it's what you thought that you wanted

it's still a surprise

A sermon on the time Jesus turned a tough night into a new day

Well, I hate to say it, but while all of you were freezing your tuchuses off in the polar vortex, I was sporting short sleeves in sunny California. But I don’t bring this up to brag. I mention it because I wasn’t just in sunny California. No, I was in the land of affluence. 

Southern California is a place of conspicuous consumption. Before I even made it to the hotel room, I saw a Porsche. And you know what? Sports cars like that were a regular sight out there. 

Now, I was in there for work. I was there as a facilitator for the Iowa Preachers Project. And one of my jobs was to shuttle the participants from location to location. But the car we rented was a large SUV. 

I have to admit, when I found myself idling behind one of those sports cars, I was sorely tempted. As a good boy from the Midwest, I felt it was my job to poke my finger in that kind of opulence. And I knew all I had to do was shift the car into park and rev it up, too! That’d give ‘em a good scare! Wouldn’t it? And anyway, it’s my humble opinion that if someone is going to drive a car like that, I’m doing them a favor by reminding them of just how easily it can all evaporate just like *that.

The truth, though, is that we’re just as liable to fool ourselves on precisely this same score. Aren’t we? The band Vampire Weekend wrote a song about just this. The song in question is “Rich Man.” It’s all about the ways we tell ourselves we’re the exception to the rule of avarice. 

It’s got the great line, “When I was young, I was told I’d find / one rich man in ten has a satisfied mind.” And can you guess the punchline? It’s “and I’m the one.” 

As the song progresses, the odds get more and more unlikely. Yet, the narrator keeps telling themself they’re the one exception. Eventually, it becomes clear the narrator is fooling themself. And we’re a lot like this, too. Aren’t we?

…Honestly, it didn’t take long for all of us pastors to get caught up in all that wealth out there. When I was driving a group to the beach, one pastor pulled out his phone, pulled up the website Zillow, and started searching for the listing prices of homes. And in case you’re wondering, it was about three and a half million. Yes, you heard me right, million. 

When this pastor said that, we all just shook our heads. What a waste, we piously mouthed. But you know what? The next time we were at the beach, we played a little game. 

Here’s how it went: As we walked along the beach, we chose what yacht we wanted. And the game part was that you wanted to choose your yacht before anyone else. However, you didn’t want to choose too early, either. Maybe later you would find a better yacht. So much for contentment. Huh?

Perhaps all this is just reinforcing all your stereotypes about pastors. But I tell you all this because I have no doubt you’re no different. Sure, we’re humble Iowans. We don’t want yachts. But we do want pontoons. We want speedboats. We want johnboats. Or maybe it’s just a cabin on the lake. Isn’t it?

In fact, what is the first thing you would buy if you won the lottery? And spare me! Don’t pretend you have to think about your answer! You already know! You’ve thought about this before! 

So, what is it? Turn to someone else and share your answer. Go ahead and do it right now. Don’t spend too long. Just share the answer that first comes to mind. No judgment, either. We’re not looking for right answers. No, we’re just looking for honest ones. Ok. Go ahead and share.

All right. Let’s bring it in. Thank you for playing along. And let’s hear it. What are your answers? Just shout ‘em out. 

I’ll go first. I really want a stately and well-kept old house on North Hill. But what about you? What would you get? Let’s hear it.

…I told you! Didn’t I? You’re no different. And neither am I.

Do you know who is different, though? Simon Peter, and James and John Zebedee! In today’s passage, they hit the jackpot! This is the kind of break that could set them up for years to come! The haul of fish could be the moment they start Zebedee and Sons Fishing Enterprises.

That’s not what happens, though. Is it? No, it’s not. The three of those soon-to-be apostles don’t put a down payment on a new fleet of ships. They don’t invest it in the market. And they don’t even go on a speeding spree, either!

So, what do they do? Here, I’ll help you. It’s the last five words of today’s passage. It’s not a trick question. What is it? What do they do?

That’s right! “They left everything and followed him.” They left everything. The net effect of all their good fortune is to let it all go. 

