Christ
is Risen! He is Risen indeed, alleluia!
Sinful
human beings like control. We want to be in charge of things; we
want things to be done our way. This is why these stay at home
orders chafe so much. For almost two months I've been told I can't
run up to Darien and sit down and have a nice, Lithuanian Lunch, or
whatever other stupid whim of the moment that my mind fixiates on in
the moment when I'm staring out my window. And on top of that, we
certainly don't like being told what to do by others. Don't tell me
I'm supposed to wear a mask in public – though really it's not that
big of a deal and it's just a matter of being polite. See, I've got
my mask on, I promise I won't cough on you (I can't wear one in
service, you have a hard enough time hearing me as is). But this
whole control mess – not having control, seeing places where others
control you – we could even add in the times where you've been
domineering over other people and tyrannical yourselves – this
whole control mess epitomizes what sin is. We want control. And the
fact that we don't have control angers and terrifies us.
And we
can do stupid things to try to gain control back in our lives. We
can jump through all sorts of justification hoops – whether it's
conspiracy theories or I'm acting for the greater good, or they
started it – sin is basically me wanting to control everything, me
not wanting to let God be God, me not wanting to receive the days
that the Lord my Maker gives unto me. We see a story about this in
our Old Testament lesson. And the people spoke against God and
against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in
the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe
this worthless food.”
Now think briefly on the Exodus – the children of Israel had seen
the 10 plagues shatter Egypt, they crossed the Red Sea and saw with
their own eyes God destroy the armies of Pharaoh, and they saw the
Pillar of Fire, the Pillar of Cloud. They saw water from the Rock,
and the worthless food was manna and quail! How can they complain
like this – if you are left to die in the wilderness it is because
you refused to believe the Lord when He said that He would lead you
into the promised land! Why do you grumble so? Well, you see God,
it's like this – I really want more variation in my diet. And so
they grumble. Instead of seeing the miraculous care that they had
received from God, they grumble.
Sound
familiar? I can look at my pantry, my freezer, and I can loathe this
worthless food because I want Lithuanian and I want to get a Kugelis
– which is this wonderful potato dish... get the point? We really
are no different, and although we like to do the whole “if I were
there, I would have behaved better” - yeah, you probably wouldn't
have. I probably would have been one of the idiots swallowed up by
the earth in the rebellion of Korah – thank you Lord for saving me
from my own stupidity. These days – well all days, but especially
these days where we are frustrated are good days to remember the 1st
Article of the Creed, the 4th
petition of the Lord's Prayer. God still is your Creator, and He
still takes care of you and preserves you. He still provides you
daily bread, and He still protects you from harm and danger. God
keeps on being God.
But
I want to continue on in the Old Testament for a moment – let's
push that a bit further. Then the Lord sent
fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that
many people of Israel died. And the people came to Moses and said,
“We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against
you.”
Punishment and hardship comes, and they recognize that it comes from
the Lord. Yes, God is letting these serpents run around and He is
teaching us a lesson – again, understand why Pastor Brown doesn't
like object lessons. And the people learn from it. They are driven
to repentance.
Now,
consider our days. Well a virus is less exciting and more tedious
than fiery serpents, but how do we understand this? We are right to
understand this as something which God in His wisdom and His Fatherly
love has allowed, and even sent, to us to chastize us and to drive us
away from our pride and unto repentance. I'm guessing in the extra
time of reflection you've had these past two months you have seen
things about yourself that you realize are not good. Excellent –
you are being repented by God, and the mirror of the law is doing
it's work. Our sin is revealed so we can repent it and fight against
it.
However,
there is a danger, and false move and shift that the American
preachers are want to do in times of tragedy. The temptation is to
want to name someone else's sin. God's unleashing this upon America
because of... sin that I conveniently don't happen to like or engage
in. A conservative type might want to say this is vengeance against
abortion or homosexuality; I've seen a few liberals saying that this
is punishment for our capitalistic greed. But those are all pinning
the tail on some other donkey – that's really blaming other people.
