You Were Dead
Ephesians 2:1-10
March 11, 2018 – Redeemer
You are dead. The moment the fiery serpent bit you, you knew it. There was no cure for snake bites. There was no Express Care Clinic in the wilderness in 1450 BC. There was no anti-venom. Every person who had been bitten died. The serpent’s poison was no respecter of age – it took the 100 year old widow and 10 day old baby boy. And now you were bit and you were dead and there was no one to blame except you.
You had joined in the grumbling. God wasn’t giving you what you wanted. Oh, He had rescued you from slavery. Sure, through Moses and Aaron God had used His power and might to humble Pharaoh. You and a couple other million Hebrew people left slavery with the loot of Egypt stuffed in your bags and piled on your donkeys. You were free for a moment. But then Pharaoh’s anger kindled again and he chased you to the Red Sea. You were dead. Your enemy had you. But the Lord’s mighty hand saved you once more. He kept Pharaoh at bay with the fiery pillar and then you were baptized in the Red Sea – you passed safely through the waters while your enemies were drowned.
But that baptism was so long ago and now you trudged through the wilderness. Every now and then you ate some quail, but your daily diet was manna, bread from heaven. Sure it was free, but it was the same thing morning, noon, and night, and twice on Fridays before the Sabbath. So along with everybody else you grumbled. You opened your mouth and poisoned the name of the Lord, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loath this worthless food.”
Now you were dead and you knew the reason why. The Lord taught you in a most memorable way – you poisoned the name of the Author of Life and now poisonous venom would take your life.
Today’s Old Testament reading illumines Saint Paul’s words to the Church in Ephesus “You were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked.” The Israelites were sons of disobedience, following Satan’s cues, pursuing their passion for something better than manna, living for their own flesh, and because of their trespasses and sins they felt the heat of God’s anger in those fiery serpents.
Aren’t you glad you don’t have to watch out for fiery serpents right now? It would be difficult to pay attention to the sermon if you had to keep your eyes out for serpents in the sanctuary poisoning you for any venomous complaints you spewed against the Lord this past week. We would probably think twice before we grumbled about life – if a serpent poisoned one or two of us each week. That certainly would keep the truth before our eyes – you sin you die.
But did you notice how Paul began the text? He didn’t say to the Ephesians, “You are dead.” He says “You were dead.” Moses could have said something similar to the Israelites, “You were slaves.” God sent the serpents among His people to teach them this truth – He had saved them. He had chosen them. He alone gave them life. Why were they grumbling when they had been slaves and now they were free?
Have you forgotten? You were dead, but no more. You were dead … but God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. Dead people cannot do anything. The Israelites had no way to fight snake bites – you’re bit, you’re dying, you’re dead. But God loves His Israel and He makes them alive in His own odd way – a snake on a pole. The anti-venom looked like the venom. The cure looked like the cause. A snake on a pole with God’s Word attached to it undoes real snake bites. Look here and live.
God has made you alive –in His own odd way. First it is odd that He loves us, because there is nothing in us to love, as He Himself says in His Word. We are sons of disobedience, children of wrath. But He sends the cure which looks just like the cause. Why are you a sinner? Because of Adam, God’s first-created son. As the hymn writer declares, “In Adam we have all been one, one huge rebellious man.” What is the cure for sin? God’s only-begotten Son. Adam picks fruit from a living tree and dies. Jesus dies on a dead tree and brings life. Adam sins and corrupts all humanity. Jesus, fulfills all righteousness, takes all of humanity’s sin and cleanses us from our sins.
God the Father has united Christ to us when the Son of God became man and carried our sin. He united us to Christ in our baptisms. You were dead because of sin, but now by the forgiveness which Christ won you are alive. You are raised to a new life. You are seated with Christ in heaven.
We don’t have the advantage the Israelites had in the Old Testament – they sinned with their mouths, the serpents bit them, they died. They saw and felt their sin and the death it bought. Moses put a snake on a pole – they looked and they lived. They saw and experienced their salvation. We have been saved by grace through faith and that means there’s very little for us to see in the Christian life or the Holy Christian Church.
There’s not much for us to see in this wilderness, but there is much to hear. God’s Word is our manna in this wilderness and we have that Word in abundance, because God is rich in mercy. You have His Word – He loves you. You have His Word – Christ hung on a cross and died for your sins. You have His Word – Christ rose from the dead and that means His death worked – your sin is forgiven. You have His Word – whoever believes and is baptized will be saved. You have His Word – you are alive (even when you know you are dying). You are raised to new life with Christ and on the last day you’ll see that and you will see Him with your own eyes. By faith you are seated with Christ in the heavenly places because He is with you in the earthly places of His choosing – in the waters of baptism, in the Word of absolution, in His body and blood in the Lord’s Supper.
The Word of God is about as exciting as manna six days a week and twice on Sundays. We are tempted to grumble and complain. The Devil would have us be bored with life, and pursue dead and dying things. We complain about the trouble in this wilderness and forget our life and our salvation is a gift in Christ alone. Israel got snake bites and a snake on pole to bring them back to life. We have God’s Word – you were dead, but God has made you alive – in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Pr. Bruce Timm
10 March 2018 anno Domini