Rev. Matthew Versemann

                                                                                      St. John Lutheran Church

                                                                                      Waverly, Iowa

                                                                                      14th Sunday @ Pentecost

                                                                                      August 29th, 2010

 

“Jesus Christ Is The Same Yesterday, Today, and Forever”

 

God’s PEACE is ALWAYS YOURS in Jesus.

 

Hear the Word of God from Hebrews 13,

 

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”

 

 

DEAR FRIENDS IN CHRIST,

 

Many things change. A few seconds is enough time for an accident, an earthquake, or a tornado to change your life. A few moments are enough time for the stock market to plunge or your job to be lost. Conflicts change our marriages. Illnesses change our health. The economy changes our finances. Elections change our leaders. Technologies change our lives. Just a little over 100 years ago we see a world without automobiles, radios, televisions, telephones, computers, airplanes, air conditioning, electricity, and indoor plumbing. Time’s – they are ‘a chang’in’! And there may be times when you have that anxious feeling that you can’t count on any-thing to stay the same.

 

On the other hand, some things never change, and we wish they would.  Our sin – that self-centered rebellion against God – does not change. The way we express our sin, as we move from childhood to adulthood, may change; but the core of our sin does not change – at least not until we die, and Jesus raises us up: perfectly remade into the image of Christ, on the last day. Our sickness hasn’t change since Adam and Eve.

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Have you ever had a rough ride on an airplane? Turbulence tosses the plane this way and that. An air pocket makes the plane drop suddenly, and your stomach shoots to your mouth. As you near your destination and come in for a landing, the plane shakes and sways in the wind. When it reaches the runway, the plane bumps and bounces a few times, before screeching to a stop. After such a wild and bumpy ride, it’s a relief to be on firm ground again, isn’t it?

 

The good news is that amid so many changes, and in the face of all the turbulence caused by our sin - there is one unchanging reality that you can always count on. Hebrews 13, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” As Christians, no matter what changes we face in life, we are grounded firmly on the rock-solid foundation of our unchanging Savior, Jesus Christ.  Revelation 13, “Jesus is the Lamb Who was slain before the foundation of the world.” His saving death, was both “once, and for all” Hebrews 9, and “once and for all time,’ Eph. 4. As I’ve said many times, “He will never retract the cross or empty tomb.” If Jesus were the sort of person who liked you one day, and turned against you the next, it wouldn’t mean anything to know how much He loved you in the past, or to hear Him say “I love you,” today.  The Good News is: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”  I’ll never forget what one of my professors said. He said, “Our faith in Jesus is not only in what He has done to save us, but that He will never go back on what He has done to save us.”

 

In fact, even though His divine nature or essence is unchangeable, and His character or loving heart is unchangeable; nevertheless, when we fell into an unchanging, self-centered, sinful rebellion against this God; God loved us so much that He forever changed His whole mode of existence in order save us. Now His very nature or essence as true God did not change, but He took into the Godhead our human nature, so that man could be redeemed. Phil. 2, “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider His being equal with God, something to be grasped and held onto, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness, and being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.”

 

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While changing not in His deity, nor in His love, He took on a whole new mode of existence - flesh and blood. Why? Because you can’t nail a spirit to a cross, but you can nail a body. Although God always loved us, only in Jesus’ coming in the flesh, to die for us, did God show us the full extent of His love. I John 4:9, “This is how God showed His love among us, He sent His one and only Son into the world, that we might live through Him.” People say, “the proof is in the pudding”, we say, the proof of God’s love is in the flesh and blood, manger and cross of Jesus.”

 

The Savior Who always loved us, Ephesians 1, “God chose us in Christ, before the creation of the world,’ loves us as much this very moment with a crown of glory on His head in heaven, as He did with a crown of thorns on His head on earth. The One Who sat and shared meals with the worst of sinners, is preparing THE feast of the finest meats and the finest wines for us in heaven. Conversely, the One Who will share the marriage feast with us in heaven, is the same One who loves to have table fellowship with us already in the supper of His body and blood. ‘He changeth not!’

 

We see this unchangeableness, in Hebrews 12:26, right before or text “Since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and right after our text “Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today, and forever,” so what’s the point of Hebrews 13:1-7? In a changing world, here’s how the baptized live out our lives on the unchanging foundation of Jesus’ death and resurrection.

