B, The Third Sunday after the Epiphany - Mark 1:15 & Psalm 62:5-12 "Standing under Jesus"

Understanding Jesus Christ, in its simplicity, is simply standing under Jesus. 

Understanding Jesus is so straight forward, a child or an adult can stand under him, the poor or the wealthy can stand under him, a new convert can stand under him, and so too can a mature believer on their death bed.

Why then do we struggle to understand Jesus?  Is it because when one seeks to stand out from under him, that the outstanding person has little to no understanding of Jesus Christ?

From where does one get an understanding of Jesus?  One gets it from standing under Jesus’ Word! 

Standing under Jesus can only occur when the fullness of the Good News comes to us, causing one to repent and believe. 

Therefore, we trust!  We believe and receive the Holy Spirit, moving us to confession, bringing us to Jesus’ power over sin and death.

Standing under Jesus, we need the Holy Spirit, so we are willed into God’s Word.  We all know this by how difficult we can find it to engage ourselves in God’s Word. 

When you seek to read the bible, notice how easily you’re distracted by other tasks that always seem to pop up!  Before you realise it, the bible is not opened, the dust settles, and weeks pass by!  The devil then works on the spirit of the sinful self and guilt drives you further away from receiving the Word of God.  Therefore, standing under Jesus’ Word, requires the full help of the Holy Spirit. 

When one is starved of God’s Word, every other word floods in, to fill the void.  The word of the human spirit within, is led by the words of the world, so one becomes use to being without the Word of God.

This is the struggle all face who seek to stand under Jesus.  Our old nature would rather us forget and lose interest in prayer and praying.  Confessing one’s sin, hearing God’s Word preached, and practicing the faith in a God pleasing way, becomes detached and dysfunctional!  The busyness of life quickly takes over and the spirit within becomes comfortable with the status quo.

Standing under Jesus requires faith.  Faith does not come from understanding, but rather, the other way around, understanding comes from faith, and faith sees one standing under what we allow our ears to hear.

As Paul says to the Romans, “For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’  How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?  And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!’  …So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:13–15, 17 ESV)

Jesus understands that standing under him, requires us to be put in a position of hearing.  Not just any word, but the Word of Jesus Christ.  God the Father, together with God the Son, know this.  That is why we receive the Holy Spirit when we hear the Word of God.  He leads us to the Father through the Word made Flesh, Jesus Christ.

Jesus’ spoken word drew an immediate response from Simon, and Andrew, James, and John.  So much so, they left their families and Galilean fishing boats and followed Jesus.  Through Jesus’ word the fishermen became his disciples and followed him. 

We are discipled by Jesus and grow in our understanding of Jesus, when we stand under his written Word, just as those of his disciples, who remained under his word.  All, with the exception of Judas Iscariot, and that didn’t end well for him!

To get a greater understanding of Jesus Christ you are called to stand under his written Word.  Standing under it allows the Holy Spirit to work faith in the Word within you!  The Holy Spirit continually points us back to Jesus’ way, the truth of Jesus’ Word, and his life.

We are in the season of Epiphany.  In it we hear that Jesus is proclaimed as the Son of God.  In the New Testament, Jesus is declared as the Son of God, some forty-three times.  Of these, it’s recorded only four times in the Gospel of John, where Jesus refers to himself as the Son of God.

Jesus is the Son of God, but as Paul tells us in Philippians, “though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,  but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.  And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:6–8 ESV)

Jesus put aside his standing as the Son of God and stood under God the Father, and indeed stood under all of humanity as the Son of Man.  He served you, and still does, in human flesh!

Standing under the Father, Jesus Christ demonstrated great faithfulness towards the Father and all who trust in him.  His understanding or nature was such, he put aside his self-assurance in his  divinity, and lived in the weakness of the flesh, allowing himself to be guided perfectly by the Holy Spirit.

When Jesus, the Word made flesh, went away to pray, he prayed his Word, the Word of God.  The Psalms are Jesus’ Words of prayer, given and written down years before he was born. 

