Roger's Postings

Saturday, March 28, 2015

Mark 11:1-11.  It’s all about Jesus coming to do what had to be done.     29/3/15

11 As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.’”
They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it, some people standing there asked, “What are you doing, untying that colt?” They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go. When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted,
“Hosanna!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
10 “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!”
“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
11 Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courts. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.

This morning we are reminded of Jesus’ coming into Jerusalem for the final time, before he is crucified on a cross. Jesus is coming to town to be enthroned as king. So here the crowd comes out to meet him and to welcome him with enthusiasm. Here is what they have been waiting for, for many, many centuries. The promised Messiah has come. “Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

Yes here is coming the promised king: the one that the Lord said he would send at the right time. Here comes the one through whom the Lord would establish his kingdom forever. So yes, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!

But hang on; something is not quite adding up here. This great king is here on what? A donkey! No even more than that, a flighty, probably unbroken colt, the foal of a donkey, that would have been difficult to ride. How crazy is that! Where is the mighty warrior on his fiery, battle hardened, but grand looking stallion? Where is this grand, imposing figure and king who can drive out the enemy and establish a great and lasting kingdom? Where is his great army?

Yet here is Jesus coming to do what had to be done, despite how contrary it seems. So today and in this coming week we need God’s help to come to grips with what is so important here and why it is all so odd. And see that what he has come to do is at the heart of what the Christian faith is all about.

When we think about overcoming evil and all that is wrong, we think of power and might. Yet what do we find as we look around at how we overcome evil in our world. We throw a few more bombs around; we bully and pressure; we coerce and cajole. We have one grand imposing leader and the underlings try to cut him down to size. In the end all our efforts at using power and greatness to overcome evil is to no avail.

We overcome one evil power, only to have another, even more brutal, take its place. One sickness overcome is replaced by another. We go from one broken relationship, to only take more troubles into the next. And the list goes on. To try to defeat evil with power does not work.

Sinful humanity is not able to find a balance or favourable point, because the selfish ego will want to get its own way. We only have to look at the Garden of Eden to see this. They had everything good; they lacked nothing, but they wanted to do the one thing they were told not to. Sadly now, every one of us is infected with this same terrible sin. So we will never be able to live in peace and harmony without evil getting in the way.

Sinful humanity is not overcome by power and might without every single one of us being destroyed completely. So God almighty himself comes to do something about it in the only way possible. He has a plan, a way that we can be saved: every one of us. But of course, sadly most people do not want to accept God’s way.

However, here on Palm Sunday we begin to see God plan being played out. Here God’s very own Son comes into town to overcome evil and bring life and salvation to all who are willing to trust him and what he is about to do. But he comes humble and riding on a donkey.

Yes Jesus has been doing many miracles, healing, driving our demons, feeding 5,000 people with only one little boy’s lunch, and even including raising Lazarus from the dead. So he was one who was clearly seen to have to come from God himself; and the miracles surely indicate that he is able to do great things for the people.  There is no doubt that this one comes in the name of the Lord. And his kingdom then should surely be great.

So many people are looking eagerly to this Jesus and his coming to town. They rush to meet him and welcome him with palm branches cloaks. Despite what looks to the contrary, this one on the donkey still may be able to be the Messiah, even though it doesn’t look right. It doesn’t fit what they had in mind, but we’ll wait and see.

They and we have not long to wait. Within days it all comes to a head. Within days he ascends to his throne. Within days he overcomes evil’s power over us. Within days the kingdom of our father David is established, just as had been promised. Hosanna in the highest heaven.

So we now stand ready to celebrate this great and glorious event. We too are confronted with a Saviour who is far from spectacular: a Saviour who speaks of repentance and sin: a Saviour who associates with the sinners and those who have been sinned against: a Saviour who’s central means of saving us is the cross. We are following a Saviour who does not fit the mould of what we would like him to be.

We also sit in the midst of a Christian Church that is far from great and powerful and spectacular. A church that continually struggles with numbers and calls for something different and spectacular: something that ‘works’. A church that is no longer popular in the eyes of the world. A Church that is called on to take up its cross and follow this saviour in the way of the cross. We are part of a faith that is not comfortable for our world around us, and even for most within.

