Rev. Dustin ParkerLent 1: A New Beginning
Concordia Lutheran Church
1st Sunday of Lent, March 13, 2011
The Beginning: A Need for The Journey
Romans 5:12-19
† IN JESUS NAME †
By his determination, you belong to Jesus Christ. 7 Therefore to you, God's beloved children, called to be his holy people, Grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 1:5-7 (NJB)
A Disaster Whose toll cannot be measured..
It is a theory that in the worst of times, the strength of humanity can be seen the clearest. That even while we are still getting pictures of the destruction caused by the earthquake and tsunami; we are starting to hear of the heroic efforts, and see the response of individuals and nations. The waves of response cannot make up for the devastation, it cannot repair all that was broken, or restore the lives which were lost in the trauma.
Yet the strength of a global community is seen.
We have seen such strength pour out here as well, as we have seen families struggle, and others respond with incredible grace and mercy, with not just money, but with their time and with prayer. Talk to Bob or Al, and hear the stories of love outpoured at Christmas time. It Is amazing to see what a church can do, when its people see needs and respond.
In our Old Testament passage this morning, there is another disaster. It may seem small in comparison to bus crashes, civil wars and earthquakes. A man, his wife, a bite of a piece of fruit, such a seemingly small incident. Yet we today feel the aftershocks of that decision.
The trauma begun, as Adam’s teeth punctured the skin of that fruit, as he tasted and for the first time realized what evil was, is all too prevalent today. In doing so, he set humanity on a path where destruction is assured.
The Gospel reading tells of another man, who similarly was tempted. The outcome of that event also effects us today, as it leads to another road, the road we travel during Lent. Not a journey about our sacrifice of the things we love, but about His sacrifice for those He loves.
A journey towards the cross, and where the disobedient act of one man brought condemnation to the world, the righteous act of another man will provide healing and righteousness, holiness and life to a world that is drowning in sin.
The Reign of Death & Sin
Many died (or as good as died) in one action)
It is the ultimate plague, causing death and destruction wherever it is found. It doesn’t just poison life, it shatters it, as people are helpless to prevent it. Paul describes it with the phrase, “death reigned,“ a bone chilling phrase if ever I heard one. It describes a time where the law was not written on tablets of stone, yet the shattered lives that are evidence of sin were prevalent as death reigned.
I wonder why the world, and often the church, overlook not only the sin, but the devastation caused by it. We get accustomed to the broken families, the broken relationships, the despair, the resentment, the shame and the loneliness that sin can cause. So accustomed we give up hope of any other. After all, isn’t sin as unavoidable as death and taxes?
Too often it seems these days, I see the devastation, and I see people choosing that devastation, even though they know it is wrong, even though they know the costs. What Adam started we seem unable, even unwilling to address. Sin in the midst of our own lives, sin dominating the lives of those we love. We feel powerless to confront it, to overcome it, to challenge it. It doesn’t matter whether it is envy or theft, infidelity or lust, gossip or direct attempts to hurt others physically, mentally, to get revenge.
We look at those who are ensnared by sin, whose lives have so long become accustomed to sin, that we have no idea how to rescue them, as we cry over lives that are so…wasted.
Have we given up the fight, and simply succumbed to the reign of death?
Road to recovery – God clothed them
The picture of Christ’s ministry
Even as Adam and Eve were departing the garden, the promise of another way is seen. God sacrifices an animal, taking it’s hide to cover Adam and Even’s sin and nakedness. Blood spilt, sin covered, protection for living outside of the garden. That sacrifice picturing the incredible work of Christ, that Paul would describe to to the church in Galatia.
25 But now that faith has come we are no longer under a slave looking after us; 26 for all of you are the children of God, through faith, in Christ Jesus, 27 since every one of you that has been baptised has been clothed in Christ. Galatians 3:25-27 (NJB)
My robe is symbolic of this – under it, I wear black, symbolic of the sin which so easily ensares us. And yet, marked as Christ’s in the water of baptism, we are cleansed and clothed in Christ’s righteousness.
That is why Christ went to the cross, why He set his face like stone towards Jerusalem. To take upon himself the stain of sin, the foulness of it, the shame and the guilt, and trade for it His righteousness. TO give us the free gift that shatters the reign of sin and death, replacing it with God’s reign of righteousness.
Verse 17, 17 For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.
Unlike the devastation caused by a 20 foot high wave of water, the devastation cause by sin, the pain, the hurt, the guilt and shame, can be done away with. No, more than that, we have already been set free from it. We live, in Christ.
A Blessing that tops the disaster….
A Different path then
We walk a journey this Lent, with Christ from the mount of transfiguration. The journey is one completed – but in this world where it seems that sin reigns, we have to realize that Christ shattered its power. We don’t have to fear it.
But we have to realize its power is broken over us. We have to realize we can address it, we can point each other to the forgiveness and assure each other that God will not change His promise.
I love Paul’s words again, in verse 18, So one act of righteousness leads to justification d life for all men..
And verse 19, “by one man’s disobedience, the many will be made righteous.”
That is what the cross provided, what Jesus knew He was doing as He journeyed to Jerusalem. It is what we have to grasp, what we have to hold onto, as we look around us. It is what we have to point others to, as they seek for something to cling to, as their world is shaken, and threatens to be swept away.
So let us journey with our Lord, let Him lead us, sustain us, as we look to the cross where His life was taken, that ours may abound… in His love.
