The Lutheran Hour
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"Figure it Out"
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Text: Luke 12:51
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Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Today, by God’s grace a living Lord comes to you and welcomes you to salvation and faith. By the Holy Spirit’s power may you believe in Him Whose love is more than any of us could have hoped for, greater than anyone might imagine. God grant such a faith to us all. Amen.
Very seldom are people the people you think them to be. Recently somebody told me of an adorable little girl who came into a pet shop. Missing two front teeth, her lisp made the adorable girl even more adorable. She came up to the proprietor of the store and asked, “Excuth me mithter, do you have any wittle wabits?” The owner of the shop put his hands on his knees so he could bend over and talk to the girl on her level. As best he could, he mimicked the adorable language of the adorable little girl… “Are you wooking for a wittle white wabbit, or is it a bwack or bwown wabbit that you fancy?” Putting her hands on her knees, the little girl leaned forward and said, “Sur, I don’t fink my pet pyfon weally cares about the color of the wabbit he’s having for wunch.” Very seldom are people the people you think them to be.
In contrast to that made-up story, I can tell you about a little old lady of my acquaintance. She was wealthy, well-spoken, and wonderfully active in my congregation. One day I was speaking highly of her to my elders, leaders in my church. When I saw these respected and lifelong members of my congregation give sidelong glances to each other, I knew there had to be ‘a rest of the story.’
I stopped and said, “OK boys, what’s the look for? Fill me in.” Finally, one of them cleared his throat and said, “Pastor, we don’t like to speak ill of anyone.” I said, “Commendable quality. Most commendable, indeed. So, what’s the story?” With reluctance he said, “You’re right, she’s wealthy. That’s because she managed to have her senile mother change her will and give her everything. She had her brothers and sister cut out of the family estate. She’s well-spoken, and we admire her for it. We admire her for it because everywhere else she goes; she uses language which could bring a blush to the cheek of a boot-camp sergeant. She’s eager to work in church because there’s not another organization in town which wants her or will let her volunteer to work on a committee.” And then, embarrassed, he concluded saying something like: “Pastor, very seldom are people the people you think them to be.”
That statement would include Jesus. Now most folks think it shouldn’t be hard to get Jesus right. After all, in the 13th chapter of the book of Hebrews it says: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” How hard can it be to figure out Someone Who doesn’t change? On the other hand it’s possible that people don’t always understand the Savior or see Him for the Person He really is and was. Look at the contrast in reactions to His birth. Shepherds came and worshipped Him and a short time later a king tried to kill Him. Jesus healed a man who had been born blind and rather than rejoicing at the Savior’s work, the leaders of the synagogue kicked the man out of his church. Jesus raised a friend named Lazarus from the dead which caused gladness among many who were happy to be reunited with the ex-deceased. But Scripture says there were also those who immediately began to hatch murder plots to get rid of Jesus and Lazarus. Shortly before His death Jesus entered the city of Jerusalem. Great crowds welcomed Him, proclaiming Him to be the Son of David, a highly complimentary and meaningful title. Still, not more than five days later, crowds were calling for His crucifixion. Jesus’ closet friends, the 12 disciples, were with Jesus for three years. They were used to Him. Even so, when He told a storm to “shut up”, they found themselves wondering: “What manner of Man is this that even wind and wave obey Him.” Which is just another way of saying: even Jesus’ best friends didn’t know Him. Not really.
Very seldom are people the people you think them to be. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever, but that doesn’t mean people don’t try to change Him. Indeed, history says that every century has tried to change him… at least in their own minds and the way they present Him to others. In the first centuries of the church Jesus was the Son of God and the Son of Man, the Friend of the sorrowful soul, the Bringer of light to those in darkness, the Healer of the heart which was sick and saddened by sin.
But by the year 500, Jesus’ church had become the official religion of the Roman Empire and Jesus’ Persona was changed. Now He Who once had no place to lay His head now had glittering churches and cathedrals. Before the calendar rolled over to the year 1000, Jesus had been changed again. The second millennium had the people thinking the Prince of Peace wanted them to take up the sword and march off to Israel to try and wrest the Holy Land from the forces of Islam which had conquered and forcibly converted the country.
Scripture speaks of the Lord reaching out to the sick, the sinner, the sorrowful, to the lost, the lonely, the leprous. By 1500, Jesus was presented as One Who had become so angry with humankind, so unapproachable that if someone went to Him in prayer, he did so with fear. Jesus had once said “come unto me if you are weary and burdened” but the common man was taught it would be far better, far safer, far wiser for him to go through an intermediary, someone like a saint of the church or the Lord’s Own mother, Mary.