We are a part of a God and community that is humble and plain; with a message of sin and grace, of death and life, of love and forgiveness, and of a cross and salvation. We are a part of that which is right in the midst of a messed up world with all of its troubles, tragedies and death.

Yet it is right there that this great God offers to all a hope, life and certainty that is for real. Because Jesus coming and death actually deal with sin and the consequence of evil there is a sure hope. Because he took the punishment that we deserve on himself, sin and the accusations of the devil hold no weight anymore. We are acceptable to God, because our sin has been paid for. Forgiveness is extended to us.

Now of course our human pride and arrogance cannot handle this, therefore many have turned their backs on Jesus and this message of forgiveness and life. We want to live our own lives rather than be dependent on the free gift of another to give us that which is important. We want the easy and spectacular way of life that promises much, even if it doesn’t deliver.

Yet to all who believe in the one who comes in the name of the Lord, there is the certainty of forgiveness of sin and the assurance of life and salvation. To you and me he says I died for you on the cross so that you can have salvation and life. All he calls us to do is to trust him and what he has done for us and it is all there for us.

Even here in our lead up to Easter, in the midst of all of our weaknesses, struggles and temptations he reminds us and calls us to look to him and his humility and cross. Look there and hear his words, It is finished. He there on the cross completed his work of saving us. Then he rose again three days later, so that we can be absolutely sure that this humble king and his death on the cross are for real. Here the Lord is come and has overcome evil for us.

Sin, death and the devil has been overcome by this one who came humble and riding on a donkey. Life and salvation has been won for us through Jesus Christ and his death on the cross. And in his resurrection we are assured that all of this is for us and our good.

This is the Lord who comes to us. This is the king that we rejoice over, today and always.
“Hosanna!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
 “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!”
“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
AMEN.

Pastor Roger Atze
Glandore/Underdale Lutheran Parish


Friday, March 20, 2015

John 12:20-33.                   The hour of glory is near???                            22/3/15

20 Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival. 21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.
23 Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 25 Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honour the one who serves me.
27 “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name!”
Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.”29 The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him.
30 Jesus said, “This voice was for your benefit, not mine. 31 Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 33 He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.

Here again we have another important message for us not only in the midst of Lent, but also in the midst of a broken, troubled and mixed up world. As we recognise the difficulties of what is going on in the world and in our sinful selves we look for that which is good and helpful and which will bring glory into the situation. We desperately would like things to be well for us and to have that which is important.

But what is that? What is important? What is it that is truly great? What is it that Jesus is really all about that is helpful and good for us? Where do we find the answers that we need? These are some of the question that we are faced in the midst of the troubles and brokenness of our world and our lives.

Well here we have that message that answers all of these questions. Here we have a message that is good, helpful and glorious. But before we go into that I will say that it is a message that we all have trouble with, because it doesn’t fit with  what we would like it to be. It does not fit with how we think everything should be fixed and work for good.

But Jesus reminds us all that the hour has come for all to be revealed and which will show where real glory is at. Easter is almost on us where all of this is fully revealed, but we have swamped that weekend with all kinds of messages which seek to hide that which is truly important.  It is a long-weekend holiday: It all about chocolate and Easter bunny: it is about butterflies and eggs: it is about sport and family gatherings. We have made it about everything but what it is really all about.

Here Jesus hits us right between the eyes when he says: Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. The things I just mentioned about what we think and make of Easter tells us very clearly we love our life in this world. Despite the clear evidence of troubles, tragedies and death in our life, we want out of this life what we want; and God had better come to the party and give it to us.

Here we in the church all too often join in focussing on this life and the enjoyment that should be ours. We focus on what is nice and appealing. The Christian message is all about us and what we make of life; and of our programs, witnessing and doing. After all surely God wants us to be healthy, wealthy, happy and successful.

Yet what did Jesus just say: if we want to keep our life and have eternal life, we are to do what? Hate their life in this world. Now that is a challenging call to our world today. It is even a huge call to us as Christians today. All too often we don’t like to acknowledge that we are sinners and that we don’t get things right. However God’s word is quite clear that we are far from being the people that we would like to think that we are.