When we stand under the Psalms as an anthology of Jesus’ intimate prayers, our faith is encouraged by the depth of his faithfulness to God the Father.  He allows his servanthood to stand, not on his Godliness!  But rather, is led by the work of the Holy Spirit.  Therefore, the Psalms give a very personal insight into Jesus’ life as he submits to the will of God the Holy Spirit.

In the same way, when we stand under the Psalms, the Holy Spirit increases our understanding of the perfect relationship between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Standing under God’s Word of the Psalms will increase faith!  So, we allow the Holy Spirit to lead us just as Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit. 

Jesus was led by the Spirit to do the will of the Father, having put aside his heavenly divinity.  As faith grows within us, we are led to do the will of the Father, when we put aside our human spirit’s self-assurance and desire for ill-gotten selfish divinity.  Faith allows us to surrender and lets the Holy Spirit point us to God the Father and God the Son.

To understand Jesus’ life, understanding the Word of Jesus’ prayers written in Psalms is as simple as standing under the word by questioning; who is speaking, who is the speaker addressing, and who is the speaker speaking about?   Is a singular person speaking or listening?  Or is it a group of people, usually Israel represented by those gathered in the temple? 

We get understanding of the Psalms and can stand under the Word of the Psalms when we realise, how we, as individuals, or, as a heavenly congregation, are grafted into Words of the Psalm by Jesus himself!  Into Jesus either, as the only Son of God, or, as the head of his body, the new Israel, the church.

Psalm sixty-two demonstrates the perfection of the Triune relationship, and the faithfulness of God’s perfection into which we are grafted by Jesus.

(Psalm 62:5-12)  For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. 

Here, the speaker is speaking about our Father in heaven to the hearer.

He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God. 

The speaker hear is King David having been given these words from the Word made flesh, the King of kings, Jesus.  So, Jesus is the real speaker of these words having inspired King David by the Holy Spirit to write them down.  By the Holy Spirit, it’s Jesus who confesses and knows God the Father is his rock, salvation, and fortress.  He trusts God despite the weakness of his flesh.

Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us. Those of low estate are but a breath; those of high estate are a delusion; in the balances they go up; they are together lighter than a breath. 

Jesus trusted in God our Father at all times on earth, and he calls us to do so too.  Jesus our King calls us to pour our hearts out to our Father in heaven.  Jesus, the Son of God, put aside his divinity and gave up his human spirit on the cross.  God is a refuge for us because Jesus is our Good News.  

Jesus did this for Israel; he is the New Israel, into which we have been grafted.  When weighed up, next to Jesus’ perfection in the flesh and sacrificial suffering as the Lamb of God, our human haughtiness and lowliness are as long lasting as a warm breath on a cold morning.

Put no trust in extortion; set no vain hopes on robbery; if riches increase, set not your heart on them. 

Israel failed in the wilderness for forty years, then continued in failure right the way through to Jesus’ revelation as the Son of God.  Similarly, we fail time and time again in our lives too.  Jesus, the new Israel, did not fail having been tempted by the devil in the wilderness for forty days.  Jesus calls us to trust in his work, rather than our lifetime of fruitless works, vain expectations, or earthly riches!

Once God has spoken; twice have I heard this: that power belongs to God,  and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love.  For you will render to a man according to his work.

Alone Jesus hears only God speak.  Therefore, we hear him proclaim two things he hears and abides by about our Heavenly Father.  That power and steadfast love belong to God! 

We know from the gospel; God the Father rendered the man Jesus according to his work.  We know; the Holy Spirit led Jesus to finish his work of suffering and death and was then raised to life by the Holy Spirit having completed this work for our sake. 

The Holy Spirit works faith within us to trust the power of God.  We become willing recipients of his steadfast love made complete, for us, and in us, by the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit creates and maintains our faith in God’s promises, in his Word.  God the Father renders or completes our salvation when we believe the work of his Son Jesus Christ, hearing by the power of the Holy Spirit. 

