Disunity Sunday

Kongsvinger Lutheran Church

Subscribe

Download

Share

00

00:10

Welcome to the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church. Kungsvinger is a beacon for the gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of northwestern

00:18

Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone.

00:25

And now, here's a message from Pastor Chris Roseberg. The Holy Gospel according to St. Luke, the 12th chapter.

00:31

Jesus said, I came to cast fire on the earth and would that it were already kindled. I have a baptism to be baptized with and how great is my distress until it is accomplished.

00:41

Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. From now on, in one house there will be five divided, three against two, two against three.

00:53

They will be divided father against son, son against father, mother against daughter, daughter against mother, mother -in -law against her daughter -in -law and daughter -in -law against her mother -in -law.

01:04

This is the gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, O Christ. In the name of Jesus.

01:11

Amen. So what did you think of that gospel text? I'm thinking that liturgically we should name this

01:16

Disunity Sunday. Y 'all don't seem to be warming up to the fact.

01:23

Let me make my case here. I mean, Jesus says that He's not come to give peace on the earth, but that He's going to divide people all the way down to the family unit itself, a family of five, and then we hear that father and son are going to be against each other, mother and daughter against each other, and then we see mother -in -law against her daughter -in -law, which, by the way, doesn't seem all that odd to me, but that's a different story altogether.

01:51

So we should call this Disunity Sunday. We should just embrace the disunity. Something's wrong with Roseboro, man, that jet lag.

01:58

That jet lag clearly is impacting his theology. But let's see if we can kind of sort this out today, shall we?

02:04

One of the things I've noticed is that on my travels, and the Lord has been merciful in granting us the ability to travel to different portions of the world over the past few years.

02:15

We've visited the Netherlands, Norway. We've been to Australia. We've been to the

02:20

United Kingdom and now to Ireland. And the one thing that has struck me is that no matter where I travel, everyone seems pretty much to be the same.

02:29

It's the weirdest thing. You know what happens when people wake up in Swansea? You know what they do?

02:35

They eat their breakfast. They take their shower. They brush their teeth. They put on their clothes. They get in their vehicles, whether it be train or car, and they travel to work.

02:44

They put in a hard day's work. The children go off to school. They do their homework. They come back, and then they have their dinners together.

02:50

They go to bed, and then you know what they do the next day? The exact same thing. When I was in Norway, you know what

02:56

I found out the Norwegians do? They do the same thing also. They wake up in the morning, put on their clothes, eat their breakfast, go to work, come back, and it's the same everywhere you go.

03:05

You sit there and go, how is it that if everybody's doing the same thing that we as a planet are not united?

03:14

What are we divided over exactly? Something's wrong with us.

03:20

Because you'll note that wherever you go, there are people who are farmers, who are moms, who are dads, who are children, who are students, who are train workers.

03:29

There are people who pick up the trash. There's people who do the laundry. It's all the same. There's nothing special about one place over another.

03:37

They might have a different language, a different dialect, but at the end of the day, we're all made of the same stuff.

03:43

We all do the same thing. We all have the same needs, and our needs are met the exact same way through toil. So what's the problem?

03:53

What's all this disunity about? And I would say, again, the fault lies with us.

04:01

But we're going to note that the disunity that Christ is talking about goes all the way down to the nubbins, down to the root, if you would.

04:10

So consider it this way. We're going to take a look at Jeremiah 23, and we'll use that to kind of frame where the disunity comes from because over and again, we recognize that Scripture teaches that the core disunity that exists in humanity is a disunity based upon religion, a view regarding yourself.

04:35

Think of it this way. There are political ideologies that are quite religious in their insistence that humanity is good.

04:44

It's just that they're making bad decisions. And so what we're going to do is we're going to create a political ideology where we're going to cut off particular decisions that humans will make, and therefore this will result in good for everybody.

04:57

But the problem is that that's a religious statement. If humanity is good, then why did

05:03

Jesus come? And then there's another group that say humanity is born sinful, evil, rightly under the punishment, the curse of God, and that there is no hope for humanity apart from Christ.

05:20

And so the two views take divergent roles, but in the one, you can see that, well, it takes on a lot of different facets in which it displays itself, and we call this the theology of glory, the theology of self -glory, whereby if I try hard, do good, do the right things, believe the right things.

05:39

Notice belief here is being put into a context of a work that you do to earn something. Right belief is absolutely mandatory, but not as a work, as something that you hold up to God, as something, look at what

05:51

I've done. See, I got all the answers right on the quiz. But what ends up happening is the theology of self -glory exalts itself, believes that God is now in your debt, and over and again they get the diagnosis wrong.