As we listen carefully to God and his word we very quickly recognise that we and our world are far from what we should be: and we should hate it: we should long to be free from it; we should want that which far, far better. We should want Jesus and what he has for us, rather than to live our failed and failing lives. Despite all of the money and gadgets that we have we still have our hurts and shortcomings with which we struggle greatly: we long for something better.

We too should surely “like to see Jesus.”  To see and know Jesus as he wants us to see him. Not as we would like to see him. We too need to take seriously what Jesus says here: “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. And then he goes on to say: “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour.  Father, glorify your name!”

Yes he knows what is in front of him. He knows what is important for him to do. And he knows what will bring glory to God. And he knows how terrible it will be, what he has to go through. Then he goes to Jerusalem and to the cross. There we have that which is of utmost importance for God, for our world, and for us. There in that seemingly most horrific of events we have the most important event to have ever happened for the good of our world. There we have that which is a truly glorious event, despite its ugliness.

Despite the horror of the event that he is about to go through. His soul is troubled, but he does not shirk away from what is absolutely necessary. This is what he came into our world for. Not primarily to perform miracles and to give wonderful teachings, but to die on the cross, so that God’s name might be glorified: by saving us from the hopeless situation that we have gotten ourselves into through our desire to live our own lives.

So there on the cross we see Jesus as he needs to be seen. There we see what is important for us and for our lives. Even though it looks and seems all wrong to our human way of thinking, there we have that which brings good into our world and into our lives: there we have a sure hope in the midst of a hopeless world.

There on the cross we see the time for judgment on this world. Just as God promised at the very beginning of sin into our world that sin had to be and would be punished with death and hell. Here at Good Friday it is to happen. All our sin, failures and short-comings, and troubles that have been inflicted on us; they will get the punishment that is due to them.

Knowing each of our own sins and the terrible things that have been done to us, we only begin to see how horrible this event truly is. God is bringing the punishment for it all to bear. But instead of us, and those who perpetrate these atrocities receiving this punishment, Jesus is taking this punishment on himself. In turn he offers us forgiveness, life and salvation.

But Jesus also says that there on the cross the prince of this world will be driven out. No longer can he accuse us, and bring guilt to bear on us. Jesus has paid the price necessary. Sure while we still live here on this sinful earth, the devil, the world and our sinful will continue to cause trouble and hardship; even for Christians. But now we, who believe, know that there is forgiveness there for us, and we know that he is now allowing them so that he can bring good through them. So the devil has lost is power over us, to make us guilty and condemn us.

 How magnificent this is, that God should put his Son there on the cross to achieve all of this for us. No wonder this is a glorious event. No wonder this is the greatest thing to have ever happened in our world. No wonder the Christian world continues to celebrate this great and glorious day, year after year. No wonder they do not let the aberrations of our present Easters to distract them from giving glory and honour to him for what he has done for us. 

For two thousand years now he and what he has done for us on the cross has drawn people to him. People all over the world have believed in him and have received his gifts of forgiveness of sins, life and salvation. Sadly it is in more recent times, with the affluence and arrogance of our western world that there has been a great falling away there. However across the globe Christianity continues to grow rapidly. So glory and honour continues to go to our great God for all that he has done for us through his death and resurrection.

But for us here today the challenge is for us to see that this Jesus and his death on the cross is the most important thing to have even happen for our lives. Surely we do not want to hang on to the fleeting things of this world that let us down when we need them most of all. To love this life for what it promises me today and to in the end lose our soul.

To turn our backs on Jesus and ignore him and what he has done for us is to lose all these wonderful things that he has won for us through his death and resurrection. We lose forgiveness of sins, life and salvation; and above all lose out on being with our Lord for all eternity in heaven.

However for those who do not hold to the things of this world as being all important; and who struggle with the pain and heartache of all that sin and this world inflicts on; there is now hope and a great future. Those of us who see Jesus and his death on the cross as being all important, will receive all the wonderful blessings that he promises and has won for us. With that we then are free to go forward to live life with confidence and hope. Giving all glory and honour to our great God for all that he has done and won for us through Jesus Christ and his death on the cross. He truly is all important. AMEN.

