Midweek Lent Service; Genesis 37: 12-36, 45: 1-11

"What is Lowered into the Pit, God will Raise Back Up.”

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Many in our day view the trials and temptations of life as something that is to be avoided at all costs.  The ultimate goal in life is to be rid of all that annoys, bothers, and oppresses.  And when they do come, they are viewed as a great calamity, proof that God cares nothing for them.  Yet, in our text for this evening, we see how this is not the case.  God sends days of sorrow and stress for the good.  And, as Christians, we should expect days of sorrow, days of feeling that the world is caving in all around us.  Yet, from these trials, God can make good come from them.  Though we, at times, feel alone, isolated like we’re at the bottom of a lonely pit, God can and does make what we view as bad work for the good, though we don’t always see it.  What is lowered into the pit, God will raise back up.

The pit, especially in the Old Testament, is not a place where a person wants to be.  The pit is a place of despair, death, separation from God - Sheol. 

            What makes going down into the pit even more horrible is when you’re cast down by your own brethren.  Moses records in our text, “They saw [Joseph] from afar, and before he came near to them they conspired against him to kill him.  They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer.  Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits...And Ruben said, to them, ‘Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him; And they took him and threw him into a pit.  The pit was empty; there was not water in it…”  Joseph was cast down into a pit so that his brothers would end his life in a jealous rage.  They coveted the favor their father, Jacob, showed to him.  They were angry at the dreams he had in which they would bow down to him.  They coveted the multi-colored (or long sleeved) coat that was presented to him by Jacob. 

The sons of Jacob lowered their brother, Joseph, down into the pit and sold him into slavery.  Yet the twenty shekels of silver they received for him is a minute amount when compared to load that our brother, Christ, bore into death.  Judas sold out Jesus for 20 shekels of silver, we put Christ into the pit of death by our many sins.  Our transgressions weighted upon Him.  Our countless iniquities sent Him to the cross.  There He was utterly abandoned by His Father, the many sins our Lord bore upon Himself were repugnant to the Father.  There on the cross He suffered anguish and He was brought very low, and finally, at the third hour death over took Him.  He was brought very low into the pit of death, the pit of hell and abandonment.    We need not look to the Jews who crucified Jesus.  It was all mankind and its sins that sent Christ to this pit of death. 

Yet, as in our text, what we see as evil, God works for the good.  Though Joseph might have been left for dead in the pit, he became highly exalted in the land of Egypt. Joseph rose in rank and stature to become a prominent man within Pharaoh’s house.  And, in the end what was meant to be an evil act, God ordained for their benefit, to preserve his family from the great famine that had befallen the land.  Joseph tells his brothers, “And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life… And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.”  Though Joseph was lowered into the pit, he was raised up, out of the ground, in order to bring life to his family.  He was sold for twenty shekels into bondage for twenty shekels of silver that God would work through him to provide Jacob and his family with their daily bread.

            Though the Jews meant for the crucifixion to be an evil act, and it was, God ordained it for the good.  Christ underwent their blows, their nails, and underwent His Father’s wrath for you, dear child of God.  Your many sins were laid upon Jesus and He did away with them at the cross. 

            Christ’s body, like Joseph, was placed into the bowels of the earth.  There our Lord lay lifeless.  But on the third day, He was raised up out of the ground to receive the most exalted position.  He now is seated in power at the right hand of the Father.  He has done this, dear friends in Christ, to bring us life.  For without Christ’s death and resurrection, we receive nothing good.  We would be in want and need, we would not have forgiveness or eternal life, we wouldn’t even have a crumb of bread or a drop of water.  All good things, all blessing flow from this act that man meant for evil, but God turned to good.  Through the cross we have received blessing upon blessing.  Chief among these are forgiveness, life, and salvation. 

Unless our Lord returns, you too will lie in the earth for a while.  But you have the certain hope that your body will be raised up to an exalted state.  Being with Christ for eternity, you will never again have to experience the trials, pains, or torments of this life.  This is what Christ has done for you.  This is the promise that you have been given by God Himself. 

            However, while we are here on earth, expect sadness and trials.  Yet, we have the comfort Jesus has undergone and conquered these very things.  What the devil and the world mean for evil, God can turn into our benefit.  Though, we can’t always answer the question, “Why.”  The hidden will of God will always be hidden to us.  However, God doesn’t always give us answers, He gives us promises.  Though we can’t always answer this question, God has promised us eternal life in His Son, He has promised the He will always be with us in His Word and Sacrament.   What has been lowered into the pit, God will raise back up.  Amen.

