Against Indifference

Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! In the single event which shapes and shakes the world, the living Lord Jesus Christ left His tomb. Having conquered sin and devil, Jesus has shown His victory over death. Now may all who have been called out of darkness into His living light leave behind comfortable convenience and be brought to Christian commitment. God grant this gift to us all. Amen.

So, what’s your name? It isn’t a complicated question; at least it shouldn’t be. Fact is, most of us have a great many names. The people who send me junk mail, call me Kenneth Richard Klaus. Other than that, I can’t think of anyone who uses my full name. To our children, I’m known as DAD; to my grandchildren it’s BOPBOP or GRANDPA K.

Having said that, it is my wife, Pammie, who has elevated the possible permutations of my name into an art form. For example, when I’m out on the road speaking, she calls me “Pastor.” It’s less confusing to folks if she does that. “Honey” is her form of endearment for me, although she uses it sparingly. A forceful KEN is supposed to get my attention. It usually does. But on those times it fails, she has been known to say: “KENNETH RICHARD!” That means she has tried being polite, but she has now finished with the niceties.

Of course there are those times when she simply repeats my first name a few times. KENNY, KENNY, KENNY. That’s the way she says it. KENNY, KENNY, KENNY. That sort of a term of endearment, kind of an expression of love and mostly a way to let me know that I’ve been quite silly. KENNY, KENNY, KENNY. Now I only tell you this because I see Jesus doing the same thing in the tenth chapter of the Gospel of Luke. If you want to read it for yourself, you can, beginning with verse 38. There you will read how Jesus had come to a village which was just a stone’s throw from Jerusalem. In this village a lady by the name of Martha invited Him to come and be a Guest at her home. Now we don’t know a lot about this Martha lady. The text says it was her home, so we know she was the mistress of the household. Living with her was a sister, Mary, and a brother, Lazarus. Since no husband is mentioned, some scholars have concluded Martha was a well-off widow. Of course, that’s just conjecture…we can’t be sure.

The facts are these: Martha invited Jesus into her home as an honored Guest and He accepted her invitation. There is little doubt that Martha would have been honored, she would have been pleased, she probably would have been overwhelmed.”

She would have wanted to be a good hostess; to feed Jesus a good meal, to offer Him accommodations worthy of His position. She would have left no stone unturned as she tried to make a good impression. She would have expected Mary to help her give Jesus a warm welcome. Maybe she expected it, but it didn’t go down that way. Mary didn’t help. She didn’t help with anything. Like a bump on a log Mary sat and listened to Jesus speak. Martha prepared this and Mary sat; Martha prepared that and Mary sat. Martha probably gave her sister a dirty look. If she did, the dirty look never found its mark and Mary continued to sit. All the while Martha was thinking, “Must be nice. I’d like to sit and listen to Jesus like my uncaring, indifferent sister. In fact, I’ll do just that, but first I’ve got to get these things done.” Eventually those thoughts were formed into words and Martha felt compelled to say, “Jesus, don’t You care if my indifferent, non-working sister doesn’t help?” That’s when Jesus said, “Martha, Martha.”

It was the Savior’s gentle way of saying, “Dear lady, you’re caring and committed and concerned about many things. Still, you need to know there is only one thing here which is all-important. There is only one thing which needs to be done… and that one thing is listening to Me. Martha, I want you to understand, your sister isn’t being indifferent and she isn’t being lazy. But she is being committed to hearing Me. In doing that she’s made the right choice and I won’t take that away from her. No, I won’t order her to help you. On the other hand we’d like you to join us.”

Of course Jesus was right. Mary was listening to the story of salvation as it came from the lips of the only Person in history Who would make that story live. Only Jesus, true God and true Man, had the ability to fulfill the ancient prophecies and show the world He was the One Who had been sent to offer Himself as the sacrifice Who would reclaim our souls from sin and Satan and death. Only Jesus would live His life without committing a sin which would alienate Him from the Father in heaven. Only Jesus would have the strength and wisdom and holiness to resist the temptations of Satan. Only Jesus would have the power to lay His life down in death and reclaim it with His glorious third-day resurrection. Only Jesus would do these things so that you and I and all who hear His words and believe on Him as the Savior, might be washed of our wrongdoings and be granted the gracious gift of eternal life. Yes, Mary had found the One Thing, the One Person who was needful. She found the One Person Who can change our lives now and for eternity… the One Person Who has defeated death and grave. Mary had found her Savior and He is the One Person Who should never be taken away.