Pastor Roger Atze

Glandore/Underdale Lutheran Parish

Saturday, March 14, 2015

John 3:14-21.                     Loving darkness or light???                                          15/3/15

14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

Here in this reading we have the Christian message in a nutshell. It is a text that we know as the Bible or the Gospel in one verse. We love to focus on verse 16: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. And that certainly sums up the Gospel very simply and it is vitally important that we know that verse.

However, there is a lot more to this text that we need to reflect on here in the midst of Lent. We need to, so to speak, put some meat on those bones.  Yes, God did love the whole world so much that he sent his Son to save it. But remember that he goes on and says: that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. And a little further on: but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.

Now what would cause someone to not believe in the one who has come to save them? Why wouldn’t we want believe in this one who died on the cross and rose again? Why don’t we all take this seriously?

Predominately we would have to say that our selfish human pride does not want to acknowledge that we are sinners and in need of being saved. We don’t want to admit that we are so bad that God cannot accept us as we are. We all like to think we are reasonable good; well at least as good as most other people: Minor problems here and there, but no big deal.
However that is not what God says to us in his Word. That is not what Jesus Christ and his death is all about.
This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.

There we have it in a nutshell. But again it is a message that we do not want hear, or be challenged by. We don’t want to hear the truth, so that we can have our excuses when we have to finally face reality. We want to hide the real truth of our lives, because we don’t want the real person that we are to ever see the real light of day.

You see, we want to live our own lives and do our own thing; so we don’t want to hear the truth of what God has to say to us. Yes we like to hear that God loves us and accepts us, but we don’t want to hear the truth about our motivations for how we live out our lives every day.

We want to live in the dark so that we are free to do as we please. We love do that which goes against what God says is good. So we don’t listen and take to heart what God’s Word says and when it goes against our thinking we try to twist and change it so that it fits what we want it to say.

Is this why many people don’t go to church? Is this whey we like pastor’s who preach ‘nice and soft’ messages? Is this why we don’t like to go to Bible studies?  Is this why we try to change what the bible says to suit the current culture of the day? We don’t want the light to expose the way of life that we want to live for ourselves. We want our sin to be hidden.

But what then do we do with our sin? What do we do with that nagging guilt that lies within each and every one of us? If we don’t deal with it festers away and finally destroys us. Even if we don’t hear God’s word directly, our conscience knows that it is wrong and it plays on our mind.

All too often we try to keep our distance from God and his church so that don’t have to think about it or address it. We hope the guilt’s will go away, even though they don’t. We try to convince ourselves that God is dead or not for real, so that we hopefully might not feel so bad. Or at least we try to convince ourselves that it is not so bad, or that God doesn’t really mean it when he says something is wrong.
We might even encourage others to sin in that area and then try to console ourselves that others also have this sin; and so I am not so bad. But again we still know that it is wrong. So drink, drugs, work and all kinds of vices are undertaken to try to hide and bury the guilt. But it doesn’t work. If we persist, we die in our sin and the end is far from good. In fact it is hell.

No, the answer is to come into the light so that our sin can be exposed and dealt with. The answer is to come to Jesus Christ and his word and there recognise and acknowledge our sin and then receive his forgiveness. The answer is to seek after the truth that God is and has for us and there find the life that we need in order to go forward with.

The answer is to lift our eyes beyond ourselves and our world around us and find that which is truly amazing and life transforming. When we lift our eyes and take Jesus and the cross seriously we find freedom from all the sin and guilt that has been weighing us down. Instead of ridicule, rejection and punishment we find love, forgiveness and eternal life.

As we lift our eyes we find that: God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  He didn’t come to give us our ‘just deserts’. Yes, we deserve God’s Judgement and rejection. He should have come and pronounced his punishment on us for our sin, rejection and self-centredness, but instead he came to save us.