06:06

The diagnosis in their mind is that you're a good people, you just need to make better decisions, try a little harder, and nothing bad is going to happen to you.

06:17

And so keep that in mind. Jeremiah 23, thus says Yahweh, the

06:23

God of armies, the God of hosts, do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes.

06:35

And we're going to note here, we're going to use this text to note that there is a narrow way of understanding prophecy, and there's a wider sense of prophecy.

06:44

The narrow way is somebody hearing directly from God, being given words from God that they have uniquely received that they then share with others or preach publicly.

06:56

But there's a wider sense in which prophecy occurs, and we can kind of see this at the end of our

07:02

Old Testament pericope. And it says this, verse 28, Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word, and here's our adverb, faithfully.

07:16

So we note then that the one who has the word of God, whether it comes to him written or not, his job is to speak

07:23

God's word faithfully, and in that sense you can say that all pastors are operating prophetically when they ascend the pulpit or go on stage nowadays, it's weird how this all works out, and when they tell you the word of God and they preach it faithfully, these are words given to them by God, and it's in a book we all have access to those words, that that is prophecy in the wider sense.

07:50

And you note that's kind of in play here. So when you turn on Christian radio, or you listen to your pastor, or you decide that you're going to listen to another pastor, the question is, should you listen to him or not?

08:06

And the answer has to come down to, is he taking God's word and preaching it faithfully, or is he filling your minds with vain hopes?

08:21

Think about it for a second. That vain hope thing kind of takes on different flavors at different times.

08:26

In our lifetime right now, currently the way vain hope works is along the lines of, listen, you are super -de -duper special, and you just don't realize how special you are.

08:37

And so the great news is that God has a unique purpose for which he created you, and once you say the right things or do the right things,

08:45

God's going to find that you're serious about discovering your unique purpose, and when he speaks to you, you're going to find out that the dream he has for you is huge.

08:54

You're going to change the world. You're so important. We should all be standing up and applauding and saying, finally he's here, finally she's here.

09:02

This is how they preach, right? That's vain hope, and I assure you, you're not the

09:10

Messiah. The world hasn't been waiting for you to arrive. The world was waiting for Christ to arrive, not you, not me.

09:18

So the idea then is that when a pastor takes your sinful ego and feeds it and puts in your mind hopes and promises that God has not made, and it's all about you being glorified, you can know you're hearing a false prophet.

09:38

And then here's kind of the second marker. They continually say to those who despise the word of the

09:44

Lord, consider the category. I cannot even begin to tell you how many sermons

09:52

I've listened to where from the pulpit or from the stage, somebody who is a pastor has attacked the word of God and said that it is not sufficient, it cannot be trusted.

10:08

You should not rely on it solely. Yes, it's important, they always kind of give it lip service, but at the end of the day they attack it, and no sooner are they done attacking

10:18

God's word that they then give you their own theology that they've put together in their own hearts, in their own minds, almost like they cooked it up in their backyard meth lab.

10:30

And now they're passing it off to everybody and saying, but my words can be trusted.

10:36

It's always amazing to me that those who attack the word of God are endless people who are putting forward theologies that are not found anywhere in Scripture, and they have to attack the word of God in order to exalt their ideas.

10:49

That's a false prophet as well. So they continually say to those who despise the word of God, and here it is, it's going to be well with you.

10:58

It's going to go really great with you, don't worry. And I think of some of the slogans that I've heard over the past few years.

11:05

You think of Rob Bell saying, oh, love wins. And by that he means that there is no punishment that anybody has to worry about regarding hell or eternal damnation.

11:17

So they say to people who despise God's word, it's going to be well with you. And to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, notice following your own heart, not a good thing.

11:27

No disaster shall come upon you. In other words, they say things like, listen, God's not mad at you.

11:33

God's mad about you. He just, oh, you're just so amazing. You're wincing.

11:40

If you haven't heard these sermons, consider yourself blessed. This is standard fare in many places that call themselves

11:47

Christian churches. But the one who faithfully preaches God's word knows that God's word comes to us in both law and gospel.

11:58

And the diagnosis is horrible. It's not good news at all. The diagnosis is that we've all sinned and fallen way short of the glory of God.

12:07

Each of us has earned from God an eternity in hell. This is most certainly true.

12:13

And there's nothing we can do to release ourselves, to free ourselves from this dilemma, from this predicament, from these circumstances.

12:22

There's no money, there's no amount of money that we can earn to buy our salvation. There is no amount of good works that we can perform in order to earn our way out of this condemnation.

12:36

And we are utterly stuck. We are not strong enough to go toe -to -toe with the devil and defeat him.

