03152015 Laetare - Fourth Sunday in Lent - "My God, My God, Why have You Forsaken Me!"

Gospel Audio
Sermon Audio

March 15, 2015

God forsook Jesus for us!

God, it is clear from Jesus being nailed to the Cross of Calvary, His being spit upon and mocked by the soldiers and bystanders.  And giving away His responsibility of His Mother Mary to His beloved disciple, in His Humanity Jesus Christ felt no hope.  But the words, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" have a further sting that cuts deeper than any knife of Jesus feeling of being alone and Your deserting Him.  Reveal to each of us this was not abandonment without a divine purpose.  The purpose was our forgiveness and the fulfillment of the promise of salvation for each of us.  For this message is a clear demonstration of Your love for each of us gathered here to hear about the Gospel of Salvation and believe in Your Love of us in these Words from the Cross.  AMEN.

Simple words cannot begin to explain or describe the emotion of these 9 words of Jesus from the Cross.  “My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?”  Posed in the form of a question, full of emotion and Jesus feeling the weight of the World upon His shoulders.  This statement is not only a question, but even a plea from Jesus to His Father in heaven seeking an answer.

Jesus was clearly worn down both physically and emotionally by the events of the last 24 hours.  Having watched His disciples whom He had called, lived and journeyed with for the last three years running away in fear of being captured and suffering the same fate.  Now Jesus hanging upon the Cross that He had carried from inside the walls of Jerusalem outside of the city, because it was more palatable to nail someone to the cross outside of the walls.  Jesus in anguish was feeling the fullness of what His humiliation would entail when He came down from heaven.  Jesus felt alone and forsaken hanging on the Cross on Golgotha.

Even though Jesus felt alone and forsaken, there was a purpose.  The divine purpose was to show God’s love.  Love you say, how could being forsaken, show love?  Simply, Jesus being forsaken by God the Father, having God the Father turn His back on His Son, allowing the full weight of the sins of the world to rest upon His Son’s shoulders was because of God’s love for you and for me.

God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit loved us so much that in order to save mankind, God not only sent His Son, Jesus Christ, but allowed Him, Jesus Christ to feel forsaken.  Jesus words, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?” capture clearly the feeling Jesus in His Humanity had of not being connected with His Father in heaven.  Jesus Christ, Who had daily gone out to pray to continue the connection with His Father, now felt the clear and radical break in that most intimate divine connection.

We as Christians at times also feel a break in connection.  Whether with spouse, family, loved ones, child or even and especially our Father in heaven.  When our world seems to be spiraling out of control, like a car on ice without traction, a tractor that has lost its steering capability or even a plane that no longer has lift under its wings.  When we are out of control, we feel lost, alone and we cannot connect.  This is what Jesus was feeling on the Cross of Calvary and how we who gather here today can feel comforted that even Jesus, God’s own Son, felt out of control and clearly felt a clear sense of disconnection from His Father in heaven.

But this is why Jesus came down from heaven.  To bridge the gap, fill and reconnect the lost connection between God and man.  Jesus Christ came to offer Himself as the perfect sacrifice, connection and bridge for each of us, because of His love for us.  Jesus Christ came to live the ‘broken’ experience that we feel, speak the words, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?” and bridge the gap for all of mankind because of His compassion and great love for each and every one of us, His children.

When Jesus spoke these words 9 from the Cross of Calvary, in the moment Jesus felt isolated and alone.  But Jesus being alone was only a stepping stone on the journey towards the free offer of grace to all of mankind of salvation.  For it was through Jesus being there on the Cross of Calvary that we are offered eternal life and salvation.  Jesus Christ desperate questioning cry from the Cross points to both aloneness and desperation as seen from the side of Good Friday and the clear sense of loss.  But we have a God Who came and offered Himself to each and every one of us to set us free and that message came Easter Sunday with His resurrection.  We are freed because of God’s love for each and every one of us.  Our freedom is found, because we have a Savior willing to experience our lowest point of desperation and set us free from our feeling forsaken through His resurrection and overcoming death in order to set us free.

God, through His Son Jesus Christ came down from heaven, was nailed to the Cross of Calvary out of His love for mankind and reconnects each and every one of us to His Father in Heaven through Jesus Christ offer of forgiveness.  We are set free from isolation and aloneness and reconnected with God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Jesus Christ in uttering these words looked not at that which bound Him to the Cross, or the feeling of being forsaken, but beyond to the freedom He would offer us on Easter with His resurrection.  We have a God Who saw through Good Friday to Easter where His Son Jesus Christ proclaimed our freedom from all that would bind us.  God is offering us this same gift today to see through our feeling of being forsaken to be embraced by His gift of love and salvation for all of mankind.

