Living Word Lutheran Church - Blog

Text: John 2:13-22
¹³ When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ¹⁴ In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. ¹⁵ So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. ¹⁶ To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market!”

¹⁷ His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

¹⁸ Then the Jews demanded of him, “What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?”

¹⁹ Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”

²⁰ The Jews replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” ²¹ But the temple he had spoken of was his body. ²² After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.

Jesus Is in Charge Here
I. He is our focus
II. He is our Hope

Dear fellow redeemed in Christ,

Introduction: “Who’s in charge here?” That’s a question that we might ask at the customer service desk at Wal-Mart or another department store. We want to know who really makes the rules and who can really help us. That’s why, when we have a question, we often ask if we can please speak with a manager.

In our text today, we see that Jesus is in charge here. He is our Hope in life. And so He is our focus in worship throughout life, but especially when we gather here at the Lord’s house.

I. [He is our focus.] The first thing we see in our text is Jesus going up to Jerusalem for the Passover festival. This was at the start of His three-year ministry. The other gospels record an incident that is similar to this one, but that was merely a similar event that occurred at the end of His ministry.

Every year, every Jew was to go to Jerusalem for this festival, if at all possible. We know that Jesus attended at age 12, but He probably went every year. This was the Jews’ worship of their Lord. As Christians, we don’t celebrate the Passover Festival in the same way that the Jews do. But we still gather together every week to thank and worship the Lord.

And what does Jesus find at the Temple? Moneychangers and sellers of animals. Now the moneychangers are there because everyone had to pay an annual Temple tax, and the only acceptable currency was the Jewish half-shekel. People were coming to the Temple this week from all over the Roman Empire, and so they would be bringing all sorts of different currency. So these moneychangers served a good purpose; people needed their money changed.

However… if you’ve travelled abroad and exchanged money, you know there is an exchange rate. That’s how moneychangers earn their wage is by charging a little something extra. This means that in the Lord’s house, men were doing their own business. Their focus was not on praising the Lord, but on haggling. They were more focused on striking a good deal.

And along with them were the sellers of sacrifice animals. That’s why cattle, sheep, and doves were being sold. It was not possible for all the people to drag their animals all the way to Jerusalem for Passover. And if they did drag it all the way from, say, Nazareth, the animal would not be a very high quality sacrifice by the time he got there. So many would purchase their animals here. Again, it was a service that was needed. But again, it was man’s business conducted in the Lord’s house. They could have done it outside the Temple, but instead they did it here, in the outer court… which, by the way, was the only place the Gentiles could come and pray. And now these Gentiles had to deal with moneychangers and the filthy animal market.

You might be thinking, “How does this scene from the Jewish Temple 2000 years ago apply to me?” Well I’ll tell you. The Temple was the place where people came to worship God, right? In many ways, it’s similar to one of our church buildings. It was a good thing for the Jews to come to the Temple to worship and it’s good for us to come to church to worship.

But we see, with the moneychangers and market salesmen, that their focus was not where it should be. And for us, that’s sometimes the case too, isn’t it? We don’t have any exchange booths or animal stalls out in the entryway. We come here and sit in the pews like we’re supposed to. But even as we “do the right things,” is our focus in the right place? Or are we sometimes more focused on the people we’ll see at church than on the Lord Himself? And are we focused on the Word, or do we get distracted and start thinking about my “to do” list for the rest of the day? And not only are we distracted ourselves, but are we sometimes distracting others? This is God’s House; Jesus rules here. But we don’t always act like it.

And I’m not just preaching to you. There is an important lesson here for Pastor Smith and myself as well. Please don’t let us deviate from the purpose of this church, which is to proclaim Christ crucified.[1] Please let us know if we are doing anything that is distracting or taking away from your opportunity to hear the sweet Gospel message. The lesson here is definitely for us as well.

The opportunity to hear God’s Word and praise Him for His love and mercy is an incredible blessing! And so we want to focus on Him when we’re here. I want to point out just one tool that most people don’t know about that can help us focus for the whole morning. Take out your hymnals and turn to page (10/40). There we have prayers for worship, for before and after the service. They’re there so we can use them. To help us focus on the Lord for this beautiful morning we get to spend with Him in His House.