AMEN?
1st Sunday of Lent, March 13, 2011
The Beginning: A Need for The Journey
Romans 5:12-19
† IN JESUS NAME †
By his determination, you belong to Jesus Christ. 7 Therefore to you, God's beloved children, called to be his holy people, Grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 1:5-7 (NJB)
A Disaster Whose toll cannot be measured..
It is a theory that in the worst of times, the strength of humanity can be seen the clearest. That even while we are still getting pictures of the destruction caused by the earthquake and tsunami; we are starting to hear of the heroic efforts, and see the response of individuals and nations. The waves of response cannot make up for the devastation, it cannot repair all that was broken, or restore the lives which were lost in the trauma.
Yet the strength of a global community is seen.
We have seen such strength pour out here as well, as we have seen families struggle, and others respond with incredible grace and mercy, with not just money, but with their time and with prayer. Talk to Bob or Al, and hear the stories of love outpoured at Christmas time. It Is amazing to see what a church can do, when its people see needs and respond.
In our Old Testament passage this morning, there is another disaster. It may seem small in comparison to bus crashes, civil wars and earthquakes. A man, his wife, a bite of a piece of fruit, such a seemingly small incident. Yet we today feel the aftershocks of that decision.
The trauma begun, as Adam’s teeth punctured the skin of that fruit, as he tasted and for the first time realized what evil was, is all too prevalent today. In doing so, he set humanity on a path where destruction is assured.
The Gospel reading tells of another man, who similarly was tempted. The outcome of that event also effects us today, as it leads to another road, the road we travel during Lent. Not a journey about our sacrifice of the things we love, but about His sacrifice for those He loves.
A journey towards the cross, and where the disobedient act of one man brought condemnation to the world, the righteous act of another man will provide healing and righteousness, holiness and life to a world that is drowning in sin.
The Reign of Death & Sin
Many died (or as good as died) in one action)
It is the ultimate plague, causing death and destruction wherever it is found. It doesn’t just poison life, it shatters it, as people are helpless to prevent it. Paul describes it with the phrase, “death reigned,“ a bone chilling phrase if ever I heard one. It describes a time where the law was not written on tablets of stone, yet the shattered lives that are evidence of sin were prevalent as death reigned.
I wonder why the world, and often the church, overlook not only the sin, but the devastation caused by it. We get accustomed to the broken families, the broken relationships, the despair, the resentment, the shame and the loneliness that sin can cause. So accustomed we give up hope of any other. After all, isn’t sin as unavoidable as death and taxes?
Too often it seems these days, I see the devastation, and I see people choosing that devastation, even though they know it is wrong, even though they know the costs. What Adam started we seem unable, even unwilling to address. Sin in the midst of our own lives, sin dominating the lives of those we love. We feel powerless to confront it, to overcome it, to challenge it. It doesn’t matter whether it is envy or theft, infidelity or lust, gossip or direct attempts to hurt others physically, mentally, to get revenge.
We look at those who are ensnared by sin, whose lives have so long become accustomed to sin, that we have no idea how to rescue them, as we cry over lives that are so…wasted.
Have we given up the fight, and simply succumbed to the reign of death?
Road to recovery – God clothed them
The picture of Christ’s ministry
Even as Adam and Eve were departing the garden, the promise of another way is seen. God sacrifices an animal, taking it’s hide to cover Adam and Even’s sin and nakedness. Blood spilt, sin covered, protection for living outside of the garden. That sacrifice picturing the incredible work of Christ, that Paul would describe to to the church in Galatia.
25 But now that faith has come we are no longer under a slave looking after us; 26 for all of you are the children of God, through faith, in Christ Jesus, 27 since every one of you that has been baptised has been clothed in Christ. Galatians 3:25-27 (NJB)
My robe is symbolic of this – under it, I wear black, symbolic of the sin which so easily ensares us. And yet, marked as Christ’s in the water of baptism, we are cleansed and clothed in Christ’s righteousness.
That is why Christ went to the cross, why He set his face like stone towards Jerusalem. To take upon himself the stain of sin, the foulness of it, the shame and the guilt, and trade for it His righteousness. TO give us the free gift that shatters the reign of sin and death, replacing it with God’s reign of righteousness.
Verse 17, 17 For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.
Unlike the devastation caused by a 20 foot high wave of water, the devastation cause by sin, the pain, the hurt, the guilt and shame, can be done away with. No, more than that, we have already been set free from it. We live, in Christ.
A Blessing that tops the disaster….
A Different path then
We walk a journey this Lent, with Christ from the mount of transfiguration. The journey is one completed – but in this world where it seems that sin reigns, we have to realize that Christ shattered its power. We don’t have to fear it.
But we have to realize its power is broken over us. We have to realize we can address it, we can point each other to the forgiveness and assure each other that God will not change His promise.
I love Paul’s words again, in verse 18, So one act of righteousness leads to justification d life for all men..
And verse 19, “by one man’s disobedience, the many will be made righteous.”
That is what the cross provided, what Jesus knew He was doing as He journeyed to Jerusalem. It is what we have to grasp, what we have to hold onto, as we look around us. It is what we have to point others to, as they seek for something to cling to, as their world is shaken, and threatens to be swept away.
So let us journey with our Lord, let Him lead us, sustain us, as we look to the cross where His life was taken, that ours may abound… in His love.
AMEN?
