.tif)
WE ARE A FAMILY DEVOTED TO CHRIST.
In the name + of Jesus.
This week, we will celebrate the 247th
year of our nation. We are the United
States of America—fifty states united for our mutual benefit, but I suppose we
can debate just how united we are. Still,
we express a bond with our fellow citizens, more so the closer our connection—state,
town, or neighborhood. If you travel
abroad and see someone with a Detroit Tigers cap, you will feel drawn to that
person. Of course, the unity of a family
is a closer bond. Parents, brothers,
sisters, cousins, and so forth enjoy a special connection that is rightly
cherished. We are right to be devoted to
our families.
In our Gospel, Jesus teaches us about a greater
union which deserves an even greater devotion.
Jesus declared that this devotion should have no rivals. “Whoever loves father or
mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more
than me is not worthy of me” (Matthew 10:37). In saying this, Jesus does not dismiss the
blessings of one’s family. We are to
love one another—but not more than God. Love
for God and faith in his word are what unite us as Christians. We are bound together by Christ as brothers
and sister for time and for eternity. We
are a family devoted to Christ.
The people of
Israel were united as family, as a nation, and as church. All Israel was family, descended from the
sons of Jacob. They were also a nation,
born through God’s miraculous deliverance from slavery in Egypt. Most importantly, God had chosen the people of
Israel for his very own. God had sworn
to Abraham, “In
your seed all the nations of the earth will be blessed” (Genesis 22:18). The Savior of the
nations would come through Abraham’s line.
To preserve this promise, the Lord promised to preserve the people of
Israel. God was favorable to Israel so
that he could be favorable to all the world by sending the Savior through them. Israel was to be a family, a nation, and a
church devoted to God.
To ratify all of
this, God led the people of Israel to Mt. Sinai where he established a covenant
with the people of Israel. When God uttered
his demands, the people replied, “Everything that the Lord has
said, we will do” (Exodus 19:8). Then
Moses went up the mountain to get it all in writing. That took forty days. In the meantime, the people grew
impatient. They abandoned the Lord and
asked Aaron to craft a God which they could see and control and serve according
to their own wicked ideas and cravings. Rather
than being devoted to the Lord, they were devoted to drunkenness, perversion,
and pride. Right under the Lord’s nose,
the people of Israel defied the Lord, violated the covenant, and threatened the
promise that a Savior would come through them.
The Lord
burned with anger. When Moses saw it, he
burned with anger. Then he burned their
idol. He ground it to powder, scattered
it in their water, and made the people consume their own god. But what probably struck you more than anything
was Moses’ rally cry for the Lord and its result. “Moses stood in the gate
of the camp and said, ‘Who is on the Lord's side? Come to me.’ And all the sons of Levi gathered around him. And he said to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘Put your sword on your side each of you, and
go to and fro from gate to gate throughout the camp, and each of you kill
his brother and his companion and his neighbor.”’ And the sons of Levi did according to the
word of Moses. And that day about three
thousand men of the people fell” (Exodus 32:26-28).
The idolatry of the Israelites was a
direct attack on God and, in particular, on his promise of the Messiah. If the nation of Israel abandoned the Lord
for perverted worship, they would no longer be useful for fulfilling God’s
purpose of bringing his Son into the world to save sinners. The Lord tolerated a lot of evil in the Old
Testament, but he would not tolerate anything that threatened his promise to
save sinners. So, those who were engaged
in their self-glorifying, self-gratifying worship were slain without mercy. The Levites proved to be a family devoted to
God, even above their countrymen and kin.
Obviously, we don’t do this anymore. I will not be handing out machetes and telling
you to slaughter anyone, no matter how wicked they appear or how much you think
they deserve it. Jesus had warned, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I
have not come to bring peace, but a sword” (Matthew 10:34). Jesus does not tell his
people to take up the sword. The kingdom
of God does not come by violence or by threats.
Rather, Jesus warns that the sword—that is, hatred and persecution—will come
for you. The world hates Jesus and those
who believe, confess, and live according to his word. But do not fear or shrink away. Our devotion is not to self-preservation; we
are a family devoted to Jesus Christ.
The tribe of
Levi serves as a great example for us.
We might get the impression that they were cold-hearted people who
slaughtered without emotion or feeling. Do
you think it would have been easy to kill fellow countrymen and kin? These were people with whom they were united. They were devoted to family and nation. However, their devotion to the Lord was much
greater. They held to that above all,
even at great cost.