What if I told you that’s the aim of all God’s provisions? What if I told you God’s answer to everything you’ve ever prayed for is to let it go? How would that sound to you? How would it make you feel?

I bet it makes you anxious. Doesn’t it? But maybe it makes you feel a little conflicted. Perhaps some part of you knows there’s some truth to that provocative statement. 

More than likely, you’re caught in the middle. You want to let go. And you don’t want to, too. And maybe you’re thinking you can split the difference. Maybe you think you’re the exception.

I’m sorry to say, though, that would be an accursed life. As Martin Luther told us on that first Sunday after Christmas, God’s greatest curse is to let you and me live by our own druthers. It was St. Augustine who said when God told Adam and Eve they would die, God stopped cursing them and blessed them instead. And if that seems like an odd blessing, let me explain Augustine’s logic. 

If God were to let Adam and Eve continue on their way, they would have spent all of history running from God, blaming each other, all of creation, and even God the Creator, too. So, instead of leaving them to that wretched fate, God intervened. I will let you die, God said. God let humankind become helpless. But, in that powerlessness, the First Commandment was kept once and for all! When we couldn’t do anything for ourselves, we finally let God be God, come what may!

It’s like that great Johnny Cash song, “God’s Gonna Cut You Down.” It’s a spooky and threatening song, but as Johnny sings, you realize he’s telling you it’s a blessing when God cuts you down. And the man in black can really deliver those lines, too. After all, he knew what it was like to run from God. And he knew what a blessing it is when God cuts that running short.

Here, I’ll let Johnny tell you himself: “Well, my goodness gracious, let me tell you the news /—/ My head’s been whipped by the midnight dew / I been down on bended knee / Talking to the man from Galilee /—/ He spoke to me in the voice so sweet / I thought I heard the shuffle of angels’ feet /—/ He called my name and my heart stood still / When he said, John, go and do my will!”

…All right. I’ve called Martin Luther and Johnny Cash in support of my case. 

But what I want to do is impress upon you the fact that the provocative statement that God’s answer to all your prayers is to let them go is not the exception. No, it’s the hard and fast rule! That place you have to let go is not where Christianity ends. It’s where it begins! 

As we say, God’s office is—*Where? That’s right! The end of your rope. God’s office is at the end of your rope.

If you’re still not sure, let me direct your attention to St. Paul. St. Paul, who once persecuted Christ’s Church. Didn’t he? But one day, while he was on his way to Damascus with orders to seize and detain Christians, he was knocked from his horse. And that humbling experience isn’t when he stopped doing God’s will. It’s when he started.

Or how about Abraham? Abraham, who didn’t have Isaac until he was good and old. And Isaac, that boy he and Sarah named “Laughter,” he was the answer to all their prayers. But it wasn’t long before they started to love the gift more than the Giver. And so, one day, God cut it short.

In Hebrew, this incident is known as the Akedah, the binding of Isaac. But one of the things this episode teaches us is that when Abraham tied up his boy, he was set free from setting all his hopes on him! Had God left them, Abraham would have smothered Isaac. And Isaac likely would have wilted under the unreasonable expectations, too.

…So, what say you? Are you still on the fence? Do you still think you’re the exception? Are you harboring the notion that you get to step off where Peter, James, John, Martin Luther, Johnny Cash, and Abraham all stepped on?

I hope not. I hope not because that would be to exempt yourself from the grand adventure of faith. You would cheat yourself out of the thrill Johnny sang about. You would miss the sheer delight that made Luther one of the most important people in modern history! 

Believe me, though, I know this is no easy thing. It’s why I have that poster in my office that says, “Everything I’ve ever let go of has claw marks on it.” We don’t let go easily. Do we?

No, it’s painful. Often, whatever we’ve been clutching has to be wrenched from our cold, dead hands. Doesn’t it? And that’s never pleasant. 

However! However, once we’re dead to all that clenching, we can finally take a breath! We can finally start really living! In Christ, life is not found in possessing. No, it’s receiving.

This is no pious adage, either. Consider your own life. What are the best parts? I bet they’re not when you’ve clung to this or that. Are they? No, I bet those are some of the worst ones. 

