Body Building

            The human body is a mind-blowing feat of divine engineering; its design and complexity are all you really need to make the case for a Creator. Just think about the human heart for a moment.

The heart continuously pumps oxygen and nutrient-rich blood throughout the body to sustain life. This fist-sized powerhouse expands and contracts 100,000 times per day, pumping five or six quarts of blood each minute, or about 2,000 gallons per day. As the heart beats, it pumps blood through a system of blood vessels, called the circulatory system. This system of blood vessels -- arteries, veins, and capillaries -- is over 60,000 miles long. That's long enough to go around the world more than twice! And how we need that blood to circulate: in addition to carrying fresh oxygen from the lungs and nutrients to the body's tissues, it also takes the body's waste products, including carbon dioxide, away from the tissues. This is necessary to sustain life and promote the health of all parts of the body. Your heart is the pump that makes it all possible.

            There are a number of ways that the Bible describes the church. One of the most memorable is the one that Saint Paul uses in his first letter to the Corinthian Christians. He writes, “We were all baptized by one Spirit into one body…now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”

 You’ve probably heard those words before: one body in Christ; the church is the body of Christ in the world—you’ve heard that, I’m guessing, but do you believe it? Do you understand yourself as being part of something bigger than you? Since you are part of this body—or else you wouldn’t be here right now—do you know what your function is within this body?

            Thinking of ourselves as parts of a singular body, in which we belong to and rely on each other is a challenge. It goes against the grain of how we normally like to operate, which is to say, as free agents. We like to honor the rugged individual. We cheer for the person who says, ‘right or wrong, I did it my way.’ The Word of God takes us in a much different direction. The Bible honors our individuality—we are uniquely created and adopted one by one in the waters of baptism— yet we are never just an individual. Paul says, “You are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” Because we are baptized and because we believe in Christ, we are part of something beyond ourselves. It isn’t a matter of wanting to be part of it or trying to be part of it; it just is.

This means that you are playing a part in presenting Jesus Christ to our world. There are privileges that go with that. There are benefits that go with that. And there are responsibilities that go with that, which is where Paul is going when he writes, “The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor…But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.”

            Do you see where Paul is going with that? A finger is no good without a hand. A hand is no good without an arm. An arm by itself won’t get anywhere without a shoulder, and so on. The parts of the body need each other. The parts of the body of Christ need each other. When one part hurts, the whole body hurts with it. When a part is in good shape, it helps the other parts along. In fact, the stronger parts have a special responsibility to care for the weaker parts. At the same time, parts that may seem to weaker actually have functions you can’t do without.

Some of you may remember that in March of 1981, President Ronald Reagan was shot by John Hinckley, Jr., and was hospitalized for several weeks. Although Reagan was the nation's chief executive, his hospitalization did not cause the nation’s business to grind to a halt. The work of government continued on. On the other hand, suppose all the garbage collectors in our community just decided to stop collecting garbage. What would happen? Not only would things become a mess, but the pile of decaying trash would quickly become a health hazard. What’s the point? The point is, Presidents are important, but so are trash collectors, even though we look at them as vastly different jobs. That’s also true in the Church.

In the body of Christ, there is no such thing as an insignificant part. As Paul reminds us, "The head cannot say to the feet, 'I don't need you!' On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable" (I Cor. 12:21-22).

            God’s Word challenges you today to embrace being a member of the body of Christ. Now why would somebody do that?

 Because not only can you gain support and help from being part of that body, but you gain a purpose. You gain a mission and you need this. You need to feel that your life has value. Being a member of Christ’s body provides that in a way nothing else can. Being a member of Christ’s body attaches you to the actions and activity of Jesus Christ. What does that mean? It means: Jesus came to save people from hell and redeem His creation. As a member of the body of Christ, you’re an agent of that salvation; you’re a conduit of forgiveness and love that comes from Christ Himself. You are! Paul says it. You are the body of Christ. Do you embrace it? Do you live it?

