January 12, 2020 Matthew 8-9:35

Introduction to the Reading:

Thus far in the gospel of Matthew we’ve learned about Jesus’ birth, a bit about his infancy, his public acceptance of the role of Savior by the baptism by John the Baptist, his testing in the wilderness, and the calling of the first disciples.  Then we skipped the Sermon on the Mount, which covers three chapters.  We’ll look at that more fully in the Easter season.  But in that sermon Jesus makes major proclamations that turn the world upside down.  The world’s ideas of power aren’t valid before God.  Shows of righteousness not backed up by the heart are hypocrisy.  True discipleship comes through service.  And God’s kingdom is at hand.

But talk can be cheap.  Jesus made all these proclamations, can he back them up?  That takes us to the two chapters we are about to read.  Chapters 8 and 9 of the gospel are a listing of miracles; one after another after another after another, all the way up to ten.  Listing ten is probably not an accident.  The gospel writer Matthew wants to present Jesus as the new Moses.  If you know the book of Exodus well you know that there were ten plagues upon the Egyptians brought about by God through Moses.  They were destruction.  Here Jesus, as the new Moses, performs miracles of healing, safety, and wholeness. 

There are a couple other pieces in between the ten miracles.  Overall though these two chapters take Jesus’ words on the Sermon on the Mount and put them into action.

Congregational Reading of Matthew 8-9:35

            Jesus’ work in these chapters is amazing.  Where there is brokenness Jesus brings wholeness.  Where there is disease he brings healing.  Where there is chaos and terror he brings peace.  Where there is death and despair Jesus brings about new life.  He creates a wonderful vision of what life in his kingdom is like.  As his followers we are invited to participate in this wonderful kingdom of heaven that Jesus is ushering in!

            Here’s the sermon I want to be able to give:  I want to say that if you live in God’s kingdom you will have a long, happy, healthy life.  I want to say that you will be free from disease, from brokenness, from bad things, from injustice, and from unfairness.

            I want to be able to preach to you that if you have faith, and enough faith, and strong enough faith, that you too can experience the storms of your life miraculously calmed, that mental illness will be solved, that sickness will be healed, that addictions will be overcome, that all will be well.

            And even though it isn’t nice, I’d still like to be able to preach that if you had sickness or failure or storms in your life that is proof that your faith is weak and that you need to improve; that you somehow need to try harder, trust more, be more disciplined, work more intensely.  And if you do those things you will surely succeed, for it is God’s will to give good lives to those whom he likes.

            Yes, a sermon like that would be easy to create.  It would be nice to preach.  And I’m sure you can find many pastors whose sermons are just like that, or some variation of that.

            Lutherans have a name for that sort of thinking.  We call it a “theology of glory”.  The theology of glory is that it is up to you, that you by your own strengths can make good things happen.

            If that is your life, then I suppose I’m happy for you.  But that is not the life of most people.

            In contrast to the theology of glory is the “theology of the cross”.  The name alone makes us not like it, but it is far closer to the truth.

            In 1 Corinthians 2 St. Paul wrote, “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.”  Paul was no theologian of glory.  A theologian of glory would use the death of Jesus as a starting point for personal gain – health, acceptability, and easy life, maybe even prosperity and popularity.

            A theologian of the cross has got the more accurate understanding.  Jesus may have performed many amazing a powerful miracles.  But we do well not to dwell on them or be in awe of them.  You know full well where the story of this miracle worker Jesus is headed.  A theologian of the cross knows that the cross is Jesus’ most powerful act.  It is the last stop for sin, death, and delusions that a life of faith is an easy stroll through a park.

            Not that God wants to see us hurt.  That is not at all the case!  But to use faith for personal gain and expect it to be a vaccine from the hardness of life is a mistake.

            Certainly pray for miracles.  God does them!  God wants you to express your desires.

            But – and here’s the big struggle – don’t expect to be able to understand what God does with your own logic.  If you get a miracle, great.  If you don’t, don’t try to figure it out.  Don’t think that you faith must be weak.  Don’t pummel yourself into thinking that God must be holding back grace and healing in order to teach you a lesson.  God can do anything, sure, but God on the whole God is not in the business of creating pain in order to teach us things.

            The funeral service of 41 year old Amy Plouffe last Thursday is among the greatest unfairnesses I’ve ever encountered.  Did Amy do anything to deserve her lot in life?  No. I can think of countless people who are mean, conniving, corrupt, and exploitative who go through life with the greatest of ease.  But Amy innocently suffered from cancer for six years, and even at her pain-filled end she barely voiced a peep of pain, instead apologizing to the hospital staff for her needs and inabilities.

            Where was Jesus with miracle number 11?

            The grace of God comes to us in the tenacious way God does not let go of us.  The grace of God comes to us in joining with us in suffering – not judging us, not teaching us, not condemning us.

            If you learn something and become a better person because of something you’ve suffered, then great.  God will equip us through hardship.  But you are a theologian of glory if you think God deliberately hurt you to teach you.

            The ten miracles were about showing Jesus’ power.  Fortunate were those who experienced them!  But they were not, and never were intended to be, the norm for a person of faith.

            The miracles are intended to teach us that God’s power is greater than anything – ANYTHING – that can harm us.  If you are suffering from something maybe you feel like you deserve it.  You can look to some past mis-deed.  Or maybe you feel like you are suffering for no reason.  Either way, know that God’s power is greater than the injustice; or God’s power is greater than the mistake.

            Ultimately God’s will is accomplished.  All will be restored.  All will be healed. 

            And perhaps this is the best piece of it all.  It doesn’t matter whether you believe it, or you don’t believe it.  It isn’t up to your faith.  It is up to God’s abilities.  God will do it.  That is where our faith lies – not in our ability to believe, but that God has been, is now, and will continue to act.  And ultimately our lives will be joined into God’s amazing future of wholeness.