St. Luke Ev. Lutheran Church

Sermon by Pastor Anthony E. Schultz

Ash Wednesday, February 21, 2007 Luke 18:31-34

Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. He will be handed over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him, spit on him, flog him and kill him. On the third day he will rise again.” The disciples did not understand any of this. Its meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what he was talking about.

People of God—rescued from the flaming lake of fire in hell by the innocent blood of the very Lamb of God:

His name was Vincenzo but everyone called him Vinnie. Vinnie lived in Hampton Bays, New York. Vinnie was 70 years old. Vinnie was sitting home alone—on his couch watching TV—sort of. Actually Vinnie was listening to his TV. You see he had diabetes and had lost his sight about 20 years ago. Vinnie was listening to his TV when he died—about a year ago. You see—Vinnie died—but nobody knew it—for about a year! Vinnie died—and none of the 12,200 people who lived in his community knew it. Vinnie’s wife died years ago—and since then—he lived alone—in his house—set back in the woods—pretty far back from the road. They say he has family somewhere—nearby—but he was estranged from them. What does that mean—estranged from them? I think it means—somebody did something—or said something—that made somebody hurt or even angry. And they said—you know what? I don’t forgive you. I don’t want anything to do with you—from now on. As far as I’m concerned—you are no longer my family—my friend—my concern—my responsibility! From now on—as far as I’m concerned—you don’t exist. I’m not going to visit you or talk to you or even think about you. You are out of my heart and mind and life! And they said—fine! You want it that way? That’s fine with me! And that was that! Vinnie was alone—painfully alone. This Ash Wednesday—we are going to think about the most alone anyone was ever alone. We will see Jesus all alone on the cross. This Lenten Season we have as the overall theme:

Behold the Hidden Glory of the Cross! Today--

It Is Hidden in the Savior’s Solitude

1. It is our greatest sorrow that we cannot help him.

II. It is our greatest joy that we don’t need to help him.

Just three days ago—Transfiguration Sunday—we saw Jesus shine with a brightness and a glory that was a moment in Heavenly joy! That was Luke chapter 9. Today we are at Luke chapter 18! There is lots and lots of precious powerful information—food for our faith—in those chapters from transfiguration to chapter 18. There are very stern warnings! Jesus said, “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’ “But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’” Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’ “But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!’” “There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth…” Luke 13:24f One Sabbath Jesus went to eat at the home of a prominent Pharisee. They were watching—to try and catch him in a mistake! A man came by Jesus who was sick—with dropsy. Do you know what that is—dropsy? You could have dropsy! It’s when your body holds water—or fluid. You know—when your ankles swell—your hands swell—your face—your whole body swells. The disease is not the fluid—the fluid is a symptom—a sign and signal that something is very seriously wrong deep inside. Is it ok to heal someone on the Sabbath Day—Jesus asked? They didn’t say a word. So Jesus took hold of the man and healed him and sent him away. Then he asked them, “If one of you has a son or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull him out? And they had nothing to say. Jesus encouraged them to show love for their Heavenly Father—by showing love for their neighbor. When you are invited to a wedding feast—don’t be so puffed up as to take the best seat. Take the least important place. Then the host can say to you—move up to a better place. When you give a dinner—Jesus said—don’t invite influential friends and relatives who can return the favor. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed—by your Heavenly Father! Jesus told the parable of the great banquet—where they went out to the highways and the byways—and invited the people to come in, so Jesus’ house will be filled. Jesus talked about the counting the cost of being his student, follower and imitator. Jesus told the parable of the lost sheep—the lost coin. The parable of the prodigal—the wasteful run away son. Remember—when that son came home—when he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son threw his arms around him and kissed him…and said to his servant, “Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is a live again; he was lost and is found.” Jesus healed the ten lepers—and only one came back to thank him—and that man was a Samaritan. Jesus told the parable of the persistent widow who prayed and prayed until the judge that neither feared God nor people gave her want she wanted. Pray—pray without ceasing! Jesus told the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. People were bringing babies to Jesus to have him touch them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” Remember the Rich Ruler who came by Jesus—who thought he had kept all the commandments since he was little? Jesus told him to go and sell every thing and give the money to the poor. When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth. Would you sell all your things and stuff—and give it away—to follow Jesus? Would you?

It was then—that Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. He will be handed over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him, spit on him, flog him and kill him.” Everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled… You know what the prophet wrote! Isaiah wrote, “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities, the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray; each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.” Isaiah 53:5-7 The promises the LORD made 650 years before the fact—found perfect fulfillment in the Son of Man—the Carpenter from Nazareth who would suffer to save us!