But let’s go back to our account. Jesus is at His Father’s house here, and He is doing His Father’s business. He drives out the animals with a whip, overturns the tables, and scatters the money. He made quite a scene. And yet it wasn’t just an angry rant. The gospel writer John here points out Psalm 69:9. “Zeal for His Father’s house” is what consumed Jesus. As Martin Luther says, this is not hatred or just a fit of rage. This is Jesus showing His love for His Father and for His Father’s House. It’s the same love and zeal we should have for our Father’s House, and our time worshipping Him. He wants full and sincere worship… not just half-hearted worship, not just going through the motions. He wants to be our focus.

Transition: Because He, Jesus, is in charge here. And He’s not some sort of dictator who has just seized power in the church and demands our respect.  All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Jesus because He showed us the ultimate love. He gave us the ultimate sacrifice. That’s what we focus on here in the season of Lent. He conquered sin and the devil with His death on the cross. And then three days later He conquered death by His resurrection. And that’s what the second half of our text points forward to.

II. [He is our Hope.] The Jewish leaders ask for a sign to prove the authority by which Christ has done these things. We notice that they don’t actually object to what He has done, and that makes sense. This whole “market circus” was actually quite unpopular among the people. So they just ask for a sign of His authority. And in many ways, that’s a reasonable question, right? If you or I are going to submit to someone, we want to know what authority that person has, too.

Well Jesus gives them a response, and we couldn’t ask for more. He says, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” At first glance, that doesn’t make very much sense, does it? It certainly didn’t make much sense to the Jews there. They scoffed at Him. They said it had taken 46 years to build that Temple. And the truth of the matter was that the Temple wasn’t even completed yet at this point. The construction had started 46 years earlier. That doesn’t mean they were barely started. That means that the Temple was an extremely large, magnificent building project. The Jews were baffled and John tells us that even Jesus’ disciples were baffled at this time.

But then John also tells us what Jesus actually meant. He wasn’t talking about the physical building they were standing in. He was speaking of the temple of His Body. He was pointing ahead to His sacrifice… the true fulfillment of the Passover that the nation was celebrating. As Jesus prophesies here, His body was “destroyed” and “broken apart,” two years after this. That’s what we remember in the season of Lent. And as He was being destroyed and broken apart, He was being the sacrifice for our sins. He was dying for all the times that we have been distracted or been distracting while in church. All the times our focus was in the wrong place. And as the perfect sacrifice, He was breaking apart and destroying Satan’s kingdom.

Three days after that sacrifice, the Temple which was His body was indeed raised up again in victory. And this is the reason for His authority in the church, both on that day 2000 years ago, and today! He conquered sin, death, and the devil. And He proved it by doing what no other person in the history of this earth has been able to do. He actually rose from the dead.

And because He did rise and conquer death, we know that we no longer have to fear it. Death is merely the gate to eternity for us. Here in this life, we sing praises to the Lord and to those around us, for the Victory He won for us. And when this life reaches its end, we know that we go someplace better. We go to God’s House in heaven! We go to the mansions Christ has secured for us there. What a beautiful Hope we have! And what a great reason to keep our eyes on Him, and Him alone, when we have the chance to gather in His House.

Conclusion: So who’s in charge here at church? It’s Jesus. He rules our worship here. And who’s in charge of us at home? It’s Jesus. And it’s not some sort of slavery or even obligation. Christ has shown His loving authority by conquering our demons, dying for our sins, and defeating death by His resurrection. We want and need Him to be in charge because He’s the only Hope for our lives. May the Holy Spirit help us to focus on Him… in all of our lives, but especially here at His House. Amen.

Text:  Romans 8:31-39

³¹ What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³² He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? ³³ Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. ³⁴ Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. ³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ³⁶ As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

In all these things, we are supremely victorious…

I am writing this sermon at my father’s bedside in room 22 at Petaluma Valley Hospital.  It’s Friday. Karen was just here all night.  She is very tired.  I don’t expect us to be here with dad much longer.  Let me explain why.  My father lies before me barely breathing. His last breath seems right around the corner.

My dad is dying before my eyes.  Yet here come these words that seem anything but true at a time like this: Probably crazy to many in this world.  In all these things, we are supremely victorious…

But this is exactly the kind of time when we need such words. When everything might seem lost, sad and hopeless.  This is the time when we need our Lord to come and lift our sunken spirits with his Word.

