Proper 16 C
God is Treating You As Sons
Hebrews 12:4-10
21 August 2016 – Redeemer
He’s not much of a father is he? That’s always the Devil’s temptation to the children of God. He told Adam and Eve their Father was holding out on them – keeping that fruit from them, not letting them in on His Godly knowledge and power. He told the Israelites God hadn’t heard their prayers when they were enslaved in Egypt. In the promised land the Devil constantly pointed out how other gods were more fun, carefree, and permissive, not like that old fashioned God the Father who had brought them out of Egypt.
The Devil was up to his same old tricks in today’s Epistle reading. The Hebrews were suffering for their faith and the Devil whispered in their ears, “If God was any sort of a Father He would do something about this.” The writer to the Hebrews addresses their temptation with the simple statement. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?
The Hebrew Christians who received today’s Epistle were likely Jewish converts to Christianity. They had been convinced by the Holy Spirit that Jesus Christ was the fulfillment of the Old Testament, but when they were baptized and became Christians their lives likely became a lot worse. Judaism was tolerated by the Roman Empire. Christianity was not. Jews lived in relative security under Rome – remember how the Jewish leaders conducted Jesus’ trial right alongside the Roman Governor Pontius Pilate. When these Jews became Christians the government became antagonistic, their friends ended their friendship, their families shunned them and perhaps even turned them in to the government for belonging to an illegal religion. They were taught and they believed that Jesus was the Messiah, the glorious completion of the Old Testament, yet their lives, as His followers, were anything but glorious. The life of Christ brought them persecution, suffering, and even death. So the Devil whispered in their ears – God’s not much of a Father is He? If Christianity is so fulfilling why isn’t God your Father filling your life full of peace and happiness?
You might think the first century temptation of Christians is nowhere near us, but you would be wrong. Right now in Wyoming, a municipal judge named Ruth Nealy is being persecuted for her Christian faith. Her case is before the Supreme Court of Wyoming. She has been a judge for 21 years. As a judge she cannot and does not perform marriages, but a couple of years ago she was asked by a reporter if she would perform homosexual weddings. She said she wouldn’t be able to, but she would find someone who would serve the couple. For that comment the Wyoming Commission on Judicial Conduct and Ethics wants Judge Nealy removed from the bench and disqualified from serving anywhere in the Wyoming court system. During her trial that Commission called Judge Nealy’s religious beliefs repugnant. Judge Nealy, by the way, is a member of the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod.
Pastor Matthew Harrison, president of the Missouri Synod told our recent Synodical convention, “Every morning there are thousands of individuals who get up with the goal of removing every vestige of Christian influence from the public square. They are bent on trumping our constitutionally guaranteed free exercise of religion. (Convention Report, Today’s Business)
We are going to suffer for our faith, like the Hebrews of old and like Judge Nealy. Jesus promised it when He said, “Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.” John 15:20
Can you imagine how the devil will work on Judge Nealy and on us? He’s going to whisper in our ears, “You might lose your job for your faith. Why would God do that to you? He mustn’t really care. If He had any power wouldn’t He straighten all this out? The children of God should be rewarded and lead peaceful lives, not be dragged through the courts by the government. If this is the reward for faith in Jesus, God mustn’t be much of a father!
To all of the Devil’s huffing and puffing, to all his whispered lies the writer to the Hebrews simply says, “God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?”
If you had a good earthly father he disciplined you – that simply means he taught you. When you did wrong he punished you to keep you from further harm. When you did well he praised you and along the way through word and deed he loved you – even when you weren’t that lovely. And your earthly father wasn’t perfect. He did what seemed best to him to help you through the brief time of life when he was your father.
The writer of Hebrews uses the example of earthly fathers to say, “How much more then should we honor our Father in heaven!” For our Father in heaven is perfect in His love toward us. We see that love in Jesus, for in Jesus and in Jesus alone are we the children of God and we loved by Him not for 70 or 80 years, but for all eternity.
When the Devil whispers his lie and says, “God’s not much of a Father” we ought to answer back, “Haven’t you heard of Jesus?” For in Jesus God our Father loved us to death. The Father put His own flesh and blood on the cross for our sins. Jesus loved us and gave up His life for us. For a spouse we likely would die. For a child we might likely die, even in our weak love, but God demonstrates His love for us in this – while we were yet sinners, rebellious, hateful, selfish sinners, Christ Jesus died for us.
God is a good and perfect Father who teaches us. When we suffer for the faith He teaches us how broken this world is, how our hope cannot be here, how even the good gift of government can be corrupted by sin. He teaches us every time we attend a funeral or stand teary eyed at a graveside. He teaches us that we sinners die. In Jesus He reveals His Fatherly love – for in Jesus our sin is taken away, in Jesus our death is dead, and our grave is powerless to hold us. The writer of Hebrews encourages us to be subject to God our Father and live. Subject to God the Father, clinging to His Son, believing that Jesus died for sinners, believing that He died for you, that means life for you, under your Father forever.
I think there is one particular kind of Father the Devil always tempts us toward – the God of Happiness – that imaginary father who will let us get away with anything, never tell us we are wrong and exist solely to make us happy. Sadly many people believe that lie of the Devil – “God wants me to be happy.” However there isn’t a single verse in the Bible that says, “God wants you to be happy.” There are however ample verses which say God loves you and those same verses describe how God loves you. He loves you in Christ Jesus. He loves you by forgiving your sins through His blood. He loves you by covering you with the Holiness of His Son. Loved in that way, loved with forgiveness, loved with Jesus, your Father gives you more than happiness, He gives you life. And that makes Him all the Father we need and much more than we deserve. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
Pr. Bruce Timm
20 August 2016 anno Dominni