Mark 10:25-45 Saints who Serve

Grace, Mercy, and Peace to you from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ,

            We begin our message this morning with a few words about the apostle James.  He was a member of Jesus’ inner circle, along with his brother John and Peter. He witnessed the Transfiguration personally and also the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law and the raising of Jairus’ daughter from the dead.  Jesus called him aside with the two others who were closest to him to pray with him in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night before he was crucified. James was the first of the twelve apostles to suffer a martyr’s death and the only one whose passing away is recorded in the New Testament.

            We know a few things about him other than this and if we look at the New Testament texts that mention him, we can learn a lot about what it means to be a Christian and a saint. James was a fisherman, an ordinary person. Jesus once called him and his brother the sons of thunder because they were impulsive, strong-headed, and full of zeal for the work Jesus gave them. Most people today admire different qualities – polish, smoothness of manner, a quick wit, and the ability to express yourself in public. Anyone who feels strongly about something is likely to be called a fanatic, but firmness of purpose and refusal to bend can be good traits, especially if God calls you to be a saint.

            Now, we should say a few words about what it means to be a saint. In everyday usage, a saint is someone who tries hard all the time and has a pile of good deeds to his or her credit. The Bible means something else when its writers use the word saint: someone who keeps faith with God no matter what. A person who trusts God’s word, who turns his or her cares over to the Lord, and who seeks and accepts God’s forgiveness is a saint. This frame of mind naturally leads to good works and a desire to please God. The disposition of the heart is what counts. Faith makes a saint and faith creates eagerness to live with God. With this way of looking at things, we can say that St. Peter’s people are saints. It’s a high calling, and when we think about each other, I hope we’ll remember that God looks on us as saints.   

            This may surprise us when we hear it, because we know how sinful we are. We fall way short when we measure ourselves against the Lord’s standards. And this is exactly the point. Paul wrote that we are saints and sinners at the same time. But we live in God’s grace and mercy, so the saint part predominates. We are more saints than we are sinners. If we are still doubtful, it helps to recall how we came by this calling, not as a result of our own works and deeds, but because of God’s holy and unchangeable declaration. He declares that we are saints. If we ever pass through a rough time and wonder what will become of us, we have the right to remember that because of our faith and for the sake of his Son, God has determined that we are saints. It’s like an invisible brand that each one of us carries after our baptisms. God claims us as his saints whom he loves.

            Now, God conferred the same high status on James that he bestows on us, and as we look at the few gospel passages that refer to James, we learn something about what happens as God’s saints live out their lives before him.  To begin with, God doesn’t want us to rest complacently in the gifts he has given us. He expects us to be spiritually active. He wants us to grow and mature. We see this in the case of James.

            There was the time just after the Transfiguration when a certain Samaritan village refused hospitality to Jesus and his disciples. James and his brother suggested that they call down fire to destroy the town just as Elijah had called down fire on a gathering of pagans. James didn’t consider that the situation was much different in Elijah’s day. He acted in a very human way. Some people focus on one thing and commit themselves to it completely. They wish to protect it, even to the point of punishing others when they don’t have the authority to do so. James felt that way about Jesus. His loyalty must have pleased the Lord, but his understanding needed to be refined. Jesus pointed out that he didn’t know the spirit that he was now made of. Christ’s disciples are agents of salvation, not destruction. The gospel had not yet been preached in the Samaritan village. The people there had not yet had the chance either to accept or reject the Lord. They were still ignorant, and the Lord wishes to cut off no one’s chance to learn. The Lord is patient and forbearing; he doesn’t act in haste. He wants everyone to hear the gospel and to discover that it’s full of grace and truth. This means that James – and all of Christ’s disciples – put up with numerous inconveniences out of love for God and our neighbors. We try to understand what other people are thinking and feeling and work to find God-pleasing words that will reach them. this isn’t always easy.  We sometimes must struggle to keep from lashing out or expressing our personal opinions in full about one thing or another. Sometimes we can be so devoted to what we know to be true that we give offense without meaning to. There are times, of course, when people need to be offended so that they will wake up. Again, what counts is what’s in our hearts. We don’t act so as to get our own back but to serve the Lord and to encourage our neighbors along the road to salvation. This is part of what it means to be a saint.