And that's an attempt to exert control – because if we just change
what THEY do, then everything will be better. And then of course,
there are the more extreme attempts at control – Pastor, what if
you made a pole and stuck a bronze virus on it – okay, maybe not
bronze but we could take a styrofoam ball and stick push pins in it
and it would make a really need crafty model for a virus.... Not the
point. It's not the time to blame, it's not the time to try to
control things not given to you to control. It is a time to pause
and ponder our own sin.
Moving
forward to the Gospel lesson – it had turned dour in the Upper Room
that Maundy Thursday evening, for after dinner Jesus had given this
sad, confusing speech about scary things, how He's going away and
we're going to have sorrow. And then, towards the end, He says, “In
that day you will ask nothing of Me. Truly, truly I say to you,
whatever you ask of the Father in My Name, He will give it to you.”
And Jesus has addressed the sorrow and the hardship that the
disciples will face, the sorrow and hardship that we ourselves face,
and He gives the solution. Pray. You, O Christian, have been given
a fantastic gift, a wonderful access to God Almighty. When you pray,
the Father has promised to hear you. You do not call upon His Name
in vain when you pray, but rather He has promised to hear you. And
Jesus has instructed you to pray - “Ask, and
you will receive, that your joy may be full.”
And
here's where we need to hold our sinful horses a moment. We are
control junkies, we love control – and we hear “whatever you ask”
and “ask and you will receive” and we hear this through the idea
of control... whatever I want? Even the pony? I want to point out
two things, the important things, that we forget. In My name, in
Jesus' name – and for joy.
To
pray in Jesus name is to pray with His authority – it is to pray
confessing that Jesus is in control, not you. It is to pray in
accordance with what Jesus has instructed us to pray – like what we
pray for in the Lord's Prayer. And if we go outside of what Jesus
has instructed, if we try to take control of the situation we we
would want, well, that's bad. Consider this as an example – let's
say I tell my son Victor, “Go tell your brother Ambrose to come
inside.” If he tells Ambrose, “Dad said to come inside” -
that's great. If he says, “Dad said to come inside and that you
are supposed to clean my room” that's missing the point and bad.
Likewise, when we pray in Jesus' Name, we pray what He has told us
and instructed us to pray for – that's the range of the whatever we
get. Prayer isn't something we use to control God – it's not
witchcraft or sorcery – that's taking God's name in vain. Rather
our Prayer throws us to God, places us back in Jesus' Word, reminds
us that God is in control and that He is in control for you.
And
we know this, because Jesus has said that He wishes our joy to be
full. Joy doesn't come from me getting my way – if I get my way on
one things, I'm still grumpy and unhappy because there's something
else I'll want my way on. It's why you can't please a person who
constantly complains and why if you're a complainer you're never
happy. That's all about control, and there is no joy in our control.
Where is there joy? There is joy in Christ Jesus for you. There is
Joy in Jesus Christ saying to you, “see all this sin that is
driving you into misery and despair – see all you wicked thoughts
and stupid wants and perverse plans – see your wretched mistakes
and grating grumblings and casual cruelties – see your shame and
your guilt and your anger and your fear... well, I have taken that
all away from you, and I have carried it to the Cross, and I have
borne it all for you, and I have died and I have risen and you are
forgiven. You are forgiven and you will rise to new and glorious and
utterly enjoyable life – not because of what you do, but because of
what I have done for you. And what I have done for you – well, it
is finished. It's good. And in Me, you are good again.
That's
what Joy is. Restore unto me the Joy of Thy Salvation. And that is
what God will give you, that is where His gift of prayer will lead
you. When you pray in Jesus' Name you are thrust back into your
Baptism where that Name of Jesus was placed upon you, washing away
your sin. When you pray in Jesus' Name, you are thrust back into the
words and promises of forgiveness, life, and salvation that He has
made to you. And Jesus' promise to you holds true. Even in hard
times. No, you needn't take control. And yes, you may see your
desire for control as the sin it is an repent of it. Jesus is in
control, and He is in control for you, to redeem you. And this is
true even today – hear again what He has said to you. “In
the world you will have tribulation. But take heart, I have overcome
the world.
Amen. Christ has risen...
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