Midweek Lenten Service

SERMON

In Nomine Jesu

Text: 2 Corinthians 13:4

For though He was crucified in weakness, yet He lives by the power of God. For we also are weak in Him, but we shall live with Him by the power of God toward you.

In Christ Jesus, Who gave up His life for us and then took life back again, dear fellow redeemed:

I would imagine that most of you have seen the bumper sticker that reads, "Our governor can beat up your governor." Whether you support or oppose Governor Ventura is not the issue this evening, but rather the idea suggested by the bumper sticker--"Our governor can beat up your governor." Our world is enamored by what it perceives to be strength and power. There would be no question as to who would win a wrestling match between Governor Ventura and, let’s say, Mr. Rogers of the PBS children’s program "Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood." Governor Ventura would be seen as strong, while Mr. Rogers would appear weak. In the same way, people are impressed by powerful engines that can move an automobile at tremendous speeds. They are awed by powerful storms which wreak destructive havoc. We laugh at and can relate to the "Tool Man’s" cry for "more power." Weak things seem unimpressive and hardly worthy of notice in our world.

Therein lies a spiritual danger for us. Our tendency to be impressed by the powerful can lead us to overlook or even dismiss spiritually that which appears outwardly to be weak. God, in His wisdom, would have us understand that Christianity’s message take us FROM WEAKNESS TO POWER! Christ was crucified in weakness, but lives by God’s power! Even so we are weak in Christ, but shall live by God’s power!

I.

St. Paul writes, "For though He was crucified in weakness, yet He lives by the power of God." God’s plan of redemption runs completely counter to human thinking and logic. If you are going to win a battle--and after sin entered the world, a battle with Satan had to be won--you do not proceed into battle in weakness to die, but rather you proceed into battle with strength to conquer! General George Patton, who led many of our American troops to victory in the European theater of World War II, once told his troops, "You do not win a war by dying for your country. You win a war by making your enemy die for his country!"

Yet, God’s plan of redemption called for His dear Son, our Savior Jesus Christ, to die for us in order to remove our sin. Jesus was to become the "suffering Servant" identified in Isaiah 52-53, who would be "wounded for our transgressions, (and)...bruised for our iniquities" (Is. 53:4). But to our human minds that makes no sense. Put Satan in a head-lock. Aim your big guns at him and blow him to bits. Simply exert divine omnipotence and destroy him with an overwhelming show of force! That would be our human method of deliverance. But as St. Paul told the Corinthians earlier, "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him" (1 Cor. 2:9). We do not think as God thinks, for we no longer possess by nature the "image of God." We fail to see the enormous debt of our sin. We do not understand the righteousness and justice of God, which demands atonement for sin. But God has revealed this to us in His holy Scriptures. He lays out for us His perfect standard of conduct required by His law. He does not say to us, "Be as good as you can. Try hard to do what is right." No, He says, "You shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect" (Mt. 5:48). There is no latitude in God’s demand--no built in fudge factor. We are to make no mistakes. We are judged imperfect and under the wrath of God, if we fail to fulfill every one of God’s commands at all times! Such a message leaves us without hope, if we stand apart from our God. But God sent Jesus! God sent Jesus to fulfill the law on our behalf and to bear the curse of the law in our place!

This Jesus did in apparent weakness. He could have avoided Jerusalem during the Feast of the Passover, but he went to Jerusalem prepared to die. He could have escaped from the Garden of Gethsemane undetected by Judas and the crowd of soldiers, but He chose to go out and greet Judas in an attempt to lead him to repentance. He could have defended Himself and walked right out of the door of Caiaphas’ or Pilate’s palace, even as He walked through the angry crowds at Nazareth early in His ministry, but He submitted Himself to the abuse of His captors. He could have come down from the cross in a display of divine power and brought down just retribution upon the religious leaders and soldiers who mocked Him, but He did not. He was crucified in apparent weakness!

That, however, was not the end. On Easter Sunday morning God raised up His Son Jesus to demonstrate that He had completed the plan of eternal redemption. It was "finished" even as Jesus had said on the cross. Jesus was thereby proclaimed to be "the Son of God with power" (Rom. 1:4). He now lives with all power and in all glory as our Head, our Savior, and our dear Lord. C.F.W. Walther summarizes what happened so well in his Easter hymn "He’s Risen!" He writes, "The Foe was triumphant when on Cavalry the LORD of creation was nailed to the tree. In Satan’s domain did the hosts shout and jeer, for Jesus was slain, whom the evil ones fear. But short was their triumph the Savior arose, and death, hell, and Satan He vanquished, His foes; the conquering Lord lifts His banner on high. He lives, yes, He lives, and will never-more die" (TLH 198:2-3). Yes, Christianity’s message takes us FROM WEAKNESS TO POWER! Christ was crucified in weakness, but lives by God’s power!

II.

We are weak in Christ, but shall live by God’s power! When you study the history of the Christian church from the time of Jesus’ ascension to our present day, you will find that frequently Christians did not understand and fulfill God’s desires and plans. This was in large part due to a worldly understanding of power. Jesus told His disciples to "make disciples of all nations ...baptizing...(and) teaching them" (Mt. 28:19-20). He told them to "preach the gospel to every creature" (Mk. 16:16). He told them that "whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant" (Mt. 20:26). The true weapons of the church are God’s Word, Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and prayer. The world looks at this and scoffs. Many Christians have looked at this and scoffed. Consequently, for hundreds of years Christians marched off to Palestine to conquer with the sword; the church used the inquisition to stifle opposition; heretics were burned at the stake; the power of civil government was brought to bear to silence and to oppress.

Dear friends, this is not what God would have us do to share the gospel. We are to preach; we are to live lives of love and service. It is the Word of God and the Spirit using the Word which brings life to repentant hearts. It is the gospel, seemingly so weak, that is "the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes" (Rom. 1:16). Scripture warns us that believers will have to suffer before entering God’s kingdom! FROM WEAKNESS TO POWER is the reality of Christian spirituality!

St. Paul exemplified this spiritual truth. At times we magnify St. Paul to the point of almost mythic proportion. He was, after all, the greatest Christian missionary. Yet, the Scriptures tell us that he was a small man, with a weak speaking voice, who was troubled by a physical problem, which would not go away. God’s response to his requests for relief from physical suffering was, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness" (2 Cor. 12:9). Yet in spite of all of St. Paul’s outward problems, he was strong in the Lord. He was confident that he would live to serve by the power of God--not just in this world, but he would live in the world to come!

FROM WEAKNESS TO POWER! This is also our hope, even as it is our present reality. When we choose to follow the will of our Savior abiding in His Word and remaining faithful to it, we will not appear in the eyes of the world to be strong. Rather, we will appear weak. Consider the size of our church body. The world says, such a small church body must be weak and surely can do nothing of significance. Yet, the Lord calls us to be faithful and to proclaim a message of life. The world scoff, but we know that Baptism does indeed save us through the washing away of our sins. We know that the Lord Himself is present and gives Himself to us in His supper. We know that on the last day when the trumpets sound, that which appears strong in the eyes of the world will be as nothing and all will bend the knee before our Lord and Savior. Let us, therefore, this Lenten Season gaze at the cross and understand that our message is one that takes us FROM WEAKNESS TO POWER! This was and is the case for Jesus. This is and will be the case for each of us by the power of our God. Thanks be to our God and Savior! Amen.

—Pastor Paul Nolting