Pressing on Toward the Goal - Fifth Sunday in Lent - April 6, 2025 - Text: Philippians 3:(4b-7)8-14

What is important? Unfortunately, it is often not until it is too late that people ask that question. It is often only at the time of the death of a loved one that we ask the question; What really is important in this life? The topic of what is important is such a big topic that there have been books written and movies made with the underlining theme talking about what the writer thinks is important. And interestingly enough, most books and movies come to the conclusion that the things in life that are most important are our relationships, and the least important thing is money. And even though we would probably agree that this assessment is true, the way we live our lives very often actually shows the opposite. We spend more time engaging in things financial than we do in our relationships and we do so with the explanation (not excuse, but explanation) that we have to have money to live, to eat, to support our family and the like. Instead of our priorities being what we probably would like them to be and what we probably profess them to be, that is: #1 our relationship with our Savior; #2 our relationship with our spouse or family; #3 our relationship with the rest of our family and #4 our job and the like, the way we live our lives tends to show that our priorities are #1 putting in enough or too many hours at work to bring in enough money to pay for everything we need, or think we need, and want and to make sure that we have enough for retirement (don’t get me wrong, I do know that those things are important, but I think we tend to be like the rich man who put so much into tearing down the old barns and building bigger and better barns and then thought that tomorrow he would be concerned with his spiritual life); our #2 priority tends to be being busy with the things of this world, running here and there, running our children here and there to participate in all the social activities of this world; our #3 priority tends to be our relationship with our family and spouse or spouse and family and finally our #4 priority might be our own spiritual life. I know that I am speaking strong words of Law, but I think we should admit, except for a few rare exceptions, this is the way we human beings tend to be. If you do not believe me, then I challenge you to sit down and take an honest look at your life. Take time to look at your checkbook to see who gets the biggest percent of the money God has given you though your work. Think about how much time, out of the 168 hours in a week that God gives you, do you spend in all the activities in which you participate, including amount of time in prayer, reading the Bible, personal and family devotion, and in Divine Service and Bible study and in volunteer service to the Lord at His church. I think you might be surprised.
 

One of the reasons I bring this up this morning is again for the simple fact that we are in the season of Lent, the season we take the time to look at our lives, to look at our sins, and to see the seriousness of our sins and the fact that is was because of our sins that Jesus came to live, suffer, and die on the cross. The other reason I began this way this morning is because Paul talks about what is important in our text for today. While he does not say he is a Pharisee of Pharisees, he does “as to the law, a Pharisee,” in other words, he might actually be bragging that he was truly the best Pharisee. He was well grounded in the faith of his fathers. He could have been a big person in the church. He could have been bringing in the big salary. Yet, he counts this all as loss, compared to his relationship with Jesus. As Paul says, “4bIf anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness, under the law blameless. 7But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ” (v. 4b-7).
 

Paul’s life might remind us of our own life. Maybe we have been educated in the most renown institutions, or at least we have had the opportunity to have completed high school, college and even earned a masters or doctorate degree. We may be seen as smart, wise and intelligent in the ways of this world, but what does that do for us when it comes to our relationship in Jesus? What is that worth if we have no faith with Jesus?
 

Paul reminds us that the most important thing is this life, in this world,  is our faith in ith Jesus. The most important thing in this life is our faith in Jesus’ life, death and resurrection for us. And that most important thing is not something we go out and get, rather it is a gift which God gives to us, at our Baptism or at our conversion. It is God who gives us faith, brings us to faith, strengthens us in faith and keeps us in faith.
 

God gives us faith and it is this faith that is the instrument that makes Jesus’ work our work. It is faith which makes Jesus’ life our life, Jesus’ death our death and Jesus’ resurrection our resurrection. As Paul reminds us, “8Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—10that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead” (v. 8-11).
 

All of this, God’s giving faith, God’s giving Jesus’ life for ours, God’s giving us eternal life is what we call justification. It is that we are justified, made “just as if I’d never sinned” in God’s eyes. And all of this living, suffering, dying and rising has already been completed. Jesus’ perfect life, suffering and death was enough, we do not have to do anything else, we do not have to suffer eternal death. We want to make sure that we have this understanding clear. There is nothing we do to gain forgiveness and eternal life, it has all already been done for us and is ours by faith which is also given to us. To say that we have to do something extra in order to earn our forgiveness and heaven is to say that Jesus’ death was not enough, that His suffering was not for all people of all places of all times, that His suffering did not completely do what He said it would do. God tells us that Jesus’ suffering was complete and it was enough.
 

It is important that we understand that according to our being made just and right in God’s eyes, everything has been done for us and there is nothing that we can do. This understanding is important because Paul goes on to tell us that we are to press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of us. And this goal is what we call  sanctification. Paul continues, “12Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (v. 12-14).
 