So we find that God’s love is truly incredible: he sends his Son Jesus to take the punishment that we deserve on himself, so that we can have forgiveness, life and salvation. He takes our sin, guilt and hell on himself, so that we can have eternal life in heaven.  Our sin had to be punished, and so rightly we fear the consequences of sin, but God takes it on himself, so that it doesn’t come on us. In turn he gives us his righteousness – his goodness so that we can live happily with him for all eternity.

In a nutshell - God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Amazing, but true.

All he calls for, is for us to believe – to trust him and what he has done for us and live in light of it. It is all there, and it is all done for us: and it is freely there for us. But it is funny isn’t it. We know this, but all too often we can’t accept it. We don’t want our lives to change. We want to be free to be our own person.

Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.

And we are told here that: Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. If we persist in our rejection of him, and turn our backs on him and what he has done for us, and what he offers us then we stand condemned already. If we continue to live in and love the darkness and life of this world and reject what God has for us, we are in big trouble.

But here today in the midst of Lent we are again reminded and encouraged to look up and live. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him. Look up to what God has provided for us and we can live. We can live free of guilt and condemnation. We can live knowing that God loves us and forgives us. And live with the certainty of eternal life in heaven when our time us up here on earth.

Now we can live in a way that is good for us and for our relationship with God and one another. Now we can truly love and be loved. Now we have a reason and purpose to live; and live with confidence and hope. In connection with Jesus life truly changes for the better.

So yes, let us now turn away from our self-focus and worldly focus, and be prepared to be real about our sin and guilt. We all have fallen short of what we should and are meant to be. Let us not pretend that this is not the case and so try to hide from this reality. But instead to look up and find forgiveness life and salvation That God has won for us in Jesus Christ and his death on the cross. Let us believe all the Jesus Christ has done and won for us so that we can have eternal life with him in heaven. And then may all glory and honour go to our great God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. AMEN.

Pastor Roger Atze

Glandore/ Underdale Lutheran Parish. 

Friday, March 06, 2015

1 Corinthians 1:18-25.                     Wisdom or foolishness??                             8/3/15

18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written:
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
    the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”
20 Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. 22 Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

This morning our reading here mentions two words a number of times: wisdom and foolishness. Now at the present time I wonder if many people are unsure as to which is which and where this wisdom is found, and what really is foolishness. For today it seems to be that foolishness is applauded and wisdom is looked down on. We struggle to know what is good and what is bad.

Today we hold education up as being of utmost importance. It is the scholar - the intelligent person that is the one that gets on in the world. It was said on the TV or internet and therefore is has got to be right. I have got 500 friends on Facebook, but no one to have a coffee with. The media says God is dead, so therefore we can get on with doing what I want to do with my life. And list goes on.

But already we are starting to see what our text means when it says: the intelligence of intelligent I will frustrate. There are many frustrated highly educated people in our society today. Thinking they are wise and that they have answers to many of the problems that we see around us, they are finding that these ideas are not working out as their educated thinking suggests it should. Over the next years take note of what happens to those who think they are wise - take note of what happens to those who put all their attention toward education and knowledge. Take note of what happens to a selfish, self-centred society.
But of course that is only one aspect of what constitutes so called wisdom in our present day – there are many others as well. However, what about foolishness? I don't know about you - but I find very few people, particularly the well-educated, are able to put things in simple terms any more. It doesn't matter what we talk about they seem to have to use language and terms that are quite complicated. All it does is confuse everyone and puts wider gaps between people. It is used to put the focus on the individual not what is good for all.

These same people can then be very quick to dismiss anyone who puts things simply. The person who has a knowledge of the simple basic things of life is considered foolish. The things of the past that have been most helpful and good for hundreds of years are now considered as foolish and stupid.

Unless we have ‘a piece of paper’, or are a professor or philosophers we are consider not worth listening to. To take Christ and Christianity too seriously today is also considered foolish. Even to say one believes in God is to turn many people from listening to us. There are many in our community suggesting just that - even from people who should know better.

So this reading today is very important in helping us to get things in their right perspective again. Because it is ever so easy for us to follow or be influenced by what is happening in our society around us. Even within the Church there can be similar misunderstandings as to what constitutes wisdom and foolishness.