Today Jesus’ Godliness is minimized; His humanity maximized, His miracles explained away or dismissed entirely, His commitment to saving the world almost forgotten. For many, the unchanging Jesus of Scripture has been replaced by a do-it-yourself-deity Who is made and unmade according to your own specifications.
When some people hear Jesus’ Name, they roll their eyes and ask, “Jesus? Did He ever really exist?”
There’s another group, a group composed primarily of Christians. When these contemporary disciples think about Jesus, they feel more comfortable seeing Him as Gentle Jesus, meek and mild. This is a Jesus Who loves everybody; Who reaches out to everybody; Who never judges or refuses anything to anybody; this Jesus is a fine Fellow, a good Guy Whose heart is so big He absolutely has to supply anything His people want. Most certainly such a Jesus would never send anyone to hell. Because hell is such a bad place, good Jesus is almost obligated to let everyone into heaven. How could He not? Yes, our age has made Jesus into a non-descript good Guy who asks for nothing, wants nothing other than to serve us.
Very seldom are people the people you think they are, including Jesus. By that I mean Jesus is not the Person most people think He is. He isn’t now; He never has been. We say Jesus was an easy going good Guy. Amazingly, the religious and political leaders of His day had Jesus crucified because He was too dangerous to let live. Jesus was too dangerous to let live. Have you ever thought of the Savior that way? He was, you know. When Jesus said, “Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s and unto God the things that are God’s.” (Mt. 22:21), the world’s leaders trembled. They still do. When He said, “No man comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6) the ancient religions were shaken. They still are. Jesus’ ideas were not something you could receive part way. The things He said were transforming; they were divisive; they were the kind of thing people could, and did, argue about. They still do.
Today, many people say Jesus was a good and gentle Guy. Was He? Remember, He chased the money changers and shopkeepers out of the temple. Were Jesus’ words always kind and caring? The 23rd chapter of Matthew records Jesus’ warnings about and to the Pharisees. This is just part of what He said: “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean.” I’ve listened to many pastors; sat through many sermons, but I’ve never heard a pastor or a sermon which came across that strong.
Very seldom are people the people you think them to be. Scripture refers to Jesus as the Good Shepherd Who searches for and saves the lost sinner. (John 11) There are a lot of folks who like that picture. They believe Jesus is patiently waiting for them to make up their minds. They feel quite comfortable indefinitely postponing repentance, baptism, commitment, forgiveness, faith. They think Jesus is the Good Shepherd Who must wait for them. Any time they want they can repent, get saved, and the angels in heaven will rejoice. Does Scripture bear out that idea of the Savior eternally hoping for crumbs which fall from our timetable? If that’s what you think, turn to the 6th chapter of John. That chapter speaks of a day when great crowds left Jesus because of something He said. Do you know what Jesus did? I can tell you He didn’t run after them. He didn’t beg them not to go. He didn’t say, “Hey forget about what I’ve been saying. It’s really not that important.” The text says Jesus watched this crowd disappear and then He turned to His disciples and said, “You boys don’t want to leave too, do you?”
Very seldom are people the kind of people you expect them to be. That is most certainly true of Jesus. Although you may wish to think of the Christ only and exclusively as a good Guy, benign, benevolent, timid, and grateful for whatever gift you might stoop to give Him, Jesus thinks differently of Himself. In the 12th chapter of Luke Jesus says, “Do you think I came to bring peace on earth?” Many people think such a thing since the angels at His birth had said Jesus had come to do just that. You might think that, but Jesus says, “No, (I didn’t come to bring peace. I came to bring) division. From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three.”
In your own homes many of you can attest to the truth of Jesus’ self-evaluation. Parents worry as they see their children slowly drifting from the Savior of their youth. Spouses agonize over the prospect of not seeing their loved one in heaven. Normal family dinners are turned into bloody battlefields as the pro-Savior contingent are confronted by the smug self-satisfaction of the unbeliever and the unbeliever feels himself constantly being taken to task for his lack of faith.
