Fourth Sunday After Pentecost (C) 2019

+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.

Text: Luke 10:11
Theme: The Kingdom of God is Near



Dear friends in Christ Jesus,

“The kingdom of God has come near to you.”1 That was the message the ambassadors of Jesus were to proclaim in every town, village, and home. Whether they were welcomed or not, the message was to be unmistakable: God is at work in the world. That work involves the defeat of Satan, evil, unbelief and all its consequences and the rescue of sinners and their restoration to the kingdom. The nearness of the kingdom is inseparable from the presence of Jesus and the work of the Spirit. The Scripture says, “The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth.”2

But is that how we really see it? Oh, dear friends, how may problems seem to be solved when God stands at a distance! And how many more are solved when the devil stands there too! Perhaps on opposite sides; one on the East and the other on the West, or one on the North and the other on the South? When God is kept arm’s-length the complications and contingencies of our decisions are greatly reduced. Yes, we ‘cleverly’ keep His wisdom available for consultation, it’s right here in The Book. But access to His decrees and engagement with His presence are two very different things. The understanding of ideas does not equal interaction with the Person. Studying the history of marriage is not equivalent to entering into the bonds of holy matrimony. Reading a manual on the origin and rules of tennis is hardly the same as playing in a match.

The distancing of God is a dangerous deception. It creates the illusion of relative autonomy. As masters of our own methods we pursue the construction of our own kingdoms. These empires are not always material- properties, trust funds, legacies, and the like- they can be monuments to egos, reputations and ambitions. The sinful nature always wants to build its own Tower of Babel. The higher our egos are raised, the further we get from God.

The first deception of the distant God (and Satan) is that accountability for our transgressions can be deferred if not completely ignored. If God isn’t on-the-scene, we have time to cover our tracks. We are children playing unsupervised. In the case of the distant Satan, temptation can be deconstructed, re-imaged, downplayed, or written off. St. Paul warns us today, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked.”3 God cannot be tricked. He cannot be made a fool of. He cannot be hoodwinked, duped, or deluded. Certainly, He is parodied. He is scorned, slandered, and caricatured. But it will not be without retribution. God will not leave the punishment of sin unresolved.

But the far greater danger of the deception of the distant God (which might appear to give us a nice measure of freedom) is loss of indemnity. True confidence in the immediacy of His power to intervene for our good is forfeited. Grace becomes detached from the living power to administer it. Doubt is cast upon God’s ability to act because His imminence is in question. Divine truth is not a lifeless phenomenon. God’s love is not a static ideology. God intervenes for our good. He is on-the-scene. The drowning swimmer is not helped by the lifeguard on duty at a different beach. A soldier wounded on the battlefield cannot be assisted by a comrade fighting in a different war. A hostage cannot be rescued even by highly capable police if they cannot reach the location. Mortals living in time and space cannot be redeemed by a Deity who remains confined to His own eternal dimensions.

Dear friends, rejoice that we do not have a such a God. What does the Scripture say? “When the fulness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law.”4 It says, “This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God.”5
Jesus is here and He is alive and well. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world6. The cross was His altar of sacrifice. The resurrection was His triumph over death. He speaks to you when you are absolved of your sins and assured of His favour. He feeds you when His body is offered, and His blood is given. He cheers you when He recalls to you His baptismal promise that you now participate in His victory over death. He doesn’t prod you to struggle to reach Him. He comes down to you, lowering Himself to raise you up.

Our God has come near to us in the person of Jesus. But, increasingly the world around us prefers to keep Him at a distance. We’re only just getting a taste of what the future struggle may be like. Will the Christian Church be able to cope with being truly counter-cultural? Counter-cultural not in a faddish way or a way that relegates it to ghetto status. Will the church adjust to being the people of God in a society that no longer shares many of its most fundamental beliefs, yet desperately needs the light of truth shining into its darkness, and the message of peace to calm its chaos? Or, will the church re-image itself to be so similar to culture that it disavows its unique identity? Will it concede the teachings of Scripture one by one until it finds itself on the sinking sand of humanistic philosophy? Will the church survive the tsunami which is already causing many within her to run for the ‘safety of society’s political correctness’?

The answer, existentially, is yes! The gates of hell will not prevail against Christ’s church. The church’s existence is a fundamental doctrine because it is tied to the unchangeability and immortality of God Himself. Jesus says, “Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.”7 There will always be some who stand firm. The Living God will never cease to have servants. But the Christian church may not be the church as we know it today? Congregations, parishes, entire denominations may become deceased. A Christian presence may completely disappear from many future societies as has happened many times in the past. Believers in the West may have to meet in secrecy for fear of persecution. The chaff will be separated from the wheat. But the total destruction of the church will never eventuate. “The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.”8 In the future, believers will likely be more appreciative of their shared faith, understanding more keenly what it means to suffer for the name of Christ. Jesus was taunted while He hung on the altar of the cross. He endured the insults of the very people He would shed His blood for.

Dear friends, the seventy-two missionaries sent out today were met with both welcome and hostility. Yet they came back rejoicing. They understood that the kingdom of heaven had come near and they were both eyewitnesses and participants in its blessings. But lest they lose focus on the essential reason for joy, Jesus said to them, “Do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”9 And, so too, us. Amen.

+ In nomine Jesu +

Fourth Sunday After Pentecost
7 July 2019
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt

1 Luke 10:9
2 Psalm 145:18
3 Galatians 6:7
4 Galatians 4:4-5 5 1 John 4:2 6 See John 1:29
7 Matthew 24:12-13 8 John 1:5 9 Luke 10:20