Otherwise, we could end up believing what was painted on a wall by an American soldier in Afghanistan.  His year in that boiling pot of fear, death and suffering  drove this soldier to write in his bitterness:.  God hates us all forever.

The devil wants us to believe that.  He wants to get us alone, isolate us from our brothers and sisters in Christ, and drive us to despair.  He wants to convince you that there is no way God could love you.  There is no way God could care for you.  There is no hope. Just look at your life.

This Word is like a Kevlar vest to guard our hearts when life gets tough.  It’s like a warm shower for our souls when we’ve been shivering in life’s coldness.  And that is this:

In Christ, God is for us.
I.  Look what he gave up for you
II.  Look what he says about you
III.  Look what he has attached to you

³¹ What, then, shall we say in response to this?  What Paul writes to us here harks back to what he just said.  A few weeks ago the vicar preached on these wonderful truths.  That from eternity God chose to make you the object of his love.  In your life, he acted on that choice by calling you to faith in Jesus. And someday he will bring you to the blessed goal, the hope he has promised us in Christ.

³¹ What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³² He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all… You  learn a lot about a relationship by what someone is willing to give up for another.  If our moms or dads were any kind of parents they gave up a lot for us.  Their sacrifice said a lot about their love for you.

This morning we heard about Abraham and Isaac.  We met a father who loved his son, his only son.  Abraham also knew that God had promised that through this son would come a Savior for all nations and yes his Savior.  But now God asked him to give up his son, to sacrifice him.  We learn a lot about Abraham’s heart for the Lord when we see him make his way to Mt Moriah, gather the wood and raise his hand.

But what God did not permit Abraham to do, God did for you and me and all people.  Think about it. Last week we heard God the Father say on that Mount of Transfiguration.  This is my Son, whom I love. But follow Jesus and where does he go?  To a cross where the Father would give him up to suffer and die.  Why?  You know.  For our sin.  For our lack of love.  For the many times we have baptized our lives with guilt.  Yet who dies.  Who suffers?  Yes in Christ, God is for us.  Look what he gave up for you!

So when you find yourself in one of life’s pits and can’t seem to see over the top, answer Paul’s question:  how will he not also, along with [Christ], graciously give us all things? In other words,  look up dear Christian. Look up to Jesus’ cross. Look what he gave up for you.   If God was willing to do even that for you, if his grace is that rich,  do you think he’s going to hold back anything you really need?

Now Paul has us think of a courtroom.  What do you usually find there?  There is an accuser.  There  the one accused.  And there is someone who then decides guilt or innocence.

God’s word tells us:  it is appointed for a man once to die and then to face the judgment. So a courtroom awaits us. A verdict too.  And our Maker is the judge.  That prospect can frighten us.  But this Word assures us.  In Christ, God is for us.  Look what he says about you.

In God’s court, it would be very easy for someone to bring charges against us.  Think of what we owe to God and think of what we give him.

This past week as I’ve sat with my I dad, I couldn’t help but think.  Sooner or later I too am going to die. I too am going to stand before a God who knows all.  More than once my conscience pointed its accusing finger my way.  To things in my life of which I am ashamed.  To the grief I gave my Mom and Dad and thus to God,  the sins of my youth.  And the sins that leap up in my heart now just when I think I’m doing good.   Yes, in God’s court, it would be very easy for someone to bring charges against me – and you.

But listen again to these words:  ³³ Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. ³⁴ Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.  We have a conscience that shakes its finger in our face and accuses us of guilt. The devil accuses us before God.   But when all is said and done whose voice will be heard?  Whose voice will count?  God’s.  And what do we know?  In Christ, God is for us.  Look what he says about you! He has justified you.  He has declared you and me innocent.

How?  Why?  We know we are not innocent.  Far from it.  But Jesus was in every way.  He gave that life for you and paid the price you owed.  And then he was raised to assure you, it is finished.  It’s a done deal.  You are forgiven.

And here Paul puts this icing on the cake.   There is someone else in that courtroom by your side.  Jesus, your brother and God’s Son.  And what is he doing?  With all authority in heaven and earth, he speaks for you.  What a friend you have in Jesus.

