Roger's Postings

Saturday, February 17, 2007

John 6:25-35. Give us this bread??? 18/2/07

(25) When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, "Rabbi, when did you get here?" {26} Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. {27} Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval." {28} Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?" {29} Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent." {30} So they asked him, "What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? {31} Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'" {32} Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. {33} For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." {34} "Sir," they said, "from now on give us this bread." {35} Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.

Today as we celebrate Harvest Thanksgiving we reflect on and focus on all the good things that we have around us. Yes, we do have much to be thankful for, even while we are still in the midst of the biggest drought on record. Despite the drop in rainfall over a good number of years now, we still are able to have and enjoy so much. Even the farmer, who is doing it tough financially and emotionally, there is still food on the table and a roof over the head. Whilst here in town we may have desperately little water in our dams, but we still have more than enough to drink and bathe in. We have much to be thankful for.

But as we reflect on this, both with regard to all that we have, and also on the drought that we are in the midst of; what is it that we are thinking of and focussing on? Certainly as I listen around to many of the comments that are coming forward, from around the nation and even from within the church, there is something that should prick us all hard and sharp. Here in this reading Jesus is pointing this out to us very clearly, as well as to where our attention needs to be brought to, before we can be truly thankful and blest.

Now in the early part of this reading we hear of people coming looking for Jesus, and he hits them squarely with a few home truths. "I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval."

Yes the situation was a little different for them: they had just experienced that miracle where Jesus fed five thousand people with just one little boys lunch. So now that they have seen this they are looking for Jesus to give them more of the same. At the heart of ‘where they were at’ was obviously the desire to simply be provided with all the food and earthly comforts that they wanted, so that they could sit back and eat, drink and be merry.

Today little has changed; although there are very few people even looking to or for Jesus. Even in the midst of the worst drought since records have been kept in this country, there has been only a small number of people turning back to the Lord and his church for help and his answers. The vast majority prefer to talk about global warming and the need for us to do better in the care of our environment. There is talk of finding human means of drought-proofing our country. There is to be more spending on understanding our weather so that we can even more so use it for our benefit. Meanwhile, the attitude continues be selfishly on ourselves and what we can get out of life for ourselves.

What absolute arrogance we have has human beings today. We are the centre of it all and it is all about us and our use of what we have for our own benefit. And even when we are hit with the worst of droughts, we don’t stop to ask if just maybe there are deeper questions to all of this: or if there is a greater power at work; there is simply the thinking that if and as we work smarter, we will get it all under control so that we can really sit back and eat, drink and be merry, to our hearts content. What did Jesus say to the rich man who had built his bigger barns: 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you.’ We are all going to die. Then what?

In our arrogance today we do not even consider God, far less how great, awesome and holy that he really is. He doesn’t fit into the picture of what we want for our lives, far less recognise him as the Almighty God that he is. But even when we do think of him and even say that we believe in him, he is far too often, simply the God who is there to give us the miracles that will enable us to have what we think that we deserve to have. Like those people who flocked after Jesus: they and we simply want that which makes life easy for us at the moment.

Look we too have experienced a great miracle of God; in that he has for many years provided abundantly for us. But we don’t really thank and praise him for it all, we just take it all for granted and want to keep the good things rolling in. We keep thinking, focussing and working for that which spoils: that which is here today and gone tomorrow. What good are a mansion, two cars, caravan and boat, plus a million or two in the bank, when we are dead. We can’t take it with us. Or is this that we see around us, what life is only all about. Is this as good as it gets?

Certainly Jesus here says that there is another for food that endures to eternal life. There is something that satisfies, far more than what we see around us. The food that Jesus has in mind will give us a fullness that gives completeness to each day and flows not only over to tomorrow and next year and the rest of this; but also into eternity. This food gives contentment, peace, wholeness to this life and carries us into eternal life in heaven. This food is what truly satisfies. It is the very best.

Not only is it the very best, but it is given to us. This food is that which the Son of Man will give you. It is for you, now. God wants you to have it, rather than, sweat, slave and worry over all of this other striving which we do to accomplish that which we want for ourselves; and which we find does not satisfy. He has for you that which is the best, and he wants you to have it.

