Sermon Video: "unless a kernel of wheat falls" - John 12:24-32

With the Triumphal Entry mere moments behind him, Jesus begins to impress upon his disciples that "the hour" is at hand.  The purpose that brought the Son of God to dwell among men will culminate in his own death.  This death will not be an accident, rather it will be the fulfillment of the divine plan which envisioned the self-sacrifice of the Christ.  The life which Jesus will willingly lay down will accomplish infinitely more than he could have by trying to preserve it.
The same principle which Jesus proves in his own life applies to our lives as well.  If we believe that our lives are our own, and hold them tightly in our grasp, we will in the end lose that life just the same to no purpose.  If, however, we believe that our life is a gift of God, a stewardship for which we must one day give account, we will throughout our lives give of ourselves to show the love of God to others and in the end be rewarded by God for our faithfulness.
It may be a paradox, but the Son of Man will destroy sin and death by taking the world's sin upon his back and dying.  The moment of supreme victory for Lucifer's campaign of rebellion against Heaven will instead be the moment of complete defeat as Jesus rises from the grave in victory once-for-all ending the enslavement of mankind to sin and reconciling the world to God.  The cross, a symbol of brutal Roman oppression will in time become the symbol of hope for lost, the poor, and the hopeless.  In death, Jesus will provide life; in death, victory.
The question then becomes: Will we follow suit?  Will we walk in the footsteps of Jesus, give our lives freely to a life of service?

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The End of Morality?

There has been much speculation in recent history about the possibility of mankind's "liberation" (as Karl Marx put it) from religion.  If mankind were to unshackle himself from the bondage of the superstitions of our ancestors, so the theory goes, a new age of freedom would dawn.  For many, the father of modern agnosticism and atheism was the critic of Christianity, Friedrich Nietzsche.  Nietzsche was himself the son of a Lutheran pastor, but he rebelled against his father's beliefs to find, as he thought, freedom in the "death of God".  Yet Nietzsche himself was aware that to rid mankind of religion must by necessity in a Darwinian worldview bring about the end of morality as well.  With an odd sense of hope, Nietzsche wrote, "morality will gradually perish". (Genealogy of Morals, III, p. 27)
The irony of the post-modern revelry in the "death of God" is not that it has, or will ever, led to the liberation of mankind, but rather it simply confirmed mankind's enslavement to a survival of the fittest world where morality has no meaning or purpose.  Without God in the equation, as C.S. Lewis argued in Mere Christianity, morality will cease to exist.  If there is no life after death, only this life matters.  If there is no ultimate judge of mankind, only my own opinion matters, and if there is no ultimate value to each and every human life, none of them really matter when being weighed against the self-interest of each individual.
If this seems like a bleak analysis you understand the point.  Without God, and specifically the morality taught and demonstrated by Jesus Christ, all other attempts to impose an arbitrary morality upon society are doomed to failure.  The Soviet Union committed countless horrors upon its own people in the name of God-less Communism, but were left in the end with a bankrupt society where self-interest could not be overcome by endless propaganda espousing the joys of collective goals.  The world could see that the Soviet Union had become an "evil empire", the phrase Ronald Reagan made famous, long before the system itself collapsed of its own decrepit inertia.
Am I advocating clinging to religion, Christianity in particular, regardless of the evidence simply as a bulwark against an amoral society?  If I was, this effort of whistling past the graveyard would ultimately end in failure.  If the claims of Jesus Christ are not true, then nothing built upon his foundation will long endure.  On the contrary, I am simply pointing out that the alternative to God's redemption is not the liberty that is advertised, but a form of enslavement with no more hope than the pagan religions of the ancient world.  Friedrich Nietzsche may have smiled at the "death of God" and dreamed of a world free from Christian morality, but the horrors of Nazi Germany forever dispelled the myth that mankind released from Judeo-Christian ethics would be anything but a monster.

