A Sermon...The Tranfiguration of our LORD ~ February 22, 2009

Sermon Text: Mark 9:2-9

Title: Sore Eyes and Sore Ears

I. The LORD gives comfort to sore eyes.

II. The LORD gives comfort for sore ears.

III. Here on Sundays, week in and week out, this same comfort is given.

CHRIST GIVES COMFORT FOR SORE EYES AND EARS THROUGH THE MEANS OF GRACE, THROUGH WORD AND SACRAMENT, EARNED FOR YOU ON THE CROSS.

Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father, and from our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

The sermon text for this Sunday, is taken from the Gospel lesson just read. I would read again a portion of these verses…

And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.”

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I.

“That’s a sight for sore eyes!” This is a phrase we have heard and uttered often when we see something we have longed to gaze upon. For some - like myself - it’s living far away from home and family and seeing them again. For others of you it might be time away from home at college and coming home at CHRISTmas. I would imagine some of you who have been deployed overseas for long periods of time know this phrase quite well. Seeing home, seeing green grass and trees, seeing family and friends, all sights for sore eyes.

We live in topsy-turvy, upside down, backwards, broken, sinful world. We see things like the plane crash last week, or the towers in New York from years ago, and wonder at our inability to solve the world’s problems.

But it’s not all that different for us as it was for those in ages past. The inhabitants of Pompeii, the survivors of Pearl Harbor, on the fields at Gettysburg, the list of those wondering at this inability goes on and on.

It was true for the Children of Israel at the foot of Mt. Sinai. You remember the scene of God’s Holy Mountain, thunder booming, lightning crashing, all because of sin all because of our sin. Now the Law was being given to Moses because we needed rules to live by - we needed a guide - truly we needed to be shown our sin.

Today we have another mountain scene. Jesus and the inner sanctum of Peter, James, and John travel up a mountain. Jesus is preparing for what was to come, that awful march to Jerusalem that culminates in another mountain - Mt. Calvary.

But today, on this mountain with these three disciples we find Jesus being transfigured. In the words of our beloved Martin Luther, “What does this mean?” Well, first we look to the Greek and we see the Greek word metamorpho, which means literally to transform. What that means is that the disciples were given a glimpse of the glory of the Son of God. They were witnesses to the FACT that Jesus was Who He said He was.

Not only is Jesus infused with light, a light that comes from His glory, but there were other witnesses there too. St. Mark writes…

And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus.

Moses and Elijah show up to attest to the disciples that this Man Jesus was indeed the long awaited Messiah. This was the one promised from Adam and Eve and was now coming into the world to save the world. A sight for sore eyes.

II.

But there is also in our text today a sound for sore ears. There is on this mountain confirmation of Who Jesus is.

The sights we have looked at, but there is also sound confirmation too. Peter, the week before, had heard what Jesus had said about His needing to suffer and die for the sins of the world, and balked. He would hear none of this and of course we have Jesus then telling Peter, “Get behind me Satan.” So Peter has heard of what is to come for Jesus.

Here on the mountain Peter is once again privy to heavenly words. He hears Moses and Elijah speaking of Jesus’ “departure,” which is a reiteration of what Jesus had said to Peter before, that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer and die for the sins of the world.

But the sounding for his ears and the ears of the other two disciples doesn’t end here. St. Mark writes…

And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.”

None other than the Father Himself calls out that this Jesus is His beloved Son and that they are to listen to Him. This cloud is not unlike other times in the Old Testament when we have seen this glorious cloud. It is a manifestation of God’s holy presence. And the Father gives some sage advice. He tells them to listen to Jesus. His Son, Jesus, knows what He is talking about. He must go this road to Jerusalem to pay for the sins of the world. He must mount His cross for the forgiveness of all. A sound for sore ears.

III.

Week after week, our LORD shares these glorious sights and sounds of His sacrifice right here in church. We are lead into His presence confused and afraid. We hear and see terrible things all week long. Abductions, murders, natural disasters, it’s all there. But it doesn’t have to be as dramatic as this, it’s also the sights and sounds of our everyday lives here in Ortonville. The cross word spoken to a loved one, the impure thought, the ignoring of the right and the embracing of the wrong, the relegation of God and neighbor to the bottom of our list, the “things we have done and left undone.”

But here in this sanctuary we see the glory of His sacrifice for us. Here we see and hear what He has done for us, in the liturgy, in the hymns, in the prayers, in the very body and blood of Jesus all for us, all for our forgiveness. This is the sacrifice. This is the glory. This is all for you.

Sore eyes and sore ears. We have them and thanks be to God they have been cured in the washing of the waters of Holy Baptism, they have been restored and made whole through the sacrifice of the “Lamb of God Who takes away the sins of the world.” They have been redeemed through the sounds of the LORD speaking to us through His Holy Word.