As I read those words, I started to do some thinking. I wondered how many people have had Jesus taken away from them? To find an answer I looked through the pages of Scripture. More often than not, most people had given up God all on their own. No arm-twisting had been necessary.

God’s gifts aren’t taken from people, they’re given up by people. Do you see the difference? When it comes to Jesus and all of God’s gifts, the forces of darkness don’t have to threaten us, or browbeat us, or wear us down. All they have to do is be patient and we will pretty much give up God’s gifts all on our own. Let me give you an example or two. In the Garden of Eden there is no record of Satan holding a gun to the heads of Adam and Eve. The devil isn’t Dirty Harry pointing a gun and saying, “Don’t want to eat the forbidden fruit. Go ahead, say no, make my day.” All the devil does is make some simple suggestions, “HMMMMM. Doesn’t this fruit look good? Don’t you want to be smart like God? Why don’t you go ahead and eat a little?” That’s not high-pressure salesmanship. Still, it was enough for our first ancestors to look at each other and say, “Sounds like a plan.” That’s how sin was brought into the world, along with death, and pain, and tears, and sadness, and sorrow. The perfection of the Garden wasn’t wrested from Adam and Eve, they gave it up.

Centuries later God promised Abraham that he would be the father of nations, the ancestor of the Savior. But Abraham couldn’t wait for God to keep His promises. No, Abraham took matters into his own hands and had a child by a woman other than his wife. In so doing he set into motion conflicts and hatreds which last to this very day. Once again, nobody forced Abraham to do what he did; he proceeded all on his own. Years later, Isaac’s eldest son, Esau, should have been singularly blessed by his father. Esau should have been blessed, but the truth is, one day when he was especially hungry, he sold his blessing for a bit of bread and some stew. Esau didn’t have his birthright stolen from him; he gave it up. Should I go on? Here’s one: nobody took the Promised Land from Moses, He gave it up when he disobeyed God at Meribah. Should I speak of how Judas gave up his Savor and his spot in heaven by betraying the Redeemer? In this act, Judas wasn’t threatened; he wasn’t held at sword point; he wasn’t blackmailed. Judas sold out Jesus; Judas gave up the One Person Who was needful because Judas chose to do so.

I wish I could say this human willingness to walk away from the Redeemer, this indifference to Jesus, the One Person Who is necessary for salvation; I wish this indifference were confined to the pages of the Bible. I wish I could tell you that today all of humanity clings to Jesus. I wish I could say that, but I can’t. Although many people live in silent desperation and they know the world is in a sorry state, there are still tens-of-millions of fearful, frustrated souls who are voluntarily giving up the Savior. They never wrestle with Satan, they never resist temptation; they just give in. These indifferent souls having undervalued their salvation and underrated the Savior, act as if they’ve lost nothing when they treat the Savior’s sacrifice with indifference.

Yes, I know, there are millions of souls who live under persecution, who are the targets of governments who hate the Savior; who are harassed by religions which are opposed to the Redeemer. These governments and religions do all they can to rip Christ from the hearts and minds of their people. But there are also many places where there are no threats or persecution. In these places of freedom there are tens-of-millions who are choosing to give up Jesus, the One Person necessary for the receiving of eternal life. In America we see courts which would ban The National Day of Prayer; which would restrike our coinage so it bears no reference to a Deity; which would have us celebrate a National Thanksgiving Day without any One to thank.

Look at the political leaders who would prefer God to be kept shut away and Jesus be stuffed back into the tomb so they can do whatever they want with impunity. Some of these elected leaders would feel quite comfortable rolling out some pitiful papier-mâché representation of God to whom they could point, so people might be calmed in times of national tragedy or political uncertainty. Look at the great colleges which were created to glorify God and promote the Savior’s Name. Today many of those colleges have denied their founding fathers and allowed their professors to show academic contempt to Christian academics. Look at the multitude of comedians on TV who gleefully make mockery of the Christ and fearlessly point to the sins and shortcomings, the failures, faults, and foibles of the Christian Community. This they do with impunity because they are confident no one will speak out in defense of the Redeemer; no one will stand up to represent the many millions of Christians who are community leaders; faithful friends; loyal spouses, and caring, committed citizens.

