Posted on Tuesday, April 7, 2009
<-Previous | Sermons | All Sermons | Next->

TUESDAY IN HOLY WEEK

7 April Anno + Domini 2009

 "This Hour Is For You”

John 12:23-43

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

The time has come.  The hour has arrived.  And, Jesus' soul is troubled.  He knows what this hour means for Him.  He knows what He must endure.  Mockery.  Ridicule.  Betrayal.  Abandonment.  Unknowable anguish.  Intense suffering.  Unspeakable pain.  The spit of hatred hurled at His face.  The pelting of His flesh by the cruel instruments of scourging.  The piercing of His flesh by thorns, nails, and spear.  The wrath of His Father.  The punishment for sins He did not commit.  The torture of Hell itself.  The suffering of suffocation.  Death. 

His soul is troubled.  How could it not be so?  Should we expect Him to be looking forward to this hour?  Absolutely not.  He's not looking forward to it.  He trembles at the thought of it all.  Thus, His Passion begins long before His body is shamefully abused. 

But, dear friends, listen to Him:  "And what shall I say?  'Father, save me from this hour?'  But for this purpose I have come to this hour.  Father, glorify your name.” 

This is your Savior.  His soul is troubled.  He trembles at the thought of what's coming.  But, He will enter this hour anyway.  He will submit to His Father's will.  He will endure the pain and suffering He doesn't deserve.  He will go to the cross to pay the price for sins He did not commit.  He will experience the wrath of God that His innocence did not require.  He will die the death reserved for sinners, even though He never committed a single sin.  This is why He came down from heaven and took on our human flesh.  This is the purpose for His Incarnation.  He came for this hour.  He came to go to Calvary.  He came to die.  This is your Savior, dear friends, for He came to endure all this for you.

People today want a personalized Christianity, a "me and my Jesus” kind of thing.  Well, here it is.  Here is where Christianity gets as personal as it possibly can.  Here on the cross it is you and your Jesus, for here Jesus takes every single one of your sins - past, present, and future - into Himself.  It doesn't get any more personal than this.  You can rightly say, "Jesus died for me.”  You can rightly say, "Jesus is my Savior.”  Those statements are most certainly true.  Christianity is a very personal relationship between you and Jesus.  He lived, died, and rose again for you. 

The problem is that the personalized, "me and my Jesus,” Christianity embraced by so many is one in which they try to define Jesus on their own terms.  In doing so, they end up creating a false Jesus from their own vain imaginations - a Jesus who thinks it's okey-dokey that they steer clear of His holy church; a Jesus who doesn't mind that they despise preaching and His Word; a Jesus who turns a blind eye to their unwillingness to make use of the means of grace He Himself has instituted; a Jesus who happily overlooks their stubborn refusal to support His ministry and mission; a Jesus who is nothing more than a good friend they can turn to from time to time. 

That Jesus doesn't exist.  The real Jesus is the Jesus who enters the hour of His Passion and goes to the cross for you, not so that you can be forgiven and then do your own thing on your own terms.  No, He enters the hour of His Passion and goes to the cross for you, so that you can be forgiven and begin to live a new life, one that is continuously sustained by the fruits of the cross He endured for you.  The real Jesus has not left things up to you to figure out on your own, but has established the way in which you might remain in relationship with Him.  He has instituted His holy church and invited you to dwell therein.  He promises to meet you here in His church, to gift you with forgiveness, life, and salvation through His Holy Word and Sacraments.  He comes here that you might confess your sins to Him and receive His Holy Word of Absolution.  He comes here that you might be instructed in His Word and grow in the grace and knowledge of His truth.  He comes here that you might be united to Him, to other brothers and sisters, and, indeed, to all the saints on earth and in heaven, by partaking of His faith-sustaining and life-giving Body and Blood in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. 

And, dearly beloved in Christ, your Savior does not come into your presence and do all of these eternally blessed things for you so that you might go on living in your sins, but rather that you might receive the strength you need to struggle against your sins and strive to live a godly life of service to God and neighbor.  As He says, "Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.  If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also.  If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.” 

So, the questions we must ask ourselves on this Holy Tuesday are:  Do I love my life in this world or am I willing to lose my life in this world to keep it for eternal life?  Am I serving myself or my Savior who lived, died, and rose for me?  Am I following my own wants and desires or am I following my Savior, picking up my cross and walking the path He has laid before me?

Tough questions, aren't they?  They make us uncomfortable.  We'd rather not answer them, for the truth is that none of us, if we're honest with ourselves, likes the answers we would have to give.  We have loved our lives in this world more than the eternal life which awaits us.  We have served ourselves far more often than serving our Savior.  But, that's why we're here, isn't it?  We have come to the right place, for here our Savior stands ever ready to forgive us.  But, not just that, He stands ever ready to renew us and to lead us, so that we might delight in His will and walk in His ways to the glory of His holy name. 

So, come, dear friends, once again, to the Table of your Savior and receive the fruits of His life-giving and life-sustaining cross.  Eat His Body and drink His Blood - the very Body and Blood He gave and shed for you in the eternal glory of His Holy Cross - and be joined to His life, so that, washed clean in the Blood of the Lamb, you might depart not only in the peace of being forgiven and free, but in the strength to live and serve in His kingdom; that you might walk in His light, so that the darkness may not overtake you.  Lord, grant this unto us all.  In Jesus' Holy and Precious Name.  Amen.           

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