When we stand under Jesus and his Word, we allow the Holy Spirit to foster faith within.  Then we understand, standing in daily repentance and belief, is standing under Jesus.  Trusting the gospel or good news of our salvation is knowing the kingdom of God is ours eternally.  Amen.

B, Christmas 1, New Year's Eve - 1 Peter 1:22-25 "The Word of God"

1 Peter 1:22–25 (ESV) Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart,  since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God;  for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.” And this word is the good news that was preached to you.

In 2023 the Lord God has given, and the Lord God has taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord (Job 1:21)!   Whatever it is he has given you in 2023, he has given so you look to him and give thanks.  Whatever it is he has taken from you, he has taken from you, so you turn and learn to trust in him.

In 2023 God has given you, his Word!  His Word is given, and the Holy Spirit has moved in you with his Word, to discipline and disciple you, so you abide and remain living with Jesus, the Word made Flesh. 

If you have been faithful to God’s Word, the Holy Spirit brings comfort through the forgiveness of your sin.  If you have fought against being brought to repentance in the Word of God, or you have failed to hear the Word through disobedience, or have used God’s Word to your own glory, the Holy Spirit will let you suffer, to save you and return you to God’s Word, and his one true church.

It is the Holy Spirit’s job to call and gather you, enlighten you in the Word of God, and make you holy by keeping you united with Jesus Christ in the one true faith.  Push against the Holy Spirit from bringing you to Jesus Christ, and you place yourself on sinking sand, and in grave danger of sinning against the giver of faith.

God wants what’s good for you!  He wants to work his goodness for your good.  The Holy Spirit has been sent from God the Father, and God the Son, to bring you to our Father through the Son.  The Holy Spirit does this work by gently walking beside us, like a friend walking with his arm around our shoulder, comforting us as he moves us to the safety of the cross.  But sometimes he needs to walk behind us, giving us a sharp swift kick that might hurt a bit!  But it’s done for our eternal benefit returning us in repentance to the cross and worker of our salvation!

As individuals the Holy Spirit calls, gathers, enlightens, and makes us holy as God’s one church.  We remain in God’s church when we allow the Holy Spirit to set us apart. 

However, when we, the church of God, set ourselves apart from the Word of God and the Holy Spirit, we place ourselves in corporate danger.  Collectively gathering as one human spirit, we may think we have the Holy Spirit, but end up sitting in authority over the Word of God, judging the Word of God with a human spirit.  In other words, we use our powers and principles, which are our works and will, and not God’s!

Do you think that a loving Heavenly Father, will not seek to return us to him?  God indeed will fight for us, to correct us, and lead us back to Jesus Christ, to the Word made Flesh, so we re-submit to the written Word, from where he gives us light and life!  All prodigal sons and self-righteous sons are called back to our Heavenly Father through “the Son of God”, with his Sonship, worked within, by the Holy Spirit!

Like a fig tree that hasn’t been bearing fruit, we have been allowed to continue as the Lutheran Church in Australia by our heavenly Father.  Faithful pastors have dug around the roots and fertilised the tree of the church with the Word of God.  Some however have chosen to fertilise with a compromised word, leaving out the call to repentance, rather encouraging God’s children to follow their feelings. 

But Jesus says, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.  You will recognize them by their fruits.  Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.”  (Matthew 7:15–16a, 19–20 ESV)

And again he warns “I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” (Matthew 12:36–37 ESV)

God calls us to return to the Word of God over against the feelings, the opinions, and the words of our hearts.  Our fleeting words will not save us.  Like rotten fruit will be thrown out or a fruitless tree will be taken to with an axe, those who persistently deny God and his Word, dangerously put themselves on the wrong side of God’s Word and his judgement!

If you think there are no ravenous wolves in the LCANZ, you need to wake up to the reality of the world and the church.  Do not accept what any pastor says, just because they are a pastor, me included! 