Yet we know how things can seem.  There is a pastor in Iran under a death sentence.  This husband and father can be put to death at any time and for what?  For being born to a Muslim family and then believing in Christ.  How might that seem?

How might it seem to us when life takes a turn that hurts.  It might seem that God has cut you loose.  It might seem he couldn’t care less.  It sure could have seemed that way to Paul.  If anyone knew tough times, it was he.  He knew shipwreck and being without food.  He suffered beatings and jail time and finally death for preaching the gospel of Jesus.  If anyone had reason to feel abandoned by God it was the man who penned these words..  But here again he helps us to say:  In Christ, God is for us.  Look what God has attached to you.

You’ve seen it.  Meant to be a joke.  Sometimes a poor one.  There’s a sign attached to the back of someone’s shirt. Well God has attached something to you. It’s no joke. It’s a priceless treasure.  He attached it to you at your baptism when your sins were washed away.  His love.

But then those things come that can make us wonder.  The cancer, the broken heart, the depression. I don’t see anything that resembles God’s love there.  So we assume it’s gone.  But it’s not.  It’s not.  But don’t take my word for it, take God’s. It convinced Paul.  ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

So here I sit in at my father’s bedside.  His time seems very near and I know my grief is not far behind.  Here is the man who with my mother helped me learn how to walk.  Thanks dad for that and so much more.

Well we need to learn how to walk as God’s people.  To walk by faith in God’s Word and not by what we see and feel.  I still am learning that.  How about you?  Let’s learn together.  To walk on knowing that in all these things, we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For in Christ, God is for us.  Amen.

Text: Mark 9:2-9
After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. ³ His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. ⁴ And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus.

⁵ Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” ⁶ (He did not know what to say, they were so frightened.)

⁷ Then a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!”

⁸ Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus.

⁹ As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

We Get a Glimpse of Jesus’ Glory
I.  His divine nature is revealed (vv. 2-3)
II.  He’s the Savior we’ve needed (vv. 4-9)

Dear fellow redeemed in Christ,

A couple weeks ago I told you about my classmate Paul and his wife Ruth who was diagnosed with stomach cancer in the 28^th week of her pregnancy. Because their son John was born so prematurely, he was quickly taken from them and brought to the neonatal intensive care unit. They knew they would see him again, and that it would be for a more substantial period of time. But for now, they caught just a glimpse of their young bundle of joy.

Today we celebrate the Transfiguration of our Lord Jesus. Here we get a glimpse of Jesus’ glory. There’s more to come, but for now we get just a glimpse. But there’s a lot to be seen in just this glimpse. We first of all see as His divine nature is revealed. And then we see that He’s the Savior we’ve always needed.

I. [His heavenly nature is revealed.] It has been six days, so almost a week, since Jesus asked His disciples who people say He is. The disciples gave a few different answers, but then Peter gave the right one: “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.”[1] Jesus commended Peter for His answer but then He gives them some shocking news. He is on His way to Jerusalem for the last time. He will suffer and die there. It’s written in prophecy throughout the Old Testament, but this was Jesus’ first direct foretelling of it. Peter’s reaction was not good. He took Jesus aside and we read that he rebuked, or strongly criticized, Jesus. Jesus replied by telling Peter, as well as the rest of the disciples, that there must be a cross before His glory.

Again, that happened almost a week before the events in today’s text. Jesus is on His last journey to Jerusalem, and this will be the big one. This will be the one where He dies. It’s appropriate for us to look at this right now because we are about to begin the season of Lent. And that, in a way, is our journey to Jerusalem, to the cross where our Lord will die. And yet, before we do that, we see what Jesus shows His disciples, a glimpse of His glory. So that, even when He’s on the cross, we remember who is in control.

So we have Jesus, Peter, James, and John ascending a mountain. We’re not sure which mountain it is, it’s not important. But they’re going there to pray. The disciples are getting a little sleepy when suddenly something catches their attention. Shaking the sleep from their eyes, they see that Jesus is actually transfigured before them. The word “transfigured” comes from the Greek word for metamorphosis. Where do we hear the word “metamorphosis”? Well, when a caterpillar wraps itself in a cocoon and emerges as a butterfly, we call that metamorphosis. It’s a complete change. The caterpillar changes from a slimy little one-color worm into a beautiful, multicolored insect that can fly.