            Jesus makes a similar point in this morning’s gospel. James and his brother are concerned about the very human question of who will be first. Some people love the limelight and are most happy when their good deeds are recognized and they reach positions of special prominence.

            Jesus says that the way of the saint is the way of suffering. The world takes one path, God’s saints take another. Our age pays a lot of attention to celebrities. We watch them and because of what seems like their wonderful lives, many people imagine what it’s like to be in their places and live alongside them. An experienced observer once said that everyone besides rock stars and movie stars is deprived. Maybe so, maybe the rest of us have seeds of unfulfillment and frustration growing in our hearts so that we long to be in first place. The point is that saints work with earthly inequities and make something good out of them for themselves, their neighbors, and the Lord. The strong oppress the weak, but God, who is the strongest of all, lifts up the humble of heart. He sustains and supports. He doesn’t ignore the poor. He blesses the faithfulness of his saints as we give our testimony to a greater more, substantial reality than the earthly one. Questions of prestige and precedence can be interesting, but the affirmations of God are more substantial and trustworthy. The Bible teaches us that a lot of life on earth is full of vanity. Nothing on earth will endure forever. Many things are constantly changing. Our true home is with God, who created us, who ransomed us by his blood, and who never changes.  How valuable is the witness of God’s people in a world that loves to chase fleeting things. Living as a saint does sometimes call for putting up with inconvenience, especially when people reject the truth and mock the Lord. God’s people endure the bad side of life on earth and keep our minds fixed on Jesus – his mercy now and his promises of a better kingdom to come in heaven. We keep on going with joyfulness. Our neighbors need the steady light of faith that shines from us. Our lives as saints are much more valuable than we may suppose. 

            This brings us, then, to a third feature of our lives as saints that the Lord refers to – the importance of service. The other disciples were angry with James and his brother because they sought preference they weren’t entitled to. It’s always vexing, for example, if someone jumps ahead of us in a line that we’re patiently waiting in. One of the first things I learned when I came to Canada was that Canadians generally disapprove of line-jumping and this is a good thing. But competitive striving is a big part of the rat-race in the world we live in. someone wants to rush ahead; others are bound to get crushed. The situation is different in God’s kingdom, as Jesus said. He didn’t say it’s wrong to want to be first, but the way to achieve first place is by service. The one who serves rules.

            Jesus is the chief of servants. He set aside his divine status and took on humble human flesh. Then he gave up his earthly life to redeem the world from sin. Christians take the ideal of service from the Lord’s example.

            St. Peter’s people know a lot about being servants. The purpose of the gospel text for us is to encourage us in our callings. There is no shame in being a servant, God tells us. For Christians, service is the only way of life. How much better the world would be if everyone submerged their love for power and prestige and welcomed lives of service. Here again, God’s saints show the way. We know that the ups and downs of earthly life can’t injure our immortal souls, so we serve in joy, knowing that God is pleased and that our neighbors benefit. He calls us to look ahead confidently to a better day when we will receive a reward that we can now scarcely imagine. In the meantime, we have the reward of satisfaction that comes when we know that we have carried out our tasks as well as we can.

            Living as saints; isn’t easy. We sometimes have to struggle to subdue the desire to be in first place or to thirst for revenge. To accept the burdens of sacrifice and service calls for a depth of character that only God can give. Jesus walked the path ahead of us and shows us how it’s done. What’s more, he accepted death on the cross so that you and I might find comfort and peace and the encouragement to keep on. We bring our doubts to the cross and our feelings of failure and our rebelliousness. Jesus pardons and gives us the hope and strength to go on. He loves his saints and will not give up on us. He will carry us along every winding road to the great day of his return that is to come. In his name, we give thanks. AMEN.

Luke 4:1 - 23 Jesus Overcomes the Devil

Grace, Mercy, and Peace to you from God our Father and Christ Jesus, our Lord,

            God has put us in the middle of the world so that we’re exposed to opposites that can bring us inner conflict.  We know that life with Jesus is what we most need, while our secular environment encourages us to put worldly things in first place – possessions, money, status.  The TV and the papers, for example, always run ads that suggest that the pursuit of earthly well-being is the best activity we can take part in and the only thing that really counts.   We know that total concentration on material things is a sin against God, yet we ask how it’s possible to live with him in a materialistic climate.  A battle that we hardly ever talk about and never hear discussed in the news can rage in our hearts.

