St Matthew 21:1-11/Philippians 2:5-11/St Matthew 26-27
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
Instant self-gratification characterizes our generation. We are not about doing something for someone else. We are about getting as much as we can for ourselves by doing as little as possible - or perhaps by doing nothing at all. Self-improvement is by its very nature self-serving.
Anyone who feels a little remorse about stopping at the drive-thru or eating an entire package of cookies can use Lent to turn his life around. Lent is about self-denial. Self-denial builds endurance in the face of obstacles. And endurance builds character. Character means that eventually I will get the rewards to which I am entitled. Lent allows us to clean up our act in a “Christian” way. Self-denial replaces instant self-gratification with the promise of something more substantive later.
But this kind of Lent is the worst kind of self-absorption. We have deluded ourselves.
Against this pop-Christian notion of self-denial leading to self-improvement, St Paul writes, Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jess, who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself.
Self denial in the Christian context does literally mean the denial of self, but not in terms of self-improvement. Rather, it comes by way of the Cross; in the suffering of the body, and the anguish of the soul with no apparent cause or reason. Self-denial during Lent does not mean rewards on Easter. It is not a matter of Easter coming after Lent, but of Lent coming after Lent. Jesus said, If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me (Mt 16:24); St Luke adds, take up his cross daily and follow Me (9:23).
Christianity is not a religion of self-worth. It takes away. Standing before the form of the crucified Jesus is not a matter of self-denial. Before the Cross we are already nothing. We have nothing to surrender. Nothing to sacrifice. Nothing to give up or deny. We are already grass ready to be burned.
But the One who could make every claim upon God makes no claim for Himself; but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. He who personified righteousness and holiness and perfection and sanctification chose to be Sin and to receive the condemnation of God. He who is life chose death. In the face of divine self-denial, our pitiful attempts wither away into nothing.
And so we are left empty. Which is precisely where our Lord would have us. Other religions are ways of life, not Christianity. If you want advice, try Judaism. A good cup of coffee and some proverbs. We’re so deluded. We think we can conquer the world. We can’t even get along with our families.
If you need to vent your spleen, get your ire out, try Islam. Holy war. A religion of minimal rules and maximal Pharisaism. Eastern religions teach a person to look for the true meaning of life within. Maybe the New Age Movement? Nothing is more self-satisfying that thinking about yourself, pampering yourself. If you want a sampling of all of these with a dose of Christian trimmings, turn on the Sunday morning evangelical preachers.
The Christianity of the Cross is not about self-gratification. Crucifixes remind us of what we would rather forget. Because the crucifix demands that we look in mirror. Crucifixion means that God is deadly serious. But this is exactly what is to be preached! The Cross is why one person believes and another doesn’t. Signs and miracles do not create faith. The preaching of Christ crucified does. Lent is more than waiting for Easter. Lent is not the prelude to final happiness. Lent is self-contained joyful suffering.
Don’t rush forward to Easter, not yet. Stay in Lent. God is here, serving. The Lord is present in the midst of human tragedy. In humility and obedience Christ Jesus offered up Himself in death; and that in the most despised and cursed death - hung upon the Tree, cut off from God.
This is not merely your example, this is yours in Christ Jesus! The crucifixion is the permanent reality where you find God. Or rather, where God finds you. For when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to Myself (Jn 12:31). We come here, Palm Sunday and throughout this Holiest of Weeks, not in derision, but in faith. Behold your Lord! Hail Him as King! Take the palm in your hand and cry, Hosanna, save us, save us now, O Lord!
We shall indeed go to Easter, but in hesitation, not because we do not believe, but because we do not want to leave His Cross which is our Life.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
(The above is adapted from portions of a sermon preached by Rev. Dr. David P. Scaer at Zion Lutheran Church, Ft Wayne, IN on Palm Sunday 1994.)
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
Instant self-gratification characterizes our generation. We are not about doing something for someone else. We are about getting as much as we can for ourselves by doing as little as possible - or perhaps by doing nothing at all. Self-improvement is by its very nature self-serving.
Anyone who feels a little remorse about stopping at the drive-thru or eating an entire package of cookies can use Lent to turn his life around. Lent is about self-denial. Self-denial builds endurance in the face of obstacles. And endurance builds character. Character means that eventually I will get the rewards to which I am entitled. Lent allows us to clean up our act in a “Christian” way. Self-denial replaces instant self-gratification with the promise of something more substantive later.
But this kind of Lent is the worst kind of self-absorption. We have deluded ourselves.
Against this pop-Christian notion of self-denial leading to self-improvement, St Paul writes, Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jess, who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself.
Self denial in the Christian context does literally mean the denial of self, but not in terms of self-improvement. Rather, it comes by way of the Cross; in the suffering of the body, and the anguish of the soul with no apparent cause or reason. Self-denial during Lent does not mean rewards on Easter. It is not a matter of Easter coming after Lent, but of Lent coming after Lent. Jesus said, If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me (Mt 16:24); St Luke adds, take up his cross daily and follow Me (9:23).
Christianity is not a religion of self-worth. It takes away. Standing before the form of the crucified Jesus is not a matter of self-denial. Before the Cross we are already nothing. We have nothing to surrender. Nothing to sacrifice. Nothing to give up or deny. We are already grass ready to be burned.
But the One who could make every claim upon God makes no claim for Himself; but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. He who personified righteousness and holiness and perfection and sanctification chose to be Sin and to receive the condemnation of God. He who is life chose death. In the face of divine self-denial, our pitiful attempts wither away into nothing.
And so we are left empty. Which is precisely where our Lord would have us. Other religions are ways of life, not Christianity. If you want advice, try Judaism. A good cup of coffee and some proverbs. We’re so deluded. We think we can conquer the world. We can’t even get along with our families.
If you need to vent your spleen, get your ire out, try Islam. Holy war. A religion of minimal rules and maximal Pharisaism. Eastern religions teach a person to look for the true meaning of life within. Maybe the New Age Movement? Nothing is more self-satisfying that thinking about yourself, pampering yourself. If you want a sampling of all of these with a dose of Christian trimmings, turn on the Sunday morning evangelical preachers.
The Christianity of the Cross is not about self-gratification. Crucifixes remind us of what we would rather forget. Because the crucifix demands that we look in mirror. Crucifixion means that God is deadly serious. But this is exactly what is to be preached! The Cross is why one person believes and another doesn’t. Signs and miracles do not create faith. The preaching of Christ crucified does. Lent is more than waiting for Easter. Lent is not the prelude to final happiness. Lent is self-contained joyful suffering.
Don’t rush forward to Easter, not yet. Stay in Lent. God is here, serving. The Lord is present in the midst of human tragedy. In humility and obedience Christ Jesus offered up Himself in death; and that in the most despised and cursed death - hung upon the Tree, cut off from God.
This is not merely your example, this is yours in Christ Jesus! The crucifixion is the permanent reality where you find God. Or rather, where God finds you. For when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to Myself (Jn 12:31). We come here, Palm Sunday and throughout this Holiest of Weeks, not in derision, but in faith. Behold your Lord! Hail Him as King! Take the palm in your hand and cry, Hosanna, save us, save us now, O Lord!
We shall indeed go to Easter, but in hesitation, not because we do not believe, but because we do not want to leave His Cross which is our Life.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
(The above is adapted from portions of a sermon preached by Rev. Dr. David P. Scaer at Zion Lutheran Church, Ft Wayne, IN on Palm Sunday 1994.)
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