St. Matthew’s Ev. Lutheran Church + Benton Harbor, Michigan
The 8th Sunday after Epiphany, February 27, 2000
Mark 2:18-22
"Feast on the Forgiveness Jesus Won!"
Now John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting.
Some people came and asked Jesus, "How is it that John's disciples and the
disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not?" Jesus
answered, "How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with
them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them. But the time will come
when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast.
"No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the
new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. And no one pours
new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and
both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into new
wineskins."
Dear Bothers and Sisters
in Christ,
Craig Parton was a very
srict Evangelical and belonged to a group called Campus Crusades for
Christ. He was the kind of guy who
would tell you that it is a sin to smoke, to drink any alcohol, to dance or to
have any fun. Yes, Craig would agree
that Jesus is our only way to heaven, but he would say that you still have to
make your decision for Christ. He would
tell you that it is up to you to prepare your heart for Jesus, and Jesus won’t
come to a smoker, drinker or dancer.
Well, while studying at
Simon Greenleaf Law School in California, he was able to hear two brilliant
Lutheran scholars lecture about Christian ethics. He was so impressed with what they said that he decided to go and
visit them one late afternoon. When he
found them, he was in shock. He found
them sipping alcohol and smoking cigarettes!
Craig wondered how it was possible that these brilliant Lutheran
scholars could smoke and drink (two sins that, in Craig’s mind, kept you from
being a Christian). This intrigued him
so much, that he decided to find out more about Lutheranism. Through his studies, God led Craig to the
realization that there is nothing we must do to be saved or to be a “super
Christian.” God has done it all for
us. The joy in the total freedom and
forgiveness Jesus won for Craig over took his heart: so much so that he became
a Lutheran and now tours the country telling others about his Christian
freedom.
Today we are going to look at this freedom we
have as Christians. Many people in the
world confess Jesus as their Savior, but they needlessly burden themselves with
“rules” they have made. We ourselves
fall into this trap when Satan, that ultimate accuser, makes us believe that we
must do something to earn Christ’s love and forgiveness. Listen very carefully to what I am about to
say: THERE IS NOTHING YOU MUST DO. JESUS HAS FORGIVEN YOU!!!
Let us feast on the forgiveness
Jesus won! He came to bring us
joy. Show this joy to the world.
1) He came to bring you joy
Jesus was walking down a road one day when he saw Levi (later known as Matthew) sitting in his tax collectors booth. Jesus called him to be a disciple, and Levi followed him. Levi was so happy that Jesus had called him that he decided to throw a feast, to which he invited all his tax collector friends. Tax collectors were certainly not poor, and it was the custom of that day to go all out when you threw a party. Levi’s feast probably included the best and rarest of everything, in huge amounts.
The Pharisees and some disciples of John the Baptist saw Jesus enter this house. The Pharisees were appalled that Jesus would enter the house of a “sinner” and that he would eat such a feast with them on a day set apart for fasting. You see, every good Jew fasted on Thursdays and Mondays to commemorate Moses going up Mt. Sinai and his coming down. It was an unwritten rule. And that is the key to understanding this whole scenario. Fasting is an unwritten, man made rule.
Other than for possibly on the Day of Atonement, when the Israelites were told to deny themselves, God never commanded fasting. Fasting has always been a human tradition, and certainly has some benefits. Fasting is a way to exercise concentration. It can also be a way to show sorrow for sin. Fasting, used in the proper way, has its benefits. The problem is that fasting can also be easily abused.
The Pharisees said that fasting earned God’s favor. According to them, the more one fasted, the more religious a person was. Because of this false idea about fasting, many people were shocked to see Jesus’ disciples feast.
Many people today also have this idea that if they do something, this makes them a better Christian and able to earn God’s favor. Some people say that drinking any alcohol is wrong and a sin. A person once told me that we Lutheran pastors are going to suffer God’s wrath in hell for offering real wine in communion, because drinking alcohol is a sin. It is easy for us to laugh at such foolish notions and call people who think that way ignorant, but then we have to also call ourselves the same thing.
How often don’t we get caught up in tradition. If something isn’t done this or that way, then God certainly won’t be happy. “I just sinned, God won’t be happy with my repentance unless I do something good first and prove that I am really sorry.” “I better not smile, laugh or have to much fun. God doesn’t like people who have fun. He said, “Blessed are those who mourn.” “Boy, Joe there is a great Christian. Look he gave up everything. He doesn’t smoke. He doesn’t drink. He doesn’t watch T.V. He doesn’t dance at the DANK. He eats very little. God must certainly love him!” This idea of our earning God’s favor is something that is ingrained in our sinful nature, and we all struggle with it. John’s disciples, who were also around the Matthew’s house, struggled with it so much that they rightly asked Jesus for guidance. Jesus gently guides them to understand the joy they should have over Him.
Jesus tells them that the friends of the bridegroom don’t cry at his wedding. This illustration is simple enough to understand, yet there are some very profound truths in it when you apply it to Jesus. Jesus, the son of God, the long awaited Savior from sin, is sitting with them. He is in the process of redeeming the whole world. This wasn’t a time for fasting, but for feasting!
As Jesus points out, there is a proper time for fasting. Fasting signifies sorrow. It was, and still is, proper to spiritually fast over our sins because we realize that we have rebelled against our loving creator. When we look at the world around us and see all the wars, hatred, and evil, we must weep bitterly. When we look in our own hearts and see the evil that lurks within it - prideful thoughts, hatred, jealousy and laziness - we are almost led to despair. In the Old Testament, idolatry is often symbolized as adultery. How often haven’t we committed spiritual adultery against God by prostituting ourselves with the materialism our American society worships. It is certainly proper for us to fast over our sins, and show sorrow over them, but. . .
