The Lutheran Hour
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"Do More – Try Harder"
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Text: Ephesians 2:8-9
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Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! The resurrection of the Redeemer is God’s great gift of grace which offers forgiveness to those who have committed big sins, as well as small. The Savior’s victory over death, the devil, and the evil within us unites all who believe in a great procession which has heaven as its ultimate destination. God grant lost humanity hears and believes Jesus’ personal invitation to “Come, follow Me.” Amen.
The opening words of this Lutheran Hour message are not mine. They are quoted from the writings of a Lutheran Chaplain. I will tell you more of his incredibly interesting story directly. For now, I will let him speak. This is what he wrote: “Nearly 2,0-00 years ago, three crosses were erected at Golgotha. In the midst hung Jesus Christ crucified, the Savior of the world. On either side were crucified two malefactors. One of them in the last moments of his sinful life repented and appealed for pardon, and was transported into paradise. The other died unsaved and passed into eternity. The cross is no longer there, but the value and the preciousness of the (Christ’s) perfect work of redemption remain unchanged. Salvation in Christ is still the same for all (seeking) souls as it was in that day. The attitude to the cross decides the eternal destiny. Faith in Jesus and His shed blood gives evidence of sins forgiven. God’s merciful hand saves from the place of eternal torment — those whose faith is in Christ.” That ends the quote.
Those words, written more than half-a-century ago, come from the pen of Reverend H.F. Gerecke, Lutheran chaplain to the high Nazi criminals who were being tried at Nurnberg. Chaplain Gerecke had gone on active service in 1943 and for 14 months ministered to the war’s sick and wounded. On July 15 he came to Germany and was asked to serve the most infamous of the surviving Nazi leaders. Although he was a man of God, Chaplain Gerecke was still a man. He confessed his concerns before he met with them. He said, “Must I greet these men who (have) had bought such unspeakable suffering on the world, and the cause of the sacrifice of so many millions of lives? My two only sons were also victims of their misdeeds. How should I comport myself before such men so that they would be willing to receive God’s word?”
In truth, much of the world would have said these men deserved no mercy, no consideration, no compassion, and certainly no chaplain of the Christ. To those who had lost homes, years, sons and daughters there was no punishment, no penalty, no pain that would have been too harsh for the members of the chaplain’s caged congregation. More than a half-century later, their names are still known: there was Hermann Goering, the leader of Germany’s Luftwaffe, Field Marshal Keitel who had helped plan the war’s blitzkrieg; deceitful Foreign Minister Von Ribbentrop, Grand Admiral Raeder who had rebuilt the German Navy, and Grand Admiral Donitz who had created and directed the German U-boat fleet. In the fellowship was Hitler’s architect and man-in-charge of the home front, Albert Speer; Wilhelm Frick who controlled Germany’s concentration camps, the president of the Reichsbank, Walther Funk; Balder Von Schirach the man who had directed the indoctrination of an entire generation of Hitler Youth; and Fritz Sauckel who had organized the enslavement of millions.
After meeting this rogue’s gallery, the chaplain remembered: “The night I passed in prayer, asking God to give me a message for them. These men must hear something of the Savior who suffered and died (also) on the cross for them.” Turning to Scripture, the chaplain found God’s direction in the story of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. In the months which followed, the world heard words of public condemnation and accusation, countered by allegations of innocence. Privately, the pastor kept preaching. In brief worship services, with organ accompaniment provided by an ex-SS Lieutenant Colonel, Chaplain Gerecke told these men of war how Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, had sacrificed Himself for the salvation of sinners, all sinners. On October 1, 1946, all that could be said at the trials had been said and verdicts were handed down. For a few of those in the docket there was acquittal; others were sentenced to years, even life, in prison. The worst of the Nazis were told they must die to pay for their considerable crimes against civilization. On October 16, the world held its breath as those who were condemned mounted the steps of their gallows; it listened, and some rejoiced as the guilty were hung.