Sanctification is doing the good works which God has prepared in advance for us to do. Sanctification is that we do good works only as we are moved to do good works. In other words, we do not normally, of our own accord, do good works. Normally, as our Lord tells us, ever intention of our heart is evil all the time. Normally we refuse and reject the Lord and His gifts, staying away from Divine Service, Bible class, not volunteering, not giving our first fruits, tithes and the like. Or, if we do good works, normally we do good works because of an ulterior motive, self recognition, or to get something in return. That is just our nature. True good works, good works of sanctification, good works that are good works in God’s eyes are those good works we do because God has moved us to do them.
 

Sanctification is also that we do good works only as the Lord helps us to do good works. Again, in and of ourselves we can do no good thing, at least not in God’s eyes. As Isaiah reminds us, in God’s eyes, even our good works, that is the good works we believe we do on our own, apart from God, are as filthy rags. A good work in God’s eyes is a work which is motivate by Him, worked in us by Him and is done to His glory.
 

Which brings us to the understanding that sanctification is that we do good works only as the good work we do is done to the glory of the Lord. So, as we can see, when it comes to good works that are truly good works, good works that are good works in God’s eyes, everything points away from us and instead, everything points back to God. He gives us faith, forgiveness, life and salvation. He gives us good works to do, motivates us to do those good works, works them through us and we do them to His glory.
 

Paul uses the analogy of an athlete pressing on toward a goal. The goal for which we are heading is heaven. Interestingly enough, heaven is ours. It is a present reality. We may have to wait to move in, but it is ours now. And so we press on toward heaven.
 

Because of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, because of the faith which the Holy Spirit has given to us at our Baptism or conversion, we are no longer what we were before that is, we are no longer complete sinners. But at the same time we are not yet what we will be in heaven, that is complete saints. We are somewhere in the middle. We are at the same time sinner and saint. And this fact is what adds to our struggles in life. This sinner, saint-ness in each of us is what adds to our difficulty in determining what is important in life, and not only speaking Godly priorities, but also in living those priorities.
 

As we press on through this short life, our goal is the “upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” As we go though life we tend to mess things up. Time and again we mess up. We get in the way of the Lord working in and through us, we refuse and reject the gifts He has to give by staying away from where He gives His gifts and at times we even become instruments of the devil working in and through us. Yet, the Lord continues to be our God. He continues to show us what a great God He is, what a loving God He is. He continues to grant us forgiveness. He continues to work through His Word to bring us forgiveness of sins, strengthening of faith and life.
 

Getting back to the question of what is important?, I pray that the Lord will continue to work though His Word so that you can confidently say with Paul, “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” And to that end I pray that the Lord will guide you to see what is truly important in your life until you reach the point of truly making the Lord number one, so that your very life says, to God be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

I Am Thirsty - April 2, 2025 - Fifth Lent Midweek - Text: John 19:28-29

So far we have seen Jesus forgive those who crucified Him, including us, because it was because of our sins that Jesus went to the cross. We heard Him declare that the one believing thief would be with Him in paradise, today. We watched as He fulfilled His fourth commandment responsibilities by providing a new son, a care taker, the disciple He loved, John to care for His mother. And we watched as He became and orphan as God forsook Him in His dying hours. This evening we draw closer to the end.
 

As pathetic as this antidote may sound; I remember as a youth the “joy” of hauling hay. We would work through the day, lifting, loading, stacking and mostly sweating. By the end of the day we would be ready for something cold to drink. The work had been done and it was time to relax. Now, certainly I know that what I did was nothing compared to what Jesus endured on the cross, eternal death and hell, but I can understand in a very small way Jesus’ words in our text for this evening. Again reading, “Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, ‘I am thirsty.’ A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips.”
 

Jesus knew that all things were now complete. He had given up the glory which was His in heaven. He had not always, nor fully used His divine powers. He had lived perfectly for us, in our place. He obeyed all God’s commands, perfectly. He fulfilled all the prophecies concerning Himself, perfectly. Of His own free will, because that was the purpose for which He was born, He took our sins, all our sins, the sins of all people, of all places, of all times, our sins of thought, word and deed, our sins of commission and our sins of omission upon Himself. He had suffered temptation, forty days by the devil in the wilderness and even more, suffering sin and temptation every day of His life. He suffered the same temptations we suffer and even greater temptations. He suffered the temptation to not go through with His plan of salvation for us. He was completely obedient to His Father’s will. Remember in the Garden just a few hours earlier when He prayed that this cup of suffering might be taken from Him, He prayed, “Not my will, but Your will be done.” He did everything that we are commanded to do and are unable to do, He did perfectly for us, in our place. Now He has taken all our sins upon Himself. He has become a curse for us. He has completed the suffering which we should have suffered. He suffered, for us, in our place. He has suffered the complete torment of hell for us. Now that everything is complete Jesus was ready to die.
 