The Bridegroom is here. The Old Testament often uses the picture of a husband reconciling himself with a wayward wife to symbolize God’s reconciliation with humans. Jesus is our ultimate Bridegroom. He came to save us from the hell fire our sins had earned. Our precious Jesus has kept God’s law perfectly for us. He suffered and died a horrible death for us (and that was the time Jesus referred to when he said that the disciples would fast). Yet, he didn’t remain dead, but rose again, showing that he defeated death for you and me. Yes Jesus, the Savior of the world, was with the disciples. It was not a time for fasting, but for feasting and rejoicing.
What about now? Jesus isn’t with us now, is he? Ah, remember what Jesus said to his disciples, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Jesus promised that where two or three gather in his name, there he is with them. Jesus even promised to dwell with in each of us Christians! Our bridegroom, our Savior from sin, our God is with us. He is present right here, right now! Just last week Jesus (body and blood) entered your body through the blessed sacrament of Holy Communion. Through this sacrament He made his dwelling with you, forgave your sins, and strengthened your faith. REJOICE! REJOICE over our wonderful God. As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed all of your sin and guilt away from you. There is nothing you must do to save yourself. Rejoice! Jesus is with you. Feast on the forgiveness Jesus won for us.
1) Show this joy to the world
Jesus illustrates his call to feasting with two more illustrations. “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into new wineskins."
Back in Jesus day, they didn’t have preshrunk clothing. Even in you wore a petite toga, you still had to buy a large one so that it would shrink down to your size after washing it. No one would think about trying to repair an old garment with a new piece of cloth. If you would do that and then wash it, the new stronger cloth would tear the old garment even more.
The same was true with
new bubbly, champagne like, wine. If
you put that in an old wineskin (which became brittle and non-elastic over
time), the new strong wine would break the skins and ruin both wine and skin.
Jesus point is that you
don’t mix Law and Gospel. Now that we
have been bought back by the blood of the Lamb, now that our Bridegroom has
come and has already betrothed himself unto us, we should not go back to our
old way of life, a way dictated to us by human rules and traditions.
Think of it this way:
when the slaves in the south were emancipate after the civil war, did they go
back into the cotton fields and act like slaves again? NO.
They were free. They acted like
freed men. They told everyone about
their freedom. The same applies to the
Christian.
We Christians are
free. Jesus has broken off our shackles
of sin. Why would we want to go back
and act like slaves, when we can act like freemen? The Mosaic law was put into place to prepare the world for the Savior,
that was its sole purpose. Now that the
Savior has come, we have no need for these old traditions because we have
something better: Jesus forgiveness.
People through out the
ages have had difficulty throwing out the old garments of the human laws, and
replacing them with the new garments of Christ’s righteousness. It started off with the Pharisees in Jesus
day, who rejected Jesus and the Gospel.
The early Church was plagued with people who taught that the Gentiles
had to be circumcised in order to be part of God’s house. Through out the centuries, up until the time
of Luther, laws came into the Church, such as: like you can only eat fish on
Friday’s. You have to show God you true
repentance by doing something good before you are forgiven.
Today there are many
Christians who say that you have to go to church on a certain day of the week,
you have to abstain from all alcohol, you aren’t allowed dance, women can’t
wear a skirt higher than there ankles. . .
The list could go on and on. It
is mind boggling how many petty laws people come up with so that they can earn
God’s forgiveness or so they can be
“good” Christians. Hearing these
people talk makes we want to go to them and scream out, “Stop burdening
yourselves with this stuff. You are saved through the blood of Christ
alone! You must not do anything to earn
God’s salvation. THAT WAS NEVER THE
PURPOSE OF THE LAW IN THE FIRST PLACE!”
Its purpose was to show you your sins and prepare you for your
Savior. Your Savior has come. Your sins are forgiven. Now act like a free child of God!
The question now arises: How should we act. Allow me to illustrate this point with a memorable event in my
life. Growing up in Canada, and going
to public school was tough. I was not
popular at all. I was in the “outcast”
group and made fun of by a lot of kids.
My teachers knew that about me.
On day a teacher (who wasn’t a Christian) came up to me and asked, “Why
do you smile all the time? Kids make
fun of you, but you are always smiling.
I have never seen you frown. Why
is that?” I answered, “Why should I be
sad? I’m a Christian.”
Rejoice. Show your salvation to the world. Even during times of persecution, pain or sorrow, you have something to rejoice about: you are a Christian! You are a child of God, a citizen of heaven, a King reigning with Christ. Nothing can separate you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus.
This doesn’t mean that now I am free to sin. No, we have been freed and adopted into the best family of all:
God’s. Out of thankfulness to our
heavenly “Abba” or Papa, we want to
act like his children. This means
joyfully telling others about God, enjoying and rejoicing in the company of
fellow believers at Church, and during the week. It means thanking God for his wonderful goodness and enjoying his
creation and the blessings he has given you.
It means living a life of love to God and to our neighbors. Loving, not because we have to, but because
we want to.
We all have something to be joyful about: the forgiveness Jesus won for us. Yes, there is a time for spiritual fasting: when we realize our sins and confess them to God. But right after that is the time for feasting: feasting on the forgiveness Jesus won for us. Rejoice in this forgiveness, because Jesus is with you. Show this joy to the world, so that many more may rejoice with us. Amen.