Sermon by Pastor Gus Schutz at Tabor Lutheran Church
Mark 8 : 31 – 38 “The Son of Man must suffer many things, he must be killed and after three days rise again.”
Here we are in the second week of the season of Lent.
We all know very well what that means, don’t we? We know what is coming. In four more weeks we will be in Holy Week, preparing for Good Friday and Easter. Acknowledging the crucifixion of God’s own Son, Jesus, and then, joyfully celebrating the glorious resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday.
We have done it so many times before, haven’t we?
The danger of repeating this every year, is that we can miss the enormity of the event. The trouble for us can be that we already know the ending before the story actually unfolds. Yes, we know that Jesus must suffer many things, but we also know that he will rise again. So, the significance of Jesus suffering and death can be overshadowed by the resurrection. The ending of the story can easily sugar coat the trauma of what goes before. The need for him to suffer and die so that we can be rescued from being held captive to sin and its consequences – our death and destruction.
When Jesus first predicted his suffering and death, it was all still ahead of him!
Just imagine that! You are telling your friends and followers that you will be betrayed by one of them. You will endure the sham of an unfair trial. You will be mocked and ridiculed. You will bear the public shame and humiliation of being strung up on a cross. You will suffer there in agony, hanging between heaven and earth. Then, you will die and be buried like a common criminal.
Imagine that! Jesus is speaking about all these things. But they are still to happen for him. His followers are yet to experience all this!
No wonder Peter protests!
The message is clear for him and the others. But they cannot fully understand why this must happen and what it will look like. Are we sometimes a bit hard on Peter? Wouldn’t we also object at this?
Just think about it!
Imagine something awful is going to happen in your life. It is still ahead of you. Something that will be an incredible loss for you. It will cause you intense heartache and pain. It will seem to you to be something more than you could imagine, let alone possibly bear.
Wouldn’t you also object? Wouldn’t you want to bypass such pain and be relieved of the suffering?
But the truth is some of you have already had such experiences, haven’t you?
For this can be the journey of our life. Perhaps you have endured the agony of watching and waiting, helpless, but knowing that you would lose a loved one who was battling an incurable and terminal illness. Some of you have also been through the tragedy of having someone you loved dearly snatched from you through an accident. There was no getting around these things. You simply had to get through them!
You hoped to avoid the experience, but just like it was for Jesus, it was also a real part of your journey.
Jesus is clear when he says, “the Son of Man must suffer many things,”
Yes, “he must (even) be killed and after three days rise again.”
That word ‘must’ is a very strong word, isn’t it? It allows for no other options. This is the way it has to be! It’s set in concrete! It’s a done deal! For what God says – goes!
Jesus knows that. For this is the Father’s plan for him. For the world. For you and me. He has to go through with it. For this is God’s will for the world. He is sending his Son, Jesus on the greatest rescue mission this world ever has and ever will know. Calling it out of captivity to darkness and destruction. Bringing it into light and life. A light and new life which comes only through the forgiveness of sins.
This is a light which beams with glorious resurrection hope – for us!
Jesus spells it out for us … “and after three days (I will) rise again.”
We are God’s people living with the resurrection hope and power of Jesus to inspire us in our journey. This is what gets us through our deep and dark moments, isn’t it? It is what gets us though those awful experiences we would rather not have to go through. It’s what gives us the strength to carry on after our every heartache in this life.
Because we have the resurrection power of Jesus, we know that it doesn’t end with our personal Good Fridays. No matter how deep and dark they may be. There will always be a glorious Easter sunrise dawn to greet us. God’s love for us in Jesus guarantees it!
But the power of Jesus’ death and resurrection is not just for us personally.
It gives power to our lives so that we can be making a difference for others.
After predicting his death and resurrection, Jesus went on to say: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and the gospel will save it.” (v. 34-35)
Isn’t Jesus inviting us to be living for something bigger than ourselves?
Don’t you think this is what he means? When we live for those things that are bigger than us, we are not missing out at all. We are actually benefitting and enriching our lives, aren’t we?
Just think it through. When you are weighed down by the worries and burdens of life or when you are devastated by a personal loss, you can do one of two things ...