Jesus Christ looks through “My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?” and bridges the gap for all eternity of freedom, life and salvation that is the greatest offer mankind could ever be given.  This is the gift that Jesus Christ is offering to each and every one of us today from the Cross and Jesus does this out of His love for all of mankind.  Including each and every one of us gathered here this morning who feel forsaken.  For God has not forsaken us, He sent His Son for all of mankind and offers each and every one of us gathered here this morning at Emmanuel life and salvation from a Cross where Jesus Christ fulfilled the plan of salvation for each and every one of us when He uttered, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?".  AMEN.

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Speak Your Mind

03112015 Wednesday of Lent 3 - White Bead

Sermon Audio

March 11, 2015

We are forgiven!

Forgiving God, You clearly can see what we do and do in fact see past our actions and forgive us.  We don’t deserve it, but You forgive us out of Your great love for us.  Thank You for this gift of grace and especially of Your Son’s sacrifice for each of us on the Cross of Calvary.  For this offer was not just for a select few, but for all of mankind, including each of us gathered here with the white bead of the salvation bracelet as Your forgiven children on this Wednesday of Lent.  AMEN.

If one were to look at the entirety of the Old Testament there appears to be nothing but lists of who begat whom, destruction of peoples and places and stories of individuals wandering in the desert.  Yet, if you look a little further, there is clearly a concept that the people of Israel were imparted from God.  It wasn’t deliverance on their time table or overcoming those who were their masters, the concept that the people of Israel had as a thread from the Garden of Eden, wandering through the desert, their entrance into the Promised Land and the building of the Temple in Jerusalem had a simple phrase as their unspoken, but believed mantra.  Simply, it was, “We are forgiven”!  And tonight we make that connection with each of us that gather here to hear and learn more about the white bead of the Salvation Bracelet.  “We are forgiven!”

Isaiah the prophet foreshadowed, reminded and prophesied for the people of Israel and for us tonight this concept of “We are forgiven!”  For Isaiah knew the history of the people of Israel and understood their human condition.  Hear Isaiah, “Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the Lord, “Though your sins are as scarlet, They will be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They will be like wool.”  Isaiah in this brief excerpt of his book pin points what God does for the people of Israel.

The people of Israel continuously sinned and turned away from God.  They were strong willed and sought only what they desired and felt would get them the results they desired, which in most cases was against God’s divine plan.  And every time they followed their own plans, they continuously encountered problems.  But even though they encountered problems, God walked with them.  And God not only walked with them, but God as Isaiah said, turned what was scarlet into white as snow.  In essence God forgave them each and every time.

What can we who gather here tonight take away from this?  We like the Israelite people need to hear from God, “We are forgiven!”  God has reached down into our lives here in Goodland, KS and forgiven us.  Why does God do this?  Because God loves us and wants us to hear, believe and share the message “We are forgiven!”  In this white bead of the salvation bracelet, we are reminded of God’s great compassion for each and every one of us in our present circumstances.  God reaches down into each of our lives and wants us to feel the forgiveness He so freely wants to offer us.  We can share this clearly, without question and with uncompromising vigor.  This is why the salvation bracelet is such a powerful tool.

This simple bead of white, clearly shows and shares with us God’s love for us.  “We are forgiven!”  We no longer are defined by the scarlet sin as Isaiah said, but made clean by the Blood of Jesus Christ.  Like lint on a table or dust cloth that changes the appearance of many homes, God removes the lint of our lives that weighs us down and forgives us.  And we are empowered to share this message of forgiveness.

When we wear the salvation bracelet, we have the opportunity to start a dialogue with others who may never have heard about Jesus Christ.  The bracelet offers the opportunity and the Holy Spirit inspires us to share what God offers us through His Son Jesus Christ.  And this simple white bead, reminds us of God’s gift to and for all of mankind, but especially each and everyone of us gathered here this Wednesday of Lent who believe this simple message, “We are forgiven!”  AMEN.

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03082015 - Oculi - Third Sunday in Lent - "Woman, this is your son."

Sermon Audio

March 8, 2015

Jesus gives responsibility away…

Gracious Lord, it is clear we are responsible for many things in our lives, first our relationship with You and secondly our family.  It is clear You thought, not of Yourself while hanging on the Cross, but of Your Mother.  Enable each of us to understand our responsibility is not dictated by our desire, but what gives You the greatest glory.  For our responsibility is not to earthly things, but to heavenly things, especially You and the spread of Your Love and the Gospel of our Salvation.  AMEN.