So "What must we do to do the works God requires?" What do we have to do to get this food? Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent." Simply trust that God has it right here for you. Look to him and what he has said and done, instead of to yourself and what you do and can see around you. Believe in Jesus as the one who has given you all that is necessary for this life and the next. He is the Almighty One! The one around whom all things exists.

But we like the people of Jesus day we too need some miracle; some sign; some outward physical thing, so that we can be sure. They asked him, "What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'" Because of our human nature we need to see, feel and experience, something, so that we can be sure that God is true to his word. But too often we look for it in the places where the world out there is looking rather than where God himself tell us to look.

Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. So as we look to Jesus, we do find this food that endures to eternal life. It is Jesus himself who is what is important, not the material things of life. It is who he is and what he has done for us through his death on the cross, that stands him, ‘head and shoulders’ way above everything else that we could ever have or be connected to. In fact here is the Almighty God himself, come into our world to ensure that we are forgiven and have eternal life in heaven with him. His love and mercy enables us to be absolutely certain that we have this food that gives life to our world. He gives himself to us so that we can be sure.

That is why he gave us baptism so that we can be sure that we are cleansed and connected to him: into the very name and being of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. That is why he gives us Holy Communion so that he can give us his very own body and blood, week by week, so that we can be certain that we are forgiven and that he is right here with us as we live out our lives every day. This Holy and Awesome God has connected himself to us: feeds us with himself, so that we can live with confidence and certainty in the midst of a sinful, drought-stricken world.

Now can look beyond the material things of this world, whether we have plenty or little, and know that Jesus himself is far more important and life-giving than any of it. We can look to him and cling to him, knowing that now, nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. Not because of us and what we have, but because he is who he is, and because of what he has done for us through his death on the cross.

Now too then we can be truly thankful for all the other blessing that we also have and experience as we live here in this world. We now can be thankful even when we are suffering a little in the midst of a drought, because we can see that, here God is seeking to draw us and others, closer to himself. So instead of only seeking our answers in our sciences and worldly wisdom, now we first and foremost rest assured in him and our connection to him, and we continue to feed on him. Then as we do we will find many other blessings to be thankful for as he leads us through this life to our heavenly home.

So again we can only look to him with awesome wonder and give him all glory and honour, now and always. Jesus Christ is the bread of life. Those who comes to him will never go hungry, and those who believe in him. will never be thirsty. To him be praise and glory forevermore. AMEN

Pastor Roger Atze
Redeemer Lutheran Church
Toowoomba

Saturday, February 10, 2007

Jeremiah 17:5-10. Life – a curse or a blessing 11/2/07

(5) This is what the LORD says: "Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the LORD. {6} He will be like a bush in the wastelands; he will not see prosperity when it comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives. {7} "But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. {8} He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit." {9} The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? {10} "I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve."

Well today we certainly have it laid on the line for us. This reading places in front of us the two roads that can be taken in life. Each however has it’s consequences: One a curse – the other a blessing. Now of course, naturally we would think that we would choose the way that leads to blessing – wouldn’t we? Yet sadly it appears today as if we are choosing exactly the opposite road. It would seem that we are blindly following the blind, on a one way trip to destruction; and thinking nothing of it. ‘She’ll be right mate.’ Well if that is not madness I don’t know what is!

Let me use the illustration that God uses here in this reading. We are going to plant an orchard and we have two options as to where we plant it. One is a large fertile looking patch of ground with plenty of wide open spaces for expansion. It is flat even country and it needs very little clearing and preparation, and it looks green and lush. And we are told that we can have it for a very reasonable cost. However what we are not told is that it has no access to water. The other area is covered with a thicket of brush and bush. It backs on to a river – but its cost is somewhat exorbitant. Then we hear a little idle gossip around the traps that it would be stupid to go there, simply because no one else has gone there before.

So where would we plant our orchard? With today’s thinking, we would choose the first option, because it looks good and the world around us tells us it is OK. It would choose to go the way that is popular and easy, even if in the end it finishes up a total disaster.
But now of course when it comes to our spiritual lives we are not that stupid, are we? Or are we?

Today our society has placed great store on the abilities of humankind. It is us and our ingenuity – our technology – and the almighty dollar, that makes this world operate and which will make this planet a better place for the future. This is the fertile ground that we are establishing our hopes on for the future; even as Christians. But sadly we have forgotten that there are other important ingredients that are needed also for a successful life. We are blindly following the blind down a path that will lead to destruction; and yet most are not all that concerned. ‘She’ll be right.’

