Posted on Sunday, May 10, 2009
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CANTATE

10 May Anno + Domini 2009

"The Lord Has Done Marvelous Things”

Psalm 98; John 16:5-15

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

He Is Risen!  (He Is Risen Indeed!  Alleluia!)

"Oh, sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done marvelous things!  His right hand and His holy arm have worked salvation for Him.  The Lord has made known His salvation; He has revealed His righteousness in the sight of all nations” (Ps. 98:1-2). 

The Lord has done marvelous things. They are greater in number than the imprecise mathematics of men dare to count, more marvelous than our feeble minds might comprehend. He has called the galaxies to be; set the planets on their course; established the infinite depth of all black holes. But, so too, Zeus and Mohammed's Allah, or, at least, according to those who imagined them. They claim to be creators, too. God breathed life into men. He created all the living. He taught the plants to grow. He carved the paths of rivers and built mountains. But so, too, Zeus, and Allah, and even the Great Spirit or Architect in the sky, again, according to those who imagined them. 

And the devil says, "See, 'gods' are all the same. Any name will do. Call him what you want. It does not matter to him or to me. We have more in common than that which is distinct. Unity is the highest goal. We should all be nice.” 

And who could argue against the fact that the devil's voice is being heard loudly and clearly in our day and age?  Just listen to the popular voices out there today - voices like Oprah, Dr. Phil, the ladies on The View, the so-called "scholars” continuously featured on the History, Discovery, and National Geographic channels, and even many of the most popular so-called "Christian” preachers, like Joel Osteen, Rick Warren, and a host of others.  What do they say?  It doesn't matter what you call "God”; there are many paths to heaven.  What matters is that you believe in something and that you live a decent life.  That is enough.  Whether you pledge your allegiance to Jesus, Mohammed, the Buddha, the Great Architect in the Sky, science, or anyone or anything else, it doesn't matter, for, in the end, these are all just different expressions of belief in the same "god.”  Nobody's claims about God are any better or any truer than anybody else's claims.  The only people not to be tolerated are those people who claim that their God is the only God.      

But the devil always lies. He is a liar from the beginning.  He knows full well that there is only one, true God, but he detests that God and the children He has created.  So, he puts it into the hearts of men to create other gods from their own vain imaginations, for the devil knows that if he can get men to believe in other gods, he has won them for himself.  And that is his goal, to entice people away from the Kingdom of the only True God and into his kingdom. 

Enter the Holy Spirit.  He proclaims:  "Do not listen to that old, evil foe!  He is a liar!  The God of Abraham in the Flesh from Mary's womb is not imagined.  He came just as He promised to come.  He has remembered His mercy.  His right arm has gotten Him the victory.  He submitted to defeat in humility to break death's teeth.  He died and He rose again.  He lives. Unlike Zeus or Allah or any imaginary god fired in men's fantasies by demonic impulse, God in the Flesh, Jesus the Christ, died to pay for the sins of men who rejected Him.  He died for you. That is the Truth and that Truth sets men free.  His love is perfect and forgiving.  It reconciles sinners to the Father.  It gives you a song to sing not of idle fancies but of history and of the future.

For though the Heavenly Father was angry with you for your vile and selfish deeds, His wrath has been turned to the cross.  It has been spent upon the Son.  God sent His Son to die for you and to rise again!  You could not have guessed what God would do to make you His, to buy you back again. You could not have expected or imagined such love. He has become your salvation, your strength, and your song.  He has taken the sins of the world into His Body.  The accuser has been robbed of his accusations.  Jesus died for you and crushed the liar's head.  He let you kill Him rather than send you to Hell where you belonged.  He is not fair.  He is just and He is merciful.  He is gracious and forgiving.

Death has no more claim upon you because He took your place.  He died your death.  It is finished.  Death is now empty.  There is nothing left, for He rose up out of the grave, alive in His Body on the third day, reunited with His soul, the Victor over Hell.  The grave did not hold Him.  It cannot hold you who belong to Him by faith.  Like unto His glorious Body, your bodies will be raised and perfected to live in His kingdom forever in perfect bliss. 

This is the most marvelous thing.  It defines your God and gives you a song.  The Lord and His Holy Apostles have given that song a title - they call it the Gospel.  It is the power of God unto salvation.  It is the content of your song.”

Dear friends in Christ, the Lord has indeed done marvelous things!  He has ascended to the right hand of His Father.   He rules in the hearts of those who believe in Him in perfect grace.   They call Him Lord and King.  Once, those titles were used of Him in mockery and scorn, but now He is worshiped with those titles.  And from the Father's side, He has sent the Helper, that Holy Spirit who once hovered over the chaos and brought it into order.  He is the Spirit of Truth.  He teaches us to pray.  He grunts out for us perfect prayers that words cannot express.  He inspires the apostles and prophets to write His words.  He glorifies the Son by taking what is the Son's, and the Father's, (perfection, righteousness, innocence, holiness) and declaring it all to be yours, and all for free.  He delivers Jesus.  And where there is Jesus, there is also life and salvation.  And where there is life and salvation, there is singing.

We cannot help ourselves.  It springs up from the depths of our souls.  Our joy overflows.  We are forgiven.  We are loved.  Our lives have purpose and meaning.  The Spirit inspires us and puts His words through David upon our lips and we sing the new song of redemption.

Marvelous things!  He has intervened in the course of human affairs to bring about our salvation.  He has driven a tent peg through Sisera's head and burned Baal's prophets.  He has scared the Caanites into killing one another with nothing more than Gideon's name and some torches.  He has caused the wheels to come off of Pharaoh's chariots and the waters to come crashing in around his army.  He struck the temple guards who watched the tomb as though they were dead.  He broke the seal.  He came through the door.  He breathed upon those Apostles to deliver His Holy Spirit and the Keys to heaven.  He has seen to all the details.  He missed nothing

Marvelous things!  God has called you to be.  He has given you both a physical mother and a spiritual mother.  Your earthly mother is worthy of your remembrance, honor, and praise this day, for she brought you into this world, cared for you when you were helpless to care for yourself, and loved you like only she could.  But, so, too, is your spiritual, heavenly mother worthy of your remembrance, honor, and praise, for She birthed you in the Jordan´s bloody waters, and made you clean by grace.  She has raised you in the fear of the Lord and taught you to pray.  She has reminded you of your grandfather Abraham, your uncle Jacob, your distant kinsman Job.  She fills you with the Holy Spirit, who convicts you of sin, that you repent and receive the righteousness of Christ, and therefore steer clear of the judgment pronounced upon the devil and all unbelievers.  She brings you to the Body and the Blood of Her Bridegroom, Jesus Christ, for you to eat and to drink, to sustain you for your labor and to seal your future.  She is the Church, the handmaiden of the Lord, and she serves you as her own dear child.  She is a Holy Christian Mother and, as all her daughter do, she also prays for you. For behold, the prayers of a righteous man, be he male or female, availeth much. 

So sing unto the Lord a new Song, dear friends in Christ.  For He has indeed done marvelous things.  And He continues to do those marvelous things for you this day.  How can you do anything but sing with joy?  In Jesus' Holy and Precious Name.  Amen.

Now the peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, unto life everlasting.  Amen.