The Value of a Strong Fortification

One of the fascinating things about visiting lands with an ancient history is the chance to see old forts and castles.  We don't have many of these impressive old structures here in the United States, but anyone who tours their crumpled remains can tell that a vast amount of time and effort went into their creation and upkeep.  Why such an expense in an era of scarcity?  Because they were absolutely necessary.  The strong walls and secure gates of an ancient city gave its population a sense of security in a world full of uncertainty.  When an enemy army appeared, people needed to know that they had a place to retreat to and find safety.
In Proverbs 18:10, we are told "The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe."  The people of Israel knew the value of strong defensive structures because they were surrounded by hostile neighbors and situated at the midpoint between rival superpowers.  God's people had plenty of occasions to retreat into strongholds.  Yet the text is telling us something surprising; the name of the LORD is the source of refuge and strength.  Not a physical wall of stone, nor an iron reinforced gate, rather simply the name of God. 
How can the name of God be a refuge for the people of God?  The name of God represents the promises of God.  When God wanted to bring mankind back from wandering in despair he began with a Covenant with Abraham.  God's Covenant was a series of promises and obligations both by God and by Abraham.  As such, the name of God was symbolic of his promises to save and protect his people.  When God called Moses to lead the people out of Egyptian bondage to the Promised Land he told Moses that his name, "I AM", would be sufficient for the people to know that Moses really represented God. 
The protection offered by God has often been a physical salvation for his people, safety from all sorts of dangers, but in the end, that isn't good enough.  If God were to protect his people from danger throughout their lives and yet make no provision for their souls beyond death, his protection would be a short-term success but a long-term failure.  Thankfully, in addition to help and support as we live our lives now, God offers to those who follow him, the righteous, the promise that their hope in him will never be in vain.  Even if in this world we are to suffer, even if in this world our lives are lost due to violence of evil men, we will have our hope, our refuge, secure in the very name of God.  All those who run to God for safety will find a strong tower, a refuge secure against any storm.

We belong to another world

There has always been a tension in Church history between the desire to live in a Christian society with a Christian government and ethic (an idea that later was termed Christendom), and Jesus' stern teaching, "The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life." (John 12:25)  When the Reformation came to Northern Europe is was not a rejection of the notion of Christendom, but rather a replacing of the Catholic/Government alliance with a Lutheran/Government or Reformed/Government alliance.  The idea that society could be shaped and molded into a form that would make Jesus' words unnecessary, or at least much less urgent, continued.
That there wasn't any viable alternative to such an arrangement didn't prevent that feeling of unease from continuing.  Eventually, a new form of alliance, one of governmental indifference to religious practice would be attempted by the upstart American government, but such a novel idea needs time to prove its staying power.  There were some, however, who could not stomach the way in which people could be "Christians" and get along in this world with no trouble at all.  How can it be such an easy thing to take up a cross and follow Jesus?
One of the more peculiar of these men was the Danish Lutheran Soren Kierkegaard.  Although much is his writing is rather odd, Kierkegaard was right to point out that, "Original Christianity relates itself so militantly to this world that its view is: not to want to slip happily and comfortably through this world but to take care to collide in dead earnest with this world...Thus there is a world of difference, a heaven of a difference between the Mynsterian life-view (which actually is Epicurean, one of the enjoyment of life, zest for life, belonging to this world) and the Christian view, which is one of suffering, of enthusiasm for death, belonging to another world." (The Moment and Late Writings, p. 206)
What Kierkegaard was trying to explain was the frustration he felt watching a Church which had seemed to make its peace with this world.  A Church that had lost its counter-cultural role because it had been the dominant cultural force for too long.  How does own keep a revolutionary zeal, such as Jesus demonstrated going up against the religious authorities of his day, when the revolution has won?  How do we maintain our "in the world, but not of the world"  (Romans 12:2) fervor when Western culture is so fully intertwined with Christian thought?
The Post-Modern decline of Christendom has alleviated some of this tension, as churches find themselves feeling like outsiders within their own culture once more.  The obligation on those who would follow Jesus of Nazareth will always be to remain salt and light to those around us, beacons of hope calling out for repentance and reconciliation with God; even if you find yourself in the heart of Christendom, this is not your home, our citizenship is in heaven.

Sermon Video: Mary's Anointing of Jesus - John 12:1-8

As the time of Jesus' passion in Jerusalem nears, he visits friends in nearby Bethany: Lazarus, Martha, and Mary.  In the previous chapter, Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead, now he and his sisters hold a dinner in Jesus' honor.  During the dinner Mary takes it upon herself to show her gratitude and love for Jesus by pouring a very expensive perfume on his feet and wiping them with her hair.  This culturally risky decision is looked upon with derision by Jesus' disciples, but he chooses instead to praise Mary for her devotion.  Why?
The answer lies not in a practical consideration of her actions; the perfume was indeed very expensive and this action can hardly be called anything but extravagant.  Instead, Mary is commended for her willingness to go beyond the ordinary in order to worship Jesus.  Her financial sacrifice and her risk of public shame (for letting her hair down in public) have brought comfort to Jesus and "prepared" him for his upcoming burial. 
What value is this story to us?  Mary's example teaches us to allow ourselves to worship God from the heart, boldly pushing past cultural pressures to embrace the prompting of the Holy Spirit.  Whether that means a Catholic Mass, a Pentecostal shout of "Hallelujah” or something in between is up to you.  Those who would follow Jesus must not only live a life of service to others, but also raise up their hearts in praise regardless of the form it takes.  If Mary had listened to the voice of caution, or had worried about the cost, the opportunity to kiss the feet of the Son of God, her Messiah, would have been lost.  Don't miss your chance to follow her example and worship God with all your heart.


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