Even though we hear messages such as the one we have before us this morning, that : all who trust in humanity and its achievements will be cursed. We it seems would rather listen to the idle gossip and the chatter of our peer group out in the world, than to take heed to what God is saying to us.

Now of course many would say – ‘but look I believe in God,’ ‘I have my faith.’ ‘Surely we can have our faith and at the same time enjoy and be a part of all that is going on around us.’ We seem to think that by acknowledging God, our faith and that we live a reasonably good life, then we can do as we please throughout our life: we can place ourselves and our wants in the centre of everything. Like so many today, even when it comes to our Christianity, will, even if we don’t say it, believe that life is all about us: we are what life is all about. In so doing we are really thumbing our noses at God, and we think that we will get away with it. But that is not case – the message of our text makes that quite clear. To think along those lines is to put a curse on our lives.

Now look, this is not just Pastor Atze sprooking off, giving a few words in the hope of drumming up business. Jeremiah is quite clear about this. “Thus says the Lord.” This is God speaking; and if it is God who is speaking, then we had better sit up and listen. God does not play around with his words. He means what he says. So when he says that: “cursed are those who trust in mere mortals, and who make mere humanity their strength,” then we had better believe it and do something about it.

So this message is not just for those people out there. Each one of us needs to also look at our own lives, checking to see that we also are not trusting more in our modern technology and our human achievements, than we are in the Lord. We need to be sure where we stand – trusting in Lord - looking to him first and foremost. Understanding that he alone is the almighty Lord of all.

Now even though it may at times seem to the contrary that God is so great and that he has our good in mind. Even though he promises that those who trust in him will be blessed, and we look at times and fail to see how and where, he is true and trustworthy. We only need to look to Jesus Christ and his death on the cross to see that. There we come to know that there is no doubt that, for those who trust in Lord, they are blessed beyond measure. Yes our life here on earth may have it’s difficulties – even many - even for us as Christian – and in some cases, simply because we follow Christ. So outwardly, these blessings are not always seen. But we are blessed because the Lord himself says so. We are blessed because Jesus Christ died on the cross for our forgiveness and he rose again for the assurance of eternal life.

When it comes to our suffering, we need to recognise that it is often at those times of greatest difficulty when we are brought to see the depth of the blessing that God has in mind. When others are cracking under the pressure, these people have a peace and contentment that is beyond compare. For those whose trust is in the Lord, they deep down know that they do not need to be overly anxious. When others give up in despair – those who drink deeply from God’s Word still bear fruit. They know their difficulty is not the last word – and it is not punishment on them. But it is the Lord allowing them to go through that problem for a very good purpose – that he intends to bring blessing from it. Now ultimately of course, that is ours and others souls salvation; which is his greatest blessing of all. It is that what he wants for each and every one of us: eternal life with himself in heaven.

It is there at the end of one’s life, that we will finally see the blessing and curse of where we put our life’s trust. Sadly it is here that far too many today do not look past the end of their noses, to see our think about their ultimate end; and as a result that last day becomes an utter shock to them.
But for us who know, value and trust in the Lord Jesus, there is that wonderful blessing of knowing for sure that there is a great future ahead of us with our Lord; and that nothing and no-one can take it away from us; neither life, nor death; neither things past, present or future; difficulty or tragedy. Nothing except our refusal to trust in the Lord, can take away the wonderful blessing of the assurance of the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation that is our through our Lord Jesus Christ.

It is in that knowledge and in particular our looking to and trusting him who has done all of this for us, that we are then like the big gum trees that are planted on the river banks: pictures of health and vitality even in the most extreme of situations; blossoming because they have their roots deep in fertile soils and sucking deeply from the ample supply of water; even in the worst of droughts.

That being the case let us heed these words of our Lord himself: that; cursed is the one who trusts in humanity, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from Lord. But blessed is the person who trusts in the Lord and whose confidence is in him. The distinction is clear – the situation in the society around is evident – and the Word of the Lord stands sure.

So may our Lord move each and every one us to take this message to heart and help us to place our trust wholly and solely in the Lord Jesus Christ; and that this blessing that he has in mind for us, may be ours now and forever. God be with you all in this way. AMEN.

