PENTECOST 7, B – July 19, 2009

SCRIPTURES – Ps. 145:16 & 147; Jer. 23:1-6; Eph. 2:11-22; Mark 6:30-44 

 A little while ago I saw a bumper sticker on a car which said:

Christianity: the belief that some cosmic Jewish zombie can make you live forever if you symbolically eat his flesh and telepathically tell him that you accept him as your master, so he can remove an evil force from your soul that is present in humanity because a rib woman was convinced by a talking snake to eat from a magical tree. Makes perfect sense.

Interesting, huh? “Makes perfect sense.” But, that’s just the point: God and His ways do not make perfect sense to us. How you think of Him shapes how “sensible” He seems to you. 

This is where I am so glad that I we are Lutherans! Yes, not simply Christians, but Lutherans, and members of the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod at that, a Church which believes and trusts God’s words, the Bible! I am so glad that we are followers of Martin Luther’s teachings, and not of a church that follows, for instance, John Calvin’s teachings. Calvin taught that God’s hand was open – to some; but, to others it was closed and would never be opened. If God has not chosen to open His hand to you, well, too bad. There’s no hope for you. I’m glad we are not like those who basically believe that God’s hand is closed until you ask Him to open it to you and reach out to you with His blessing. As if we, utterly sinful people by nature, had to, or even could, persuade God to open His hand to us! I’m glad we do not believe that God’s hand is open but His grip is weak and loose, so that it’s up to you, with the assistance of Mary and the saints, to hold onto Him tightly and sincerely and so remain in God’s hand. 

“You open your hand; you satisfy the desire of every living thing.” Psalm 145 says God has an open hand. Keep this picture in your heart and mind, of God reaching out to you in Christ, His hand open and full of blessings which He freely pours out upon you. For, that is truly our God. He is the almighty and good Creator who “covers the heavens with clouds; prepares rain for the earth; makes grass grow on the hills… gives to the beasts their food, and to the young ravens that cry.” Do you think your intelligence, your hard work, and your perseverance have created the abundance that you enjoy? Martin Luther says:

“Tell me: who puts silver and gold in the mountains so that man might find them there? Who puts into the field that great wealth which issues in grain, wine, and all kinds of produce, from which all creatures live? Does the labor of man do this? To be sure, labor no doubt finds it, but God has first to bestow it and put it there if labor is to find it. Who puts into the flesh the power to bring forth young and fill the earth with birds, beasts, fish, etc.? Is this accomplished by our labor and care? By no means. God is there first, secretly laying his blessing therein; then all things are brought forth in abundance. And so we find that all our labor is nothing more than the finding and collecting of God’s gifts.” (Martin Luther on Ps. 127, LW 45:327)

And that’s what your God wants you to do: to find and collect His gifts, especially His gifts of forgiveness and eternal life in Christ, and to do so with thanksgiving. “Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving; make melody to our God on the lyre!” proclaims Ps. 147, our Introit. God, your Creator, has opened His hand. See this! Gladly receive them and worship Him!  

And, above all see Him as the Savior who has had compassion on us foolish and helpless and wandering people, people who because of our sins are like sheep without a shepherd: helpless, weak and defenseless before our Satanic enemies; lost, with death before us. It’s no surprise that some think that the Bible portrays Jesus as “some cosmic Jewish zombie” and so struggle with what He does. They are lost and foolish! And we, if we aren’t sure of God’s goodness and love, it’s not His hand that has closed. It’s our fault. We are wandering sheep! It’s our fault if we feel like He’s left us alone in our struggles; it’s our fault if we fall into sins we know we should turn away from and end up suffering because of them. We have wandered away! We’re not listening to Him or looking at Him in the right way! God hasn’t closed His hand and caused this. He has opened it to give us His Son and bless us eternally in Him.  

Look at Jesus in our Gospel reading today. For days He has been surrounded by crowds of people, who have pressed upon Him for help and healing. He now tries to get away with His twelve disciples, to find some quiet place to rest for a bit and talk with them about all that had been going on. And so they leave for a desolate place where they can be alone. But, the crowds figure out where He is going and get there first. When He and the disciples arrive, there are the crowds! How does Jesus react? With frustration? “Oh, no, not again! Can’t I have any peace?” No. His heart is moved by their need, and He opens His hand to provide for them.  

In Jesus your Lord’s hand is always open to you. Jesus is God come to us with an open hand to give to us the gifts of heaven: holiness, the forgiveness of our every sin; eternal life; God with us as our loving Father. Jesus is the God who is with us always as our Savior. Whenever you doubt this, whenever you are in a desolate place:

q   A place of temptation, where the path to that which you know God says is wrong seems impossible to avoid;

q   A place of guilt, weighed down by the wrongs you have done and wondering whether God has turned away from you;

q   A place of emptiness and loneliness, where no one, not even God, seems to know or care, and God’s Word seems to make no sense and bring no comfort;

q   A place of fear and worry because you know difficult days lay ahead;

then look upon your Savior, whose heart is filled with compassion and whose hand is always open to you. “He Himself is our peace,” Scripture promises. He opened His hands to be nailed to a cross for you, and by His blood shed for you your sins have been forgiven and you have peace with God. Jesus is also “the Lord our righteous-ness.” In Him you are righteous, God’s holy and beloved child in whom He sees no sin and to whom His hand is always open to bless you!

“You open your hand; you satisfy the desire of every living thing.” Thus it is, and ever shall be – all because of Jesus, His beloved Son and our heavenly Brother and Savior. “Sing to Him with thanksgiving; make melody to Him on the lyre!”