            Paul tells us how to live it. He goes on to describe what being the body means in practical terms. He writes: “And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues.” And then Paul asks: does every Christian serve in the same way? Of course, the answer is “no.”

Can you tell others what God has said in the Bible? Use that gift. Can you gladly put the needs of others before your own? Use that gift. Can you explain the truth of God in a way that helps others understand? Use that gift. Can you encourage and motivate others in their walk with God? Use that gift. Do you happily participate in funding the mission of the Church? Use that gift. Can you influence others to follow Jesus faithfully? Use that gift. Do you have the gift of performing works of mercy? Use it. You get it, don’t you? The body of Christ is not a body full of hands, or one big mouth. When your hands serve, when your words encourage, when your shoulder bears a burden, Jesus is serving and encouraging and bearing burdens through you.

Remember putting your face above a headless frame painted to represent a muscle man, a clown, or even a bathing beauty? Many of us have had our pictures taken this way, and the photos are humorous because the head doesn't fit the body. If we could picture Jesus as the head of this body of believers, would our community laugh at the misfit? Or would they stand in awe of a human body so closely related to its head?

            The body of Christ does not sit around doing nothing; nor does it exist primarily to serve itself. The body of Christ is active; it is busy looking for people to help and love and save. You are a part of this. You have a gift to give and a unique role to play. Our world needs it. We need it. He will do it.

Lord of the Banquet

History is filled with important debuts. Actors break out with a memorable debut role. Musicians have a debut single that puts them on the map. An author has a debut novel hit the top of the New York Times best seller list. Sometimes we refer to these as overnight successes, but in almost every case, an awful lot of hard work and planning went into making that debut go well.

That’s partially what makes Jesus’ debut miracle seem a little bit strange. John calls Jesus’ miracle at the wedding of Cana the first of his signs. A sign of what? A sign of who He is. A flag, a marker saying “I can do anything. I am God’s Son in human flesh.” But the strange thing is, the miracle at the wedding isn’t that dramatic. This is not the debut that we might imagine for the Son of God. Where we might dream up a big splash, something to shock the world, Jesus changes water into wine so that a wedding party isn’t ruined. That’s nice…it saves face for this new family, but it isn’t exactly an earth-shattering debut. Or is it? What was Jesus up to at that wedding?

What makes things even more odd is the little exchange between Jesus and Mary, his mother. Mary finds out that the wedding party has run out of wine, an embarrassing situation, certainly. Mary brings her concern to Jesus. She knows what he can do. But his response? He says: “Woman, why do you involve me? My hour is not yet come.” You can almost imagine Mary saying “Don’t talk to your mother that way!” She doesn’t do that. But this doesn’t sound like the Jesus who welcomed the children—the Jesus whom we imagine was Mr. Nice Guy to everyone-- this sounds like Jesus with an attitude. Well, I don’t think it’s that, really. Jesus means no disrespect. He may have even said these words with a knowing smile on his face. The actor who portrays Jesus in the movie “The Gospel of John” plays it that way. But the fact of the matter is that Jesus had an awful lot on his mind, sitting there at that wedding.

Think this through with me. Over and over again, when Jesus told stories about the kingdom of God, He compared it to a wedding banquet. Some decades later, when the apostle Paul wrote about Jesus’ relationship to the church, he compared it to a groom and a bride. The book of Revelation concludes with a vision of a Bride waiting for her groom—the Church waiting for Jesus to make all things new. So rewind now to Jesus, just beginning his ministry, sitting there at a wedding reception. There’s laughter. There’s joy. In the midst of that festive scene, Jesus is thinking about His wedding feast. Hasn’t happened yet. He’s thinking about his Bride, the church—in other words, all people who will come to believe in Him and trust in Him and love Him. It’s a beautiful thought to Jesus—it was the joy set before him, to borrow a phrase from the Bible. But it was also a horrible thought. Why horrible? Because Jesus also knew, in order to cement His relationship with His Bride, he would have to pay a terrible price. In order to draw all people to Himself in love, he would have to be raised up from the earth, ravaged by physical pain, tormented by the rejection of His Father on the cross. That’s why He tells his mother, “My hour has not yet come.” He’s talking about the hour of his death—the hour in which He will make an eternal vow to His Bride. He knows that he has to go through the cross and the tomb to get to the Feast. All of this, on Jesus’ mind, sitting there with a party going on around Him—and it’s a party that’s about to fail—so He gets up from the table and saves the day. By the power of His Word, He creates about 150 gallons of premium wine for the guests to enjoy. The master of ceremonies is astounded. Where were they hiding the good stuff? he wonders. His mother knew and his disciples knew where it had come from, and John tells us that after experiencing this, they believed in Him.