In a similar way, Christ completely changes His form. He sheds His human “wrap,” if you will, and His divine nature shines forth. Some people say the disciples were hallucinating or that it was the way the sun shone on Jesus’ face. But it wasn’t anything like that. The form of our Lord was actually changed… even His clothes showed His glory. We read that they became “dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them.” This was an “out of this world” experience.

Martin Luther once spoke of a worm that covers the fishing hook and hides the hook from the fish’s eye. He said that, in the same way, the humanity of Christ covered his deity and hid it from people’s eyes. That was the case for all 33 years of Jesus’ life before His resurrection from the dead… except for this brief glimpse. With this brief glimpse, Christ displayed something that few others on this earth have beheld… His glory, the glory of God. Moses, who appears here, had actually been the last one to see God’s glory 1500 years earlier! So this glimpse was indeed a great blessing!

But why was it significant? Well for them, first of all, they were about to see what appeared to be the utter defeat of Christ on the cross. They could certainly benefit from this visible proof for strength in those times. And after He rose, and showed Himself to them, they would have great use for this testimony as they witnessed to the world about Jesus. What could embolden them more than this awesome site of seeing the Son of God in all His glory! They were eye witnesses of it!

And for us… hearing the eye witness account of our Savior’s transfiguration encourages and strengthens us, too, as we fulfill the Great Commission. Even though the pages of Scripture are completely littered with the miracles and the Words of Jesus, here we actually SEE Him in glory as the Son of God. It’s not just implied that Jesus is God; He actually shows Himself to be God.

And so we see Jesus pull back the veil of His humanity, be it ever so briefly, so we can see His glory. For this short time, we see all the glory of the Godhead that is contained in Christ! And it’s so comforting to see because He’s not just God, but He’s the God who saves us!

II. [He’s the Savior we’ve needed.] Where do we see that here? Well we see Moses and Elijah there, right? Speaking with Jesus. This wasn’t just for theatrical value. These men represent all that Jesus would fulfill. Remember how in Jesus’ Day, the Old Testament (which at that time was all of Scripture) was called the Law and the Prophets? Well Moses was the giver of the Law, and Elijah was the best known of Israel’s prophets. So we see Jesus with the Law and the Prophets, talking about His approaching death… the fulfillment of Scripture. But why would this King of Glory die?

It’s because the world needs to be reconciled to God. Back in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve sinned and created a rift between God (and His glory), and us. You could say that a giant chasm was created between us. And our relationship with Him was ruined. And we can’t just blame it on Adam and Eve because we’ve all contributed our own countless sins to this chasm. Every time we’ve followed Eve’s lead and tried to make ourselves into God. Every time that I do what I want so that I feel better, regardless of what God says, I’m contributing to that chasm.

And because of this chasm and ruined relationship, no human can help but be frightened when they’re in the presence of God, or even angels. Think about how every time that an angel appears to someone, the first thing they have to say is, “Don’t be afraid.”

Here we have a similar situation, though to a greater degree. The disciples witness God’s glory and Mark records that Peter didn’t really know what He was saying here because he was frightened! Finding themselves in God’s glory, these disciples realize what any of us would hopefully realize… that we are completely unworthy of a God who is so glorious.

Despite the fact that these disciples are frightened, this is an amazing site to see! And so Peter does note that it is good for them to be there. They are witnessing divine glory. It’s the glory that befits the King and Savior of the world!

They hear the voice of God the Father speak from heaven and identify Jesus as that one for us, just like He did at Jesus’ baptism. This is His Son, our Savior. The One who would fulfill all of the Old Testament prophecies. The One who would die and close the rift and chasm between us and God. Jesus is the one who will fix that relationship. And because we see that Jesus is God, we know that His sacrifice is sufficient to cover the sins of the world. The difference between the declaration God the Father gave at Christ’s baptism, and the one He gives here is that this time He adds that we must listen to His Son. The disciples couldn’t just stare at His glory; they also had to listen to His Word, just as we do. Faith comes from hearing the message,[2] right? God the Father here puts his stamp of approval on everything Jesus says. Listen to Him who is the way, the truth and the life.

