Eleventh Sunday After Pentecost (C) 2019

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

Text: Hebrews 12:28
Theme: An Unshakable Kingdom



Dear friends in Christ Jesus,

Some of God’s promises appear mundane. They are plausible and predictable. He says He will provide our daily bread. He says He loves the widow and the orphan. He says He will seek after the lost sheep. Other promises are superlative. They are magnificent, even spectacular. He says He will raise the dead. He says He will destroy evil. He says He will sustain life eternally. The more ordinary seeming promises of God often lead to ingratitude. Because we expect these blessings it’s easy to take them for granted and not give God the credit. Conversely, the more dramatic promises of God can lead to uncertainty. Is this just pie-in-the-sky stuff, or will such astonishing promises really come true? Only the Holy Spirit can resolve both vulnerabilities.

Today God makes a spectacular promise that requires a scrupulous reaction. The Scripture says, “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe.”1 We are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken. The future of God’s dominion is not in doubt. But the implication here is that there are other things which can and will be shaken. Our text calls these “created things”2. Ultimately, only those things which God wills will endure.

The “shaking” of some things is not a matter of chance, or fate, or natural disaster. Some things need to be shaken before they can be restored. What does need to be shaken? What does need to be knocked off its foundation and crumble? The answer is as simple as it is profound. The control of sin in our lives must be demolished. The sinner with unresolved sin will not endure in the future unshakeable kingdom. That’s why the Lord’s call to repentance in Luke 13 isn’t very gentle. He’s not trying to spare anyone’s feelings or make exceptions for weaknesses or sensitivities. He says, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered in this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”3 His call to repentance is not mellow because He knows to whom He speaks. He knows the human heart and will. He knows self-defence and self-justification are always the first responses of sinners.

He knows a favourite tactic of trying to boost ourselves up is to bring others down. In doing so we’re not actually elevating ourselves at all. But how desperate we often are to keep up appearances! We don’t easily suffer others looking better than us. We don’t want to come off second best. And so, we’re often quick to point out the faults of others while downplaying our own. The strategy of devaluing others is something we try on God too. If we can bring God down to our level- perhaps with the stated purpose of making Him more ‘approachable’- then we feel less self-conscious about our own inadequacies. If we can domesticate God, we feel more like equals in the relationship.

But our strategy is a hopeless one. God is holy. We are not. We are broken. God is not. What must be shaken is the misunderstanding that we are undamaged, naturally wholesome and righteous before God. All false confidence in our own abilities to manage sin and its consequences must be shattered. We require rescue from outside of ourselves. And God does not fail to provide it. He sent His Son. If there were no sickness, no disease, and no injury, there would be no need for medicine. If there were no brokenness, no impairment, no damage, there would be no need for healing, no need for therapy, no need for doctors. If there was no sin, there would be no need for a Saviour. If there was no transgression, there would be no need for forgiveness. If there was no danger of condemnation, there would be no need of redemption. But, dear friends, how great is the need! Our world is saturated with brokenness.
(Do you think the recent demonstrations in NWS over the proposed abortion bill are merely about political wrangling? The brokenness of humanity is on display. A struggle to understand the value of life is at stake.)

(This morning we have witnessed the baptism of James Hampel, a precious gift given by God to Nigel and Jessica) Now, baptism is one of those promises of God that fits into the second category mentioned earlier. Baptism has the appearance of ordinariness. After all, the connection between water and cleansing is easily understood. Baptism washes clean the soul. The magnificent reality is, however, that this action is not simply symbolic. The Holy Trinity is present and working, bringing spiritual life and salvation. In baptism, the claims of Satan are confronted, his assertions of falsehood are rebuked, and he is deposed. A very similar thing happens every time we confess our sins and receive absolution in Jesus’ name. The jurisdiction of Satan is overthrown. It happens too, in Holy Communion.

Dear friends, the crucified and risen Jesus is neither restricted in His capacities, nor lacking the will to pursue His purposes. His ways may often be mysterious to us, but they are not ineffective. Five-year-old Billy had a pivotal verse to recite in an Easter program at the local Christian school. The verse assigned was from Luke 24: “He is not here, he is risen”. Unfortunately, Billy could not remember what to say, and the director had to quietly remind him of his line. He then confidently went to the microphone and instead of saying “He is not here, he is risen” he triumphantly shouted, “He’s not here; He’s in prison!”

Well, what was intended to be a bold proclamation of the Easter gospel ended up instead being a declaration of defeat. But, dear friends, Christ has not been defeated. Jesus was crucified, but He is risen. The bondage of death has been broken. The fortress of hell has been shattered. We are free. The Scripture says, “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”4 We are freed from sin’s eternal punishment. We are liberated from Satan’s accusations. We are emancipated from the horrors of hell.

Still, Christians sometimes mope around as if all hope had been lost. Satan loves to throw the wet blanket of despondency over us. He tries to convince us that God has forsaken us, and he often finds a listening ear. He knows we are prone to crying “unfair!” He knows we like to grumble. But His claims are hollow. His words are propaganda- misinformation with the intent of fostering doubt and suspicion. He peddles his hidden agenda with smooth and plausible words.

The promises of Christ, however, are the clearest truth. His purpose is salvation, healing, and life. Jesus has no hidden agendas. The gospel is the most public and transparent truth ever revealed. Those who trust in God’s forgiveness possess that forgiveness exactly as it is offered and described. Everlasting life is also a present possession. We are already part of the kingdom. Therefore, believers have joy that cannot be measured by any human standard.

Maybe that joy is not very tangible to you. Pray that the Holy Spirit would enable you to grasp it by faith. Pray that God would surround you with others to support you in your journey, to encourage you in your faith. Pray also that the Spirit would mature you in such a way that you are assisting others in their progress and not hindering them. A husband and wife were riding a tandem bicycle up a fairly long and steep hill. After much effort, they finally made it to the top and paused to catch their breath. The front rider, the wife, said, “That was a tough ride.” To which the second rider, the husband, replied, “It sure was, and if I hadn’t kept the brake on, we might have slipped backwards.”

The Scripture says, “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe.”5 The Christian life, the sanctified life, the baptismal life of cross-bearing is a continual exercise in the nexus, the interconnection, between joy and reverence. One day, in the resurrection, all these things will be resolved with perfect clarity. Meanwhile, if you think the promises of God are too mundane, just reflect for a little while on the kingdom that cannot be shaken. Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +

Eleventh Sunday After Pentecost
25 August 2019
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt

1 Hebrews 12:28 2 See Hebrews 12:27
3 Luke 13:2-3 4 John 8:36
5 Hebrews 12:28