In truth, if recent history continues unchecked, the Savior will not be taken from our country and communities, our homes and our hearts by dark dictators and demanding despots. Jesus need not be taken from us at all; Christian indifference will simply set the Savior down somewhere and forget where it has placed Him. Indifference set Jesus down and forgot that He had something to say about little children when, in 1973, the Supreme Court said it was OK to abort unborn children. Indifference set Jesus down and forgot He had something to say about marriage and the love between husband and wife when society decided vows were temporary and the breakup of families was nobody’s fault. Indifference set Jesus down and forgot He had something to say when pornography was moved from seedy backrooms to our home’s living rooms. Indifference set Jesus down and forgot He had something to say about family and now half of our children are illegitimate. Indifference has set Jesus down and now when His Name is picked up, it is all too often used as a curse and when believers are portrayed in movies and on TV, they are depicted as prudes and perverts and people to be pitied. When the Bible is spoken of, the world demands that it first be run through the filter of political correctness. Yes, indifference set Jesus down and forgot He had something to say about sin, which is now called an indiscretion or a minor misdirection. Indifference set the Triune God down and forgot He had something to say about how He loved us and sent His Son to save us from sin, Satan, and ourselves.

My friends, If I were to ask you what is the opposite of UP, you would say, DOWN. If I were to ask for the opposite of IN, you would reply, OUT. You know the opposite of GOOD would be BAD and the opposite of LOVE is… did you say HATE? I think most people said HATE. If so, might I not suggest a different answer, possibly a better answer? I believe the opposite of LOVE is INDIFFERENCE. If you hate something or somebody, you are still involved with that person or thing… but if you are indifferent… if you don’t care… that’s a sad, sad thing.

In 1928, a case of indifference showed up in a Massachusetts’ courtroom. The lawsuit involved a man who had been walking on a boat dock. The man tripped on a rope and fell into the cold, deep water of an ocean bay. He managed to make it to the surface where he sputtered and shouted and called for help. All too quickly he went down again. Twice more the process repeated itself without anyone helping. Amazingly, there was someone who could have provided assistance. The accident, the struggle, the entire incident had been seen by a man who was sitting on a lawn chair on a neighboring dock.

The drowning man came to the surface yet again and he screamed, “Help, I can’t swim!” Now the fellow on the chair, an excellent swimmer himself, turned his head and watched as the man fought, floundered, and sank into the water for a last time. After the funeral, the family of the dead man was understandably upset by the observer’s indifference to their relative’s plight. Understandably, they took him to court. They took him to court and they lost. Yes, they lost. With the greatest reluctance, the court ruled the man on the dock had no legal responsibility to save or try to save the other man’s life.

Now such indifference may be allowed by the law of the land; but it is not part of God’s Gospel of grace. Such indifference may be tolerated in a man of the world, but it is intolerable for those who have been redeemed by the Savior Who came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for the salvation of many. (Mark 10:45) Redeemed by the Savior, we must remain committed to sharing His story of salvation; we must stay solid in the stand we take for the Christ. We must remain dedicated to exposing the sins of the world and calling people out of the devil’s darkness into the Lord’s marvelous light.

Not so long ago I heard of a pastor who visited the children’s unit of a large West Coast hospital. Before he left, he was called aside by a nurse he knew. Quietly, urgently, she asked him to follow her. He followed and she brought him to a small, private room where a small baby was crying; no screaming. The child, about seven-months-old was marked by bruises, scratches, scars. The pastor assumed the child had been in an accident. The nurse told him to look closer. He did and she showed outlines of scars, words which had been scratched into the child. She pointed out burns on the child’s feet and abdomen which had been caused by a parent’s burning cigarette. And if he had ever doubted it before, at that moment the pastor knew Satan was alive and well. It was then that the nurse leaned over and picked up the child. She held the child closely. For a bit the child, afraid of any human touch, screamed even louder. But then, slowly, the crying quieted and eventually stilled.

The pastor said, “At that moment I knew my life was changed.” No longer could he stand by indifferently. He had to do something. In the Savior’s Name He had to reach out to the countless millions of screaming, sinful souls who have been burned and scarred by life. He had to do his best to wrap them in the Savior’s love. He had no choice, he had to. From then on he thought of himself as having been given a different name. At that moment he called himself “a committed Christian.” I give thanks he is not alone in taking a stand, in trying to enfold this sorry, sinful world in the mantle of Jesus’ love. I know he is not alone because this broadcast comes to you because of tens of thousands of Christians who are committed to telling you about Jesus Christ, the One Person needful. If you need to know more about this caring Christ, please, won’t you call us at The Lutheran Hour? Amen.