            Jesus fought a similar battle, though on a much bigger scale, and his victory over the devil means that we, too, can stick with God.  With Christ on our side, we ourselves may overcome the forces that tempt us to surrender our Christian values.  In fact, from the point of view of eternity, Jesus has already overcome them, and what we experience now is nothing more than the thrashings of the devil’s tale as he awaits his final defeat.  Jesus’ victory over the devil assures that we may walk along a satisfying, God-pleasing path, not undisturbed, but confident that righteous living won’t be taken away from us.  The devil may disrupt us, but he doesn’t prevent our walk with God.  He cannot bar the gates of heaven.

            Jesus puts in our hands the tools we need to defend ourselves against our spiritual enemy – faith in him, right worship, prayer, and the Bible.  We notice from this morning’s gospel that these are the same weapons our Lord used.  We are safe and sound when we adopt his ways and when we trust in his work on our behalf and lean on his promises and assurances.

            Let’s take an imaginary example.  A Christian has faith in his heart as he takes a new job and meets a woman he hopes to marry.  He attends church faithfully, says his prayers every day, and reads the Bible regularly.  His life is filled with blessings.  He copes successfully with routine and repetition; he has enough money to live on.  He trusts that Jesus will continue to provide for him and that the Savior is training him not to strive and struggle on his own but to receive all good things from heaven’s generous hand.  He learns by experience that the Heavenly Father will provide for him richly with family life, friends, leisure time, and intangibles like wisdom, hope, and love.  But then, as if God were testing him, rough days come and many of the good things God gave him slip from his grasp.  He worries and grows impatient.  He hears a voice saying to him: “If you really are a Christian, a faithful child of God, you can get out of your troubles by taking matters into your own hands.  Find shortcuts; forget the church; ignore the well-being of your family; you ought to think about money more than anything else.  Consider your earthly status.”

            This is the sort of thing the devil said to Jesus.  “You’re really and truly hungry.  Turn these stones into bread.”  Jesus could have done so if he’d wanted to, but then he would have obeyed the devil rather than his Heavenly Father, who is the source of all blessings.  He trusted the Father and the Father strengthened him.  He conquered Satan by, telling him that man doesn’t live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. 

            What a wonderful promise.  The deadening pursuit of material things doesn’t conquer us.  We dream dreams and think big thoughts.  We don’t give up our faith or hand our souls over to the devil.  We cling to Christ, not to our own abilities, and claim his victory as ours.  He strengthens us so that we don’t sacrifice the spiritual dimension to gain a temporary earthly advantage.  We fail at times, of course, but Jesus is on our side.  His loving promises break through the cruel taunts of the devil to assure us of heaven’s forgiveness.  His mercy never stops flowing.  He picks us up and we start over again.

            A few words now about the second temptation, wherein Satan showed Jesus the whole world in the flick of an eye.  He offered him every known kingdom in exchange for an act of worship.  The devil had had so much success tempting every other specimen of humanity, starting with Adam and Eve, that his pride blinded him to the divine strength of Christ, who knew whom to worship and whom to serve.  Jesus held up to him the words of Moses, a reminder of the first commandment, “Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.”  The devil had to step back and think again.

            Let’s return to our imaginary example.  The man weakened under the pressure of rough times.  He took risks; he gambled; he made shady real estate deals and got involved with a crime syndicate.  He made millions of dollars and lived a glamorous life for a while.  People were in awe of him; he saw no limit to his earthly good fortune.  Then everything came crashing down and he was in trouble with the law, worse off than when he began.  His family and old friends saw the hand of the devil in his rise and fall.  They knew Satan had deluded him into thinking that the whole world was his to conquer.  All he had to do was give his soul to the devil, who taught him how to take unacceptable risks and free himself from the restraints of God’s righteousness.  He surrendered to the devil, who brought him down to ruin.  Fortunately, God’s forgiveness and strengthening were available and in the troubled times that followed his collapse, the man returned to the paths of righteousness and faith.  He paid a high price for his follies, but he came to his senses and turned away from worship of material things.  Jesus welcomed him home, and the devil left him alone. 

