Concordia Lutheran Church
22nd Week of Pentecost, November 8, 2009
“It’s Been Dealt With!!!”
Hebrews 9:24-28
† IN JESUS NAME †
May you grasp that you have been given the grace, the peace, and the mercy of God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ!
The Krisis
If you knew you were guaranteed to survive….
If you knew it had been dealt with…
Would you look to getting past it?
I have a challenge for all of you this morning. I need a few of you to answer a question. The question itself isn’t difficult, but perhaps answering it will be a little uncomfortable. For some, to answer it will take some courage.
Ready?
If you could be a superhero, which one would you be? Why?
(get 4 or 5 answers)
Interesting….
As a culture, we are captivated by superheroes, and sometimes, super-villains. Heroes who can stand during the most severe crisis, despite a single devastating weakness. Superman has kryptonite, the Hulk had his anger, Aquaman was worthless out of water, Indiana Jones couldn’t deal with snakes, Batman had Robin.
Despite their weaknesses, there is a comfort that knowing, it is rare in a superhero movie for the hero to die, they will survive. They know how to deal with a crisis, or at least know how to survive them. It is no wonder that in tough economic times, superhero movies thrive. We want to know that we to will survive our own crisis. We want to know that there is a happy ending, or at least one where relief is found, until next time, at this same time, on this same channel.
That leads to my next question, perhaps a bit more rhetorical. If you knew at the beginning of a crisis, that you would survive the crisis, would you act differently during it? If you knew the problems in advance would be taken care of, would you look at the challenge differently? Would you hesitate less about reaching out to someone else?
Our epistle reading from Hebrews today, tells of a true krisis, the greatest krisis and shares with us that we shall survive, that we shall thrive, that we shall know peace, God’s peace….
But let us first talk of the krisis.
The Krisis to come
Set to come…
It has been noted that during a crisis, true character is revealed. That we can judge a man or woman’s character by how they react in the midst of the trying time that follows the event. That is consistent with the origin of the word, which is “to judge”.
When faced with a krisis, we reveal our true character, our morals, our values, our strengths, and yes, our weaknesses. Even more we reveal who, and what we value. For the believer in Jesus, we also reveal the strength of our faith, and whether that has matured in Him.
Will we follow through, or will we use the krisis as an excuse for breaking promises, and rude behavior. Will we abandon morals based on His standards, will we chase after other gods, will we try to scheme to get what we think we need. Will we attack the reputation of others, or
According to our passage today, there is one final judgment. It comes after what is common to everyone, that everyone will sooner or later face. A judgment that appears final, that nothing can be hidden, all will be known. A krisis of epic proportion, where we have to face the fact that we aren’t superheros, that we do have weaknesses, that we don’t measure up to the standards.
Hebrews tells us, “it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,”
It’s been dealt with
Once and for all
Once for Many..
Once for us
Face to face with the father
So what hope is there for us mere mortals? It too is found in our reading from Hebrews.
You see, when Jesus Christ died on the cross, it wasn’t just for one sin, or the sins of the people in one year. The Old Testament sacrifice was a copy, of that which was planned from the beginning of the world.
Eve as the blood of the sacrifices would be brought to the Tabernacle, and later the temple, by a priest, and offered up to God, so Christ would offer up His own blood for the sins of many. That just as the high priest would represent people in the holiest place, so too would Jesus enter the presence of God in heaven, to speak on our behalf.
In Revelation, chapter 20, the judgment scene pictures all people standing before the throne of God. The first set of books are opened, and all are judged by what they had done.
It is the equivalent of the judgment of the jury coming back, and based on what we had done, we are found guilty, for none except Jesus is not guilty. But because of His sacrifice, only needed once, there is another book…. The book of Life.
And if our name is there, as one of the people God has made his, we are not sentenced, for Christ already was, on our behalf. And He is there, right there, in front of the Father, appearing on our behalf.
And now we wait, and celebrate, His coming for us!
I asked you, in the beginning, if you knew you would survive a crisis, how would you live through it. We know we face a judgment to come, yet we are assured by the sacrifice of Jesus, and by His appearing before the Father, that we are not condemned.
Confident of that, can you survive the challenges of today? The crisis of tomorrow?
Hebrews tells us that Christ will come again, this time not to deal with sin, but to save us, to deliver us to the Father. It says those who eagerly await Him…
So let us look forward to that day, knowing that we shall dwell with God, in all His glory, for eternity. For living in that way, is truly the gift of repentance, the complete changing of our mind, putting on that which is Christ. Not thinking of ourselves, for we know our lives are enmeshed with His. Repentance isn’t just being sorry, it is ling with another mindset, one focused on our rescue, one focused on how we live, knowing we survive the crisis of the Krisis.
So relax and know your Father in Heaven loves you. Then you know peace. His peace. Which passes all understanding and guards your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
AMEN?