Submit what every pastor teaches and preaches to the glory test!  What is the glory test?  Does it glorify Jesus Christ eternally, or does the glory go somewhere else, dying before the fullness of time?  Investigate and judge for yourselves with a right judgement, to where the glory is going!

2024 will be a year of chaos for the LCANZ.  Many other churches of Christendom have chosen to walk away from the Word by following the ways of the world.  Modern heresies abound in the denominations of the Reformation, where the Word of God is watered down more and more to accommodate the confusion and chaos of the world.

The light and life, of God’s one true holy apostolic church gathered around Jesus Christ, has been diminished in many denominations, including the Lutheran Church of Australia.  The cult of the LCA has been caught up in the chaos and confusion of the world. 

The powers and principles the church has sought to trust, has moved from God to man, from trusting God and his Word, to seeking popularity and approval from the world, by reading the world into the Word, to make the Word and the LCANZ more accommodating to Australia’s sinful society. 

The LCANZ has realised it cannot discern from the Word of God that women should be ordained.  Yet because the desire is strong, we’re making the same mistakes as others and are stepping away from the Word, to become engaged in wilful mischief, deliberate sin, and self-glorifying righteousness. 

Where God is silent, some have become presumptuously boisterous, actively scoffing, and seeking to shame those who seek to follow the Word of God!  How have we got to a point where the spirit of the world reigns over the Holy Spirit?   Many refuse to repent, but rather travel the way that’s wide, that leads to eternal death!

The chaos that is unfolding in the church, is evident.  God is handing us over to our will, withdrawing and leaving us to our own devices.  Synod in Melbourne in February saw due process and the Word of God held ransom to the procedural direction of a few.  Chaos and confusion reigned, but submission to the Word was fleeting at best!

Rather than God speaking through gathered congregations in synod, a top-down directive occurred.  Where congregations once got together as synod to do what they could not do individually, now a small group of individuals has usurped the authority of the Synod, the Pastor’s Conference, but more importantly God and his Word.  Just like what happened in the Garden of Eden, the authority has been reversed!

It's no surprise that in 2023, a small group, without the authority of the synod, decided to secretly change the call of lecturers at the seminary without their consultation and has decided to sell off the seminary and national office in Adelaide.  In its best light, it’s a poor business decision, at its worse it is the complete mismanagement of God’s gifts to continue supplying confessional Christ centred pastors to feed, forgive, and prepare God’s flock of Lutherans to bear God’s Word in the world. 

2024 will be a year of chaos for the LCANZ as it continues on its path against God and his Word.  While the LCANZ follows the flesh, its glory will fade and fall like that of grass flowers.  “The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.” 

Jeremiah talks about good figs and bad figs.  Just as we have taunted God for twenty-three years since the 2000 synod, Jeremiah informs the bad figs, the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem, saying, “For twenty-three years, …to this day, the word of the LORD has come to me, and I have spoken persistently to you, but you have not listened.  You have neither listened nor inclined your ears to hear, although the LORD persistently sent to you all his servants the prophets… Yet you have not listened to me, declares the LORD, that you might provoke me to anger with the work of your hands to your own harm.”  (Jeremiah 25:3-4, 7 ESV)

We might say, “But we have Jesus, we have Jesus!”, just as they said, “We have the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord!” (Jeremiah 7:4)   But where is that temple of the Lord today?  It’s gone!  It disappeared into the echelons of time.

God calls you to follow his Word, and not the world, as he has done throughout the history of mankind.  We are no different to any other generation.  Moses called Israel to choose life and live!  Jesus calls us to abide in his Word, as branches live in the vine (John 15:1-9).   Paul and the Apostles proclaimed Jesus Christ, so we choose life and live.  Luther also calls us to choose life in the Word of God, and so too do many others. 

They all call us, to not stand over God’s Word for our short-term gain, but rather call us to remain in submission to God the Father, Jesus Christ, the Word of God made flesh, and the Holy Spirit who truly works the Word within for our repentance and salvation.  Amen.