SERMON 491
LENT V, APRIL 1, 2, 2006
JEREMIAH 31:31-34. PSALM 51, HEBREWS 5:5-10, JOHN
12:20-33
LISTENING TO THE VOICE
Beloved in the Lord, grace
and peace be unto you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ, and from the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life.
In our Gospel lesson for the
day, from John, we hear about a voice that spoke from heaven. Indeed as we
follow our Lord Jesus through his ministry we hear that same voice from heaven
speak at least three times; when Jesus was baptized, when he was transfigured
on the mountain, and now in the days shortly before his crucifixion. Jesus
listened to that voice very attentively. It told him who he was and what he
been sent to do. It told him that he was the beloved Son of the Father. It told
him that he was to learn obedience through what he suffered. It told him that
he would suffer and die for the sins of the world, being the high priest after
the order of Melchizedek. It told him that in so doing he would glorify the
Father in heaven. Jesus listened attentively to that voice. Jesus also told us
that that voice was also sent for our benefit and that we ourselves would do
well to listen to that voice.
So this for this meditation
we shall attempt to listen to that voice. Our theme will be LISTENING TO THE
VOICE.
A TV news crew was on
assignment in southern
In one scene, amid the
devastation and debris, stood one house on its foundation. The owner was
cleaning up the yard when a reporter approached him. “Sir, why is your house
the only one still standing?” asked the reporter. “How did you manage to escape
the severe damage of the hurricane?”
“I built this house myself,”
the man replied. “I also built it according to the
The moral of the above story
is clear. When the sun is shining and the skies are blue, building our lives on
something other than what the voice in God’s Word has told us can be very
tempting. But there is only one way to be ready for any storm, listening to and
following the instructions of the voice.
LISTENING TO THE VOICE! Jesus
was told several things. He was told of his origins and he was told of his
appointment. Both his origins and his appointment were quite extraordinary. He
was the only begotten son of the Father. He was with the Father before the
world began and indeed was active as the Word in bringing forth the creation.
But now he had become a human being. And it was as a human being that he was
now in line for an appointment. He was to be appointed as a priest forever
after the order of Melchizedek, a priest in the Old Testament without origins
and without ending. Such was to be the appointment of Jesus.
He was to be the only High
Priest, and he was as High Priest to become the source of salvation for all who
believe in him and obey him.
The voice had indeed told him
some extraordinary things. But there was a catch. Every high appointment brings
with it a high level of commitment to the noble cause whatever that may be. There
was to be no exception here. He could not walk around in splendor, seeking the
praise of men and angels. No, his appointment as high priest required of him
the highest level of obedience possible. He had to live in complete submission
to the Father’s will. He would have to learn obedience through what he
suffered. He would have to bear the scorn and ridicule of the evil one and of
the humanity he had come to redeem and to save.
And we most certainly did see
Jesus walk through that lonesome valley in complete submission to the Father’s
will, in complete obedience to the voice from on high.
Jesus weathered the hurricane
that overwhelmed him. He built his life on the word and the code of obedience
that was given him. After the storm was over he rose from the dead with a new
and incorruptible body, the first fruits of all those who will on the latter
day be raised from the dead with bodies like his immortal and incorruptible
body.
Jesus did not glorify
himself. He lived in complete obedience to the Fathers’ will and voice and has
now been glorified and given all authority in heaven and on earth, in the whole
created and uncreated order.
LISTENING TO THE VOICE! The
voice from Jeremiah is quite clear. God was about to, and has now formed a new
covenant with the human race. God has forgiven in Christ Jesus, the iniquity of
the whole world. He has remade us to be the people of God.
The Lord God has given us a
new life, a new and eternal life. The Lord God has put more than his law in our
hearts. God himself, in the person of the Spirit, has come to dwell within us.
Indeed, we have come to know the living God.
