What Has the Lord Done for You?

Ephesians 1:3-14

 

January 2, 2005

Associate Pastor Doug Forsberg

 

If you are at all like me, this past week has been troubling with its dizzying array of rising numbers and horrific pictures: parents searching for children and children searching for parents.  As the week went on, the numbers climbed higher and higher.  On Sunday afternoon there were 11,000, on Monday 23,000, on Tuesday 40,000, on Wednesday 80,000, on Thursday 116,000, and on Friday 135,000 people were reported to have died after a massive earthquake and tsunami in the Indian Ocean.

What are we to make of these events, and how are we to understand God’s work in the world?  Through faith, Christians profess that God is all powerful and that God is good and that his love endures forever.  Perhaps the events of the last week have shaken the faith of some.  If your faith has been shaken by these and other events do not be dismayed and do not be afraid to search for truth and wisdom.

Some skeptics might ask, “If God is so good, how could he let this happen?”  Others might say, “If God is so powerful, why didn’t he stop this from happening?”  Some who are proud and too sure of themselves might say, “God is punishing those people.”  Others, who don’t know what to make of their own existence might say, “It was fate.  There is no meaning here; let’s not look for any.”

Friends, no one can perfectly explain the existence of evil in our world, but when we view the world through the eyes of biblical, Christian faith, we can begin to see glimmers of meaning and hope.  My hope is that in this message about God’s presence with us, your faith will be grounded in the hope of Emmanuel, God with us.

 

In order to begin to consider the events of this past week, we need to understand God’s work in the world from the beginning of time.  As Christians, we believe that God created the world.  We believe that through His word He spoke the creation into being.  When all had been created, God rested and noted that the creation was “very good.”  We should understand that the creation was unified and whole, that all systems worked together for the common good of the world and that the creation supported all forms of life found in it.

As Christians, we also affirm the Fall.  Scripture reveals to us that sin entered the world as Adam and Eve gave in to temptation and broke God’s command.  Suddenly, their relationship with God was severed and they were enslaved under the power of sin.  The whole creation suffers under sin and instead of being hospitable it becomes very inhospitable.  Paul notes that the whole creation is groaning as it waits for its redemption (Rom 8:22).  When we speak of a broken world, this is what we mean, and as Christians, we know that things are not the way they should be or will be, for we eagerly wait for our redemption and the redemption of creation.

Amazingly, this eagerly awaited redemption was promised before the foundation of the world as God chose to make a people for himself.  Our scripture passage for today, Ephesians 1:3-14, speaks of God’s amazing grace poured out upon those who are called by God.  We can find great solace in this passage of scripture, for in it we discover that God’s people have been claimed and that nothing can separate them from Christ.  Notice that God the Father claims his people not because of their own righteousness, but through his own love.

We may be tempted to think that we have been adopted in the family of God because we’ve got it all together and we deserve it.  We might think that those who are affected by tragedy are the ones who are not right with God.  Jesus puts such thoughts to rest when he relates the following story in the Gospel of Luke: Jesus says, “Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them-- do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem?  I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish" (Luke 13:4-5).  When great evil strikes in our world, we should never think of ourselves as better than others, for we stand before God as those who have been washed in the blood of the lamb not as those who have earned our salvation.

 

The biblical account of creation and the fall allows us to view the world through proper lenses.  From this account, we learn that our existence is not meaningless, and we know that the Lord is at work in the creation.  We can even grasp that the world is broken and that natural disasters are a sign of that brokenness.  Yet, we should never use this knowledge to explain away suffering or act is if it isn’t important. In the midst of great suffering and anguish it is far better to be present and silent than to speak unknowing words about God’s work in the world.  If you recall the story of Job, you know that his advisors were doing just fine until they actually opened their mouths.

Jesus’ presence among us 2000 years ago tells us that God is not absent in suffering and anguish.  Whenever we are tempted to think that God is just a disinterested observer, we need to remember that God walked among us.  Last week I stressed Jesus’ humanity.  This week I want to stress his divinity, for only Jesus, God with us, can accomplish the redemption of the creation and the redemption of the people of God.  Ephesians 1:7 tells us that we have redemption through [Jesus’] blood and the forgiveness of our sins according to the riches of his grace.

Christ brings wholeness and renewal to a fallen creation and in the midst of great suffering and anguish this is a word of hope, this is the only meaningful word of hope.  Seeing despair in the faces of people a world away may cause us to wonder about Jesus’ presence in the world now.  How do we know that Jesus is who he says he is and that he did what scripture tells us he did?  Ephesians 1:13 tells us that believers are sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.  It is the Spirit who testifies to the authenticity of the Good News; it is the Spirit who seals that Good News in our hearts.

God has graciously given us signs of his redeeming love that are also used by the Spirit as seals.  We are blessed to be celebrating both Christian sacraments in worship today.  Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are not magical acts that bring us salvation.  Jesus alone saves us.  Baptism and the Lord’s Supper provide us visual signs of an invisible grace.

As we baptize Meghan Kelly today, we wash her with water, and this water is symbolic of the washing away of our sins which is accomplished by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  This water before us does not wash away sins.  Jesus does.  In baptism, we welcome Meghan into the family of God and all those who are a part of that family are reminded of their own baptism.  Baptism symbolizes a movement from death to life in Christ.  So it is that in a broken world we see Christ’s presence bringing life where once there was death.

In a few moments we will celebrate the Lord’s Supper.  By the power of the Spirit who seals this sign we are spiritually nourished to continue on in this fallen creation.  The bread and fruit of the vine before us are just that: bread and juice.  Yet, by the power of the Spirit, this meal brings us into the spiritual presence of Christ, the one who first celebrated this meal, the one whose body was given for us and whose blood paid the penalty of sin.  This is not just any meal; it is a sign to the entire world that Christ has died, risen, and will come again.

 

As we wonder how to respond to tragedy in our own lives, in our loved one’s lives, and in the lives of people a world away, we need look no further than Christ our Lord, who not only will bring great comfort at his second coming, but who brings comfort now as the one who claims the family of God and provides that family with signs that serve to seal his promises.  So it is that even when our faith wavers, Christ dwells among us.

 

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.