If that sounds familiar, you may rightly wonder, is there any solution, any answer to your worries, concerns, and questions. I am pleased to say there is. There is if we put away our emotionalism, our harsh words, our stubbornness and see Jesus as He really is. I believe it is possible to find an answer to the Person, Jesus, and that answer is found in one place, at one moment in history. The time is roughly 2,000 years ago and the place is before the borrowed, sealed, and guarded tomb where the lifeless body of Jesus of Nazareth has been hurriedly buried. All men are born, they live, they die. But Jesus is exceptional. You see, Jesus had promised He would rise from the dead. To prevent that promise from being kept is part of the reason for the guards, for the Roman governor’s seal on the stone in front of the tomb’s entrance.
I encourage you; go to that place of Jesus’ burial. Go there and spend a few moments. Watch carefully. “And what are we looking for?” I hear you ask. You are watching the stone. If that stone stays in place; if Jesus remains captive to death’s cold clutches, then there is no other choice but to conclude Jesus of Nazareth is a Charlatan, a poor Joke played upon His friends and His followers. If that seal remains unbroken, Jesus is a masterful Deceiver and nothing more than a Liar. If, on the other hand, the stone’s seal is shattered, then a person must rightly conclude Jesus was everything the prophets said He would be, everything He said He was.
The Gospels record what happened before dawn on the most amazing day this world has ever seen. The earth shook, the guards collapsed, the seal was broken, and the stone was rolled away from the front of the grave. Understand, that stone was not moved to let a living Lord Jesus out… it was moved so you could look inside. Do you doubt it? You are not the first. The women who came to the tomb to finish Jesus’ funeral had a hard time believing it. So great was the disciples’ disbelief some had to run to the grave to look for themselves. Others refused to believe even when they were told by their friends what had taken place.
But something remarkable did take place that first resurrection Sunday. Jesus did rise from the dead. As proof, you have His appearances. Again and again the living Lord showed Himself to those who would best be able to identify Him. Was He a figment of their imagination? He was not. Jesus talked to these men; He ate with them. So their doubts and denials might be laid to rest He invited them to explore the firmness, the warmth of His flesh. “Touch Me” He said. “Put your hand in the nail holes, in the mark left by the Roman spear. Touch Me”, He said. Was He real? Jesus was so real His disciples and the hundreds of others Who saw Him willingly, gladly died rather than deny what they had heard and seen. In the years to come, Jesus’ disciples would be threatened; they would be tortured; they would be burned and torn and skinned alive. But they would not retract the event which had reshaped their lives, their eternities. They knew.
And what did they know? They knew Jesus was the Son of God, for only the Son of God could do the miracles Jesus had done; only God’s Son could conquer death and grave. But they knew more. They knew Jesus was not just a Good Guy, He was a perfect Guy. Centuries before one man had brought sin and death into the world and now, in Jesus, one Man had lived a life of perfection which promised life to all of us. They knew Jesus was not an imaginary deity, interchangeable with all other man-made gods. They knew Jesus was God’s Son sent to save sinners, Jesus had been unique as He carried the sins of every man, woman, and child. Jesus had seen us and without any real reason other than He was a God of grace and love, He picked up our sins and made them His own. Now, because of that selfless act, all who believe on the Christ as their Savior from sin are forgiven even as they are GIVEN eternal life. Who was Jesus? Jesus was God’s Son Who lived, suffered, and died for you. His was a selfless act, but it was also a great sacrificial and painful act. And the Lord has little use for those who would minimize or negate what was done in Bethlehem, on Calvary, and at the empty tomb. Believe on Him and be saved; that is what He wants… or leave Him, and… well, that would be unfortunate.
Very seldom are people the people you expect them to be. Years ago a six-year-old memorized the verse, “let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” The girl’s mother explained, “Christians are supposed to be good and kind and all the kinds of things which let Jesus shine through us.” The little girl said she understood. Maybe, maybe not. The following Sunday the little girl got into a screaming fight with another girl. Mothers were brought in and peace was restored. Even so, Mom had to ask, “What happened to letting our light shine?” The little girl humbly whispered, “Mom, I guess I have blowed myself out.” A lot of us change from day to day… our light shines one day… it gets blowed out the next.
But that’s not the way it is for Jesus. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He wants us to be saved and has made it possible for that to happen. That remains the same. But what also remains the same is the punishment which awaits those who ignore the Savior, deny the Christ, try to rewrite God’s plan of salvation. Today I encourage you: see Jesus for Who He is. See Him as the world’s Savior, your own Redeemer. See Him for Who He is. He is more than you could ever have expected or hoped for.. If you need to know more about the real Redeemer, please, we’d like to hear from you. Call us at The Lutheran Hour. Amen.
