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Ash Wednesday - Pastor Stiemke |
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ASH WEDNESDAY, (2-21-07)
Sir, we would see JESUS!
Emmanuel, Asheville, NC
2 Samuel 12: 13-14
In the Name of JESUS!
?¨Mercy and Pardon for the Penitent?Æ
?¨Then
David said to Nathan, ?´I have sinned against the Lord.?? Nathan replied,
?´The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. But
because by doing this you have made the enemies of the Lord show utter
contempt, the son born to you shall die??.?Æ 2 Samuel 12: 13-14
In the name of Jesus, our crucified, yet victorious Redeemer, dearly beloved:
Lent
is the time when we especially ponder the immeasurable suffering and
death of our Savior, Jesus Christ, to take away our sin. As we have
already been reminded by the Bible readings and Imposition of Ashes,
Lent is also a time to recall that our sin is the reason Jesus suffered
so very much. Because of our many failings both John the Baptizer and
our Savior began their ministries with the cry, ?¨Repent! For the
kingdom of heaven is near!?Æ [See Matthew 3:2 & 4; 17] Christ also
said, ?¨Unless you repent, you too will perish.?Æ [Luke 13: 3] Since
these strong directives are recorded in the Bible, they also apply to
every one of us without any exceptions. Thus, it is well for us to
meditate this Ash Wednesday upon what is involved in repentance and how
we can genuinely repent of our own sin and trespasses against the Lord.
One of the Biblical narratives that is helpful to us to grow in
a penitent, trusting relationship with our heavenly Father is the story
of King David and Bathsheba recorded in 2 Samuel, chapters 11 & 12.
I think many of you are familiar with this event ?± how one sin led
to another, as so often happens in our lives also. If you know the
story, you can recall that King David lusted for Bathsheba, another
man??s wife. That led to their committing adultery. When Bathsheba told
David they were now expecting a child, David as king set things in
motion so that her husband, Uriah, was killed in battle. Then David
married Bathsheba in an attempt to cover up his sins. But no one can
hide his wrongdoing, even our wayward thoughts and desires from our
all-knowing Lord.
In God??s faithfulness the Lord did not
forsake David in his sin so that he would end up in hell eternally.
Mercifully he sent the prophet Nathan to set the stage for David to
repent. Wisely the prophet, giving the impression that it was an actual
event, told David a parable which went like this: ?¨There was a rich man
and poor man living in the same village. The rich man had many sheep
and cattle. The poor man owned just one little ewe lamb, which was a
precious family pet. The poor man loved that lamb like a daughter. He
even slept with it.?Æ (David, of course, who grew up as a lad tending
sheep, could really identify with the poor man??s affection for his one
and only lamb.) Nathan continued, ?¨When a traveler came to visit the
rich man, instead of taking one of his own sheep or cows to feed the
traveler took the poor man??s little ewe lamb, slaughtered it, and
served that lamb for dinner.?Æ
David became furious upon hearing
this. He ordered the rich man not only to reimburse the poor man four
times the cost of the lamb, but stated that the rich man deserved to
die. With that, Nathan confronted the king, ?¨You are the man!?Æ Then he
reviewed how the Lord had made David king, delivering him from the hand
of King Saul when he tried to kill him. He went on to show how now
David was living in the king??s palace with many wives. The prophet did
not gloss over the fact that David had killed Uriah with the sword of
Ammonites. Note well: Nathan didn??t say that David had Uriah killed. He
condemned David as the murderer. He added that in all this David had
despised the Word of the Lord Himself. Then Nathan revealed that God
would cause David and his household to suffer the consequences of His
sinning and not repenting.
