Day: March 28, 2021

Let us pray: Dear Savior,  we need to celebrate!  We need to raise our voices in praise and to sing with gusto when it comes to honoring You.  We have been muzzled and silenced too long.  And although our praise today may be muffled due to circumstances,  accept our outbursts from our hearts and may they move the angels to make up the difference.  Amen

GRACE MERCY AND PEACE ARE YOURS FROM CHRIST, WHO ALONE DESERVES PRAISE!

TEXT:  Mark 11: 1-11

Dearly Beloved By Christ: 

          Jesus began His work of saving our souls with praise!  The angels gathered that 1^st Christmas and shouted their hosannas.  The shepherds followed suit.  About a year later the wise men appeared at the doorstep.  Their homage was a little more subdued, but it was just as heart-felt.  God the Father and the Holy Spirit also praised Jesus at His baptism in the Jordan river.  The heavens boomed their approval as They honored the 2^nd Person of the Godhead.  We know the crowds gathered to hear Jesus preach and praised Him, too.  Even in death, when He “gave up His spirit” on the cross, an earthquake ensued, formerly dead people arose, and the giant curtain in the temple was torn in two.  And then there’s also Palm Sunday….

I

          Praise is an intriguing word.  It is founded in and on emotions.  It includes: honor, excitement, joy, and an outpouring of pure happiness.  Sometimes it erupts to a climax after a slow building up.  Other times, it just erupts because it cannot be contained. 

          Here it starts slowly.  It was Passover time and pilgrims had gathered from across the empire to celebrate.  It was a semi-somber event celebrating  Israel’s escape from Egyptian bondage 1400 years prior.  People were camped outside the city walls.  The early-risers were starting campfires and rubbing sleep from their eyes.  The birds were twittering.  It was a slow morning. 

          So, too, for Jesus and the disciples.  They had stayed at Mary and Martha’s house and at dawn had arisen and prepared to enter the city a few miles away.  Christ told a couple disciples to go to a house where they would find a donkey colt and its mother.  They did just that and when challenged by the sleepy owner, replied: “The Lord has need of it.”  The owner said, “O.K.”  And off they all went.  Humble beginnings for a historical day.  Don’t ever forget that true Godly praise, along with miracles, usually occurs when people don’t expect it!

II

          There is no advance team.  There are no sound trucks and video streaming about “breaking news.”  There are no signs or placards handed out in advance.  No, it is just Jesus on the donkey colt and the small group of followers that crests the Mt. of Olives and descends to the city gates.  But now the miracle occurs!  The Holy Spirit is the Author of Christian faith.  Here He intercedes and stirs hearts.  Clothing is strewn in Christ’s path.  Palm fronds are stripped off trees and waved in the air.  It builds and builds.  People start chanting: “Hosanna!” which means: “Save!”  Save us from the jackboot of the Romans.  Save us from the bondage of sin and evil.  Save us from eternal death.  They knew Who Jesus was.  They knew He was their long-promised Messiah.  They needed help, comfort, relief, and salvation—Freedom! From oppression. And here Freedom was in bodily form.  We see this from their very words: “Hosanna!  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!  Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!  Hosanna in the highest!”  What a day! 

III

          It must have lasted well into the afternoon.  An adrenaline rush like this doesn’t fizzle out immediately.  The crowd needed to hear Him, see Him, touch Him, and congratulate Him.  Listen again: “Jesus entered Jerusalem and went to the temple.  He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.”  Yes, Jesus took a few hours to meet and greet His followers.  He made time for them, just as He makes and takes time with each of you!  Never forget: You have His ear….

          I can well imagine our congregation’s response the 1^st Sunday after  the “mask mandate” has been lifted and food freely flows in the fellowship hall.  Even we staid, reserved Lutherans may be “dancing in the streets!”  Emotional excitement is a unique elixir to the soul.  The problem is: it’s hard to sustain.  We see that during Holy Week.  We see it especially on Good Friday.  That day the crowds were plentiful too, but no “Hosannas”.  Instead “Crucify Him!” was the word of the day. 

