The Lutheran Hour
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"Clever Myths"
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Text: 2 Peter 1:16
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Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! The crucified, risen, and ever-living Lord comes to you today. With nail-pierced hands extended to you in invitation, He says, “Put your doubts aside and believe. In Me is victory over sin and devil, in Me there is life eternal.” God grant this saving faith unto us all. Amen.
It was shortly before Christmas that I received an email from one of my old and most trusted friends. He said since I speak to a lot of people on The Lutheran Hour and am writing Daily Devotions which are being sent out on the Internet to tens of thousands of folks, I might want to encourage them to send a Christmas card to a recovering American soldier at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. I thought, “What a great idea!”
That was my first thought. My second was, “Let’s check out the idea.” After a little research, I found out the Post Office won’t accept cards addressed to an unnamed recovering soldier, and the hospital won’t deliver any cards or packages which come in that way. No, it’s not because the Post Office and hospital are cold, uncaring government agencies. On the contrary, they care a great deal, and just as importantly, they’ve thought things through. They know there are sick people out there who hate these injured men and women and wish to do them harm. That’s why I never shared the idea with you.
It all goes to prove you can’t be too careful of the stories you hear. We all know, or at least we should know, there are a lot of cleverly invented stories circulating; stories which can’t be trusted. Some, like the idea of sending a Christmas card to a wounded soldier, are motivated by good intentions; but there are others which are really wrong. For example, here’s an untrue story sent to me by a number of people. It seems in 2009, on the 200th birthday of President Abraham Lincoln, the U.S. Mint is going to issue a new penny. Nobody had a problem with that. What got people upset was the rumor that the words “In God We Trust” were going to be omitted from the coin. That’s not true. Let me say that again: it’s not true. The words “In God We Trust” will be on that coin. Cleverly invented stories. Of course there were the letters I received which encouraged the government to ban dihydrogen monoxide as being a dangerous substance. Dihydrogen monoxide, also known as water, can cause problems, but I doubt if a government ban on the stuff is going to make it through Congress.
Cleverly invented stories. The world is full of cleverly invented stories. For example, there is a cat food which says it has the natural beef flavor which cats crave. Look, I’m not an expert on cats, and I confess my feline knowledge is limited, but I’ve never seen a housecat stalking a thousand pound steer. Cleverly invented stories. I’ve heard companies tell me their brand of gum will help me kiss a little longer; I’ve listened when a cell-phone company told me it sends its people over hill and dale endlessly repeating, “Can you hear me now?” and I’ve heard a green lizard tell me to buy car insurance. Even though they were dead, John Wayne has urged me to drink beer; Colonel Sanders wants me to eat chicken; and bow-tied Orville Redenbacher has tried to sell me popcorn.
Cleverly invented stories. I remember, years ago a TV commercial showed a woman who had become a pariah, a social outcast, because her husband had “ring around the collar.” Tiring of that commercial, our son, Kurt, wisely commented: “Why doesn’t she tell her husband to wash his filthy neck?” Already at the age of five he had learned to recognize cleverly invented stories.
We’ve grown wary of cleverly invented stories. We’ve heard about the little old lady who was bilked out of her meager savings by the fast-talking con man who scared her into thinking her chimney was collapsing, her driveway was disintegrating, and her wiring was flawed and faulty. We’ve all seen the young girl who, wanting to know she was attractive, fearful she would never be loved, traded in her virginity, her self-respect, and common sense, by buying the cleverly invented line of some unprincipled sleazoid. We’ve watched people work all their lives for a company only to have that company renege on their retirement; we’ve seen politicians not keep their word; we’ve seen countless promises made and broken. Little wonder our age is filled with folk who are fearful of being used; of being played like a sucker and made to look like a fool.
I say “our age” because it hasn’t always been that way. Centuries ago you believed what your ruler believed. Things were simple in that pre-modern time.
Then, a few centuries back, science came to the fore and things started to get a little more complicated. In an age of enlightenment, science said: You shouldn’t put yourself into the hands of some authority figure, some tradition, some cleverly invented story written down in a book which claims to be authored by God. When people asked these new and independent thinkers: “If we can’t trust these books and these leaders where and in whom can we place our faith?” they were told: “Trust yourself. Trust what you can see, taste, touch, feel, smell. Touch which can be proven and measured and repeated.”
