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A sermon is a manner of oral communication and therefore words and sentence structure/order would be added, altered, or deleted at the moment of delivery. + In Nomine Jesu + The Rev. Evan Gaerther Last week I preached on the theme of belonging. The text for that message was 1 Peter 2:9 "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light." The sermon focused firstly on the ways we stumble and fail to walk according to God's purposes. But nevertheless the stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. Jesus Christ though rejected by us and the rest of the world with his death on the cross reaches daily back into our lives to build us into his holy temple with him as the chief cornerstone. That though we stumble against God's desires for our lives he still desires to build us up and so has sent his son Jesus Christ for you and me. This week I would like to continue the theme of "belonging" with the word "confidence." As much as I want to hold onto the identity we have been given through our baptism, that we are children of God. Well, daily this is not so easy…It is not always so easy to have confidence in the midst of events that appear to go contrary. Peter calls us in today's second lesson to live with confidence in the midst of those that would abuse and as we would suffer. But often instead of living with confidence with act out of fear with revenge. Revenge is a tempting response to have when people treat you wrong. When society has abused you through a failure to provide proper health care, when school has disappointed you by not making it fun or easy, when family seems to be absent when in trouble, and ultimately revenge at God when he appears to forget about you and let you get into all kinds of trouble. Payback is an entitlement in this country. If you are in bad straits it is someone's fault and they deserve to pay you back for what they have done. When Peter says in 1 Peter 3:14, "But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled." Not be troubled! Did Peter live in a different time than you and me? Revenge is the obligation of being harmed. Of course revenge is dangerous. The danger of revenge is that it does not end the problem. Revenge just produces another round of payback. Responding to hurt with hurt, or violence with violence does not bring us together. It does not create a sense of belonging except by placing people onto opposites. This idea of payback and paying back evil with evil, is becoming the way to reconcile problems in marriages, schools, and friendships. Why is it that we let another persons actions control us? Peter wrote, "It is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil." Revenge may sound like something that you would not identify with. But it is the inherent desire of all us to repay evil with evil and become frustrated when we don't have community. When harmed we want recompense. When frustrated we want to frustrate. It is a natural sinful reaction to respond. The result, unfortunately, never turns out as we would hope nor end the frustration nor bring reconciliation to the problems. We become alienated from one another and what we are doing is reflecting the alienation we have from God on account of our sin. Turning away from the source of our life and reconciliation ultimately leads us to fall under the judgment of God. The punishment that is deserved for turning away from God is death, because turning away from the source of life is turning away from life to death. Turning away from life is turning away from building up community and supporting your neighbor. We are imprisoned by our own sin. We can see the truth of our actions and yet still find ourselves frustrated, disappointed with those who let us down, seeking revenge against those that have hurt us. We fear what they fear and are intimidated when we seek answers apart from God. Peter encouraged his readers do not fear, do not be intimidated, be ready to suffer for doing what is right. But none of that confidence is possible when we try to solve problems through the worldly means of revenge, anger, and fear-mongering. Power, profit, pleasure, and position feed our souls in this world. But our Lord gives to us confidence nevertheless. But not by overcoming those with power, profit, pleasure, or position. Our victory and confidence is not going to be found in our worldly victory against our foes. Our real foes are sin and death and the devil. We are on a spiritual battlefield. This is where we find ourselves powerless and without hope. Even on this battlefield we are encouraged to not fear nor be intimidated. How? The one who saves us is Christ. For Christ also suffered for us once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous. Christ suffered for you and me on the battlefield of sin and death and the devil. He did this to bring us to God. It is the desire of God for us to be in a relationship with him. By suffering for our sins, Christ put a stop to the cycle of sin, revenge, death. For when he suffered he was killed. He was alienated with us. He was the receiver of injustice alongside us. He was the recipient of the world's hatred. But he did not seek revenge but mercy. He rose again from the dead. Now through baptism we are made participants in Christ's death and resurrection. Baptism is the healing of the relationship between us and God. Christ died once and for all to bring us into a relationship with God. Now through baptism you and I are rejoined to life. Reconciled through baptism with God, we can suffer and not need to seek revenge. We can bring mercy to those that seek to frighten and not be intimidated. How? Because the victory is already ours with the blessed assurance of life and salvation that cannot be taken away no matter how much power, profit, pleasure or position can be taken away by the forces of this world. We can stop the cycle of violence-revenge-violence, following the example of the Christ who suffered for us, died for us, and victorious in the resurrection for us. Through baptism we have been joined together with that resurrection, that victory, that life is now yours to savor. Through baptism you are made citizens of the kingdom of heaven. For you are baptized into the Christ who sits at the right of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him. It by his power that we reach back into this world doing good to those that harm us, ready to suffer for doing good, if suffering should be the will of the father. We reach back into this world because that is the nature of our servant God, reaching back with love and mercy to those that may harm and reject. How can we do such great things? The same question could be asked of baptism. How can water do such great things? Certainly not the water but the Word of God working in and through the water accomplishes such great things. How can we do such great things? Certainly not our sinful selves but the Word of God working in and through the faith which we hold in our victorious Christ gives us the power to accomplish such great things as stopping the cycle of revenge. Because alleluia! Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Soli Deo Gloria -->> Home |