Do you see what Jesus was up to at this wedding? He uses a real-life, potentially embarrassing situation to make His debut as the Lord of the Banquet. He gives us a picture of why he has come. What Jesus is doing in the world is setting up the greatest festival celebration that could ever be imagined. He’s coming to get His Bride, the Church, all believers, and He’s willing to pay the ultimate price to secure her love. When he does, when He makes that vow, the joy will be complete and it will never end.

Do you see where this touches your life? Right here in the Church, the party has already started. Jesus brings the sweetest wine and the greatest love to His table, this feast-before-the-feast we call Holy Communion. It is terribly ironic that sin causes to many people to keep Jesus at a distance, why? Because they think that if they go in His direction, that if they actually start following Jesus, they won’t get to have any more fun. But what the wedding of Cana tells us and what the Lord’s Supper tells us is that Jesus brings real celebration!  He is, in every sense, the Life of the Party. He wants people to have “life to the full.” And so, even now, as we live in a disintegrating culture, Jesus invites us to take His loving sacrifice into ourselves and be restored. Even as we live with broken relationships and unresolved issues, Jesus invites us to be drawn into a life-saving relationship with Him. Even as we live in a war with ourselves, battling guilt and our own conscience, Jesus invites us to come and receive the forgiveness of our sins. He purifies us by the same powerful word that changed water into wine. Every time the Lord’s Supper is offered here at this altar, you have the opportunity to enter into festival joy that is total and yet is only a preview of the celebration that is coming.

So what do you think of Jesus’ debut miracle? He sat there in the midst of joy, tasting his coming sorrow, so that, in the midst of our sorrow, we can taste the coming joy. It’s here for you today. Come to the Feast.