Each of us gathered here today have been in situations that are stressful.  Whether it is worrying about the sprinkler that is down that will change our weight of corn during the peak growing season.  Sitting on the combine ready to go out in the field to pick the winter wheat and waiting and watching a Summer thunderstorm bearing down on you with large hail being shown on the radar.  Or even sitting in the FSA office discussing how through the drought you are going to continue to make the farm work.  These are the stress filled lives that we live on a yearly basis.  We feel the responsibility of the world on our shoulders and in some cases feel like we have to act and act now in order to prevent our going over the edge or doing something that may be catastrophic to our current way of life.

This morning in our Series of the Words from the Cross, Jesus Christ is in an extremely stressful situation.  Hanging on the Cross having endured the torture of the soldiers, the excruciating pain of being scourged, carrying His Cross to Golgotha outside the city walls of Jerusalem and being nailed to the beam, Jesus feels the weight of the world on His shoulders.  It is a weight that we can only imagine, but one that Jesus came into the world to carry.  Yet, Jesus is not trying to avoid or distance Himself from His present circumstances.  Jesus is looking out not for Himself, but for the future of a woman standing at the foot of the Cross He is nailed to.  The future Jesus is looking out for is that His mother  that she will have to endure.  A future without Him.  Hence, “Jesus said to His mother: “Woman, this is your son.”  Then He said to the disciple:  “This is your mother.” (John 19:26-27)

Mary, Jesus mother, who had been promised Jesus conception and birth by the Angel, experienced the shepherds coming and worshiping in a small stable in Bethlehem, because there was no room in the inn.  Received the gifts of the Magi on the day we celebrate Epiphany.  Cuddled Jesus in her arms as a newborn baby when He was small.  Searched for Jesus when He went missing on the big trip into Jerusalem.  Watched Him perform miracles of Water into Wine, healing countless people and teaching about His Father in heaven.  Now stood at the foot of the Cross of Calvary and had watched Him be nailed to the Cross, struggle to breath and heard these words.  They were not just words, but had a deep concern and compassion from Jesus for His mother Mary.

Jesus knew what the future would be of His death very shortly.  And Jesus knew He would not be able to care for His Mother.  So, Jesus took the responsibility He had of the care of His mother and gave it away.  Jesus gave that responsibility to John.  The responsibility John undertook at this moment isn’t just in name, but John according to Jewish custom was not only adopting Mary, but being adopted by her.  Their lives would be connected and intertwined from that moment on.  The responsibility that Jesus had for Mary was given away because Jesus wanted to insure Mary was cared for in the way she needed and deserved and as was the custom of a good Jewish son.

Today we have responsibilities as well, not only to God, but our families and even our calling, whether farmer, teacher, husband, wife or child.  Jesus here clearly demonstrates and models for us the need to take responsibility seriously, give it away when necessary and give it to the right person for the job.  When “Jesus said to His mother: “Woman, this is your son.”  Then He said to the disciple:  “This is your mother.”  Scripture captures for us the importance of taking responsibility and our daily need to do this as Christians.

But why, for what reason or what is the ‘end game’ of Jesus statement for us today that we hear from the Cross of Calvary?  Of what consequence is responsibility for us today as Christians?  Simply responsibility has eternal consequences.  And Jesus is not just the God of the here and now, Jesus is the Son of God for all eternity.  We have the opportunity to have an eternal impact when we rightfully take our responsibility seriously, give it away when necessary and find the right person for the job.  Jesus knew John, the disciple He loved would take care of His mother and knew she would be safe in his care.  So Jesus gave the responsibility to John.  So to the church understands responsibility clearly because we get to share the love of God for each and every one of us through the Gospel of Jesus Christ here at Emmanuel.  We can share that love in word, deed and action with everyone we meet.

That message of what Jesus Christ did on the Cross of Calvary we can give away to all that we meet.  When we give that message of salvation away, we share not only the love of God, but our love for one another.  I have the opportunity from the pulpit to preach, proclaim and purposefully declare my love for you the people of God, but also and more so the love of Jesus Christ for each and every one of us.  I am not perfect, but God is and His love is perfect and He has given us the responsibility to give this gift of love away.  And this is exactly what Jesus modeled on the Cross of Calvary when “Jesus said to His mother: “Woman, this is your son.”  Then He said to the disciple:  “This is your mother.”

May we give away the Gospel message of salvation to all mankind, knowing God will insure it does not return without accomplishing its mission.  And may we understand that Gospel message of God’s love is not for a select few, but it is our opportunity and responsibility to give it away and believe it is for all of mankind, including all of us saints here at Emmanuel.  AMEN.

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