It would have
been much easier for the Levites to ignore what their kin were doing and to call
that love. Our world has trained us to
believe that love for people means agreeing that everything they do is good. If you don’t, you hate them. A warped definition of love will result in defending
sins. We may turn a blind eye to a loved
one’s sins. We may insist that God’s
word does not apply because—and this is how it is usually defended—“In their
case, it’s different.” But it is no different. God’s word remains firm and constant. Sin is always sin. Wrong is always wrong. We must say so if we are devoted to Christ. If we are a family devoted to Christ, then we
will always side with Christ, even if that results in a division.
Now, divisions in families are hard. If you have experienced that, you know what I
mean. But how can we forfeit God’s word
and honor for the sake of harmony? What
peace are we seeking? Peace with the
world? Peace with sin? Peace with “those who call evil
good and good evil” (Isaiah 5:20)? Now, you can
do that. Others have done it. Even Christian churches are forsaking God’s word
to forge peace with those who reject God’s word. The world loves them for it. If that appeals to you, you ought to know the
cost. The Israelites at Mt. Sinai did
not reject God or religion; they just perverted it. God burned with anger. His judgment was severe. The guilty were slain. This is what is coming for all who turn from
the word of the Lord—whether perverting God’s word, rejecting God’s word, or
coming to the defense of those who do.
We are a family devoted to the Lord. That means we believe, teach, and confess God’s
word as the Lord has given it to us. It
means that we order our lives according to that word. It is not enough to say we are sorry for our
sins. Repentance means we turn away from
sin and fight against it. We strive to
do what is good, even if there is a cost for doing so. And in the midst of all of this, we continue
to love our countrymen, our relatives, and our church family. That means we do good to them, no matter
what. It also may mean upholding the
word of the Lord to call them to repent—not because we are superior, but because
we don’t want to see anyone perish in their sins. If that results in division, we will endure
that, too. While we love others, we
remain a family devoted to Jesus Christ.
For salvation is found in no one else.
Perhaps this Old Testament lesson was a
hard one to listen to. I mean, how do
you defend this lesson to unbelievers?
How can you claim to worship a loving God when he commands this
slaughter, and when the killers are hailed and rewarded for it? First of all, we acknowledge that these
events were brutal. We don’t ignore the
facts. Secondly, we highlight that the
Lord takes his word very seriously. God
will not be mocked or treated with contempt.
Thirdly, God acts with intense passion to protect his promise of a
Savior. The Lord is not willing that any
should perish. So, when he saw the
promise of the Savior threatened, the Lord crushed those who were posing the threat. This happened throughout the Old Testament. Consider the Flood, the Exodus, and the Babylonian
Captivity as a few examples. We confess
that we are a family devoted to the Lord; but that is because our Lord is the God
who is devoted to saving sinners.
So, why was the slaughter by the tribe of
Levi acceptable back then and not today? Because God’s plan of salvation has been completed. There is nothing that can negate the payment Jesus
made when he went to the cross to die for the sins of the world. He was devoted to you and your salvation. He willingly endured the full curse for sins
so that he could grant you the full pardon for your sins. Jesus shed his blood for little sins and big
sins, for secret sins and public shame, even for the sin of seeking peace at
the expense of God’s word. Jesus was slain
for you so that you will not be slain by God.
We are a family devoted to Jesus
Christ. There is no condemnation for
those who are in Christ. For, no one can
take away Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.
Jesus conquered the grave to prove that the wages of sin are paid in
full and to open heaven to you. World
powers may take away your freedom, your wealth, and your life, but they cannot revoke
your salvation. They cannot rescind your
forgiveness; Jesus’ word is supreme and final.
They cannot repeal your resurrection; for Jesus lives and reigns. At the final judgment, Jesus will publicly
demonstrate those who are his. And for those
who are not, who refused to listen, who were devoted to rebellion and perversion,
who wanted nothing to do with God and his word?
Jesus revealed that their judgment will sound familiar to the actions of
the Levites: “As for these enemies of mine,
who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slaughter them
before me” (Luke 19:27).
We are a family devoted to Jesus Christ. The Lord has brought us into his family. He has united us by his mercy, by his word, and by his salvation. We all bear the family name, having been baptized into Christ. We hear his word. We trust his promises. We rejoice in his reign. And we will even suffer for the sake of his name because we know that salvation is found in no other name. And since we are a family united in Christ, we will band together for the good of each other and for the honor of Jesus’ name. All this because Jesus is devoted to us for our eternal good.
In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Due to recurring spam, all comments will now be moderated. Please be patient.