“God is Faithful”
March 20, 2022
Dear brothers and sisters, grace and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.
Baseball’s back – and thank God! After a time when it looked like even the start of Spring Training would never happen, baseball is finally up and running. Spring Training has been taking place, and we look forward to Opening Day happening right around the end of this month. Finally, in the midst of ongoing bad news and disaster, we have some good news. And, no matter which team you’re rooting for, Spring Training is also a time of hope. We get to see our favorite teams in action, and see them as they prepare for the regular season, looking forward to victory during the playoffs later on this year. Baseball season will hopefully be a source of happiness for us, even as we continue to struggle with the world going the direction it’s currently going.
And, even though it has traditionally been a more solemn and serious time, Lent is also actually a time of hope. In the past, Lent has usually been a time when we focus on how bad we are and how good God is; how God expects us to do better or we will miss out on Heaven; and how we are to shape up and do better. While, as we are reminded in our Bible readings today, we are to be constantly vigilant to guard against sin and falling into temptation, the real purpose of Lent is not for us to beat ourselves up over how bad we are, and how much we have done wrong, but instead for us to remember how good God is, and how much good He has done for us. Lent is not a time for us to torture ourselves, but instead to remember how Jesus, by His own torture and suffering, has already freed us from guilt and shame, by causing every sin we have committed to be forgiven. So, really, when it comes right down to it, Lent us not about us: it is all about God. This means that, just like Spring Training, Lent really is a time of hope. It is a time for us to look forward, even in the midst of all the disaster we and the world are in right now, to the good God is going to do for us, just as He has done in the past, and has been doing all along. Today in particular, we hear about a lot of things God has done, and will continue to do. Today we hear, once again, about how much God really loves us and cares for us. Today we hear not about what we should be doing for God, but what He is doing for us, and how He is. From each of our Bible readings this morning, we hear something special about who God is, and how He is.
First of all, God is relentless. This means He does not give up. He does not give up on His plans, He does not give up on His promises. When He says He will do something, He does everything He can to make sure it happens. He does not lose interest in this world He has made, and He does not lose interest in us. In our First Reading from Exodus, we hear about how God has a plan to rescue His people from slavery in Egypt. These are the same people He had made a promise to Abraham that He, God, would be their God, and they would be His special chosen people. He loves His people, so when they suffer, He suffers as well. So, He is going to do everything He can to free His people. The God of the Old Testament is the same as the God of the New Testament: a God who loves His people, and who is willing to do anything and everything for them to show them how much He loves them. This includes us today: we are God’s people. We are His people whom He loves. The reason He pursues relentlessly after us is because He loves us. Even when we choose to stray away, God pursues after us to bring us back. In fact, when all of us had strayed away from God and were separated from Him by sin, He sent His Son to die on the cross, to cleanse us of our sins by shedding His blood, to remove the sin which had separated us from Him, and then to rise again to give us the promise of eternal life. But the point is, it was God who did everything. It was God who did the pursuing. It was God who did the work. It was God who did the saving. Also notice: in none of this story does God insist that His people have to make the effort to free themselves from slavery. They can’t: they’re oppressed under the power of Pharaoh and can’t free themselves. So God is going to do it all for them. He’s going to be the one who pressures Pharaoh into letting them go. He’s going to be the one who will clear the way for them to be able to move into their home. He’s going to be the one who will fight their battles for them and win. He’s going to be the one who will bring them safely to the land He promised them long before. The God who did this for His people long ago is the same God who does all this for us now: He removes obstacles. He overcomes all attacks against us. He frees us from any and all sinful influences and temptations. He fights our battles for us and wins.
Second, God is faithful. As St. Paul points out in today’s Second Reading, God was still faithful to His people even when they sinned against Him, and even after He had freed them from slavery in Egypt and were waiting in the desert to enter their promised home. He still loved them, and was still faithful to them even though they were faithless to Him. He still remains faithful to us, even though we still fall into temptation. Temptation is inevitable: once again, we are to be vigilant and guard ourselves against temptation. I will not go into detail about temptations we face today, since, as I’ve mentioned in previous sermons, the point is not to point accusatory fingers at certain people and demand they shape up. Since none of us can ever be totally perfect, we are all to remember that, at some time or other, we have fallen into temptation. We have all sinned. We have all gone against living the life God wants us to live. Yet, because God loves us, He does not leave us alone in our temptation. Whenever we are tempted, God comes to rescue us, and provides a way out. No temptation we face in this world is one that hasn’t been faced by anyone else before, so God knows exactly how to rescue us from whatever temptation we are under, which could potentially wreck us and our lives. Also, this means we can, and should, feel free to seek out the help of anyone who has had to deal with the same temptation we are dealing with, and have God work through them to help rescue us from that temptation. As mentioned in a previous sermon, we frequently need outside help – and God is the best outside help we have. He also is willing to help us for as long as it takes, and whatever it takes, and never give up on us.