 

So what does the life of the baptized look like? It begins with worship: “Since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken let us worship God with reverence and awe.” Worship is not an option, unless forgetting your forgiveness, losing your life, and becoming unbuckled from the Savior Who never stopped loving you, is an option. In Baptism we were united with Christ in His death (Romans 6), united with Him in His resurrection (Col. 2), and only in Him do we have life. In worship we approach a God who Hebrews 12 says, “is a consuming fire,” but who does not consume us, for the sake of Christ. You see, one more thing that doesn’t change is the message of the cross: ‘The Word of God endures forever.’ And it reveals to us what we would otherwise not know, or too soon forget, of the Savior Who never stopped loving us. And so the baptized come to worship, because that’s where their Savior is giving out His gifts.            Page   3

What else does the life of the Baptized look like?  Hebrews 13, “Keep on loving each other as brethren. Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by doing so, some have entertained angels without knowing it. Remember those in prison, as if you were in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were mistreated.

 

Secondly, the baptized love one another, as Christ first loved us. The pagans said of the early Christians: “See how they love one another,’ Jesus said, ‘This is how the world will know you are My disciples, that you love one another.” We are to love the stranger in our midst. Jesus said, ‘by doing so, some have entertained angels.” So be sure to greet our guests after worship. You might be ‘touched by an angel’. ‘Remember those in prison as though you were in prison.” People are still landing in prison for believing in Jesus. It happened in Jesus’ day, and it’s still happening in over 75 countries today. Freedom of religion is rather tenuous. We’ll see how long it lasts. I’m not optimistic. The question is: ‘Since you have a Savior who never stopped loving you yesterday, today and forever; and only in Him do you have life: ‘Would you be willing to go to prison for your faith in Christ?’

 

Thirdly, what does the life of the baptized look like?  Teenagers, and young people especially, I want you to listen closely. Hebrews 13:4 says, “Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled.”  Simply put, that means no shacking up, hooking up, fooling around, sexting on your cell phones, looking at porn on the internet, and all the other ways that we have of messing up the marriage bed.  The marriage bed is a gift of God, and He intended it to be enjoyed; but when you defile God’s gift before your marriage, seeing how many people you can become one flesh with, this angers God, because He loves you and wants the best for you; and although the world is telling you “have sex with as many people as possible” God knows that it’s robbing His children of that Prince and Princess love that He wants for you. Sure, there’s forgiveness for those who’ve made mistakes, but there’s always a price, when you misuse God’s gifts. Sexual sin is like battery acid to the soul. It corrodes our lives spiritually and emotionally, as well as physically. God’s heavy hand rests on sexual immorality, for our own good and protection; because He wants you to enjoy His ‘yesterday, today and forever’ love to the max, as He intended. Your bodies were bought with the price of Christ’s body on the cross. So the baptized honor our awesome God with our bodies.  Pg.  4

Fourthly, what does the life of the baptized look like:  “Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have.”  The Bible says that ‘coveting’ is the opposite of contentment. It’s a form of idolatry. When the heart becomes unbuckled from the ‘fear, love, and trust in God above all things’ it latches itself onto things, stuff, and self above all things. And what you will find is that when this loving Savior, Who change-eth not, no longer holds the center position in your life, your possessions will actually end up possessing you. Paul said in I Timothy 6, “Many people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith, and pierced themselves with many griefs. The Lord staked His claim on you in baptism. He knows what you need. He’s obligated Himself to take care of you. He promises in our text, “Never will I live you, and never will I forsake you.” And no amount of do-hickies, whatchama-call-its or thing-a-ma-bobs can bring you that kind of peace.

 

Finally, what does the life of the Baptized look like? “Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.” Does this mean putting the pastor on a pedestal as if he can’t do any wrong? Not at all. What it’s getting at is that the pastor speaks in the stead and by the command of Christ. To hear the pastor speak the Word of God is to hear Jesus. And that’s what Jesus wants you to hear: His voice. Yes, under-shepherds make mistakes, thank God that THE GOOD SHEPHERD is merciful and forgiving, and I, for one, am banking on that. ‘Remember your leaders,’ Why? Because it is through the ‘means’ of pastors, who administers the ‘means’ of God’s Word and supper, that our awesome Savior, Jesus - Who never stopped loving us yesterday, today, and forever - still speaks to us.

 

Which brings us back to where we started: “Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today, and forever.” You have a Savior Who’s never going to break your heart, let you down, or turn His back on you, even if you think He has. Remember, “Our faith in Jesus is not only in what He has done to save us, but that He will never go back on what He has done to save us.”

 

 

 

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Jesus took His place among the least, the lost, the lowly, and the dead. He ate with outcasts, low-lifes, and tax-collectors. He hung out with prostitutes, lepers, and sinners, all in order to show us what God’s banquet table looks  like – a table of grace – undeserved loving kindness to sinners all for the sake of crucified and risen Jesus.

 

In closing, I haven’t told you anything new today, because there’s nothing new to tell you. No matter how much the world around us seems to be changing; Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And our life in Him is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Amen!

 

And now may the peace of God, which passes all human understanding, keep our hearts and minds in the one true faith, unto life everlasting. Amen.