But Chaplain Gerecke saw something different. During the months of the trial the chaplain had noted the Holy Spirit acting in the lives of some, although not all, of these men. In the presence of death, having lost all things material, including their lives, some came to rely on the promises of God made to lost sinners. Keitel was moved by the Scriptures which spoke of the redeeming power of the blood of Jesus; Sauckel kept praying, “O God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” The chaplain overheard Von Ribbentrop ask his wife to bring up their children in the fear of the Lord, and Sauckel encouraged his spouse to take their numerous little ones to the shadow of the Cross of Jesus. Before he died, Frick assured the chaplain that in their simple services he had met Jesus and believed in the cleansing blood of the Lamb.
Now, there is a reason why I have invested so much time telling the story of a World War II chaplain and his Nazi charges. It is not to praise the man; nor to condemn or applaud the court’s verdict. I share this story so you may know that what St. Paul wrote to the Christians of Ephesus is true: “By grace we are saved through faith in Jesus. We are saved because of God’s undeserved Gift of His Son and not by anything we can do.” I shared this story because I want you to know: if the Lord can reach into the hearts of Nazi war criminals; if He can forgive the multitude of their misdeeds and rescue and redeem them from eternal death and damnation, He most certainly can do the same for you and me.
Hearing those words, I would be surprised if a great many of you haven’t straightened up, done a double take at what you think you just heard on the radio and demand to know: “Pastor, are you comparing me to a war criminal? Because if you are, you’re very much mistaken. I haven’t murdered anyone; I haven’t enslaved anyone; I am not guilty of genocide; I have not sentenced anyone unfairly; I haven’t stolen art treasures; I have never caused a war which took the lives of millions; I have never committed any of the terrible atrocities of which these men were found guilty. And as long as we’re at it, my name hasn’t appeared on the evening news. I don’t run a meth lab; I’m not a ‘person of interest’ in a drive-by shooting; I’m not stealing the life savings of the elderly; I haven’t run my company into the ground; or had my computer confiscated by the authorities because of child pornography. On the contrary, I’ve tried, and think I’ve succeeded, in living a pretty good life. Ask my spouse, my neighbors, my family. I might not be perfect, but I try to be a good person, a good citizen, a good guy or gal. I don’t drink too much, swear too much, party too much, gamble too much, mess around too much. No, if you think I should be listed in the same category as a Nazi war criminal, or one of those Eyewitness News criminals, Pastor, you’d better rethink yourself. Frankly, I’m offended at your implication.”
If that’s what you’re feeling, you’re thinking, you’re saying, please, be calm and hear me out as I say: “Well, I’ve got some good news and I’ve got some bad news.” First, the good news: I don’t think that you are, in human terms as bad as the criminals we’ve been talking about. I believe you’re not a war criminal or any other kind of criminal. I believe you’re not such a bad person. Indeed, you’re probably a better person than I am. That’s the good news. Now, here’s the bad news: when it comes to your eternal salvation, the opinion of Ken Klaus, Lutheran Hour Speaker, isn’t worth a hill of beans. When it comes to the verdict of whether you spend eternity in heaven or hell, it is the Triune God, Creator, Redeemer, Sanctifier which will count for everything. The bad news is, when the perfect God, the God Who can’t stand sin in any amount, in any form, in any way takes a look at you, at me, just as we are… well, quite frankly, we don’t look so good.
Back when I was in the parish, when our young people made profession of their faith, it was customary to have a service of “Confirmation.” That means these young people confirmed they believed in the fundamentals of faith. They believed God had made them, had given them all they had and would ever be; that God’s Son, the Savior, had won their salvation not with silver or gold, but with His holy, precious blood and His innocent suffering and death; they believed the Holy Spirit had, through the power of the Gospel, called them to faith and would keep them there. Now, at this special church service it was customary for the young people to wear white robes — a symbol that their sins had been covered and they had been washed clean, made white, by the Savior’s sacrifice.