LUTHERAN HOUR MAILBOX (Questions & Answers) for July 18, 2010
Topic: Don’t Tell Anyone

Announcer: Now, Pastor Ken Klaus answers questions from listeners. I’m Mark Eischer.

Klaus: Hi, Mark. And hello to our listeners. So, what is our topic?

Announcer: On several occasions in the Gospels, we read how Jesus warned people not to tell anybody about the miraculous healing He had just performed. Why is that? Wouldn’t that have been free publicity, great word-of-mouth?

Klaus: Yeah, you know, it really is true. Jesus does do that. He warns people not to tell anybody. And it’s also true that it doesn’t seem to make sense for a Person who you’d think would want to be recognized to look as though He’s covering things up. Especially when it would be impossible to do a real cover up.

Announcer: Now, could you give an example or two of this happening?

Klaus: I can. There’s the example of when Jesus raised Jairus’ young daughter from the dead. Some time before, it’d been reported she was dead. By the time Jesus got to the house, the professional mourners, that’s something people did back then, they actually hired people to come on in and mourn for those who had died. Those people were already there and they were doing their wailing and weeping. The funeral was getting underway. That’s when Jesus arrived and said the girl was only sleeping. The crowd was so sure the girl was dead, they laughed at the Lord. Well, fact is, she was dead and Jesus did raise her to life again. And then He told the family not to tell anybody what had happened. Well, the truth is, any time somebody gets raised from the dead, it’s big news and there were a lot of people there who had seen what had happened. I think you could count on them to talk about it.

Announcer: Other examples?

Klaus: The same chapter of Matthew, in the following verses, Jesus heals two blind men, orders them not to tell anybody. Well, the text says they went out and they told anybody and everybody.

Announcer: So then, why didn’t Jesus want the word to get out?

Klaus: Some say Jesus was using reverse psychology.

Announcer: Is that what you say?

Klaus: No, not at all.

Announcer: Why not?

Klaus: It’s difficult for me to look into the heart and mind of God’s Son and tell you what He was thinking. Really, the best I can do is make a guess.

Announcer: A guess would be OK.

Klaus: I don’t think Jesus wanted miracle-working to be seen as the chief and most important part of His ministry. He had come to rescue and redeem souls from sin, rather than only restore broken bodies from disease. He did the latter, the disease part, so that people would understand the former.

Announcer: And, actually, by dealing with the problem of sin, He was tackling the root cause of all disease.

Klaus: You know, Mark, I hate to use these precious moments for telling stories, but maybe a story might help here.

Announcer: Alright.

Klaus: In the early 1900s, an author by the name of Upton Sinclair tried to improve working conditions in America. It so happens he was a big socialist, but his political views aren’t the point here. At any rate, he went to the Chicago stockyards and reported on the deplorable condition of the average working man… you know, people falling into the rendering vats and being shipped out as “pure” lard.

Announcer: I think you’ve lost me here.

Klaus: Yeah, I’ve probably lost everybody else, too. That’s OK. I’m getting to the important point. Sinclair wrote a book called “The Jungle.” It became a best seller. People reacted.

Announcer: And did that lead to improving conditions for the working man?

Klaus: Well, actually, no. Nobody much cared about the working man. What did change were the conditions of the stockyard. Teddy Roosevelt was President at that time and he started into motion the machinery which eventually became the present day Food and Drug Administration.

Announcer: Still not quite with you here.

Klaus: OK. Here’s the punch line: Upton Sinclair said he had written this book to hit America’s heart but instead he hit their stomachs. The food got better but the job situation didn’t.

Announcer: Now I think It’s getting clearer.

Klaus: Good. In the same way, Jesus came to save, restore, redeem our souls, but His miracles sometimes made it look like He had come to restore and renew broken bodies. Jesus told people to keep quiet so His miracles wouldn’t obscure His real mission, and that mission He accomplished through His own body–broken on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins.

Announcer: Thank you, Pastor Klaus. This has been presentation of Lutheran Hour Ministries.

Music Selections for this program:

“A Mighty Fortress” arranged by John Leavitt. Concordia Publishing House/SESAC