1. Firstly. you can withdraw and retreat.
You can cut yourself off from everyone and everything. This is the easy thing for you to do.
But what will happen to you if you do that? You will end up drowning in your own misery and self pity. You will be overwhelmed and paralysed by the tragedies of life.
2. The other thing to do, is to immerse yourself in the lives of others.
You can reach out to serve them in their needs.
That can be the harder thing to do. But if you do it, what will the outcome be for you? It will help you to put the bad things in your life into perspective. You will see that you are not alone in your suffering.
So, as you see and respond to the opportunities to serve others, the burdens of your own life will in some way be lifted from you, won’t they? They won’t seem to be so large and heavy. They won’t crush you like they do when you withdraw and retreat from others, stewing on your situation.
But there is even more than that!
You will receive the joy of serving. You will literally ‘get your life back!’ Doesn’t God’s word tell us that it is “more blessed to give than receive?” (Acts 20:35)
But I’m sure I can add with confidence that you already know this, don’t you? Because it is what you have been doing in your life. God has been blessing you with servant hearts, so that in love you can reach out and make a difference for others in their needs.
This is not just for the good of others.
It pleases God and honours him. Because it hears the invitation of Jesus and follows his example.
Jesus is our ‘suffering servant.’ He shows us the way. He chose the cross in love for us. He has done for us what we could not do for ourselves. His death and resurrection has sealed the forgiveness of our sins giving us peace with God. This frees us not just to be his people but to be his servants in the world making a difference for others.
So then, by the mercies of our God, be who you are. His people living to bless others.
God give you joy as you follow him to his glory.
Bethany Holy Communion Service with Pastor Paul Kerber
Bethany Service Lay Led by Karen Pietsch with Peter Steicke
Living in Faith….. Dying in Faith
Let us pray – Heavenly Father, Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in your sight – Amen
I would like to acknowledge Pastor Vince Gerhardy – for his inspiration and words. (Pastor Gerhardy graduated from Luther Seminary in Adelaide in 1974)
I think you would all agree that one of the great things about the Christian gospel is its message of hope. When we are being taken through some of the darkest valleys and alleyways that life can lead us we can find ourselves in the same place as Mary and Martha. Lazarus shouldn’t have died. But he did. The sisters had called on Jesus but his answer wasn’t what they expected or wanted and Lazarus’ life was out of their hands. There was nothing left for them to do except mourn his death.
Mary is clearly upset and very puzzled. She questions Jesus when he finally gets there, “Lord, if only you had been here, things would have been different. Lazarus wouldn’t have died. Where were you?” Jesus sees her grief and feels for her. He raises Lazarus to life and offers hope to all who face death saying that he will raise to life all those who live and believe in him. It is the hope that we have in Jesus Christ that is highlighted today as we celebrate All Saints Day. The Book of Revelation describes to us the joyful celebration of those gathered around the throne of the Lamb in heaven. They have gone through their time of suffering and tribulation and have been faithful to the end and now all of that is behind them. God has wiped away all their tears and sorrow. There is no more death and pain and dying. There is only joyous celebration as they praise God for the victory he has given to them through the Lamb who has died for them and made them new and clean. He has given them the white robes of righteousness and purity.
(Revelation 4: reading from Verse 8) Victoriously they wave palm branches calling out with the angels and all those in heaven,
“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was, who is, and who is to come. Salvation comes from our God, who sits on the throne, and from the Lamb! All Praise, glory, wisdom, thanksgiving, honour, power, and might belong to our God forever and ever! Amen!”
In today’s reading from Revelation, we hear about a new heaven and a new earth. God's creative work takes a full turn. When God created the Garden of Eden it was a perfect place where God and his people lived together in harmony. There was no death or crying or grief or pain. Now at the end of the Bible, we hear God creating a new heaven and earth and God will once again dwell amongst his people. From - (Revelation 21:4). We can read, “He will wipe away all tears from their eyes. There will be no more death, no more grief or crying or pain. The old things have disappeared” There in that perfect place we will gather with all the saints who have gone before us – the saints whose names are written in history because of what they did in Christ’s name. There are also those saints whose names are not recorded anywhere except in the Book of Life – those Christians who were never famous but were faithful to their calling as disciples of the Lord knowing their weaknesses, trusting in his grace, and serving in whatever way they were able.