Suddenly David couldn??t hide behind
his false pretenses anymore. He faced the horror of his rebellion
against the Holy One of Israel and confessed, ?¨I have sinned against
the Lord.?Æ Note too: The king faced the fact that he not only sinned
against Uriah, Bathsheba, and others, as well as being a horrible
example for all God??s people, bit Hhe also knew deep in his heart that
above all he sinned against God Himself! It was only then that Nathan
could assure David that the Lord had taken away his sin. However,
though forgiven, David would still have to face the consequences for
his sin in the days to come. Among them was that the baby he fathered
would die.
This Biblical account helps us see anew how very
attractive sin can look and how one sin often leads to another. We see
reflected the tendency we have to cover up and deny our sin, but at the
same time the futility of doing so. Nothing can be hidden from God, who
even knows our thoughts, desires, feelings and our motives before we
have them. We all must face the fact that sin is sin, and it is always
against our holy and righteous God. Remember, too, that our sinful
deeds ultimately have consequences. So what are we to do? The answer,
of course, is ?¨REPENT!?Æ
But have we heard the word REPENT so
often that it has frequently become nothing more than a pat answer to
all our woes. If that is the case, you do not understand REPENTANCE.
Let??s take a closer look. How do we know we should repent and what does
this really involve. Well, obviously we need to repent because we sin
daily.
It was because God sent His prophet to speak His
corrective Word to David that he confessed his evil deeds. So, where
does the Lord speak to us today so that we repent? It??s through His
holy Word, the Bible. We certainly hear God??s Word shared, preached and
taught to us here in the Lord??s house. That Word may come from a
pastor, a family member, or caring friend. It is also critical that we
continue to take time during the week to spend time reading and
meditating on the Bible. Without spending time in the Word, we too
easily become callous and unwilling to repent. Then we??re in deeper
trouble and face the possibility of our being lost forever!
Of
even greatest importance is the truth that our loving God in heaven
faithfully forgives His people when with the help of the Holy Spirit
they are genuinely sorry for their sin and turn to Him for pardon. The
Hebrew word for ?¨repent?Æ literally means ?¨to do an about face.?Æ It is
through the Word of God that the Spirit empowers us to turn from our
sin to seek the forgiveness of the Holy Lord. Upon doing so, our God
does not turn away from us. As we shall hear in the coming weeks
therein was the difference between Peter and Judas. Peter turned back
to Jesus for His mercy, while Judas turned his back and eternally
walked away from his Savior.
To make forgiveness possible for us
wretched sinners, our heavenly Father even before the creation of the
universe chose His Son, Jesus, to make full payment for our
transgressions. Amidst the dark threads of this Lenten season with its
somber tones calling us to repent are the golden threads of Jesus??
unfailing love and mercy for us. That??s one of the main reasons Christ
suffered and died for us, that rising from the dead as Victor over all
our spiritual enemies, He might forgive us and cleanse us, granting us
the free gift of eternal life.
This day our faithful God sends
His prophet to confront us, saying, ?¨You are the man! You are the
woman! You are the child! ?± who has so sorely failed ME!?Æ May the Holy
Spirit enable us not to deafen our ears or harden our hearts to the
Lord??s righteous judgment! Rather may He in His mercy lead us to repent
even of our half-hearted repentance! Then by God??s undeserved love we
will flee today to the waiting arms of our forgiving Savior to hear Him
say,. ?¨I, the Lord, have taken away your sin!?Æ And when Jesus forgives,
our pardon is complete and sure! This has an unshakeable base in the
assurance of God??s holy Word, ?¨Christ died for our sins according to
the Scriptures.?Æ [1 Corinthians 15: 3], and He also ?¨was raised to life
for our justification.?Æ [Romans 4: 25] How I rejoice that this day
because of Jesus?? unfailing grace and forgiveness, I can say to you,
?¨Go in Christ??s peace!?Æ And the seal of the gift of Jesus?? peace you
will find in Holy Communion as our loving Savior feeds you by His
almighty power and promise with His body and blood for the forgiveness
of sins. Amen.
To GOD alone be the glory!
© The Reverend Frederick A. Stiemke, DD, Vacancy Pastor
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