God's Gift of Baptism

Imagine this scene, if you will. It’s a Sunday morning worship service; the front pews are packed with unfamiliar guests. Near the conclusion of the first hymn, four adults stand up, and one of them, holding a baby, comes forward to the altar. All of them look nervous, as if they might turn and suddenly sprint down the center aisle. The pastor reads from the hymnal and then motions for the adults to take the baby over to the side, where a gold basin is waiting. After speaking some more words together with the congregation, the pastor reaches into the bowl and douses the child three times as he says the name of God: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. After a few prayers and a final blessing, the adults, looking visibly relieved, take their places back in the pew.
Now let me ask you a question. In that scenario, what just happened?
Some might say, “nothing much.” Some might say, “it was a rite of passage not unlike rituals in other cultures.” Some might say, “it was something we did to get Grandma off our backs.” Some others might say, “this symbolizes your sins being washed away.” Some other others might say, “I’m not sure what happened nor do I really care, but the baby sure was cute.”
Now, let me tell you what the Bible says just happened. Saint Paul writes that a person who is baptized is united with Jesus Christ in a death like his and is united with Jesus in a resurrection like his. So that baby held above the baptismal font has been connected to the crucifixion of Christ, and has risen with Jesus’ resurrection. Everything that Jesus did—everything that Jesus is—has been poured onto that little one and the same is true for anyone who has been baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. In baptism, you die and live again with Jesus. That’s not just picture language. That’s reality for the Christian. What does that really mean? Listen to Paul:
“Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again…so you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.” Dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
What might life be like if you and I kept this in mind? How might life be different if we remembered the value of our baptism every single day? How might the way you look at yourself be different if you just took the time to remember that God chose to adopt you in baptism? May I boldly suggest that if we would only take the time to reflect on what God has done for us in baptism, our whole outlook on life could be drastically different. But the truth is that much of the time our outlook on life is not that different from a non-Christian’s. We just plain forget (or don’t know what it means) that we’re baptized people.
Part of that may be due to the fact that you have no memory of the event because you were an infant at the time. Fair enough. I fall into that category. But our neglect of baptism’s blessings probably has more to do with our sinful nature than our memory. What I mean is this: baptism is an offense to all man-made religion. The biblical practice of baptism is offensive to all of mankind’s homemade, homegrown attempts to get to God. Why? Because God is the one doing the action. Part of the problem I naturally have with baptism is that I didn’t DO anything—it just happened TO me. And the sinner in me doesn’t like the sound of that at all. The sinner in me wants the credit for everything—even my eternal destiny. And that’s what so many people who live right next door to you believe—that there is no doubt that they will go to heaven when they die because why? They have been a good person. And along comes baptism, a practice founded on the Biblical teaching that human beings are dead in their sins unless God intervenes—a practice founded on the Biblical teaching that you don’t have it in you to climb up the ladder to God, so He climbs down the ladder to you—and there’s something about that truth that human pride just hates. This is one area where we ought to always let God’s Word change our mind, because it is so easy for something even like Christian faith to be about ME and how I’m doing and what I’m feeling and how hard I’m working. Returning to the Bible’s description of baptism is like pushing the reset button and starting over from the beginning. Baptism is the visible, tangible working out of this fact: the work of saving you from imprisonment in hell is God’s work alone. The work of building a bridge from earth to heaven is the work of Jesus Christ alone. The delivery system by which you receive the gifts that only he could give is baptism.
And so in today’s Gospel we are presented with a curious sight: there’s Jesus going down into the water to get baptized. It’s true that Jesus did not need baptism to be forgiven. We needed Jesus to be baptized, so that he would be “the first one in the water.” Jesus was wading into the water of our sin. He got covered with our dirt. In the Jordan River he began his work of doing things he didn’t have to do for people who couldn’t do them. Part of the baptismal bond you and I have with Jesus is this amazing exchange: Jesus gets our sin, and we get his perfection. Jesus gets our punishment, and we get the rewards that he earned. Now that does not seem “fair,” but that is the Gospel, and thank God—literally—that it’s the truth.
The baptismal connection that you have with Jesus is much like the umbilical cord that connects a mother and child in the womb. Of course, we know that a mother supplies nutrients and oxygen to her child through that cord in a continuous flow, things that keep the child alive and growing. What you may not think of is that the child sends something back through the cord as well. The baby sends back poisonous wastes, and the mother eliminates them for her child. Baptism is that connecting cord between Jesus and you. Through God’s extraordinary baptismal connection, all the waste of your sin flows continuously to Jesus and is removed forever by his shed blood—He’s absorbed all your poison into his body. In return, Jesus’ life-giving strength and perfection flow continuously to you. His life is always being renewed in you! And since you are connected with Jesus in this way, you stand next to him in the water as the Father says: "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased." The words apply to Jesus, and they apply to you, too. You are God’s beloved child. He is well pleased with you. You can consider yourself dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Live in your Baptism!

Wisdom of the Wise Men

Epiphany is the day set aside to remember the journey of the wise men to worship Jesus. There’s some time and distance between Christmas and Epiphany, and that’s by design. The clues that are given in Matthew’s gospel lead us to believe that the wise men arrived after the immediate events of Jesus’ birth. One of those clues is the fact that Matthew tells us the wise men found the Holy Family in a house, not a stable, so we assume a little bit of time had passed; rooms had opened up; and they had upgraded from the stable. So if you’ve ever wondered why the Church waits to mention the mysterious Magi, that’s why. A little time passes between shepherds and wise men.