Pastor Roger Atze
Redeemer Lutheran Church
Toowoomba

Saturday, February 03, 2007

Isaiah 6:1-13. The amazing call of God 4/2/07
Luke 5:1-11. 1 Corinthians 15:1-11.

(1) In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. {2} Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. {3} And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." {4} At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. {5} "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty." {6} Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. {7} With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for." {8} Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!" {9} He said, "Go and tell this people: "'Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.' {10} Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed." {11} Then I said, "For how long, O Lord?" And he answered: "Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant, until the houses are left deserted and the fields ruined and ravaged, {12} until the LORD has sent everyone far away and the land is utterly forsaken. {13} And though a tenth remains in the land, it will again be laid waste. But as the terebinth and oak leave stumps when they are cut down, so the holy seed will be the stump in the land."

This weeks readings all deal with God’s revealing of himself in amazing ways as he calls various, but unworthy, people to carry out his difficult and challenging work here on this earth. As we listened to those readings, surely we found them to be not only truly awesome in the full sense of its meaning, but at the same time quite disturbing. Here in this reading God said, "Go and tell this people: "'Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.' Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed." Then I said, "For how long, O Lord?" And he answered: "Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant, until the houses are left deserted and the fields ruined and ravaged, until the LORD has sent everyone far away and the land is utterly forsaken. For Peter and Paul we also know of the rough time they went through as God’s spokesmen. Awesome and tough!

Today, we find this part of things very difficult to handle. We don’t want to come to grips with the seeming negative and harsh message which God has for us all. We want a nice, easy and soft message. We want a God who ‘is my mate’ and who is all loving and accepting of us no matter what we think and do. Today we also want our church to preach like the false prophets of Isaiah’s day; “Peace, peace when there is no peace.” ‘We have God and the temple therefore we can do as we please. We are Abrahams children therefore God will see to it that no harm comes our way.’ They like many today had taken God for granted, and thought nothing of it. Even when challenged they wanted only hear that which was good and positive.

Yet here Isaiah himself is called to preach exactly the opposite message. To preach in a way which hastens the destruction of Israel. To preach; 'Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’ Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant. God was out to punish his own people for their unbelief. Even though they claimed they were God’s people, they did not want listen to God or follow his ways: they had become fat, complacent and selfish which resulted in their never understanding and never perceiving. They were determined that they would not listen to or follow God’s way, so he sets about bringing about their destruction. But even there, there was the proclamation, the holy seed will be the stump in the land. There is still the promise of hope to those remanent that look to and trust in God, no matter how tough things get.

However lest we think that this is just an Old Testament Isaiah speaking to an ancient situation, let us reflect on both Peter and Paul who are referred to in the other two readings. They too preached to many who also claimed to be God’s People, but who just did not want to hear or follow what God had to say to them. They wanted their own religious ways and where not prepared to listen to the truth. So Peter and Paul equally proclaimed destruction for those who were self-secure in their own righteousness.

However most clearly we see this message come to the fore in Jesus Christ himself. Not just in his preaching and confrontation with many of those he came into contact with, but with his very being. Here God himself comes, fully as a human-being, identifying with us in every way and he takes God’s punishment on a wayward, rebellious people; you and me. Here God’s punishment is complete and total. Jesus is destroyed for our never understanding and our never perceiving. Here we see the depth of the depravity of each and every one of us. That is what we deserve. Humanity does not have a ‘leg to stand on.’ Our destruction is complete. In ourselves we are dead.

How can we be anything but. We stand before a holy and awesome God. The Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." This holy God cannot have in his presence anything that is less than perfect. They will be destroyed by his greatness.

On top of that, we are reminded in the Gospel reading that the God who stood before Peter and gave him a huge catch of fish, where there was none to be caught, has the power over nature and much more. He can do that which is impossible. Peter realized this, so much so, that he says, ‘Get away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.’ He knows that he cannot stand before God in his own sinful state. So do we think we can stand before this God, playing our petty games. Trying to be our own little gods.

Before this awesome God surely we too can only say: "Woe to me!" "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty." Go away from me, Lord; for I am a sinful person.