Of course, it didn’t take too long before people realized that, along with throwing God out the window, they had to throw out a lot of other things which science couldn’t measure or prove. You know, things like happiness, hope, joy, compassion, beauty, love. People found science could give them medicine to help an illness, but it had nothing to make them feel better; technology could give them stuff to make their houses more comfortable, but it couldn’t make those houses into homes where happiness lived. Science had the ability to develop weapons so terrifying war became unthinkable, but it couldn’t stop fanatical leaders from taking those unthinkable weapons of mass destruction into battle. In that modern age, God was moved out of people’s hearts, minds, souls, but nothing was put there to take His place. Which is why, without God, or any kind of satisfying substitute being supplied by science, people found themselves getting disheartened about the present, doubtful of the future, and depressed about everything else. The lack of anything to hold on to became discouraging. They were living in a world of cleverly invented stories; a place where nothing could be considered true and everything had to be doubted, distrusted, or denied.
Cleverly invented stories. Fearful of being accused of being purveyors of cleverly invented stories, many pastors set aside their prophetic role in which they would proclaim, “Thus saith the Lord.” Since, in such post-modern times, there was no longer any real right and absolute wrong, sin was shelved and guilt was ignored. Christ’s all-inclusive statement: “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” was left unspoken. His question, “Do you believe this?” remained unheard and unanswered. As far as the people in the pews were concerned, some Christians clutched their faith tightly, but many did so only as a personal opinion and not because they dared think Jesus really was the Way, the Truth, the Life for everybody (see John 14:6). Others simply gave in to the spirit of the age and agreed, “All religions are pretty much the same. They all teach if you try hard, the generic god will be happy with you, and in some way, somehow, he will take all the good people to heaven, wherever and whatever heaven might be.”
Does that last paragraph describe what you believe? Is that what you hold to be true? If so, for just a moment I’d like to turn The Lutheran Hour microphone over to a guest. I’d like all of you who are filled with doubts to hear what this honored expert has to say. Please, go ahead: “For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty.” Yes, I know that sounded like me, and in truth it was my voice, but those words were the words of Jesus’ disciple Peter. Knowing he was about to die, Peter wrote to people in every century and on every continent. He wanted them to know this truth: We did not follow cleverly devised stories when we made known to you… Jesus Christ.
Now, I’ve got a pretty good idea of what you’re thinking. You’re probably saying to yourself, “Some expert. From 2,000 years ago you’re rolling out an uneducated fisherman from a backwoods Roman colony. Why should I, a reasonably smart and relatively sophisticated 21st century soul, believe anything this relic from the past has to say?” Reasonable questions, all. Let me give you reasonable answers. You can believe Peter because he was an eyewitness to the Savior’s story. Peter was there when Jesus began His ministry; He was there when Jesus finished His ministry upon the cross; He was there the day Jesus rose from the dead. You can believe Peter because he knew the truth, a truth he believed so strongly, he was willing to be crucified rather than deny it.
To which you will probably reply, “Look, Pastor, I’m willing to concede Peter really and sincerely believed everything he said. I don’t doubt that. But I’ve seen things, too. I’ve watched courtroom shows on television; you know, the kind where two people say they are telling ‘the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth,’ but one of them, maybe both of them is intentionally or inadvertently lying. It’s not enough for a person to say, ‘I believe something.’ People believe a lot of things many of which are really wrong. Pastor, you really can’t say Jesus is everybody’s Savior. He can’t be. Not for everybody.”
To which I have to confess: you’re right. I can’t say those things. I wasn’t there, but Peter was and when he says something, he can be believed. You can believe Peter because he paid for his faith with his life; but you can also believe Peter because he was honest, painfully honest. If you read the Gospels, you will find him frequently and regularly confessing the many times he had been terribly, totally wrong. When Jesus came to His disciples walking on the water on the Sea of Galilee, Peter tells just how wrong he could be. First he admits he was wrong thinking Jesus was a ghost (see Matthew 14:28). That day, like you, Peter didn’t believe his eyes and asked Jesus to call to him and let him walk on the water, too. Jesus called, Peter walked, and then he sank. He didn’t have to tell you all of that story, but he did. That’s not the kind of thing a fellow who is telling cleverly invented stories wants to share.
