Peace is not Peaceful
Luke 19:41-48
August 16, 2020 anno Domini
75th Anniversary of Redeemer
(Morning Divine Service)
There are no greeting cards with Jesus weeping on them. If there were we could send you one when you missed two or three Sundays in a row. It could go something like this, “Jesus is weeping over you. He showed up at Redeemer to give you peace, but you weren’t there.”
In the same way there are no greeting cards with an angry Jesus yelling at the money changers and overthrowing their tables. I’m not sure what the occasion would be, but whenever we serve the world instead of the Word, or money instead of the Gospel, Jesus is angry.
Well, I’m not going to quit preaching to start a card shop. I don’t think those cards would generate enough sales for an early retirement.
Jesus shed real tears over Jerusalem and was truly angry at the money changers. That’s the benefit of the Son of God becoming man –that we could see God’s sorrow and witness His anger and know “the things that make for peace” namely Jesus.
In Genesis 6 God was sorrowful and angry. His children were trying to make peace the sinful way by compromise and concession. “The sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose.” They sought peace with a sinful, fallen, wicked world. Moses writes, “The Lord regretted that He had made man on earth.” However, the Lord did not destroy his children. He gave them 120 years to repent, to turn from peace with the world to find peace in Him alone. The Lord sent them a prophet with a hammer and a saw. He told Noah, “Go down to Menards and buy all the gopher wood in stock and every 5 gallon bucket of pitch and build an ark. And don’t bother with the 11% rebate. You won’t have time to spend it.” The Lord loved His children, called them to one way of peace, and after 120 years eight of them were saved by entering the ark. Sadly, the rest suffered the horror of judgment. (sermon thought from Gerhardt)
Jesus weeps over Jerusalem. He weeps because they do not see Him as peace. They want peace with the politicians. They want peace with the past. They want peace with power. They do not want the peace of Christ. On August 10, in the year 70 AD, the temple was destroyed by the Roman General Titus. God gave Israel the temple to point to Christ, to God dwelling in the flesh, making the perfect and final sacrifice for sin. The temple was there for Jesus. Once His work was finished so was the temple. What the Jews looked to for peace has not been rebuilt to this day.
Does Jesus weep over you? Do you know the things that make for peace? 2020 has not been a peaceful year. It has been suggested that Mr. Mayhem from the All State Insurance commercials will be named “Person of the Year.” What makes for peace? Seeing your mom in the nursing home? Sitting at your grandfather’s deathbed? Getting cured of cancer? Not getting Covid? What makes for peace?
Peace is not made by being peaceful. Peace is made by the defeat and destruction of your enemies. Peace only comes with victory. That’s why Jesus is enraged at the money changers. They were doing the world’s business in the temple courts. They were padding their pockets, but also creating a great convenience for the temple goers.
If we lived before Christ came, all of us would have brought a sacrifice this morning. The richest among us would bring a bull, the middle class a goat, and the poorest a dove. Imagine living ten miles out of Jerusalem and having to bring a goat to the temple. And not just any goat – your best goat and you had to keep it in good shape. It had to be blue ribbon, grand champion, top quality goat to offer. Now, thanks to the money changers you could just show up, plop your denarius on the counter and buy a goat already approved by the High Priest for sacrifice. The money changers and temple officials were getting rich and the worshippers were taught how to make easy sacrifices.
Sin cannot be overcome easily. It cannot be beat by compromise or cooperation or conveniently. Sin has one hard remedy – death. The defeat of your sin comes by death – either your death eternally or Christ’s death on the cross. Neither death is pretty or pleasant, but one death is good and the other bad. The bad death is the one Jesus weeps over. He weeps over Jerusalem who rejected the visitation of God. He weeps over you when you choose the peace of the world over the peace of Christ.
Jesus’ death was not an easy death. He did not breathe his last in hospice care loaded up with morphine with his family at his side. You would not have wanted to be present “when they crucified our Lord.” Sin is nasty. It destroys, divides and perverts. So the Son of God dies a nasty death – unjustly arrested, convicted after being pronounced “not guilty” three times, whipped to the point where he would not have survived even if the Mayo Ambulance had rushed Him to the Saint Cloud ER. Nailed to a cross Jesus finally died of suffocation. All that outward violence was nothing compared to the hell He suffered when His Father abandoned Him. That’s the punishment for sin – being abandoned by God eternally. Because He loves you, God the Son is cut off by God the Father, so you can be adopted into God’s family. Christ’s death is the battle and the victory over sin. Forgiveness may be free to us, even easy, but it was battle unto death for the Father and the Son.
I’m sure you’ve noticed that the world is not a peaceful place. It wasn’t in 1945 either. Within two weeks of the incorporation of Redeemer Lutheran Church atomic bombs were dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima (hero SHEEM a) Japan. Within a month the Pacific portion of WW2 was over. Victory was achieved at a great cost. The war to end all wars was followed within 10 years by Korea, then Viet Nam, then Iraq, and we’re still in Afghanistan. Our country is divided. Our state is divided. Our city is divided. What makes for peace? Jesus. Confess your sins, not your neighbor’s sins, not the governor’s sins, not the president’s sins. Confess your own and know that Jesus had made peace for you. The Father has forgiven you through the death of His Son. Die to yourself in confession and then be raised to life by Christ’s forgiveness. It will not be pleasant, but it will be good for you and it will make for peace.
What makes for peace? Living in forgiveness and not compromising with sin. There is no justification for destroying property, stealing goods from a store, tearing down statues or vandalizing buildings. That is 7th, 8th, and 9th commandment sin. We also need to call our sins sin – if we begin to think God owes us a comfortable lifestyle and easy living that’s 1st commandment sin. If we’re more afraid of losing our children’s love or the world’s approval than we are of losing Christ that’s also first commandment sin.
The Jesus of Luke 19 is not an easy Jesus or a popular Jesus. The peace He brings is not one of compromise or convenience or cooperation. He weeps over you because He knows you cannot make peace and you desperately want peace. He makes peace through victory, killing your sin by His death, and rising again to declare “peace” to you. That is good peace. That’s God’s peace for you In the name of Jesus. Amen.