As instructed, the children took their robes home and gave them to their mothers. In the days before permanent press, or disposable robes, whatever signal that sends, the moms were asked to wash, starch, and iron those white robes so everybody would look perfect on Confirmation Sunday. On that special day the children showed up with their white robes in tow. They put them on and were given instructions, both explicit and implicit, that for the next few minutes, at least until pictures could be taken, they should stay clean. They were not to lean up against anything, brush up against anything, come near to anything, think about anything that would dirty their robes. With more than 25 years in the parish, can I tell you what happened? I don’t have to tell you, do I? You know.
In less than 30 seconds one, or two, or three of those young people would manage to mess up their robes. They tried to be good. They tried to stay clean. They really did. But, somehow, almost by magic or through magnetism, a spot, a blotch, a smudge, a mark would appear on the robe — a perfectly clean, white robe with an imperfection. Do you know how that looks? I can tell you how it looked to those moms who had so much time and sweat equity invested in making their young boy or girl look good. When those moms looked at their children the only thing they could see was a stain. They didn’t see the 99.9% of the robe which remained white. They…just…saw…the…spot. Those moms zeroed in on that spot and, for each of them the robe had become filthy, a mess. More than one of those moms asked, “Why don’t you play in a mud puddle or wallow in a pig sty? You wouldn’t look any worse.” Those moms didn’t mean that. Well, most of them didn’t. At any rate, what I’m saying is, for those moms the robes were white or they were not white. There was no in between.
Now you and I both know you’re not a war criminal or any kind of criminal. In the eyes of humankind you are nowhere near as bad as they are. But, once again, I need to say: what humanity thinks isn’t important and what God thinks is all important. And when God looks at us, He doesn’t see us as being pretty good, or better than most. God sees us for what we are: sinners. We are sinners and He is disappointed. He had originally made humankind to be like Him, perfect, without any smudges of sin, or touch of transgression. But when humanity disobeyed, disregarded, and denied Him, the fabric of our souls was besmirched and befouled. When God looks at the best of us and the worst of us, He sees us as sinners. Sinners who can no more fix ourselves up than the average eighth grade boy can wash, starch, and iron his Confirmation robe.
Work as hard as you want, you can’t make yourself good enough; perfect enough, to get into heaven. St. Paul is clear. You’re not getting into heaven by anything you can do. God’s not letting you into heaven because you were pretty good, because pretty good isn’t near perfect enough. You can spend every Christmas season dressing up as Santa and, out of your own pocket, giving toys to needy tots; you can help a billion little old ladies across the street, but that’s not going to make your soul as white as it needs to be. You’re not getting into heaven by what you do, nor will you make it because of what someone else has done. You can’t say, “My grandfather founded a church; my father was a missionary, my wife was a saint on earth. Because of them I ought to get past those pearly gates.” Folks, there aren’t many things we have to do alone in this world, but dying and being judged is one of them. On the day you die, it’s not going to make any difference if you’re personal friends with the President or are on the A-list of every Hollywood celebrity there has ever been. On the day you breathe your last, you won’t get into heaven on the coattails of anybody.
Wait a minute, that’s not exactly true. The truth is there is One Person Who can help you — One and Only One Individual who can give a free pass to the big sinners, the little sinners, all the sinners of this world. There is One Person who can make souls white enough so even the justly critical eye of our Divine Judge will find neither fault nor flaw nor failing. That Person whom you need; whom you must have is Jesus Christ, the sinless Son of God. Jesus is the Grace whom St. Paul talked about. Jesus is the Gift whose life, suffering, death, and resurrection saves. With Him, no sin can stain or besmirch; without Him, every sin is enough to condemn. With Him is life eternal; without Him is condemnation.