Many will say, “I know not
God. I see not God. God is surely then only a figment of your imagination.” We
answer, “We too have not seen God, but not seeing God does not mean that we do
not know God. We believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and through him we have come
to know God in all his splendor and mercy and grace. The very Spirit of God,
the Holy Spirit, has led us to faith in Christ, and in knowing and believing in
Christ we have come to know God.”
Jeremiah predicted centuries
ago, “No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, ‘Know the
Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.” His
prophecy has come to pass. We know the Lord, from the youngest to the oldest
among us. We have seen his mighty acts, when he died and forgave us all our
sins, and when he was raised from the dead, and when he sent us his Spirit. We
do know the Lord. We do walk with him daily. We talk with him. We ask him for
the things we need. He continues to forgive us our iniquity, he heals our
diseases, he empowers us for living, he gives us joy in believing, he has
placed in our hearts and minds an unshakeable hope for the future. We know that
we are precious in his sight. We know that he loves us with an everlasting
love. We do know the Lord.
Jesus knew the Lord, for he
was with him from the beginning and came among us as God’s beloved son. God
told him that he was well pleased with him. We know that same Lord too, for we
were in the mind of God even before the foundations of the world, that we
should be the children of God, the very people of God.
LISTENING TO THE VOICE! As we
mentioned before, Jesus was also, in his earthly journey, given some incredible
appointments. He was appointed High Priest forever and the author of our
salvation, and has now been given all authority in heaven and on earth.
We have also been given some
incredible appointments. We have even been called to be a royal priesthood
following in the footsteps of our great high priest. We have been called to be
a holy nation, God’s very own people. We have been called a chosen race. We are
a part of what is known as the body of Christ. We who were once no people have
been called to proclaim to the world the mighty acts God in Christ Jesus.
But there is a catch. As we
have said, for every noble calling there is a high level of commitment
required. Jesus was called to a high level of obedience. So also have we been
called. And as Jesus listened attentively to that voice from above in his
earthly walk, so also must we.
LISTENING TO THE VOICE! So
what does the voice tell us from our lessons for the day? We hear first the
call to repentance. “Against you only have I sinned and done what is evil in
your sight…. Purge me from my sin,
and I shall be pure; wash me,
and I shall be clean indeed.”
The voice tells us that we
are sinners indeed and that our sins have been committed, not only against our
neighbor but primarily against God. I have had the privilege of hearing three
private confessions lately, all from parish pastors. That is certainly a good
signal.
The voice tells us that we
have been forgiven and that the washing from God makes us clean indeed. The
voice tells us to find joy in that saving help from God and to seek ever a
right spirit from the living spirit that dwells within us. We are to forever treasure
God’s promises in our hearts.
The voice tells us from the
second Psalm for the day to cleanse our way. In this season of lent and in
every season we are to heed the admonition of Scripture to abstain, abstain,
abstain! As the Apostles have warned us, the desires of the flesh are ever
warring against our souls. We are to curb the desires of the flesh by giving
ourselves over to the service of others.
The voice tells us that we
never to cease meditating, not on the desires of the flesh, but on the
commandments and the ways of God in our midst.
The voice tells us that it is
in dying that a grain of wheat bears much fruit. It is in dying to ourselves
and our own desires and wishes that we are reborn again to eternal life, and
that we are reborn to bear fruit in the lives of others.
The voice tells us that Jesus
died and was raised up to draw all people to himself. That same voice has told
us and will tell us over and over again that God wants our lives and our voices
to so proclaim that message of Christ that our own families and neighbors and
are drawn to the living Christ.
We are told in the Gospel
lesson that some Greeks came to Phillip and told him, “Sir, we wish to see
Jesus.” Jesus himself has told us that we can see Jesus in the faces of the
hungry, the sick, the imprisoned, as we minister to their needs. Jesus has also
told us that others can see Jesus in our speaking and our living if we walk in
love and obedience to him.
We cannot begin to imagine
just how many people there are in this world whose lives have been wrecked by
one hurricane after another, and who in their hearts would like to see Jesus.
Let us learn and relearn to
listen to the voice from heaven, for in so doing, not only we, but many others,
will see Jesus! AMEN!