Like all of you, I rejoice on Palm Sunday that our Lord was given His proper due.  But true faith isn’t pure emotionalism.  True faith is deeper and much more profound.  It honors our Savior in humility and love and thankfulness over the long haul of life.  It causes us to rejoice even in our current sufferings because Christ already walked that pathway and came out of the tomb of darkness.  The crowd didn’t know this future on that 1^st Palm Sunday.  But Jesus did.  And He accepted His future willingly in order to give us sustainable up-liftability!—Upliftability which may not always be an emotional “high” but one that never burns out inside our souls where it really counts.  Palm Sunday was the race horse.  But humble faith is the draft horse that pulls us steadily ahead until we cross heaven’s threshold!  Amen  

The peace of God which….

Pastor Thomas H. Fox 

Let us  pray: Dear Savior, as the long, hard days of winter conclude, uplift our spirits!  Hold before us the empty cross and the empty tomb!  Remind us that darkness leads to light and life!  Yes, give us the same attitude about living in the here and now that you had—one of self-giving love.  Amen

GRACE MERCY AND PEACE ARE YOURS FROM CHRIST, OUR SAVING LORD!

TEXT:  Philippians 2: 5-11

Dearly Beloved By Christ: 

          Attitude is everything.  Doctors know this.  Cancer patients who give up and adopt a defeatist attitude succumb far faster than those who retain an upbeat mindset.  Players on a team who are positive, even if they have limited skills, are much more popular than “stars” who are always grumpy that others misplayed a baseball.  Teachers respect C students who really try more than A students who are lazy and uninterested. 

          Where does a person’s attitude come from?  Some is inherent.  Some is learned.  Some is a product of family life or perhaps good or bad company.  And, of course, all attitude is either uplifted by God or corrupted by Satan along with our inherent sinful nature.  Let’s take a quick quiz.  When you converse with another are you: 1. Quick of judge them and point out their weaknesses? or 2. Do you seek ways to lovingly built them up without monopolizing the discussion?  Are you more concerned with them than with you?  I think you know the answers. 

I

          As Christians, our attitude about life filled with blessings, leaves something to be desired.  All our attitudes need improvement.  And today St. Paul lays before us God’s example of all this.  “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.”  Whoa!  That’s a tall order!  In other words, get rid of all dissension, pride, hate, grumpiness, arrogance and all other negative emotions and actions that tear others apart. 

          “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.”

          From our perspective, Christ debased Himself.  He became a slave to our sins.  He took all that nastiness upon Himself.  And He didn’t consider that He was a lesser member of the Trinity because of it.  He did all this willingly to show us the real  meaning of love. 

          “And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!  Think about that.  God Who is the Supreme Creator agreed to save His wayward creation.  So, the Potter took on the form of a deformed pot.  He did so knowing that the pot would be smashed, burned, and ground into dust.  That would all happen to Him, the Potter, because He cared about the deformed pots and through His sacrifice of self, all the other deformed pots could be remade and born anew.  The only word that describes His attitude is: pure love.  Yes, Jesus gave His all—to us!

II

          “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” 

          In other words, out of Christ’s passion and death comes Easter and life.  Because Jesus laid down His life and His all to save us, His holy Father raised Him to life in heaven at God’s own right hand.  Through and because of Jesus’ lovingly giving Himself up to save you, all creatures are forced to confess that His attitude about showing true love permeated all He did and that it alone is worthy of emulating.  Moreover, only this kind of undeserved love, or grace, is worthy of praise. 

          Unless you’re a bump on a log, Paul’s words should shame you a bit.  That’s because we know how often our attitude stinks in comparison to Christ’s.  But we’re a deformed pot that needs help, we’re not the potter.  We don’t remake ourselves, or reform our attitude by ourselves, that’s Jesus’ job.  And He both has and is doing so right now!  He already paid for our deformities and rose from the ultimate deformity of death in our place.  He already has given that status of perfection before God to us via faith.  And now He’s working at  polishing us by smoothing off all the rough spots.  So, armed with His grace, try to appreciate it!  You’ll be amazed at how much calmer and happier you’ll be! Follow Christ in ALL Things and you’ll never go wrong.     Amen

THE peace of God which….

Pastor Thomas H. Fox