There in that perfect place are all the saints who will come after us – those to whom we have passed on the gospel through words and deeds and then those who have received the message of Jesus’ love through them. The hope and confidence of a life beyond this life are the true blessings that come with knowing Jesus. Even if we are to face the worst, we can do so knowing that Jesus has made it possible for us to pass through death to a glorious new life in eternity. Through his death and resurrection, he has made us right and clean and ready to enter the perfect place we call heaven. “This week I had the privilege to assist with the planning and share the Funeral Service with 4 families.
Sometimes we are asked to officiate the Funeral Service. We always ask- did your loved one have faith and would you like this to be the basis for the service? Sometimes the family says no but then often they will say well “mum” used to go to church so we think she would like the Lord's Prayer and perhaps Psalm 23. Sometimes the family says no “Dad” has his own faith. And sometimes we feel we can use the words from Ecclesiastes 3, "To everything there is a season, a time to be born, and a time to die. These few words can often provide an understanding of death, words of Faith for those that know it, and comfort for those that don’t think, that they have Faith.”
“Yesterday I went to visit my great Aunty. It was her 96th birthday. I didn’t tell her I was coming because these days she is mostly home. When I arrived she was in her garden. We went inside for a coffee and she brought out 3 varieties of her homemade biscuits. She lives alone, and she will say she is sometimes lonely because - she reminds me…you know when you get to my age most of my friends have already gone but she has her faith and her family. We talk about her Faith, and we always do. Then her youngest son called in to wish her a happy birthday, we joked about age and he said with a smile well it’s better than the other! How often do we hear or say – well, being this age is better than the alternative! My Aunty Ethel said, well I think the “other” will be ok too! She has her faith. My Aunty is ready to die - but not today, she has her garden to care for, her biscuits to make, and her family. But when her last day here on earth comes she will be ready, and I know she will rejoice the day she sees her Lord.
“That doesn’t mean that death won’t bring with it pain as we farewell those whom we love here in this life.” All Saints Sunday reminds us of the hope that we have in Jesus Christ. This hope assures us that even though we are separated physically from our loved ones, we are still one with them in the church, joined to them in Christ. All Saints Day reminds us that we are part of the Church, not the Lutheran Church, or Anglican Church, or Bethany and Tabor, but The Church, the holy people of God everywhere from all ages, in heaven and earth; Christians of all times; our parents and grandparents, marriage partners, children, dear Christian friends all those who have died in Christ and are now raised to life with him and who live with him forever. We have all been joined to Christ and become members of his Church in our baptism, we have been made new and clean through his blood and made heirs of eternal life now and forever. We are part of an eternal community, a communion of saints, that crosses earth and heaven and shares in the glory of God.
There is great comfort for us in this, and for all who grieve. We have all lost people we love. That loss is sometimes devastating – to feel that we will never see that person again. We will never again hear their voice or see their face. That is the pain of loss.
The great comfort we celebrate today is that those who have lived with Christ in this life, and are with Christ in eternity, whom we have loved and still love, are not lost. We often say when someone dies that the person has “passed away” or that we have “lost” a loved one. Those who die in Christ aren’t lost and they haven’t passed away as if they have vaporised into nothing. They have passed on to a new life and although we cannot see them or embrace them now, they are still with us, in our one faith and hope.
There is great comfort too in knowing that those who have suffered terribly through illness in this life, those who have been “taken” away suddenly, those who died in tragic accidents, or in fear, they are now safe and in peace, sheltered, as we read in Revelation, “Now God's home is with his people! He will live with them, and he will be their God. He will wipe away all tears from their eyes”.
We can share our faith and hope and give strength to others, not just when people die and not always by reading Revelation with them……there is a time for that too – but every day in our work, within our friendship circle and with people we meet. We can share our faith just in our living and sharing our faith with others.
It is our mission statement… Living for Jesus - Growing in Jesus - Sharing Jesus with others. Amen