Suddenly the disciples come to their senses and they no longer hear a voice, they no longer see Moses and Elijah, they’re left with just Jesus. And that’s all they, or we, need. Through faith in this God-man, and this God-man alone, we know we are saved eternally. We know we can say to the death that stalks us… and to our guilty conscience.  We know we can say to the devil who wants us to doubt God’s love and forgiveness.  “Be quiet.  I have a Savior and his name is Jesus.” He lived and died so that my relationship with God might be repaired, and so that I can look forward to an eternal life of glory beyond the grave.

In the same way that my friends Paul and Ruth can look forward to much more than a glimpse of their little John, we can look forward, with certainty to much more than a glimpse of Christ’s glory. We will see Him, fully glorified, in heaven. And, as the apostle Paul assures us, our lowly bodies will also be glorified like His.[3]

Jesus and His disciples descend the mountain. As they do, He commands them not to tell others what they have seen. As with the other times that He gives this command, it’s because people (even these disciples) still have wrong ideas about the kind of Messiah He is. They think He’s a political savior and if their fellow Jews catch onto this idea, it could actually be counterproductive to Jesus fulfilling His mission on the cross. So He tells them not to tell others what they have seen until He’s risen from the dead.

The beauty for us is that we know that He has indeed risen from the dead. And He’s given us the opposite command. Not that we are to keep the Good News of our Savior a secret, but that we are to go and make disciples of all nations.[4] And what a joy it is to spread the good news of our Savior who we know is so glorious! Here we have the eye witness accounts to prove it!

And so we see a glimpse of our Lord Jesus’ glory. But it’s a sad, anti-climactic story if that’s all we ever get to see. Fortunately for us, as believers in Christ, we have much more than a glimpse of His glory to look forward to. We can look forward to seeing Christ in all His glory one day in heaven, and in sharing in that glory. Until then let His transfiguration be your strength and your hope, just as it was for these three disciples. Knowing that we have such a glorious Savior, we follow where He leads until the day we get to live with Him for eternity. What a glorious day that will be! Amen.

Text:  Psalm 32:1-5

Why do you begin your service that way?  It’s so negative.  I don’t like that part of your worship. Ever heard that?  I have.   Ever thought that about the way we usually begin our worship?  By confessing our sins, our sinfulness?

Well you know what?  We shouldn’t like it.  It shouldn’t be easy to say to the One who made us, who provides for us, who gave his own Son to suffer and die for us, I have sinned against you.

Yet maybe it has become easy for us — at least to say the words we are about to say.  Maybe at times our confession has become something else.  Kind of a shrug your shoulders ritual where the words roll of our lips but hardly speak from our hearts.

Today we hear the inspired words of King David who wrote this psalm.  It’s one of a number of psalms we call penitential, that is a psalm of repentance.  Of course, when we think of David it’s easy to say, no wonder.  That guy really sinned.  He had a lot to confess.  No wonder he was so happy to be forgiven.

But if that’s our reaction, we’re missing the point.  This is not just about David.  It’s about each of us here.  For how have we come today?  How do we come every time we gather.  Trailing a trash bag behind us.  A bag that contains all kinds of things.  Unkind words to those we are supposed to love, lousy attitudes, ingratitude, impatience, anger, lust to name a few.

With this psalm the Holy Spirit urges us to come to God confessing our sin.  But here with David, the Spirit shows us so much more.  This is the great thing we see today in this Word.  The blessedness…

O the Happiness of God’s forgiveness

There are Christians who believe that if you are a true Christian, you can never fall away.  If King David were here, he would tell us something much different.  About himself.  He did fall away like some of us have at times in our lives.  The tawdry details of David are in 2Samuel 11.   One night, up on the roof of his palace, he spotted a woman bathing. She was beautiful. David wanted her even when he found out she was married.  He had to have her for himself even if it meant conspiring to have her husband killed.  He did that.  And then he flaunted his sin by bringing Bathsheba into his palace.

Then we come to chapter 12.  We hear how the Lord’s prophet courageously confronted the King.  He showed him his sin and David confessed it.  But what we don’t see is that a year went by in between.