12:44

There's nothing we can do. And into that situation then, when you listen to the word of God, there is hope given to us, and that hope comes from outside of us.

12:54

That hope comes from Jesus Christ, who, although He was by nature God, He humbled

13:01

Himself and became one of us. Found in human form,

13:07

He was obedient even to the point of death on the cross. Perfectly obedient for you and for me.

13:15

And again, this is the dividing line. So God then, talking about these false prophets, asks this question.

13:22

Who among them has stood in the council of Yahweh to see and to hear

13:29

His word? And the council of Yahweh, by the way, is not some weird council of the gods or a council where God and the angels are sitting there kind of making decisions.

13:39

You know, how do you vote, Michael? How about you, Gabriel? No, no, no. The council of God is

13:45

Father, Son, Holy Spirit. And if the angels are privy to the conversation taking place, they are there listening, not voting, not commenting.

13:57

And you'll note then the question is, who of them has seen or heard His word? How does one see the word of God, by the way?

14:04

This is quite the mystery. But the mystery is found in Christ, who is none other than the Logos to Theo, the

14:10

Word of God made flesh. And we can see the Word of God when we see Jesus.

14:16

And so next verse then, listen to what He says. Now stop for a second because you think that you might know what this is referring to, but you probably are wrong in your thinking.

14:48

And let me explain. If you think this is referring exclusively to the day of judgment, when

14:53

Christ returns in glory to judge the living and the dead, then you are forgetting an important mile marker in human history.

15:01

And it's the very one that Jesus is referring to in our Gospel text. And let me explain. Hear again the words of our

15:07

Gospel text at the beginning of it. Jesus says, Is He referring to the day of judgment?

15:19

Well, consider the next verse. I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress, until it is to telestai, until it is finished.

15:37

Now I see what's going on here. Because remember this, that the wrath of God has gone forth.

15:43

It has broken upon the head of the wicked, but it's not the one that you would think. Not you, not me, not somebody else.

15:49

The head of the wicked one is Christ. Because remember what Isaiah says. And hear again the words of the prophet

16:00

Jeremiah. The prophet Jeremiah says that anger has gone forth.

16:08

Let me find the passage again. I just lost it. Again, it's... Ah, here we go.

16:21

The anger of the Lord will not turn back until He is executed, and listen to the word, accomplished, finished the intents of His heart.

16:31

And so note then that when we look at Christ on the cross, and this is what He is referring to, that His baptism is

16:39

He is going to be baptized with the fire of God, the wrath of God in your place.

16:45

He's going to suffer and to die, and the wrath of the Lord is going to accomplish this amazing thing.

16:51

What? Your salvation. Mine. Our pardon.

16:56

Our peace. Our forgiveness. Our reconciliation. And indeed it has.

17:03

Christ's baptism into the wrath of God, which is described always in terms of fire and heat, allows us to be baptized in the cool waters of baptism.

17:15

United with Christ in a watery grave in His death and His resurrection. Not consumed, but died and risen again in Him so that we can be forgiven.

17:26

So do not think then, Jesus says, that I've come to bring peace on the earth. And the reason why there is no peace is not because Christ's forgiveness doesn't bring peace.

17:35

It's because men are wicked and persist in sin and unbelief. It is a miracle that any of us rebels believe have been pardoned and forgiven.

17:47

And those who persist in sin and unbelief, they are still at war with God. And when they hear that you have been forgiven, that you believe, that you are no longer engaging in hostility against God, well, guess what?

18:00

Their hostilities now will extend even to you. This is what Christ has promised.

18:06

So this is why Jesus says, do not think that I've come to bring peace on the earth, but rather division.

18:12

And from now on, this division is going to go all the way down to the nuclear family itself.

18:19

And who of us do not understand what that is like? We've seen it playing out in our own lives here.

18:27

And it's just sad and tragic and yet altogether true. But consider then this, that what

18:35

Christ is referring to, the dividing line then is the cross. That's where the real division lies.

18:42

The cross, Christ and the gospel. And think of it this way. Remember when Jesus was on the cross?

18:48

When he died, there was an earthquake? Think of it then as like this, the word picture, if you would.

18:54

The cross itself is the place where God took the cross, jammed it into the ground, and this becomes the

19:01

San Andreas fault of humanity. And when the earthquake goes off at Christ's death, when he says it is finished, then note then that the divide then ripples through all of human history up to us now and past us into the future to the day of judgment when

19:19

Jesus returns in glory and then he himself separates all of humanity into two groups, sheep and goat.