Long ago I heard a story, and it is a story, about a man who was standing outside the door to heaven. As he stood there, up the narrow path came a proud procession, marching, singing, waving bright banners of praise. Without stopping, they passed on and went into heaven. Moved by curiosity, through the gate, the man called to an angel, “Who were those folks?” The angel replied, “They are the prophets who are on their way to see the Lord.” Hearing that, the man thought to himself, “Well, I’m not a prophet, so I can’t go in like them.” It didn’t take but a few moments before another group approached. Also wearing white robes, they marched, no, it was more like, they danced through the gates of heaven. From inside paradise came the peal of bells and great shouts of welcome. The man, unable to hear what the crowds were saying asked the angel, “And who were those guys?” The angel replied, “Those? Those are the Lord’s Apostles and they are being welcomed by the martyrs who are already here.”
The man, knowing he was neither prophet, apostle, nor martyr, was wondering if he would ever find a group to which he belonged, a group with whom he might enter heaven, which would let him stand in the presence of God. No sooner had that thought been formed, when a sound, a thunderous, chest-shaking sound forced him to turn. Another group, a greater group, a giant group, a countless throng of souls could be seen coming up the path. Actually, this crowd couldn’t be seen, not completely, not totally, for this group overflowed the path and stretched to the horizon where the souls who were coming could be seen only as small specs, all swarming, and singing, and praising.
The man turned to ask the angel who these people were, but before he could say anything, the angel anticipated his question and remarked: “These, like the others you have seen, are sinners who have acknowledged their transgressions, their helplessness, and have been brought to faith in the Savior and the sacrifice He made for them with His life and upon the cross. They have seen the risen Lord conquer the grave and, in victory, He has brought them here just as He promised.” Hearing that, the man turned and took another look. And although he was not sure how he knew them, he was able to recognize some. There was short Zacchaeus, and the centurion who had stood by Jesus’ cross. There was the daughter of Jairus, and blind Bartimaeus who seemed to have 20-20 vision. Along with these there were other faces, more familiar faces: his Sunday school teacher; some pastors he had known, his Christian auto-mechanic, his garbage collector, the young boy who delivered his paper. And from his history books, he even recognized the faces of some executed Nazi war criminals that were walking in step with a man wearing a U.S. army chaplain’s uniform. Most amazing, all these faces seemed changed, transformed. These were those who had been forgiven by grace through faith. And that man, like anyone who will be in heaven, said to himself: “I am one of these.” And as Jesus passed by Him, He nodded to the man and said, “Come.”
Now I cannot speak for the veracity of that story. It is, after all, a story. But I can, without hesitation say to you, a brother or sister sinner, that the Savior has come into this world to seek and save us. So we might be forgiven, He lived His entire life without failing or fumble; so we might be freed from punishment He was persecuted; so we might live with Him, He died. Now, a risen Lord, a living Lord Jesus comes to you in your sin and says, “By grace you are saved. I am the Gift Your Father gives.” To you, this day the Savior nods and says, “Come.” And if you need to know more of the Savior’s invitation, please, call us at The Lutheran Hour. Amen.
LUTHERAN HOUR MAILBOX (Questions & Answers) for March 22, 2009
Topic: Fearing and Loving GodANNOUNCER: What does it mean to fear and love God? Pastor Ken Klaus responds to questions from listeners. I’m Mark Eischer
The Rev. Dr. Ken KLAUS: Hello, Mark. What’s in front of us today?ANNOUNCER: A listener says, “We’re told we are supposed to fear and love God. But aren’t fear and love contradictory?
KLAUS: Before I answer that, I’d like to give a brief history lesson. Mark, one of God’s excellent qualities is the fact that He never changes.
ANNOUNCER: God is the same–yesterday, today and forever.
KLAUS: Correct. Now, would you say the same thing could be said about us?
ANNOUNCER: Hardly. We change all the time. Our opinions, the things we think we know, fashion styles, even our language. You name it. Things are in a constant state of flux.
KLAUS: How about in the way we feel about God?
ANNOUNCER: And what do you mean by that?