During that year it may have seemed to many, that things were going good for David.  After all, David was in his palace.  There servants attended him.  He lived in luxury, doing whatever he pleased and there he was surrounded by a bevy of gorgeous women.  It might have seemed that David’s sin, his guilt, was no big deal.

But read this psalm.  Read psalm 6 and you learn the real story.  In stubborn silence, David was wasting away. Listen to him describe it:  ³ When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. ⁴For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.  David’s guilt would not leave him alone.  He couldn’t sleep.  His body ached. And he was dog tired like we might be on a hot summer day. All symptoms of something far worse. A soul weighed down, burdened with guilt hemorrhaging inside.  A soul in stubborn silence, keeping its distance from God, wasting away.

And we are no different.  We waste away when we live in our own stubborn silence.  When we refuse to open  that trash bag of our lives and admit to God what we’ve put there.  For guilt is a terrible thing.  And yes counselors may be able to help us push back against those guilty feelings.  But they can’t take away the guilt for what we’ve done or failed to do.  They can’t remove the threat of God’s judgment.

So David warns us here.  Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding… You or I may not have four legs but there have been times when I have born a close resemblance to a mule.  I foolishly went on in my own stubborn silence.  Don’t,  David says.  .Instead as we see here:  confess your sins and enjoy the freedom of God’s forgiveness.

⁵Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord” That didn’t happen by itself you know.  The Lord sent his prophet Nathan to bring David back to his senses. Who is your Nathan?   It’s easy to resent that Christian who shows you your sin.  It’s easier to kill the messenger than listen to the message.  It took a lot of courage for the prophet Nathan to confront his King.

But that he did.  And it convicted David’s heart.  The Holy Spirit broke down that wall of stubborn stony silence.  And now David confessed, I have sinned against the Lord.  And here David must have marveled.  How can this be?  For right on the heels of his confession came this: The Lord has taken away your sin. (2Sam 12) Of course, we Christians today need not be surprised.  We know that parable told by our Lord Jesus.  How a father waited anxiously for his son’s return.  That son who had made such a mess out of his life.  But what did that son find when he returned?  A father so very ready to forgive his son.

That father represents our Father in heaven. God the Father who sent his one and only Son to this world. He made it possible for David to hear.  He made it possible for us to hear every time we come confessing our guilt:  The Lord has taken away your sin.

David can hardly contain himself here.  ¹ Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. ²Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit.

That first word blessed hardly conveys the joy David then knew.  O the happiness of sins forgiven. Happy is the man. Happy is woman who truly knows what God has done.  Listen to how he meets us.

Our sins are forgiven.  Literally it means, lifted.  He has lifted the guilt from you.  He no longer sees it.  As far as the East is from the West so far have I removed your transgressions from you.

And we know where that trash went from our bulging bag.   Away from us to God’s own Son on a cross.  Look at that cross and know the Lord has taken away your sin.  O the happiness of sins forgiven.

O the happiness of sins now covered.  Sometimes it’s really hard. Someone offends us so that every time we see that person we think back to what they did or said.  Well in countless ways we have offended God.  But how does God meet us when we confess our sins?  They are covered.  Covered with something that is yours in Christ.  His righteousness. His good and perfect life.  You know the kind of life we fail to live.  Our life is now covered with his goodness. That’s what God sees.  O the happiness of sins now covered.

It’s the happiness of sins that the Lord will not count against us. In another psalm, we are reminded, if you O Lord kept a record of sin, O Lord, who could stand? None of us.  We’d perish.   But how did God meet this guilty sinner named David?  Just as he meets us.  If we confess our sins, he promises to forgive us.  He promises not to drag those things out that now make us ashamed.  And why?  In  love, Jesus stood in our place.   In love. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us.   O the happiness of God’s forgiveness in Christ.

So bring that trash bag that we keep filling.  Admit what’s in it here before the Lord.   And I realize.  It’s no fun.  It’s doesn’t make me feel good to look at the contents of my bag.

But listen to one who has know it both ways.  He speaks to you in this psalm.  King David.  He speaks to you from this pulpit. Your pastor.  One who has wasted away in stubborn silence.   It’s no good at all.  Better to Confess your sin and enjoy the freedom of God’s forgiveness.  Think about it.  In Christ, He gives you the right to set that bag down and leave it behind. O the happiness of God’s forgiveness.