Grace Evangelical-Lutheran: 1. Kings 19,1-8. Oculi

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

The Word of the Lord Endures Forever

Verbum Domini Manet in Aeternum

1. Kings 19,1-8(9-13a) 1914

Okuli (3. Sonntag der Passionszeit) 026 „Mine eyes“

Victorian, Proconsul of Carthage, Martyr 484

Alvin L. Barry, Pastor, Theologian and Syn. President. ✠ 2001 23. März 2014

1. We, beseech Thee, Almighty God, look upon the hearty desires of Thy humble servants, and stretch forth the right hand of Thy Majesty, to be our Defence against all our enemies. Amen. (The Book of Common Prayer 89).

2. »Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying: „So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.“ Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying: „It is enough; now, O Yahweh, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.“ And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him: „Arise and eat.” And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again. And the Angel of Yahweh came again a second time and touched him and said: „Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.“ And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God. There he came to a cave and lodged in it. And behold, the word of Yahweh came to him, and He said to him: „What are you doing here, Elijah?“ He said: „I have been very jealous for Yahweh, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, thrown down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.“ And He said: „Go out and stand on the mount before Yahweh.“ And behold, Yahweh passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before Yahweh, but Yahweh was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but Yahweh was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but Yahweh was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.«

3. In this morning’s Gospel Lection Jesus exhorts people to follow Him (Luke 9,59), for He wants an absolute claim to the disciples’ allegiance (Gibbs 433). To follow Jesus means to surrender all guarantees of comfort or predictably stable existence (Gibbs 433), but these disciples have sought to qualify or demote the priority of Jesus and His authority (437). Jesus presents the disciples with the question of boundaries (Gibbs 439). Where will the line be drawn (Gibbs 439)? Which relationship will be primary (Gibbs 439). We cannot remain a disciple of Jesus if we demote the authority of Jesus to be on or even below the level of human authorities and responsibilities (Gibbs 439). We cannot look the Son of God in the eye and say: „You are not first“ (Gibbs 439).

4. Anyone who takes God seriously, must decide for a life of love and dedication (ELKB). The Bible tells of people whom God has challenged to extremes: such as Elijah who is exhausted and on the run from death (ELKB). King Ahab and Queen Jezebel wanted Elijah dead because he had prophesied against the idol Baal. Ahab and Jezebel had done much to solidify Baal worship in Israel, so much so that Elijah was one of a few thousands who remained faithful to Yahweh while millions had turned their devotion to idols. Following Elijah’s showdown with 450 priests of Baal on Mount Carmel, in which Yahweh proved Himself to be the One True God, Elijah fled from his king bent on revenge (1. Kings 18,17-40).

5. The One True God has manifested Himself in the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, the Son of God, Christ Jesus. Jesus calls us to follow Him, and tells us plainly: »No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the reign of God« (Luke 9,62). A more modern example will explain what Jesus is saying: No one who drives a car forward while looking out the back window is fit for the reign of God. Jesus tells us that being His disciple is not easy nor is it free. The cost of discipleship involves following Jesus all the way through to His journey to Jerusalem where He suffered, was crucified, died, was buried and rose from the grave. There are many distractions in this life that seek to divert our attention off the Christ who goes to Jerusalem to be crucified for the sin of the world.

6. Our culture is similar to what the Prophet Elijah experienced in Israel. The ten northern tribes under Jeroboam set Israel on the path of worshiping the Canaanite Baals rather than Yahweh (1. Kings 12,28-31). The king was so bold as to proclaim that it was Baal, and not Yahweh, who had redeemed them from Egyptian slavery hundreds of years prior. Israel was comfortable with such religious pluralism. All the gods were the same to them, and it did not matter if they worshipped Yahweh, Baal or some other local Canaanite idol. The same state of religiosity exists in our culture. Conventional American wisdom says: „All religions are equal. All religions offer a path to salvation. All religions have some truth in them.“ Christianity counters this conventional wisdom, saying: „Christianity is not equal to all the other religions in the world, for Christianity is far superior to them all. Only Jesus is the path to everlasting salvation. Only Christianity has the Truth, the whole Truth and nothing but the Truth.“ But many do not want to believe or accept these dogmatic claims of Christendom. Many churches and Christians wander away from historic Christianity and the focus on only Jesus.

