St. Luke Ev. Lutheran Church

Sermon by Pastor Anthony E. Schultz

Pentecost 2 June 10, 2007 Psalm 51:7-13

Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you.

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

One of my very favorite holidays is only 165 days away—November 22^nd. That Thursday in November we will have church that morning. And then it’s off to Auntie Kathleen’s where we will watch football. We will have lots of ice cold refreshment—in cans and coolers out in the garage off the kitchen. Help yourself. There will be dishes of candy and cashews—chips and the Lauber family onion dip. Then will come the turkey and stuffing, mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes—with melted marshmallows—green beans in mushroom soup with those crinkly onions on the top. There will be pumpkin pie and other baked sweets. Then more football or visiting—with laughing and tears in the living room. Then before you know it—it’s time to be heading home. Because tomorrow we are going to cut down our family Christmas trees by Beaver Dam. And that’s loaded with traditions, too. It was 50 days after Passover—Thanksgiving time in Israel. Not pilgrims and turkeys and cranberry sauce—but thanksgiving for the harvest that the LORD had provided in this Promised Land—this land flowing with milk and honey! Then—like today—people came home for Thanksgiving. Already 2,000 years ago—people knew that giving thanks to God was something we do as a family—the family of believers—and the family—the mother and father—the brother and sister in faith that the LORD has given us! Today God’s Word reminds us:

The Holy Spirit Gives Us A New Attitude!

1. Guilt crushes our bones

2. The Gospel fills us with joy!

The Psalm appointed to be read on the festival of Pentecost—is the second part of Psalm 51. Psalm 51 has a few words of introduction before the Psalm. It says, “For the director of music. A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.” How embarrassing is that? When the prophet Nathan came to talk to the King—after the King had committed adultery with Bathsheba—then had her husband Uriah the Hittite—murdered in battle—to try and cover up David’s sins. The example of King David ought to be a powerful warning to us—as we come to Church week after week. A warning that even the most faithful can fall into temptation and horrible hurtful sin. David—when he was just a young man—was fearless-slaying a lion and a bear—to protect his father’s lambs and sheep. David was fearless—putting to death the mighty warrior giant Goliath the Philistine—even when seasoned professional soldiers were afraid. David was the one who wrote, “The LORD is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul!” David was a man after the LORD’s own heart! And yet he fell into grievous sin! He committed actual physical adultery with another man’s wife. Then plotted again and again to cover up his sin—until finally he caused Uriah her husband to be killed in battle. For the better part of a year—David refused to admit his sin and mistake and the worst part of that? Nathan said, “Because by doing this you have made the enemies of the LORD show utter contempt, the son born to you will die.” 2 Samuel 12:14 How tragic is that?

The life of King David is a powerful example of the grace, mercy and compassion of our Heavenly Father. It is with child like confidence in his Father’s unconditional love that David prays, Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Cleanse me with hyssop—would have immediately been understood by Old Testament believers. Hyssop—where have you heard that word? The Gospel of John—the account of Jesus’ death—Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. John 19:28-30 Hyssop is a shrub. When Jesus was on the cross they put the sponge on a stalk—a sturdy branch from a shrub. Cleanse me with hyssop and I will be clean. What is the picture here? Exodus chapter 12—instructions for Passover. Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go at once and select the animals for your families and slaughter the Passover lamb. Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood on the top and on both sides of the doorframe… Exodus 12:21,22 Hyssop made a good paint brush—painting blood that saved their lives. Hyssop also was part of the graphic picture of washing away guilt and death that made you unclean before God. In Numbers it says, Then a man who is ceremonially clean is to take some hyssop, dip it in the water and sprinkle the tent and all the furnishings and the people who were there. He must also sprinkle anyone who has touched a human bone or a grave or some one who has been killed or someone who has died a natural death. The man who is clean is to sprinkle the unclean person… Numbers 19:18,19 If you had an infectious disease—you needed two birds—water and blood, cedar wood, scarlet yarn and hyssop. It was all very technical and complicated. It was one more reminder to God’s people—the wages of sin is death. Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. All that people could do—was still not enough to wash away all that made them unclean. Only the innocent blood of the ultimate Lamb of God—could take away the sin of the world! How free are we today—that we don’t need to follow all these complicated rules and ceremonies? We are free—because Jesus has made us forever free!

Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. Sins are a failure to hit the bull’s-eye! Sin is when—in spite of our best efforts—we miss the mark. Iniquity is a failure—a failure to measure up! I do that all the time! We sin all the time. Sometimes we know it—and sometime’s we are totally oblivious. When you are driving to Madison—and you are thinking about what you are going to do when you get there—and suddenly you realize you are going way over the 65 mph speed limit. You didn’t mean to—but you did! For all of our sins—Jesus bled and suffered and died!

Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you. I had a gift card for a bookstore—so I stopped at a huge bookstore in Madison the other day. There was a book prominently featured—it was kind of like Job—a frustrated man who demands answers from his heavenly Father. Although in the case of Job—God reminds Job God doesn’t owe us any explanation for anything he does. In this case—God says—do you really want to know? If you do—I’ll tell you. I thought to myself—hmmm! I wonder if it’s about Jesus or not? The book certainly was popular. It was 137 weeks—two and a half years on the NY Times Bestsellers List. But was it about Jesus or not? I opened it again and again and it just kept saying God. Hmmm! I started reading a paragraph in the middle. The writer was asking God lots and lots of questions. Like—life is complicated. How am I supposed to know and understand the shoulds and should-nots? Oh, says God—I don’t make rules. I am not responsible for ever telling people what they should or should not do. Really? Oh, says the god of this pulp fiction—I would never make up rules about right and wrong. That would take away from people the opportunity to make their own choices—and then to discover by experience what works for them and want doesn’t! That’s just plain flat out wrong! God’s Word says again and again what’s right and what’s wrong. There’s the whole Ten Commandments thing. There’s the whole—a new commandment I give you—love one another! There’s that painful grocery list of evil in the first chapter of Romans. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithfulness, heartless, ruthless. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them. Romans 1:29 God does say—point blank what is right and wrong—what is good and evil. And we are accountable for those sins. Jesus died on the cross to wash away those sins—so that we can live a new life—set free from guilt and regret and remorse. That as forgiven children of God—we can share the Gospel with people everywhere. When for better than two and a half years—people are searching for God in all the wrong places—we who know Jesus need to share him with the people all around us!

This weekend our nation observed Memorial Day. That’s when we remember those who served our nation in the past—and those who defend her today. I read about the Medal of Honor. Each citation begins with the words, “For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life—above and beyond the call of duty…” There was a man named Ted—a Corporal—Jewish—a survivor of a concentration camp—where his parents and his two sisters perished. Ted served in Korea—under a Sergeant—who kept giving Ted dangerous missions—in an effort to get him killed. What did Ted do? Ted was ordered to defend a hill—while the rest of his unit retreated. Ted defended that hill—all by himself—for 24 hours—inflicting on the enemy a staggering number of casualties—single handedly slowing the enemy advance so the 8^th Cavalry could retreat. Then Ted helped capture several hundred enemy soldiers. During the bloody fighting around the Pusan Perimeter—Ted manned a machine gun after three previous gunners were killed—until he ran out of ammunition. Ted was captured by the Chinese and put into a prisoner of war camp. Each night—Ted would sneak out of the camp—find food and medicine—and then sneak back in and feed his starving fellow soldiers and tend their wounds—and cheer them up! What a hero! And yet a sinful man like we are. Jesus gave up his life—to rescue prisoners of war to sin and death. Jesus died and rose again so that our faith is nourished by the Gospel. By Jesus’ wounds we are forever healed. This Memorial Day weekend—more than sleeping late mowing our lawns and grilling out—pray for our nation. Pray that Jesus would grant us a just and lasting peace from the murderous attack of cowardly fanatics. Pray that Jesus would give us the forever peace of heaven—where we will be safe in Jesus’ forgiving nail marked hands. Amen!

To God alone all glory!

Rev. Anthony E. Schultz