            The peace, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, now and forevermore.  Amen.

4th Sunday in Lent; Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

"The Father and His Sons"

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.

A loving father has two sons; two sons who are sinners.  The younger son is rebellious.  He goes to his father and demands his inheritance; he cares more for the money than he does for the father. He demands that his father’s last will be put into effect.  “Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.”  In other words, “Father, hurry up and die, I want the money.”  The father, then, does the foolish thing and divides the property.

            The son goes out, sows his wild oats.  He lives the highlife, he’s the life of the party. He gets all his sinful heart could desire.  He goes to a far away country, with his inheritance, to live the debauched life that he never could at home. 

            But, at last, the money ran out.  The party ended, and the morning-after suffering begins.  He hires himself out so that he could serve the pigs by bringing them their food.  And for a Jew, this was the worst job they possibly could have had.  Those pigs that he’s feeding are unclean.  But he became so hungry that he became jealous of the pigs that he served.  He longed to lower himself down into the pen and eat what they were eating.

            Finally, when he realized that he had hit rock bottom, he came to himself.  He rehearses his speech.  “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you.  I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.” 

            When he was a long way off, the father sees him in the distance.  What does the father do?  He hikes up his robes, bares his knees, and runs.  Dear people of God, land owners don’t run, noblemen don’t run, men of dignity don’t run.  But this father sprints to his lost son.  The son, who no doubt rehearsed his speech several times, begins to say to his father, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you.”  The father’s silence confirms his agreement of this statement.  “I am no longer worthy to be called your son.”  Again the father’s silence gives his approval to this statement as well.  But before the son can get out the words, “Treat me as one of your hired servants,” the father interrupts, cuts him off, the son will settle to be the father’s servant, but the father won’t have it.  The father, not the son, calls the shots when it comes to reconciliation.  He will not allow him to call himself a servant.  There is no condition to the father’s, love, compassion, and forgiveness.

            “But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.”

            But there was one who refused to celebrate.  The older son wants his brother to work his way back into the family.  He wants punishment.  He wants his brother to be cast into the servant’s quarters.  His father’s grace and love is a vile stench in his nose, he rejects it, he refuses to celebrate in the joy of the father’s love being poured over his younger brother. 

“He was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, 29 but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends.  But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’” 

The older brother doesn’t understand his father’s love.  He thinks he has to work for it.  Look at his words!  He’s saying, “I never disobeyed your commands, yet you never threw me a party for me and my friends.  If we’re keeping score, I’m way ahead of my brother but you never celebrated my working for you, you never slaughtered a fattened calf for my obedience. ”  He expects punishment for his brother; after all, isn’t that what disobedience deserves? 

He doesn’t get it.  The father’s love isn’t conditional on his works of righteousness.  The father isn’t pleased when his son whips out the scorecard and compares himself to his brother.  He isn’t pleased when he demands a party for his loyalty.  The father’s love is unconditional.  

Look at how the father responds to the older brother.  He says to him, “Son,” (that one word is a big deal!).  “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.  It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.”

Which son are you?  Are you the lost sinner, who lives as if the Father is dead?  Or are you the son who’s Mr. Scorekeeper, who begrudges the Father’s undeserved love, who expects some sort of reward for your own works of obedience?

We know this parable as the “Parable of the Prodigal Son,” but, though we identify with the prodigal son, the star of the parable isn’t the son won wishes his father was dead and later repents.  The star of the parable is the father.  Who lavishes his undeserved grace and kindness upon both his prodigal son and his stubborn son.

  That’s the point of the parable: Despite your sin, despite your rebellion, the Father says to you, “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.” Through the death of the obedient Son, our brother Jesus Christ, who does the Father’s will and leaves His inheritance, dwells with us unclean sinners, and wallows in shame and death on the cross, all that belongs to God is ours. We have a heavenly, eternal inheritance!  Through Christ, the Father shows foolish, reckless love to you and to me, calling us back from prodigal living, calling us back from self-righteousness and forgiving all our sin!  Who refuses to call us servants, but sprints to us, bowling us over in His love.