KLAUS: Do people change in the way they feel about God?
ANNOUNCER: I suppose so. One day they trust Him, the next they question Him, the next day, they don’t believe He even exists.
KLAUS: I agree. Now let me ask the next question. Does Christianity change in its position to the Lord?
ANNOUNCER: I guess it depends on what you mean by that and from which perspective you’re speaking.
KLAUS: OK, objectively speaking, Christ is and always will be our one and only Lord and Savior Who died and rose to redeem sinners. No one comes to God the Father, except through Christ as Mediator. Objectively speaking, that is reality. That makes Christ an absolute necessity for everybody. Pretty important. Now, as you read through the Bible, when Jesus walked the earth, do you find anybody who considered Him to be boring?
ANNOUNCER: No. In fact, they thought He was too dangerous to let live.
KLAUS: So, from dangerous to boring–Jesus hasn’t changed, but some peoples’ opinion of Him has changed. At the time of the early Church, Jesus was considered a friend to all sinners, but He especially appealed to the downtrodden and the persecuted. Then Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire. By the year 500, Christ was seen as a friend and supporter of the Imperial establishment. By the year 1000 A.D. Christ’s cross had become the symbol of violent military Crusades to liberate the Holy Land. By the year 1500, just prior to the Reformation, people thought of Christ as an angry Judge, so unapproachable in His wrath that people felt they couldn’t pray to Him directly. And now… well, Jesus has become, at least in the minds of many, merely a good Guy, a great Teacher, a fine Example, a life coach. Now that’s an oversimplification of history, but it’s still mostly true.
ANNOUNCER: And what does this have to do with “fear and love”?
KLAUS: Simply this. Our relationship with the Lord has changed… and how we interpret His relationship with us has also changed. If Jesus has been reduced to nothing more than a “good Guy” and if the Father in heaven is discounted in people’s minds… they’re going to read “fear” as Someone to be terrified of… someone Who makes you tremble and quake.
ANNOUNCER: Should people be afraid of God?
KLAUS: Without Jesus as their Savior, they should. Without Jesus vouching for us, standing in our place, we could expect a punishment that is terrible in its scope and length.
ANNOUNCER: But with Jesus as our Lord and Savior, should we fear God?
KLAUS: Yes–but not in the same way. The word fear can also mean to respect or honor. That’s what the disciple John meant when he wrote, (1 John 4:18a) “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment…”
ANNOUNCER: So, those who love the Lord can also fear Him.
KLAUS: That’s right. When the Bible, or anyone speaks about a “God-fearing man or woman” they aren’t speaking of someone whose knees are knocking. They’re talking about someone who, having received Jesus’ love and forgiveness, wishes to honor and revere the Lord even as we do what He wants us to do.
ANNOUNCER: I understand, but can you give me an example or two?
KLAUS: Mark, often in my messages I speak of my father. Being a blacksmith he could have bounced me like a basketball, but he didn’t. He loved me and I respected that man. And although he’s been with Jesus for 20 years, I still do.
ANNOUNCER: How about from the Bible?
KLAUS: Surely, the one I think most applicable are the words of Mary. She said, (Luke 1:49-50) “for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is upon those who fear him from generation to generation.”
Fear and respect are, for a Christian, not contradictory but complementary.
ANNOUNCER: This has been a presentation of Lutheran
Music selection for this program:
“A Mighty Fortress” arranged by John Leavitt. Concordia Publishing House/SESAC
“Chief of Sinners” arr. by Henry Gerike. Used by permission.
“My Song Is Love Unknown” setting by Paul Manz. From Hymn Improvisations, vol. 2 by Paul Manz (© 2002 Paul Manz)
“O Lamm Gottes, unschuldig” by J.S. Bach. From Cramer & Resch at Kramer Chapel by Craig Cramer and Richard Resch (© 2001 Concordia Theological Seminary, Ft. Wayne)