            Satan tempts us to be discontented with modest situations.  We may imagine glamorous earthly existence, but we listen to the Bible’s teaching that glitter is fun for a time but in the long run it’s hollow and we can’t trust it.  We need a more stable, deeper way of life that God offers us through worship and prayer and by faith in Christ.  Perhaps you know these words of encouragement from Psalm 91: “You will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked.  Because you have made the Lord your refuge, no evils shall befall you, no scourge come near your tent.”  It isn’t Christian to gloat when others stumble and fall, because we’re made of the same flesh, yet we’re right to draw lessons from the calamities that befall the overambitious – that our lowliness is a great blessing from God.  He gives us good lives, with a measure of comfort but not enough to imperil our spiritual well-being.  He keeps our faith secure.  If we happen to find our thoughts chasing after power and glitter and total freedom, we remember the blessings we receive from Jesus’ wise and generous hand and return to him with repentant joy.

            Jesus’ conquest of the devil emboldens us to trust that life is much more than material things.  Without God, we’d probably think of the world as full of meaningless struggle and ourselves as complicated machines with brains and feelings.  The good Lord affirms that we are much more – his children, with immortal souls and bodies, saints through our faith in Christ, kept safe by God for his eternal purposes.  We’re made in his image, redeemed by Christ.  We don’t live by bread alone.  We find fulfillment in worship and service of our maker.

            We move on to the third temptation now.  None of us would ever jump off the roof of the church to test God’s promise that he’ll look out for us.  Nor do we expect him to provide us with a stretch limousine or a TV set the size of our living room wall.  If trouble strikes, though we might think he’s not taking care of our needs the way he promised.  We might say, like some of the Old Testament Hebrews, “Is the Lord among us or not?” 

            Some Israelites of Old Testament times distrusted God’s intentions and they gave up.  Instead of praying to him and waiting for him to help in his own way, they scolded him and challenged him and tempted him.  Instead of worship, they offered him the bitter fruit of angry hearts. 

            The devil thought he’d find the same weakness in Jesus.  Our Lord was hungry and under pressure, just at the point where frustration will drive human flesh to make foolhardy gestures.  Satan hoped he could push Jesus into doing something thoughtless.  How easy it is to act rashly, to strike out, to do something foolish that we later regret.  It’s easy to tempt God with a desperate kind of false trust.  But Jesus resisted, and in his resistance we gain the victory.

            Trust in God and his ways leads to a good life.  The devil, however, wants to steer us into false trust.  “Cross the road against the light,” he says to us.  “Go ahead.  You’ll be safe.  You’re a Christian.”  “Push yourself beyond the point of good sense,” he says.  “You’ll be all right.  God is watching out for you.”  We pay a price if we listen to arguments like that.  Fortunately, the Spirit of God teaches us what it really means to trust in Him.

            Jesus stood in our place and fought the enemy for us.  The author of Hebrews wrote: “We have not a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.  Let us...draw near to the throne of grace, that we may find mercy and grace to help in time of need.”

            We deal with temptation by holding firmly on to Jesus who defeated the devil in the desert.  Satan vanishes as we fly to the Lord in faith – asking him for strength and courage and the grace to trust that he and his angels battle alongside us with a power that’s much greater than Satan’s.

            So, to review.  The Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness at the start of his public ministry.  The devil tempted him in hopes of making it impossible for him to carry out his work.  The Lord turned the experience around.  He used it as a test to prove he was fully qualified to be the savior of mankind. 

            Similar situations occur in our own lives.  Satan tempts us to suppose that God won’t bless us, while the Lord uses these temptations as tests.  The Christian way to understand the materialism that works to draw us away from God like a magnet is that Jesus uses these temptations as tests he wants us to pass.  His power working on our behalf enables us to overcome the devil.  He comes to us with sturdy help – the strengthening power of his Word, the invitation to worship and prayer.  The same Word that helped the Lord in the wilderness helps us to overcome. Our part is to receive his gifts to us in faith.  AMEN.

The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge of Christ Jesus.  AMEN.