Finally, God is patient. Again, He does not leave us alone in our temptation, or our struggle. He still remains in charge. We need someone who is faithful and who remains in charge. Even though God created this world, unfortunately, because sin and the power of the devil still continue to remain a reality, disasters still happen. Jesus Himself points to two disasters: the slaughter of certain Jews who had been offering sacrifices, who were killed by the Roman government, as well as people who were killed when a tower fell on them. Disasters unfortunately still happen, and are unavoidable. This does not mean that these disasters are necessarily punishments from God. Disasters often simply happen because they happen: the punishment for our sin was already taken on by Jesus, and cleansed by His blood. So when disaster happens, it is not because of something God is punishing us for, it is simply happening because this world remains imperfect and sinful. To take what Jesus reminds us and apply it to today, people who died from the coronavirus were no worse than anyone else. People who are currently dying in the war in Ukraine are no worse than anyone else. People who die of cancer, or of heart attacks, are no worse than anyone else. People who die in car accidents are no worse than anyone else. But what all this means is that death is inevitable. Any one of who are alive right here, right now today could be dead tomorrow. A friend or loved one could be alive today, and then suddenly pass away tomorrow. So we are always to keep in mind that, because death is inevitable, we are saved for eternal life. We are saved from sin for life with God. So we are to remember that at all times: that any moment could be our last, and we are to keep ready to live with God forever. It also means, again, as we hear in our Second Reading, that we are to be on guard, and always remember who we are: we are God’s people. And as God’s people, we are to live lives of repentance: to ask God to forgive us and help us avoid temptation whenever we sin. We also ask for God to help make our lives better again, especially if the temptation we have fallen into has caused our life to take a turn for the worse, or wrecked our life in some way. God does not cast us aside and let us be completely ruined: He does something to intervene and change us. Which is the meaning of the story of the fig tree and the gardener Jesus tells: that the gardener refuses to give up on the fig tree, but relentlessly cares for it, doing whatever it takes to make it better again. Every fig tree is valuable to him, just as every person is valuable to God. God is not letting anyone simply be ruined by sin and temptation: He is working to change the hearts, minds, and lives of every single person, because He loves each person. Notice, however, that it is not saying that we are the ones who have to shape up and do better: God takes on the responsibility of improving us. It is also not saying that we are the ones who have to put in the effort to make our lives better and be more productive: God takes on the responsibility of making us better and causing us to bear the fruit of being His. We are not striving for perfection: rather, God is the one doing all the work making us better. This is actually a great comfort, because it means that, even when we can’t change our situation, or we can’t change something that is holding us back from living the life God wants us to live, God is already working behind the scenes, doing all the work for us. Even though there seems to be no letup in the attack on Ukraine, we can still believe that God is working behind the scenes to bring an end to the war. Even though there seems to be no letup to the combined effects of the pandemic and the war over here, especially higher prices and higher gas prices, we can still believe that God is working behind the scenes to bring relief to our economic troubles. If there is something in your life that needs changing, but you can’t change it yourself, God can do it for you. Pray to Him, and ask Him to take control of that part of your life that needs changing, then let go, and let Him take on doing the work of changing you. You no longer need to be frustrated because you’ve been trying to change something about yourself for too long, with no luck. God wants to take on the work of changing you, if you let Him. But He won’t force you: you have to let Him take charge and change you. In our Gospel reading next week, we will be hearing one of Jesus’ best-loved and familiar stories: the Prodigal Son. And what we will hear is that the real important character in the story is not the son who does wrong and comes home, but it is the father who, all along, has been patiently waiting for his son to come home. And when his son does come home, he welcomes his son back right away, cleans him up, gives him his finest clothes to wear, and throws him a party. Again, it is the father who does all this for his son. And God wants to do the same thing for you: He wants to change your life. He wants to break the power of whatever sin or temptation has a hold of you right now. He wants to make things better for you. He wants to heal you. So let God take charge of you, let Him change you, let Him take control of you, let Him rescue you, let Him do all the work you need to do for you. You are valuable to Him, and He loves you, so let Him free you from everything you need to be freed from today.
Now may the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
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