19:27

And that division then, we can see it while Christ is suffering on the cross. In the end of this very gospel that we're reading today, where Jesus says,

19:37

Father forgive them, they do not know what they are doing. And it says they cast lots to divide

19:43

Christ's garments. The people stood by watching with the rulers and they scoffed at Jesus saying,

19:49

He saved others, let him save himself. Isn't it fascinating that in their blindness, do they not understand that they, by what he is doing, are also being saved?

20:02

But they would have none of it. If he is the Christ of God and his chosen one, let him come down.

20:08

The soldiers also mocked Jesus, coming up and offering him sour wine, saying, If you are the king of the

20:14

Jews, save yourself. And there was also an inscription over him. And the inscription read,

20:20

This is the king of the Jews. And note, this is true. Jesus truly is the son of David, the king of the

20:28

Jews. And yet, it is interpreted either one way or the other, based upon who you believe

20:34

Jesus to be, liar or Lord. And then we see here now, the divide played out very clearly.

20:46

Between, you know, Jesus is between two criminals. One on his right and one on his left.

20:55

And one of the criminals who were hanged, they railed at Jesus, saying, Are you not the

21:00

Christ? Save yourself and us. But listen to what the other said. The other rebuked him.

21:07

And so think of it this way. The one who is speaking against Jesus, he is speaking vain hopes of his own mind, that I can somehow, like Harry Houdini, escape death here.

21:22

It's going to be the greatest magic trick of all time. Come on, Jesus, I heard you have miracle working power.

21:27

Save yourself, save me, and it will be like the best prison break ever. Vain hopes indeed.

21:36

But the other, you can see here that he knows something about how God's word really works.

21:43

And so he rebuked him. He's calling him to repent of his own wickedness. And he says,

21:49

Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?

21:55

And listen to his confession. And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds.

22:04

And his appeal to the other fellow is to repent. To even now, as he is dying, abandon his wickedness and to be forgiven.

22:17

And then he rightly confesses, But Jesus, this man has done nothing wrong. This is innocent blood.

22:24

He is not dying rightly. But see, here's the best part. Although this man has not heard the gospel being preached to him, he is seeing it with his own eyes.

22:35

He is seeing the innocent one dying as if he were the guilty one. And the only way this is possible is if God the

22:44

Father has imputed to Christ your sin and mine. And so in one last prayer, one last confession, he looks to Jesus for hope.

22:58

Although Jesus is cursed and dying on a cross is a cursed man, he says to Jesus, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.

23:08

And so Jesus said to him, Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.

23:18

And so note then that at the cross we can see this division very clearly. On the one hand, the scoffers, those who think that they can somehow save themselves, are looking to Jesus to keep them alive in their sin, to participate in the prison break.

23:35

And the other who recognizes that he is justly condemned and calls out to Christ for mercy.

23:42

The one receives mercy. The other receives condemnation. And this is the divide.

23:49

This is what makes it so humanity is not united. It comes down to this.

23:55

And so note then that Christ rightly said that he has not come to bring peace.

24:01

The peace that he will bring ultimately, the Prince of Peace, will come only at the Day of Judgment, when he separates the sheep from the goats, the wheat from the tares, the good from the evil, the righteous from those who are not forgiven.

24:19

And so in the meantime, in the same household, there will be five people divided.

24:26

Three against two, two against three. Divided against father, against son.

24:31

Son against father, mother against daughter. Daughter against mother, mother -in -law against her daughter -in -law.

24:38

Daughter -in -law against her mother -in -law. Friend against friend. That's our lot right now.

24:46

And we should expect this because Christ said so. There's no glory or self -glory in this.

24:53

There's only a cross to bear, suffering to experience, mocking, slander, lies, discord.

25:02

And what do you do? You pray. You pray for those who persecute you.

25:09

Christ set the example on the cross. Father, forgive them. So repent of your wickedness.

25:14

Repent of your trying to save yourself. Repent of you trying to live out your days in eternity as a sinner.

25:20

It will not work. And note then that Christ in this lifetime does bring disunity, but He will eventually bring peace.

25:30

We believe this by faith, the same way we believe that we are forgiven. So repent of your wickedness, trust in Him, and continue to march with Jesus as He has set

25:41

His face toward Jerusalem to die. So remember that you too are a dead person walking.

25:46

Pick up your cross and follow Him. In the name of Jesus, Amen. If you would like to support the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church, you can do so by sending a tax -free donation to Kungsvinger Lutheran Church, 15950 470th

26:10

Avenue NW, Oslo, Minnesota, 56744. And again, that address is

26:18

Kungsvinger Lutheran Church, 15950 470th

26:24

Avenue NW, Oslo, Minnesota, 56744. We thank you for your support.

26:31

All of our teaching messages may be freely distributed as long as you do not edit or change the content of the message.