I read the other day about a Jewish girl named Raizel. Raizel was told to report to the Nazis—to work at a slave labor camp. Raizel’s little sister Sala—the youngest of 11 children thought she was stronger and tougher than her big sister. So she went to the slave labor camp—the concentration camp in her place. Somebody had to show up—so she did! Sala spent time in no less than 7 different concentration camps—working very hard—and working hard at staying alive—in her sister’s place! Can you imagine that? The painful days of slave labor—the horrible food—barely enough to keep you from starving—the horrible living conditions—the terrible places to sleep—the sickness and disease and daily danger. Would you do that? Could you do that for someone else? For your sister—that you loved so much? Imagine all that the innocent Son of God endured—to save you! Jesus took my place and yours. He suffered the punishment we deserved. He paid the debt we owed. He suffered and died all alone on the cross—so that we might spend forever with Him in Heaven!

“We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. He will be handed over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him, spit on him, flog him and kill him.” See the price Jesus paid to rescue us from our guilt! They rescued three climbers and a puppy the other day from Mt. Hood. Do you know what that costs? They say the search helicopter costs about $2,000 per hour—to look for lost people. They say the trained search and rescue people that go up the mountain after people who are lost—hurt—and in danger of freezing to death—costs about $6,000 per hour! That’s about $50,000 for an 8 hour day! We might be willing to pay any price—if it meant the difference between saving someone we love—from falling asleep in the cold of a snow cave—and freezing to death! We would pay any amount of money—if it meant saving our brother, our sister, our child! Jesus paid the ultimate price! Not gold or silver—but his holy precious blood and his innocent suffering and death—that we might be his own and live under him in his kingdom and serve him in everlasting righteousness, innocence and blessedness—even as he is risen from the dead and lives and reigns eternally. This is most certainly true!

They will mock him, insult him, spit on him… Do you know what it feels like to be mocked and insulted? It’s kind of like being bullied—isn’t it? They say bullying happens all the time. Like in the halls—when teachers are getting ready to teach the next subject. Bullying is like punching people in the shoulder—really hard—or shoving them—pushing them from behind—really hard—so maybe they spill all their books and papers. It’s really easy—if the person you are picking on—is somebody who isn’t going to push back! It’s bullying when you spread bad rumors about somebody—whispering to people that there’s something less than perfect about somebody. Maybe it’s a lie. Maybe it’s true—that they are less than perfect. The fact is—no one is perfect. You can mock and insult people by keeping them out of your group. You can’t be with us. You can’t play with us. You can’t be in our group. Sometimes mocking and insulting is very simply that—mocking and insulting them. Telling them very loudly and clearing—in front of every one—that they are too anything! Too tall, too short, too big, too small, too old, too young—too smart, too slow, too anything! It’s bullying—when you get a whole bunch of people to gang up on somebody. Then you can all mock them and insult them and make them feel worthless and useless and unloved! They say this goes on—all the time! It’s a sin. It’s painful and hurtful and wrong. It’s tempting—if you are a person in charge—to simply say—“Hey! Toughen up! It’s a cold cruel world out there. Get used to it!” It’s tempting to say that—except that’s not what Jesus would do. It’s tempting to say—hit back! Stick up for yourself! Clock them once—real good—and they will what? Leave you alone—and pick on somebody else—someone even more vulnerable than you are? It’s tempting—if you see somebody being picked on—to pretend it’s none of your business—because if you stick up for the person being picked on—maybe they will start picking on me! So better to keep your nose out of it! That’s tempting, too! Except that’s wrong. Imagine if Jesus would have said—I’m not gonna let people pick on me! If you are a bully! If you are a person who pushes little people around. If you are a person big enough and strong enough and smart enough and sneaky enough and cold enough and hard enough—to pick on little people knock it off! Stop it! Not just because the person you are picking on might utterly despair and self-destruct—after writing a note saying the reason for their despair and self-destruction is you. Stop it! Not just because the person you are picking on—might become so completely frustrated—they come down like a load of bricks on you—with such murderous violence—that you are destroyed. Stop bullying little people—because it’s a sin! It’s a sin that is painful and hurtful and wrong. You will stop bullying—when you see how Jesus was mocked and insulted and ridiculed and spit on—to take that sin away!

On the third day he will rise again! They found my friend Vinnie all alone. Didn’t any one care? Oh, they said one of his neighbors used to help him. She would help him pay his bills and get his groceries. But—she said—the more she helped—the more he made demands on her time. And when she couldn’t do everything he wanted—they had a falling out! What does that mean—a falling out? Again—an argument—and people said, “Fine!”—when it was anything but fine. And that was that. How sad to be so alone. But that loneliness is nothing—absolutely nothing—compared to the aloneness that Jesus experienced when he died on the cross to redeem—to buy us back. Jesus suffered that aloneness on purpose—because he loved us so much! Jesus died and Jesus rose from the dead. Lent is all about Good Friday and Easter. We celebrate Good Friday—because Easter means we are rescued. We are saved for Jesus’ sake. Amen!

To God alone all glory!

Rev. Anthony E. Schultz