Have you ever wondered who these wise men really were? Where were they from—besides “the East”? What was it about the star that caused them to undertake such an expensive journey? Matthew keeps the details to a minimum, and where Scripture is silent, people love to fill in the blanks.

For example, there’s the old Epiphany standard, “We Three Kings of Orient Are.” Dr. Paul Maier points out in his book “The First Christmas” that in just the opening line of that song, three assumptions are made. Let’s examine them. First is the number three. “We Three Kings.” The three wise men…it is simply assumed that three magi came to worship the newly-born King of Israel. But does Scripture support that? Not necessarily. A close reading of Matthew 2 reveals that Matthew never mentions a number in connection with the wise men. The only grouping of three we are told about is the three gifts given to Jesus; and from that the assumption was made: three gifts, three givers; one gift per wise man. Now that’s possible—but it’s also possible that there were two or twelve. Matthew never says.

Next, there’s the “Kings” of the title, which is in the right neighborhood, but probably says too much. Historical research tells us that magi were not kings per se, but would likely serve as top advisers to heads of state in the ancient world. The name says a lot: Magi were both magistrates and magicians. They were part college professor; part doctor; part astrologer; part fortune teller. Today they might be called “futurists.” But whatever they were, they were not Chief Executives—more like cabinet members.

Then there’s the “Orient” of the title. That’s probably going a little too far east, given what we know about the Magi of Babylon and Persia (which correspond to modern-day Iraq and Iran). Located east of Israel, the histories of those cultures provide us with most of what we know about Magi, and in the case of Babylon, there would have been direct interaction between Israelites and Magi during the exiles, which may explain why the Magi were interested in this particular star in the first place.

All of which is to say that the Magi are mysterious figures when you really go digging for information.

But there is no mystery as to why they made the journey. It was to worship the Child. It was to present their gifts to the King. God had met them where they were at, right there in their astronomy charts, and told them, the world-changer has come. About that Matthew leaves no doubt.

Even little children know the gifts that they brought: gold, frankincense and myrrh, and much has been said about the significance of those gifts. Today I just want to bring the story of the mysterious Magi down to a simple level. Here’s a review of the facts we know: some non-Jewish, extremely well-educated individuals went through a lot of personal and political trouble to bring their gifts; their worship; to Jesus. On a global level, this signifies that Jesus is for everyone, regardless of ethnicity, gender, or social standing. Much closer to home, we see the wise men bring Jesus their gifts and their worship…giving us the chance to ask ourselves, “What gift do I have for Jesus? What gift can I bring the King of creation?”

After all, he is the greatest gift, born into the world to help the helpless—to save us from eternal darkness—to bathe us in the life-giving light of his forgiveness. His birth and perfect life—his suffering and death—his own resurrection and ascension into heaven to rule over everything—all is pure gift. Jesus is God’s gift to us sinners, who would be spiraling downward to destruction if He were not given to us. But Jesus was given—God, in flesh and blood, came to rescue you and me—and Jesus is given—that same flesh and blood is offered in His Church through wine and bread for the forgiveness of your sins. He’s come to promise you eternal joy in heaven. There’s no other gift like this.

So as we kneel alongside the Magi, I ask you again, what gift will you bring to Jesus? We can learn a lot from our children, you know. I once asked a group of four and five-year-olds that same question: “What gift will you bring to Jesus?” and do you know what one little girl said immediately? She said, “My heart.” I’m not sure a better  answer could be given to that question. “My heart is the gift I will bring.”

What else would Jesus really want? He wants your heart—as broken or scarred or corrupt as it might be. He wants the very heart of you; He wants you to turn away from sin and to turn to Him. He wants you to stop placing your trust in the wisdom of the world, and wants you to place your trust in Him instead. He wants your heart so he can cleanse it and remake it to resemble His own. He wants you to believe His Word, and in so doing, to enjoy the unexpected gifts of forgiveness, wholeness, and new life.

Here is true wisdom, available to all. Jesus: God in flesh and blood—our rescuer. Lay your gifts before Him and worship your King.