There are those who consider themselves wise: they know the church doctrines off pat: they perhaps have the ability to convince people and are good speakers: they may know all the principles put forward by the modern church growth movements: or they may know all the new ways to interpret what the Bible says; but are they necessarily wise - or are they fools.

Then there is another aspect brought into this thinking when Paul comments on those people who are constantly looking for signs as proofs that something is good and right. Under the influence of the charismatic movement there is growing trend within Christianity toward looking for and demanding miracles. Or with the church growth movement in see that ‘bums on pews’ are proof that some program is good. Great importance is placed on these signs and wonders these days.  Again the emphasis is being placed in the wrong areas – the wrong thing is looked to as being important.
In light of all this then, what is important? What is it that we should hold firmly to if we are to be truly wise? Where do we find what is right and true?

Well today again we are reminded that it is there in Jesus Christ and his death on the cross. It is only as we look to that cross that we see Jesus as he needs to be seen, and find the real wisdom to live by every day. Without Jesus Christ and the cross our lives and living are nothing. They are floundering’s in a sea of disillusionment and searching.

To see why, we need to look closely at that cross. There we see what needs be seen and understood in order to be truly wise. There, yes, we first of all see our human predicament. There the reality of each one us hangs - that is sum total of what we deserve: the sum total of our human wisdom and striving: for all of us. Now that is a bitter pill for us proud human beings, yet that is the reality of each and every one of us.

We think we are not too bad - we are basically good people, living pretty reasonable lives; As good as everybody else, anyway. Well look again - there on the cross is the sum total of the best that we can do. That is where our wisdom leads to.

Here remember that this is what God's righteousness and justice pronounces for you and me - guilty to death. If we are honest with ourselves we have to agree. As much as that is a bitter pill for us to swallow.

But look again - who do we see on that cross? Is that you or me - when it comes time for us face judgement day? It should be; but no, there hangs God's own Son - completely innocent, not deserving that in any way. But he is doing it voluntarily so that it doesn't have to be you and me. He is taking on himself the punishment that we should have coming to us. He sacrificed himself for our failing to heed the importance of God in our lives. He did it so that we can be looked on as innocent people – even though we are not. There is utter foolishness to our human way of thinking; but there is God's wisdom at work.

Yes he loves us so much that he wants to free us from that, because he doesn't want us to go to hell. Instead he wants to free us from the chains of sin and guilt that hold us down and open up and give us free access to God and everlasting life with him in heaven. He seeks to give us love, hope and a new and better life. And it is there on the cross, and only there, that this is made possible. Nowhere else will God's love and forgiveness be found. If we understand that we are wise unto salvation. Truly wise!

Yes there on the cross we see and are brought face to face with the reality of our lives, but also with the love of God which frees us from our human predicament, and changes our future possibilities. There we soberly see where our human striving leads, but joyfully see God at work freeing us from it all. Then along with Jesus' resurrection we see and come to understand something of the power of God that is at work in our lives.

With that wisdom, we then can live life in a way that is at odds with the world around us: But in a way that is good and helpful, and truly loving. We not only don’t need to get our own way, for we have everything that is good and important. We can also suffer injustice and lose even, for it cannot take away what Christ has won for us on the cross. We thereby can do what is best for the other person, instead of for self all the time.

With this wisdom we also can now hold firmly to what Jesus, and in fact the whole of Scriptures says, for there we have the certainty that God has what is good for us and our daily living. As we hold to this sure word we are not left wondering aimlessly from one new idea to the next.

There in that simple message we have the wisdom of God that we need in order get through our life here on earth and into an eternity in heaven with God almighty himself. There we have that which enables us to confidently get through this life and into an eternity in heaven with our Lord. So let us not forget what God's Word has to say here. Others may and will find this message foolishness, but they are the fools

What is important is that we cling to that simple message of the cross and not allow ourselves to be distracted by much knowledge or the need to see signs and wonders  in order to think that we are on the right track. In Christ and him crucified we have what is important – all the rest is secondary.

So in everything look first and foremost to Jesus Christ and the cross and there we will find true wisdom. Then also glory and honour will go to where it belongs: our great God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
AMEN  

Pastor Roger Atze

Glandore/Underdale Lutheran Parish