Contrasts

Friedrich Nietzsche, the German philosopher who popularized the idea that God is dead, eventually fell victim to his own depressing and hopeless thought, and died in the midst of severe mental illness.

Sating NO to God, leads only to death.

When we join Adam's quest for power, life, wisdom, and satisfaction,

what we end up with is death.

The fruit of our lust for independence turns out to be a toxic waste.

We can't put the blame somewhere else,

--it is with us.

Everyone sins, that is, everyone separates him or herself from God.

All Adam wanted, all that we want,

is food, knowledge, and security.

Is that so bad?

We are sometimes at our worst

when we are trying to do our best.

Listen how we rationalize things:

(1) “I want you because you turn me on.”

and we say “What's the harm in love?”

(2) “I drink this in order to feel better.”

and we say “What's wrong with avoiding pain?”

(3) We try to justify some greedy behavior with “I'm just trying to live up to my economic potential.” and we say

“Well, didn't God give us dominion?”

We don't even like to say the word “sin”.

We'd be happier in the sort term if we just skipped that confession business at the beginning of the worship service.

It is such a downer, you know.

Some years ago, a church in a South Carolina coastal town had placed three crosses draped in purple on their front lawn during Lent.

In a few days they received a call from the local Chamber of Commerce.

“This is tourist season. We think that those crosses send the wrong signal to visitors at the beach, who don't want to be confronted with unpleasantness”.

The church replied, “It's Lent. People are supposed to be uncomfortable.”

The crosses stayed.

It made quite a stir about 20 years ago when the Wall Street Journal printed an editorial including the line “When was the last time you had a good conversation about sin?”

The article listed the various moral dilemmas facing us – and we have added some more since then.

The the editorial continued:
Sin isn't something that many people including many church, have spent much time talking about or worrying about thru the years of the sexual and cultural revolution.

But we will say this for sin;

at least it offered a frame of reference for personal behavior.

When the frame was dismantled, guilt wasn't the only things that fell away;

we also lost the guide-wire of personal responsibility.

...Everyone was left on his or her own.

It now appears that wrecked people could have used a road-map.

...Ministers gave way to clinics and counselors....

who, instead of a firm “Thus says the Lord,” gave a therapeutic pat on the back.

We wouldn't expect such a theological analysis from the Wall Street Journal, but there it is!

It is summed up in the sad verses at the close of the book of Judges:

In those days there was no king in Israel; all the people did what was right in their own eyes.

That was the problem in the Garden of Eden, and it is our problem today; making up our own right and wrong.

I remember reading the book 35 years ago called Situation Ethics by Joseph Fletcher, and thinking that if one considers it long enough, one can find an excuse, a reason, a way around almost any thing that pops into our heads!

There was a church sign-board which had the message: If you're done with sin, come on in.

Someone had added in red lipstick:

If you're not quite done, call 272-0200.

One of our folks said last week: “When I pray I try to focus on 'Thy will be done.'

To do that is to follow the pattern of Jesus, who in prayer commended himself to the Father's will.

What is the Good News in the mist of all of the bad news which we know so well?

Jesus was able to do what Adam could not.

Rather than saying NO to God as Adam had done, Jesus said NO to all of the powers and seductive wiles of Satan.

In one stunning act of obedience,

placing God's word and will over against human desire,

he reversed the course of human history.

The road now leads to resurrection, not to death and oblivion.

But who can walk on that road?

Is Jesus all alone there?

Some folks take on the responsibility to give Lou Kolb a hand from time to time.

It was especially important in the years of the bridge construction, when there might be a new and different hazard outside each week,

and sometimes those hazards were not marked well or at all.

Even here inside the building someone may say to Lou “You are three feet from the baptismal font,” and I may add, “We have three young persons helping to shake hands today.”

Those words of guidance make life a lot easier.

If we will listen to Jesus' voice,

that is what he will do with us.

Where we would stumble and fall by ourselves, Jesus says to us:

Yes, come, walk this way, in ultimate safety.

Jesus says it at Baptism, and keeps on saying it as many times as we need to hear it and be reminded.

part of the promise of Baptism is that Jesus is not going to walk away from us when we are crossing dangerous places.

The contrast with Satan's power is stark, for Satan is the ultimate user, abandoning us to death when he has picked us clean and has taken all that he wants.

In contrast, Jesus says quietly,

walk this way to the water where I make unbreakable promises.

Walk this way to bread and wine to feed and encourage you always.

Walk this way to your neighbor to share what has been entrusted to you.

Walk this way for

physical food and spiritual food,

life and eternal life,

hope, direction, and admonition.

Walk this way to hear “Peace be with you”

and continue on to share it.

The contrasts are great:

The power of evil that charms us until it has used us up completely and thrown us away

vs.

the power of Christ Jesus who keeps reaching out to us, correcting us, encouraging us,

and giving us eternal life.

May we hear that invitation, with joy! Amen.

Please note: The preceding sermon is provided as a resource for the thought, prayer, and meditation of the members and friends of St. Mark's. It is the residue of a verbal event, and thus it does not have academic footnotes and other details that would be expected in a written document. The writer gladly acknowledges the prior thought and work of many Christians before him.