LUTHERAN HOUR MAILBOX (Questions & Answers) for August 15, 2010
Topic: Is The Bible Wrong?Announcer: Now, Pastor Ken Klaus responds to a listener’s comment. I’m Mark Eischer.
Klaus: Hello, Mark. So, what have we got today?
Announcer: Today we have an observation about the Bible. It comes to us from a listener in Atlanta, Georgia.
Klaus: OK.
Announcer: He writes, “Missouri Synod Lutherans are one of those Christian groups that proclaim the Bible to be without error, despite clear mistakes that can be pointed out. For example, how do you explain Ecclesiastes1:5, which incorrectly states the sun revolves around the earth?”
Klaus: Wow, I thought I had to be worried for a second.
Announcer: And you’re not?
Klaus: Well, of all the passages our listener might have questioned, this one is one of the easiest to explain.
Announcer: Well, would you care to do so?
Klaus: I will, but first, let me add some clarification. The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, the denomination with which “The Lutheran Hour” is associated, does indeed believe the Bible is inspired by God. And what does “inspired by God” mean? It means our perfect God told the various writers of the Bible what they were to write. We believe that a perfect God would produce a perfect book… at least in the original manuscripts. After al, if the Bible is an imperfect book, how can a person decide what is true and can be trusted and what is not?
Announcer: Now, you said, “true in the original manuscripts.” Would you care to explain that?
Klaus: Absolutely. For centuries the Bible was copied by hand. Now, if I asked any of our listeners to copy a phonebook by hand they would naturally make mistakes, mistakes that weren’t there in the original. If somebody copied your copy they would include your mistakes and make a few of their own. Now if that happened for 100s of years, there would be mistakes. Now do those mistakes make a difference? Not at all. They are really inconsequential. There has never, Mark, been a major doctrine called into question by such any copying mistakes.
Announcer: OK. Now, back to our question. This reference to Ecclesiastes 1:5. What does that verse say and what is wrong with it?
Klaus: It says, and I’ll put it into context here: “The sun rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it rises. The wind blows to the south and goes around to the north; around and around goes the wind, and on its circuits the wind returns.” Our listener is referring to the sun rising and the sun going down and returning to where it rises.
Announcer: All right. Well, we know the sun doesn’t actually rise… it’s the center of the solar system. So, It only appears to rise because the earth is turning. Would that then make this passage wrong and mean that the Bible is in error?
Klaus: So it might seem if a person were to take that passage absolutely, 100% literally. The truth is the Lord uses the particular qualities of each of the authors when He inspired the Bible. If someone were a practical man, the Lord had that person write in a practical way. Luke, the writer of one of the Gospels, was a physician, and he notices all kinds of things that a doctor might note.
Announcer: And how does that apply to this case?
Klaus: The Bible contains different types of literary material. If the writer of Ecclesiastes is writing in a poetic way or a philosophical manner, he would be quite right in saying the sun rises and it sets. I remember there is a song from “Fiddler On The Roof” called “Sunrise, Sunset.” The lyrics read: “Sunrise, sunset … Swiftly flow the days. Seedlings turn overnight to sunflowers, Blossoming even as we gaze.”
Now, did the composer of that piece of music really believe that the sun rises and sets? Did he really believe that seedlings turn into sunflowers overnight? Do they really grow so fast that they blossom while you look at them?
Announcer: I suppose they would, if you were really, really patient.
Klaus: Yeah. The point I’m trying to make is this: it’s intended to be a song, a poetic expression, not a manual on botany. Saying the sun “rises and sets” is a figure of speech. As far as I am aware every language has such figures of speech. The passage from Ecclesiastes happens to be one of them. The writer talks about the sun rising and setting… then he talks about the wind. It’s not that he believed the wind followed a circle around the world. He was saying the wind blows and it goes somewhere. We don’t know where it begins or where it ends. We know it is regular and, in some places, almost reliable.
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
“Lord, Keep Us Steadfast in Your Word” arr. Henry Gerike. Used by permission.
“Lord, Keep Us Steadfast in Your Word” From The Concordia Organist (© 2009 Concordia Publishing House)
“Christ Is Made the Sure Foundation” arr. Timothy Moke & Georg Masanz. From Magnificent Christian Hymns, vol. 3 by Timothy Moke & Georg Masanz (© 2006 T. Moke Recordings)