Conversely, I bet some of the best moments are when you stood on the receiving end. It’s why it’s called falling in love. You don’t do it! No, it happens to you! But that experience of letting go is one of the most sublime things a person can ever experience!

It’s not just love, either. It’s good music, good food, good friends, good conversation. The sweetest parts of life are the ones where you’re free enough just to enjoy what’s under your nose as it is for what it is! And let me be clear: that includes you, too. 

If you’re waiting to be satisfied until you’ve achieved this or that, let me tell you, you’ll never be satisfied. That old game is rigged! It never ends! It’s a moving goalpost. 

No sooner will you reach this or that goal than a new one will pop up. Or, if not that, you’ll spend the rest of your life trying to hold onto whatever you’ve attained. Instead of satisfying you, your objectives will objectify you. Slowly but surely, you will cease to be a human being, and you will become little more than a human doing. 

Life will pass you by. You will never gain the wherewithal just to sit back and enjoy your life. And at the end of it all, you will never have known a moment of what makes life worth living! You will have lived, but you will have never been alive with the glory of God.

…Listen, I know I’m laying it on thick, but I’m not here to coddle you. No, I’m here to tell you how it is. I may not be the man in black. But I am wearing my stole. And whenever I wear that, God takes my words and speaks to you through them!

So, let me tell you about you. In the name of the + Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, God’s gonna cut you down! That’s right. God’s gonna cut you down. And do you know what else? That’s the good news!

That’s right, that’s the good news. God’s gonna cut you down. God’s gonna cut you down, and then you’ll finally take your stand in Christ and Christ alone! God’s gonna cut you down, and then you’ll find it all held together in Christ’s pierced but powerful hands at last! Yes, God’s gonna cut you down, and that’s the good news.

Do you know what, though? I don’t need to talk in the future tense. Do I? No, I bet it’s happening to you right now! God isn’t waiting around for a week from some Tuesday to get started. No, God neither slumbers nor sleeps. I bet God is presently cutting you down!

If this all sounds abstract, just think about where you’re most tired. That place in life where you’re most tired is where you’re most religious. And God is so good, God isn’t about to let you go on your merry little way worshipping that idol that will just leave you chewed up and spit out. No, instead, it’s right there that God’s gonna cut you down. It’s right there that God’s gonna cut you down so that you might find life in him! Or, as we say, when you’re down to nothing, GOD is up to something!

More than likely, though, this cutting down feels like a matter of life or death. You’re terrified of what will happen if you can’t hold up everything in your life. In reality, though, it’s actually the other way ‘round! It’s all those ways you’re pushing yourself that you’re crushing it yourself!

However, in Christ, it’s not that way for you anymore! It’s no longer a matter of life or death. No, it’s a matter of death and life, in that order! In Christ, you now live on the other side of his death!

In Christ, whatever hold you have on your life has already come undone! And this is absolutely true because, in your baptism into Christ’s death, you have already died! But, in that death, you gained eternal, unshakable, and authentic life! In Christ, you can let go of your death grip on life and finally receive the fullness of life in Christ’s open arms!

That’s not all, either! It’s all already happening! When you’re cut down, Christ stands tall for you! When you’ve got nothing left to go on, the Holy Spirit Thyself fills you with the love of God itself! And when you can’t hold on anymore, Jesus refuses to let go of you. 

In Christ, you can finally receive life on its own terms, good, bad, and indifferent! And in this freedom, you will finally begin to really live, too! It’s now Christ who lives in you! And in him, you have nothing left to lose!

This nothing is everything Christ needs! And Christ’s everything is more than enough. It’s nothing less than the power unto eternal life! And in baptism, it’s all yours!

…As such, let us follow Christ into these waters. Yes, they lead to death. But in Christ, this death leads to life! And having life in his name, we rejoice!

So, let’s do that! Shall we? Our Hymn of the Day is hymn number 817, “You Have Come Down to the Lakeshore.” Hymn number 817, “You Have Come Down to the Lakeshore.” Let’s sing!