And God says that He’s always with us; He is ‘God with us,’ who dwells among us in grace, who celebrates when we repent. That’s where we receive this inheritance, this is where we dwell with God: at the celebration, the marriage feast of the Lamb in His Kingdom. “It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.” It is fitting, necessary that God would celebrate the finding of the lost, the making alive of the dead, for nothing else gives Him as much joy as making Prodigal Sons and Stubborn brothers His beloved children, to rejoice with Him forever.  Aman.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, unto life everlasting.  Amen.

Midweek Lenten Service; Genesis 25:29-34, 27:15-26, 33:1-10

Sermon Series: "Slowly in Type from Age to Age"

Title: "Esau and Jacob" or "The Younger Brother Gets What Belongs to the Older Brother"

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God the Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen. 

            Sibling rivalry is something many go through.  The jealousy.  The fighting.  The deceiving.  The vying for mom and dad’s attention.  For Isaac’s twins, Jacob and Esau, the rivalry began immediately.  If you remember, as Esau, the first born, came out with Jacob grabbing his heel.  Thus, he was named Jacob, meaning heel grabber- a Hebrew idiom that means one who deceives.  And we can pretty plainly see that Jacob lives up to his name.

            Look at how Jacob, the younger brother, deceives his older brother Esau.  “Once when Jacob was cooking stew, Esau came in from the field, and he was exhausted.  And Esau said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am exhausted!” (Therefore his name was called Edom.) Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright now.” Esau said, “I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?”  Jacob said, “Swear to me now.” So he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.” 

            The birthright was Esau’s, it was rightfully his, and yet he exchanges it for a pot of red stew.  But there’s more going on here than what appears.  Bear with me here…  The text describes what Jacob is doing as cooking stew.  Literally the text says that he’s boiling the boiling stuff.  The Hebrew word that’s used, (waw-yizeed) is also a word used for rebelliousness.  Jacob is, in a way, cooking up a pot of rebellion against his brother.  They exchange that which belongs to each them.  In exchange for Jacob’s stew, or his rebellion, so to speak, Jacob gets Esau’s birthright.

            But Jacob doesn’t stop there.  When Isaac sends Esau out in the field to hunt game for him, Rebekah sends Jacob into Isaac’s tent dressed in Esau’s clothing, in order to trick Isaac into giving the younger brother the blessing that belongs to the older brother. 

            You’d think that for all of this, Esau would have held a life-long grudge against Jacob.  And, initially, Esau does want to kill Jacob.  Wouldn’t you?  Jacob has taken, by deception, all the good stuff that belongs to the older brother, while Esau gets the short end of the stick.

            But a Cain and Abel style murder scene isn’t how this story resolves.  After Jacob had been away for a time, he returns with his wives Leah and Rachel, and his children.  He sees Esau coming with 400 men and assumes his life is quickly coming to an end.  So, he does what any terrified younger brother who stole the birthright and the blessing would do… He grovels.  He sends gifts to Esau, his children bow down to him, Leah and Rachel bow down to him, and he, himself, bows down to him.  But Esau doesn’t slay his brother, rather, he forgives him.  Jacob exclaims, “For I have seen your face, which is like seeing the face of God, and you have accepted me.” 

            Doesn’t this relationship that Esau and Jacob have, in many ways mirror our relationship with Christ?  Like Jacob, we’re the younger brother who cooks up rebellion.  We rebel against God by our many sins of thought, word, and deed.  We deserve death for our rebelliousness; everlasting death.  By all rights, our older brother, Jesus, should strike us down… But He doesn’t.

 Rather Jesus, like Esau, forgives.  He undergoes sorrow and the cross in order that our sins would be forgiven.  In Esau, Jacob sees the face of God in his absolution and with our brother, Jesus, He shows us the face of God as He forgives you again and again.  Jesus, too, forgives our rebelliousness. 

Our older brother, Christ, gives to us His, younger brothers and sisters, that which belongs to Him.  We give Him our sin and rebelliousness and He gives us His birthright and the Father’s blessing.  He endures the suffering, going to the cross, and we receive the good stuff.  He takes our sin and He gives us His Salvation. 

            And, like Jacob, you are even clothed in His very garments of His holy righteousness and presents you to the Father.  And the blessing that the Father gives to Jesus, “You are my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” He also gives of you in your baptism.

              Because Jesus has gone to the cross for you, there is no sibling rivalry between Him and us.  He takes our sin and rebellion willingly, because He loves us.  Though we are undeserving of it, He shows us the face of One who seeks to absolve and forgive each of our rebellious thoughts and deeds.  Our older Brother forgives, without condition.  For you.  Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting.  Amen.