PENTECOST 5, B, 2009

TEXT – Mark 6:7 

             I recently read a great book about George Washington’s crossing of the Delaware River with his troops on Christmas Day, 1776, and defeating the Hessian troops in Trenton, NJ. The book dispelled the commonly held belief that Washington won the battle because Col. Rall and his men were hungover from their Christmas celebrations. No, they had not been drinking, but were actually on the alert. There were other reasons why Washington was able to defeat the Hessians. First of all, he had good intelligence. The local citizens kept him well informed of the positions of the British and Hessian troops and the locations of their generals. Also, local militia groups were constantly attacking and harassing the Hessians, so that they were exhausted from being on constant alert. Finally, Washington attacked during a terrible storm, a Nor’easter that made visibility poor and so kept the Hessian troops from being aware of their presence until too late. An act of God combined with the work of men to enable an American victory, a victory which was critical in our winning the Revolutionary War and establishing this nation.

             Was God intentionally working with man to give Washington the victory? Who knows? God hasn’t plainly told us. Jesus does plainly tell us that He works with and through men. He chooses twelve men and sends them out with His authority to do His work. He continues to do so to this day.

 Jesus is following the way God speaks of His work. Scripture often speaks of God and His salvation in very physical terms.

q   “Taste and see that the Lord is good” – Ps. 34:8. This is very physical language; it speaks to our senses.

q   “The Lord has chosen Zion…for His dwelling:…I will bless her with abundant provisions;…I will clothe her priests with salvation.” (Ps. 132). A physical place where salvation is given is spoken of: Zion, a part of Jerusalem.

 God’s salvation is something that is very much physical!

I.              GOD’S SALVATION HAS BEEN OBTAINED FOR YOU BY A MAN OF FLESH

AND BLOOD.

This is because we, in our flesh and blood, bodies and souls, need to be saved. We bear actual guilt before God for wrongdoing, and He will hold us accountable. Physical consequences often result from our sins. We therefore confess, “I am a sinner,” not, “I have problems, inner conflicts, etc., that hold me back.” Jesus sent out the Twelve to preach that we must repent,

q   Not just desire to be better than we are, be more satisfied, content, and at peace;

q   But turn from our sinful thoughts and ways, lest we be condemned to hell because of them, and believe in Jesus’ death as the payment for our sins.

 

The salvation of God has taken physical form and expression. God has given us His Son—born of Mary, come among us in flesh and blood. God, the only true and real God and the only Savior, is a physical being—Jesus, the son of Mary. Apart from Him and belief in Him there is no salvation, no spirituality, no God. But with Him there is only salvation—no sin, no evil spirits, no death, no hell.

 

Salvation—the forgiveness of your sins and newness of life for you—is real. It has been purchased for you by Jesus, by the shedding of His blood on the cross for you. Embrace it—physically: heart, soul, and mind; with your eyes, ears, hands, and mouth! You can, for: 

II.            GOD’S SALVATION IS DISTRIBUTED TO YOU BY MEN OF FLESH AND BLOOD ¾ by the Pastors who preach Jesus Christ.

 God’s will is that His salvation in His Son be given to us through the men He calls to preach His Word. He knows how we would choose our own paths to spirituality and salvation, focus on what makes sense to us and makes us feel inwardly good. It’s been that way since Adam and Eve disobeyed God and made their own coverings to cover their nakedness, and so their sin. Jesus calls us to the preaching of His Word and the receiving of His Sacraments. All seeking of spirituality apart from them is hollow and empty. More than that, it is also rejected and despised by God.

q   Jesus instructed the Twelve to shake the dust off their feet when leaving any town which rejected their preaching of repentance. God Himself would reject them.

We find God’s salvation only in God’s way: as He comes down to us through the Word and Sacrament Ministry of flesh and blood men.

 Jesus Himself is present to you and for you in His Apostolic, flesh and blood, Ministry. Pastors may seem to be nothing and have nothing.

q   Paul was despised by some because he was not a very good public speaker.

q   Even Jesus was rejected because He was from a poor and uninfluential family!

But He had authority even over the demons! And notice what Jesus gave to the Twelve when He sent them out to preach: He have them authority—His authority—over evil spirits! They spoke and acted for Christ, so much so that Jesus promised them: “Whoever receives you receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me.” It was because of such promises that Luther proclaimed in a sermon:

“Yes, I hear the sermon; but who is speaking? The minister? No indeed! You do not hear the minister. True, the voice is his; but my God is speaking the Word which he preaches or speaks. Therefore I should honor the Word of God [by listening carefully] that I may become a good pupil of the Word.” (from a sermon on John 4:9-10)

Jesus promises that through the Ministry of His pastors evil spirits are cast out. Evil and sin departs, and God’s Spirit and His salvation enter in: into your heart; into your mind; into your body. And so your body, not just your soul or spirit, has been redeemed by Christ.

 God acts through men to save us. Don’t just believe this: receive this! From the lips and the hands of flesh and blood men, Christ’s Pastors, receive the salvation of God that was won for you by the flesh and blood sacrifice of Jesus, the Son of God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds and bodies in the true faith unto life everlasting. Amen.