpose. It is a gift from God… a gift which should neither be declined nor taken lightly. He told us to baptize all nations and we should.
ANNOUNCER: But baptism is not mandatory…KLAUS: But to not baptize is to disregard Christ’s command and gift. Not absolutely mandatory, but certainly desirable, because the Holy Spirit works through water and the Word of God to bestow life, faith, and forgiveness of sins.
ANNOUNCER: Now I have to ask, do you have a Bible passage that would help our listener better understand the purpose of baptism?
KLAUS: I do. On Pentecost, when people asked the Apostle Peter, “How can we be saved?” he said: “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. For the promise is to you and for your children and all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to Himself”(Acts 2:38-39).
ANNOUNCER: How would you sum this all up for us today?
KLAUS: The Lord has given us the Sacrament of Baptism as a great gift which brings a great many blessings. It would be a mistake to disregard, discount, or ignore that gift as if it were nothing of consequence.
ANNOUNCER: Thank you, Pastor Klaus. 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
“O Sing of Christ” by Stephen Starke. From Sing With All the Saints by the Children’s Choirs of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church (© 2006 St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Ft. Wayne, IN)
“Comfort, Comfort, You My People” arranged by Michael Burkhardt. From Hymn Improvisations, vol. 1 by Michael Burkhardt (© 1993 MorningStar Music Publishers)
“Fantasia sopra Freu dich sehr, O meine Seele” by Johann Ludwig Krebs. From A Year of Grace by Craig Cramer (© 2003 Dulcian Productions)