7. Consider this statement in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s official magazine of The Lutheran:

„Ask most Christians what they think salvation means and you are likely to get some language about getting into heaven. If you probe deeper, you may hear there are certain things you must believe or say about Jesus because he is the one who issues the tickets into heaven. He is the bouncer who controls entrance into the velvet-roped VIP section reserved exclusively for those who call themselves Christian.

„What you are hearing is some version of the idea that if you practice religion in a particular way, you will be saved. Yet no religion can save us. God alone saves. We Christians do not believe in Christianity. We believe in God. God alone has the truth. God is truth. No religion possesses the whole truth on God. In our best moments, we know that Jesus is larger than any single religion“ (Marty).

This was written for the March 2014 edition of the magazine by a Lutheran pastor, The Rev. Peter W. Marty. His article gives the impression that you don’t really need Jesus to be saved, and that is universalism, a heresy that the Church has condemned for nearly 2000 years. He implies that Christianity is a religion, among many, that has some of the truth, but certainly not all the truth. He is not the only pastor in the ELCA who thinks this way.

8. Perhaps you are thinking: „Well, that’s the liberal ELCA Lutherans, and we’ve always known they are a few cards short in the theological deck. Such sentiments would never rear their ugly head in our pure and pristine LCMS.“ Our synod is not immune from taking our eyes off of Jesus and saying Jesus is one of many ways to heaven. To be sure, the number of pastors is far less than other denominations who would embrace universalism and deny Jesus as the only way of salvation, but we do have some pastors in our synod who defend such sentiments. I know of two pastors who were removed from the synodical roster for holding the very position that Jesus is not the only way to heaven. I know a few others who have made unbiblical statements and are under church discipline because they refuse to repent and believe what the Bible teaches. I also know several other theologians who think similarly but are shrewd enough to not utter such things publicly. These are all pastors and theologians in the LCMS. No denomination is immune from having people in their midst who clearly prefer Baal to Jesus.

9. Discipleship, therefore, is rigorous and diligent. We need to stop looking back over our shoulder and pining for the ways of the world and their false gods. The world promises peace, prosperity and acceptance if we would just acknowledge that their gods are equal to the Triune God. Jesus teaches us: »If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you because you are not of the world« (John 15,19). Jesus here defines the word Church, which comes from the Greek εκκλησια that means those who are called out. The world, however, is relentless in trying to draw Christians back into its idolatrous fold, therefore we must diligently set our eyes upon only Jesus.

10. The apostles, in their epistles, exhort us to stay focused on Jesus: »If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, then he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain« (1. Timothy 6,3-5). »But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete and equipped for every good work« (2. Timothy 3,14-17). There are countless other exhortations in the New Testament.

11. In a cave on Mount Horeb, Elijah heard the Voice of God and His Voice was merely a low whisper. That Whispering Voice, the Word of God, was made flesh and dwelt among us. The Word of God is Jesus Christ. He walked the path of suffering, crucifixion and resurrection in order to redeem the world from sin, death and the devil. We follow Jesus again this Lent on that path of cross and empty tomb. His death for sin is our death whereby our sin is wiped clean. His empty tomb is the first fruit that on the last day He will open all the tombs, empty them out and bring our resurrected body into union with our soul to live forever in His Divine Presence as one person of body and soul. Baal cannot do this, neither can spiritual meditation, nor any other gods in the world’s many religions. Only Jesus walked the path of crucifixion and the empty tomb, and He did for us and our eternal salvation. Amen.

12. Let us pray. O Christ Jesus, who stretched out Your hands to be nailed to the cross, guide our hands and order our steps as we live in Your glorious reign so that we may be able to tell of Your wondrous love and gracious forgiveness to our neighbors. Amen.

To God alone be the Glory

Soli Deo Gloria

✠

All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4. Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 27. Edition © 1993 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.

http://www.thelutheran.org/article/article.cfm?article_id=11874

Löhe, Wilhelm. Seed-Grains of Prayer: A Manual for Evangelical Christians. Wartburg Publishing House, Chicago circa 1912. Concordia Publishing House; Concordia on Demand.

Grace Evangelical-Lutheran

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

1. Kings 19,1-8. Oculi

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