But then there is the most awesome of all the revelations of God himself. There is this one Jesus, who was God come as a human being, who died on the cross, in our place, just as he promised he would. This Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, (1 Cor 15:3-6)

This God is truly awesome. This very Jesus came back to life, assuring us of the forgiveness of all of our sin, plus life and salvation, no matter who we are or what we have done. He accepts us back as his very own children. All who are connected to him through baptism and belief into everything that he has done for us and won for us, can have certainty that nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. This Jesus himself says: whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. (Mark 16:16) How truly great that is: God accepts those who simply cling to Jesus and all that he has won for us.

However that brings us back to where we began. Do we want to believe? Do we want to hang on to Jesus Christ and follow him? Or do we want to continue on our own merry way; ‘She’ll be right mate. I’ve got it all under control.’ Surely there is no question as to what our answer would be. Surely this Jesus Christ is our all and our everything. He is our one and only hope for life and salvation.

The follow up from that is the same call of God to Isaiah, Peter and Paul: , "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" Who is going to share this Good News with others? Who is going to be bold enough to preach Jesus Christ and him crucified, even though the people’s ears, eyes and hearts are calloused and do not want hear that kind of message. But who simply want a nice fluffy god who will make them feel good and allow them to do as they please, and who will ensure health, wealth and happiness for us? Who is going to tell our wicked and adulterous generation, the truths of God himself, even though they don’t want to hear it? Who?

Knowing this great and awesome God who has revealed himself to us in this truly great way; and who has accepted and cleansed us despite who we really are; surely we can only say; "Here am I. Send me!" Send me, even though I am weak and frail and do not have the where-with-all to do it. Send me to my neighbour or my friend. Send me even though some people will find my message unpalatable and offensive. Send me, for I know that you are the Lord Almighty himself and you will work through my efforts and you will achieve what you want.

Yes God does and will work through us as we proclaim the truth of his Word. There will be life and salvation brought to some, but there will also be the hardening of the hearts of those who have wilfully chosen to ignore and rebel against God and his Word. Sadly for them their destruction awaits.

But for us who have been saved, we cling to our Lord and Saviour as our one true hope. For we know that because of the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. Our God is a great and awesome God who is supreme over all, and to whom alone belongs all glory and honour. May his name be honoured and glorified both in his salvation and in his destruction. AMEN

Pastor Roger Atze
Redeemer Lutheran Church
Toowoomba

Isaiah 6:1-13. The amazing call of God 4/2/07
Luke 5:1-11. 1 Corinthians 15:1-11.

(1) In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. {2} Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. {3} And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." {4} At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. {5} "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty." {6} Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. {7} With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for." {8} Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!" {9} He said, "Go and tell this people: "'Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.' {10} Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed." {11} Then I said, "For how long, O Lord?" And he answered: "Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant, until the houses are left deserted and the fields ruined and ravaged, {12} until the LORD has sent everyone far away and the land is utterly forsaken. {13} And though a tenth remains in the land, it will again be laid waste. But as the terebinth and oak leave stumps when they are cut down, so the holy seed will be the stump in the land."

This weeks readings all deal with God’s revealing of himself in amazing ways as he calls various, but unworthy, people to carry out his difficult and challenging work here on this earth. As we listened to those readings, surely we found them to be not only truly awesome in the full sense of its meaning, but at the same time quite disturbing. Here in this reading God said, "Go and tell this people: "'Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.' Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed." Then I said, "For how long, O Lord?" And he answered: "Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant, until the houses are left deserted and the fields ruined and ravaged, until the LORD has sent everyone far away and the land is utterly forsaken. For Peter and Paul we also know of the rough time they went through as God’s spokesmen. Awesome and tough!

Today, we find this part of things very difficult to handle. We don’t want to come to grips with the seeming negative and harsh message which God has for us all. We want a nice, easy and soft message. We want a God who ‘is my mate’ and who is all loving and accepting of us no matter what we think and do. Today we also want our church to preach like the false prophets of Isaiah’s day; “Peace, peace when there is no peace.” ‘We have God and the temple therefore we can do as we please. We are Abrahams children therefore God will see to it that no harm comes our way.’ They like many today had taken God for granted, and thought nothing of it. Even when challenged they wanted only hear that which was good and positive.