Why do I believe Peter? I believe him because, in Matthew 17, he talks of the day Jesus was transfigured. Now you probably don’t know much about Transfiguration, the event which the Christian Church is celebrating today. Let me give you the highpoints. Peter, James, and John were on a mountaintop with Jesus. There, quite unexpectedly they saw Jesus speaking with some Old Testament Prophets, dead Old Testament prophets. Peter watched as Jesus’ clothes became as white as light and His face shone like the sun; he listened when the Father in heaven said, “This is My beloved Son, listen to Him.” A cleverly invented story? Let me ask, why would Peter confess that he and the others fell to the ground in terror? This is an honest man. Read the Gospels. There was the day Peter proclaimed Jesus as the Savior and then tried to talk Him out of giving His life as a ransom to save us. Later, Peter admits how, in the Garden of Gethsemane, when Jesus was crushed by this world’s sins, he didn’t pray but fell asleep. When soldiers arrested Peter’s Master, he fought and then ran away. When Jesus was being tried, Peter went to see what was happening and then denied His Lord three times. You can be sure: Peter is the kind of guy who really tells the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
That’s why, when Peter says Jesus was crucified, you can believe him; when the apostle reports Jesus rose from the dead, you can believe that as well. You see, when the disciples write of Jesus’ resurrection, they admit, when this, the greatest event in history occurred, they were in hiding (see John 20:19). They acknowledge they didn’t believe the resurrection accounts of the women; and two of them, Peter included, had to go and take a peak at Jesus’ empty and open tomb for themselves. You can believe Peter and the other disciples when they talk about the resurrection because they come clean and admit they, themselves, became skeptics concerning the Christ’s conquest of sin, Satan, and death.
Ultimately it all boils down to this: Did Jesus really die on the cross and did He really rise from the dead?” If He did, then His perfect sacrifice to save us has been accepted, sin’s debt has been paid, the devil has been defeated, and death no longer has control over us. Is that about right?”
If those are your stumbling blocks to believing, the Holy Spirit can readily remove them. As far as Jesus dying, let me say this: the Romans crucified tens of thousands of people, sometimes thousands at a time. History records not a single incident of anyone accidentally surviving. In the case of Jesus, not only did the Romans whip Him, and crucify Him, they also stabbed Him in the heart. Remember, when the Roman soldier made that spear thrust, he wasn’t trying to wound Jesus or make Him uncomfortable, He was trying to make absolutely, 100 percent sure Jesus was dead. Understand, when the Bible says blood and water came out of Jesus’ wound it is describing a medical condition. This separation of blood platelets from the serum which carried them only takes place after someone has been dead for a while.
In short, Jesus was dead. The soldiers who crucified Him knew He was dead; Jesus’ mourners knew He was dead; His enemies were convinced He was dead. Everyone was in perfect agreement: it was Jesus’ lifeless body that was placed into that borrowed tomb.
So what is left? Only this: did Jesus rise from the dead or did He revive? Let’s get rid of the revival by saying: Someone who has been whipped, beaten, crucified, and stabbed with a spear doesn’t get around like Jesus did on Resurrection Sunday. So, did Jesus rise? He did. He absolutely did. It wasn’t a Jesus-ghost who ate with the disciples, breathed on the disciples, talked with the disciples. It wasn’t a figment of imagination that cooked them breakfast on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. It wasn’t some cleverly invented story which tells of Jesus saying, “Touch Me, I’m real. Here, put your hand into My side. Check Me out, I’m really real.” Jesus rose. Time and again He showed His disciples He was alive, even as He now shows it to you. There is no doubt, there can be no question. Unless you choose to hold fast to that doubt and cling to your denial. But I pray you don’t.
Years ago a man came to Margaret Fielty, a director of adult education in Fitchburg, Mass. The man sat down in her office and confessed his cleverly invented story. He told Mrs. Fielty he couldn’t read. More than that, he also shared the lengths to which he had gone to assure no one, not even his wife of over a decade, knew of his shortcoming. How had he kept it a secret from her? Easy, every night he sat in his easy chair and held the newspaper in front of his face, pretending to read. That’s a cleverly invented lie. Peter would never have told it. No, Peter didn’t follow cleverly devised myths, nor do we today, as we make known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Peter told the truth, but will you believe it and be saved? By the Holy Spirit’s power, we pray you will; and, if we can help you see the Savior, God’s gracious Truth for every generation, please, please call us at The Lutheran Hour. Amen.
LUTHERAN HOUR MAILBOX (Questions & Answers) for February 3, 2007
TOPIC: Faith Healing – Follow upANNOUNCER: Now, Pastor Ken Klaus responds to questions from listeners. I’m Mark Eischer.
KLAUS: Hi, Mark.