Jesus had accomplished what He came to earth to accomplish. He had reached the end of the day and He asked for a drink. There is some discussion concerning the drink which was offered earlier and which was now given to Jesus. The discussion focuses on the understanding that what was usually given to those dying on the cross was something that was somewhat of a pain killer. Jesus did not drink anything of the sort while suffering for our sins. He suffered the whole suffering. He suffered with no pain killers. As we heard last week, He suffered complete absence from the love of God the Father as He had become orphaned on the cross, no mother, no Father, and deserted by His own disciples. He suffered beyond what you or I may ever imagine. Now His suffering was complete and so He asks for something to drink. Perhaps simply to wet His lips so He might speak yet again. Yet, even now the drink that was offered to Him was a vinegar drink, not too refreshing I would think.
 

Rest assured, Jesus suffered the torments of hell as well as physical hell on the cross. He suffered physically; being beaten, a crown of thorns pressed down on His head, the nails through His hands and feet, the suffocation. He suffered spiritually, the torments of the absence of love. He suffered completely. He suffered for the sins of all people of all places of all times. And His suffering was enough. Jesus had completed His suffering and now He wanted water, again, possibly to clear His throat for what was to happen later.
 

Our text for this evening reminds us that Jesus is the Messiah. He is the Christ. He is true God taking on human flesh and blood. He suffered physically as well as spiritually. Crucifixion is dying by suffocation. As the body hangs on the cross with no support of the legs, the muscles which are used to push up the diaphragm to breath out are not able to push the carbon dioxide air out of the lungs so that fresh oxygen can flow in, thus over a period of time the person slowly suffocates. Of course, for Jesus this suffocation came after public humiliation, a beating which would kill almost anyone, a crown of thorns being pressed down on His head and mocking. This punishment was just the physical suffering. The greater suffering that Jesus suffered was the spiritual suffering of the eternal death penalty, hell. Jesus suffered hell, total absence from God’s love. He suffered hell for all people of all places of all times. He suffered hell for you and for me.
 

Jesus did what Holy Scripture said He would do. He was the promised Messiah. He was the Word made flesh. He was true God, giving up the glory that was His in heaven and taking on human flesh and blood. He lived perfectly, never sinning, never falling for temptation, always doing right.
 

And He gave His life for ours. He became our substitute. He became the sacrifice for us. He gave His life that we might have life. Remember, the price for sin was set in the Garden of Eden. The price for sin was death, human death for human sin. No amount of animal sacrifices as prescribed in the Old Testament Ceremonial Law was enough, they simply were a reminder and pointed to the fact that the price for sin is death, eternal death and hell and physical death. And even though God had given the ceremonial laws and the sacrificial system in the Old Testament to the Children of Israel, again, those animal sacrifices were not sufficient for the sins of humans. Those sacrifices were merely a reminder that the price for sin is death and that blood needed to be shed. Those sacrifices merely pointed to the one ultimate sacrifice of a human, God in flesh, Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, once and for all.
 

Jesus suffered and died that we might have forgiveness and life, eternal life. And I can never say it too much, His suffering was enough. We do not have to do anything. He has done it all. We do not have to make any satisfaction for our sins. And although our desire, our response of faith is to live God pleasing lives, to live as priests in the priesthood of all believers, to offer our lives as living sacrifices, with the help of the Holy Spirit and always this side of heaven doing so imperfectly, for us, to claim that we need to do anything to add to what Jesus has accomplished is to say that Jesus’ suffering was not enough. We can be confident that Jesus’ suffering was enough and that His suffering and dying accomplished everything for us in our place.
 

This evening we are getting close to the end, that is the end of our Lent season, our being reminded of our sin and our part in putting Jesus on the cross. We are getting closer to Jesus’ actual death preparing us for our Easter resurrection celebration. Jesus has taken care of everything. He has suffered for our sins. He has made it clear that His suffering has earned heaven for us. He has taken care of His mother. He has suffered, alone, for all the sins of all people of all place of all times. He is ready to die, but before He dies He asks for something to drink to clear His throat for the words which He is to speak next. And if you remember what words come next, “It is finished,” followed by “Father into your hands I commit my spirit.” But those last two sentences are for services yet to come. Until then, may the Lord bless us as we continue to remember the suffering and death of His Son, our Savior, for us, because of God’s great love for us. To God be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.