Take a look around you. Take a listen around you. These are the sights and sounds that sore eyes and sore ears long to see and hear. Feast upon these sights and sounds, for they are yours, earned on Jesus Holy cross all for you, all for your forgiveness. See Him. Listen to Him. Amen.

The peace of the LORD, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

 

 + Sola Deo Gloria +

 

A Sermon... Pentecost 17 (Series B) September 9, 2009

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sermon Text:      Mark 9:30-37

Title:   “Me First, Me First!”

I.   We have a me first attitude.

II.  Jesus has a you first attitude.

THROUGH CHRIST,

THOUGH WE ARE LAST IN THE EYES OF THE WORLD,

WE ARE FIRST IN THE EYES OF THE LORD.

Grace mercy and peace from God our Father, and our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen

The sermon text is taken from the Gospel lesson just read, I would read again a portion of these verses…

And (Jesus) sat down and called the twelve. And He said to them, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.”

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

          It’s all about whose number one.  Sports, countries, cars cereals, the list goes on and on.  Three young boys were standing outside on the playground at recess and they got to bragging about who was number one among their dads.  The first boy said, “"My Dad scribbles a few words on a piece of paper, he calls it a poem, they give him $50." The second boy says, "That's nothing. My Dad scribbles a few words on a piece of paper, he calls it a song, they give him $100."  The third boy says, "I got you both beat. My Dad scribbles a few words on a piece of paper, he calls it a sermon, and it takes eight people to collect all the money!"  It’s all about whose number one.

I.

          So it is with us, so it is with the disciples.  In our text today the disciples have been arguing about something.  What is it that they are arguing about?  Who’s the greatest among the disciples!  You can just here them going back and forth comparing what each has done in order to make him the greatest disciple Jesus has.

          Same with us too isn’t it?  Look at what I’ve done.  I’ve given such and such to the church, aren’t I great?  Oh yeah, well my great, great, great grandfather was a founding member of this church.  Well that’s nothing, that wing of the church is named after my great, great grandmother.  And the bragging and one-upsmenship goes on and on.

          What is the problem here?  Proper perspective.  To the world it is much better for me to be on top then for you.  My team beat your team, my boat is bigger than your boat, and did you see the size of the fish I caught.  Frank Sinatra sang, “I find I’m king of the hill, A number one, top of the list, king of the hill.”  And it is in this attitude, this one that Sinatra sings about, this is the attitude that leads to our destruction.  Remember when you were little or when your kids were little and the teacher told them to get in line?  Oh, the pushing and the shoving that ensued to be first in line. “Me first, me first!”

          This attitude, this way of thinking is counter to what the Bible teaches.  According to the LORD and His Law how should it be?  It should truly be God first, neighbor second, me last.  But often times it is a reversal of the order God intended and instead is me first and God and neighbor somewhere way further down.  The Marines have a saying, “God, Country, Corps.”  They actually get it right don’t they?  God, neighbor, me.

          So sin has destroyed our right and holy perspective.  It has grasped the worldly view of me first.  Our perspective is in sore need of fixing, restoring, or better yet, redeeming.

II.

          And we have that in Jesus Christ our Redeemer.  Jesus asks the disciples what they were talking about and is answered with silence.  The disciples are now ashamed of what they were arguing about because they know that it was wrong.  Jesus tells them to sit down and He says…

“If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.”

Talk about proper perspective!  Instead of having a “me first” attitude like His disciples, Jesus has a “you first” attitude. 

          So what does Jesus do?  Lovingly, Jesus shows His disciples their sin, telling them that they need to become last and not first, that they need to be a servant.

          Then St. Mark writes…

And (Jesus) took a child and put him in the midst of them, and taking him in His arms, He said to them, “Whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me, and whoever receives Me, receives not Me but Him Who sent Me.”

          Jesus is here pointing now to the proper relationship that we have in Him.  Through Christ and His redemptive work on the cross we have been fixed, restored, redeemed.  We have been set aright.  And now we can begin to do the good work set before us, to place things in their proper perspective.  We can begin to place God and neighbor first.  But only through the cross.  Try it on our own and we will always fail.  Only Christ has kept the order straight.  Only Christ has placed God and neighbor above Himself all of the time.  And He proves it by thinking of you and the rest of the world and going to the cross, to His undeserved death - all for you.  Jesus has a “you first” attitude.

          And thanks be to God that we have had that wonderful work of Christ placed on us through the Word, through Holy Baptism, through the LORD’S Supper and we can now begin to do the work prepared for us through Christ.

          Now, we don’t need to worry about what the world thinks of us, for the world will scoff at our insistence that God and neighbor come first.  But…

THROUGH CHRIST, THOUGH WE ARE LAST IN THE EYES OF THE WORLD, WE ARE FIRST IN THE EYES OF THE LORD. Amen.

The peace of the LORD, which surpasses all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.  Amen.

 

+ Sola Deo Gloria +