ANNOUNCER: A few weeks ago, we talked about faith healing and also the miraculous healings performed by the Savior. At that time you said doctors and modern medicine can be instruments through which the Lord works. We also said that not everyone who prays for a miracle receives the miracle they expect. And you encouraged people who believe they have experienced a miraculous healing to still continue to work with their doctors.
KLAUS: We did say all that.
ANNOUNCER: After that broadcast we heard from people who wanted to know what did Jesus mean when He said, “Your faith has healed you.” Does that suggest that people with faith are always healed? And is it the faith of the individual that brings about the healings?
KLAUS: Good questions, all. Let’s start with the easy one first, that is, “Is it the faith of the individual that brings about healings?” Mark, Scripture records several instances where someone is healed because of faith. Interestingly though, it’s the faith of another person, someone other than the person being healed. In the 8th chapter of Matthew the servant of the Centurion was healed. To that man of faith who was speaking on behalf of a friend, Jesus said, “Let it be done for you as you have believed.” Then there are miracles which took place where there is no indication at all of faith on the part of the sick person. For example, when Jesus raised Jairus’ daughter, that little girl didn’t have faith, mainly because she was already dead! The same could be said about the raising of the young man of Nain. The people carrying his corpse weren’t bringing the body to Jesus for resurrection, they were taking it out for burial. And then there are the sisters of Lazarus. Martha believed Jesus could have done something to heal Lazarus if He had gotten there in time. But by the time He arrived, they thought it was too late for Him to do anything.
ANNOUNCER: So you’re saying that sometimes healings took place without someone having a strong faith, or any faith at all.
KLAUS: Right. It was not faith that brought those miracles about. It was the power of the Lord that did the healing.
ANNOUNCER: That’s interesting.
KLAUS: Well, let’s make it even more interesting. There were times when miracles of healing took place when there was not only a lack of faith, but an actual antagonism toward faith.
ANNOUNCER: Could you reference that for us?
KLAUS: Absolutely. Matthew 8 talks about two men who were possessed by devils. When Jesus showed up, they called out, “What have You to do with us, O Son of God? Have You come here to torment us…?” Jesus healed those people, too.
ANNOUNCER: So it’s clear, that while a person’s faith might bring that person to Jesus for help, it is the Lord’s will and power which accomplishes the healing.
KLAUS: Yes, and if a person is not healed, that doesn’t mean God isn’t listening, or that He doesn’t care.
ANNOUNCER: Like Saint Paul, for example. He prayed that His “thorn in the flesh” might be removed, but it wasn’t.
KLAUS: No, whatever that thorn was, the problem remained, and God used it to show His strength in the life of Paul. We might also note that Jesus prayed three times that His cup of suffering might be removed. But He always prayed that the Father’s will, not His, should be done. The end result of that prayer, of course, took Jesus to trial, Calvary’s cross, and His glorious resurrection.
ANNOUNCER: So, once again we’re saying the Lord uses miracles for His purpose, and not because somebody’s faith compels Him to do something.
KLAUS: Exactly. God is in control. Not us. It needs to be clear that our heavenly Father loves us and will do what is best for us.
ANNOUNCER: Could you give us an example of that?
KLAUS: Well, suppose someone with a lot of faith prayed that all those who are persecuting Christians around the world would suddenly drop dead. Would God do that miracle?
ANNOUNCER: I don’t think so.
KLAUS: Nor do I. The Lord wants those persecutors to come to faith. More than that, He sometimes uses the sufferings of His people to strengthen them personally and make a witness to others. But God, no matter how strong the faith of someone praying, is not going to do something contrary to His nature.
ANNOUNCER: Which answers our other question. The one about what does Jesus mean when He says, “Your faith has healed you.”
KLAUS: It means a person with a right faith will offer a prayer asking the Lord’s will to be done, and will accept the Father’s will if a miracle occurs; but also if it doesn’t.
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
“Jesus on the Mountain Peak” by Brian Wren & Theodore A. Beck. Text © 1977 Hope Publishing Company / Music © 1998 Theodore A. Beck
“How Good, Lord, to Be Here” arranged by Henry Gerike. Used by permission.
“How Good, Lord, to Be Here” arranged by John Behnke. From For All Seasons, vol. 2 by John Behnke (© 2001 John A. Behnke) Concordia Publishing House/SESAC
“O Wondrous Type! O Vision Fair” arranged by Timothy Moke and Georg Masanz. From Magnificent Christian Hymns, vol. 2 by Timothy Moke and Georg Masanz (© 2005 T. Moke Recordings)