Yet here Isaiah himself is called to preach exactly the opposite message. To preach in a way which hastens the destruction of Israel. To preach; 'Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’ Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant. God was out to punish his own people for their unbelief. Even though they claimed they were God’s people, they did not want listen to God or follow his ways: they had become fat, complacent and selfish which resulted in their never understanding and never perceiving. They were determined that they would not listen to or follow God’s way, so he sets about bringing about their destruction. But even there, there was the proclamation, the holy seed will be the stump in the land. There is still the promise of hope to those remanent that look to and trust in God, no matter how tough things get.

However lest we think that this is just an Old Testament Isaiah speaking to an ancient situation, let us reflect on both Peter and Paul who are referred to in the other two readings. They too preached to many who also claimed to be God’s People, but who just did not want to hear or follow what God had to say to them. They wanted their own religious ways and where not prepared to listen to the truth. So Peter and Paul equally proclaimed destruction for those who were self-secure in their own righteousness.

However most clearly we see this message come to the fore in Jesus Christ himself. Not just in his preaching and confrontation with many of those he came into contact with, but with his very being. Here God himself comes, fully as a human-being, identifying with us in every way and he takes God’s punishment on a wayward, rebellious people; you and me. Here God’s punishment is complete and total. Jesus is destroyed for our never understanding and our never perceiving. Here we see the depth of the depravity of each and every one of us. That is what we deserve. Humanity does not have a ‘leg to stand on.’ Our destruction is complete. In ourselves we are dead.

How can we be anything but. We stand before a holy and awesome God. The Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." This holy God cannot have in his presence anything that is less than perfect. They will be destroyed by his greatness.

On top of that, we are reminded in the Gospel reading that the God who stood before Peter and gave him a huge catch of fish, where there was none to be caught, has the power over nature and much more. He can do that which is impossible. Peter realized this, so much so, that he says, ‘Get away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.’ He knows that he cannot stand before God in his own sinful state. So do we think we can stand before this God, playing our petty games. Trying to be our own little gods.

Before this awesome God surely we too can only say: "Woe to me!" "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty." Go away from me, Lord; for I am a sinful person.

But then there is the most awesome of all the revelations of God himself. There is this one Jesus, who was God come as a human being, who died on the cross, in our place, just as he promised he would. This Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, (1 Cor 15:3-6)

This God is truly awesome. This very Jesus came back to life, assuring us of the forgiveness of all of our sin, plus life and salvation, no matter who we are or what we have done. He accepts us back as his very own children. All who are connected to him through baptism and belief into everything that he has done for us and won for us, can have certainty that nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. This Jesus himself says: whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. (Mark 16:16) How truly great that is: God accepts those who simply cling to Jesus and all that he has won for us.

However that brings us back to where we began. Do we want to believe? Do we want to hang on to Jesus Christ and follow him? Or do we want to continue on our own merry way; ‘She’ll be right mate. I’ve got it all under control.’ Surely there is no question as to what our answer would be. Surely this Jesus Christ is our all and our everything. He is our one and only hope for life and salvation.

The follow up from that is the same call of God to Isaiah, Peter and Paul: , "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" Who is going to share this Good News with others? Who is going to be bold enough to preach Jesus Christ and him crucified, even though the people’s ears, eyes and hearts are calloused and do not want hear that kind of message. But who simply want a nice fluffy god who will make them feel good and allow them to do as they please, and who will ensure health, wealth and happiness for us? Who is going to tell our wicked and adulterous generation, the truths of God himself, even though they don’t want to hear it? Who?

Knowing this great and awesome God who has revealed himself to us in this truly great way; and who has accepted and cleansed us despite who we really are; surely we can only say; "Here am I. Send me!" Send me, even though I am weak and frail and do not have the where-with-all to do it. Send me to my neighbour or my friend. Send me even though some people will find my message unpalatable and offensive. Send me, for I know that you are the Lord Almighty himself and you will work through my efforts and you will achieve what you want.

Yes God does and will work through us as we proclaim the truth of his Word. There will be life and salvation brought to some, but there will also be the hardening of the hearts of those who have wilfully chosen to ignore and rebel against God and his Word. Sadly for them their destruction awaits.

But for us who have been saved, we cling to our Lord and Saviour as our one true hope. For we know that because of the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. Our God is a great and awesome God who is supreme over all, and to whom alone belongs all glory and honour. May his name be honoured and glorified both in his salvation and in his destruction. AMEN

Pastor Roger Atze
Redeemer Lutheran Church
Toowoomba