LutheranLectionary.org

1 Year Lectionary – Second Wednesday in Lent – Wednesday, March 9, 2022 | Pr. Chris Rosebrough

Welcome to the Teaching Ministry of Kongsvinger Lutheran Church. Kongsvinger is a beacon for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of Northwestern Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone, and now, here’s a message from Pastor Chris Rosebrough:

Time Stamp	Transcript
0:27	The holy gospel selected
0:30	portions of luke 22 starting at verse 1.
0:35	now the feast of unleavened bread drew
0:37	near which is called the passover and
0:39	the chief priests and the scribes were
0:41	seeking how to put Jesus to death for
0:44	they feared the people
0:45	then satan entered into judas iscariot
0:48	who was numb
0:50	who was of the number of the twelve and
0:52	he went away and conferred with the
0:53	chief priests and the officers how we
0:55	might betray him to them and they were
0:58	glad and agreed to give him money so he
1:00	consented and sought an opportunity to
1:03	betray
1:04	Jesus to them in the absence of a crowd
1:08	verse 14
1:09	and when the hour came Jesus reclined at
1:12	table and the apostles with him and he
1:14	said to them i have earnestly desired to
1:16	eat this passover with you before i
1:18	suffer for i tell you that i will not
1:19	eat of it until it it is
1:22	until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of
1:24	god and he took a cup and when he had
1:26	given thanks he said take this and
1:28	divide it among yourselves for i tell
1:30	you that from now on i will not drink of
1:33	the fruit of the vine until the kingdom
1:34	of god comes and he took bread and when
1:37	he had given thanks he broke it and gave
1:39	it to them saying this is my body which
1:41	is given for you do this in remembrance
1:43	of me and likewise the cop after they
1:46	had eaten saying this cup that is poured
1:48	out for you is the covenant in my new
1:50	blood covenant in my blood but behold
1:52	the hand of him who betrays me
1:54	is with me on the table for the son of
1:56	man goes as it has been determined but
1:59	woe to the man by whom he is betrayed
2:01	and they began to question one another
2:03	which of them it could be who was going
2:05	to do this oh lord have mercy upon us
2:09	in the name of Jesus
2:12	boy that escalated quickly didn’t it i
2:14	mean he joseph went from being an
2:16	annoyance to being hated they couldn’t
2:19	say anything kind about him and next
2:22	thing you know
2:23	all 11 of his brothers
2:26	are thinking it’s time for joseph to die
2:31	i mean could you imagine i mean
2:33	these are men who are supposed to
2:34	believe in yahweh they believe in the
2:36	one true god i mean isn’t jacob their
2:39	father the man who wrestled with Jesus
2:42	won and had his name changed to israel i
2:46	mean isn’t that kind of the whole point
2:48	these are men who believe in the one
2:49	true god i mean judah himself isn’t he
2:53	the direct descendant of
2:55	you know
2:56	Jesus
2:57	the lion of the tribe of judah
3:00	but could you imagine like here at
3:02	kongzwinger i mean we’ve had some pretty
3:04	wild church council meetings but could
3:06	you imagine if like church council
3:08	meeting don matson wasn’t there and
3:10	somebody said i make a motion that we do
3:12	don mathson in
3:14	you know it’s time for dawn to go it’s
3:16	time for him to die and somebody says i
3:18	like that i second the motion that at
3:20	all in favor unanimous vote next thing
3:23	you know don’s dead right this this is
3:26	crazy
3:27	but here’s the thing is it really
3:31	that crazy
3:34	you see scripture is clear that we are
3:36	all conceived and born dead
3:39	in trespasses and sins children of the
3:41	devil and while the devil was a liar and
3:44	a murderer from the beginning and
3:46	because we have rebelled against god
3:48	well i think scripture is quite clear
3:51	it’s pretty easy for all of us to be
3:53	exactly
3:54	like the devil
3:56	and when we
3:58	harbor hatred
4:01	we harbor unforgiveness we harbor
4:05	feelings of ill will and malice within
4:08	our hearts towards others it grows
4:12	i mean is it any wonder in our society
4:16	you know i people don’t really watch
4:18	television anymore they like watch
4:19	netflix or hulu and stuff like this but
4:22	how many shows out there are dedicated
4:24	to solving
4:26	legitimate murders there’s whole
4:29	programs dedicated to that topic fact
4:34	the other day i had a conversation with
4:36	my biological father it was kind of an
4:38	interesting conversation asked how he
4:39	was doing and if he was still working as
4:42	a substitute teacher he had retired from
4:44	the police force years and years and
4:46	years ago actually decades ago now and
4:48	he said no i’m no longer working for the
4:50	school district the police force in
4:52	sitka has hired me to solve cold cases
4:56	that’s a thing apparently and i said
4:59	well have you solved any said funny
5:00	enough that you would ask very recently
5:03	i solved a 24 year old cold case murder
5:06	i said really and he said yeah it was
5:09	kind of interesting he said back when
5:11	the murder took place it was a rape and
5:14	a murder of a 19 year old girl
5:17	24 years ago he said we found we got us
5:21	we got a good dna sample but the dna
5:24	evidence back then they didn’t have the
5:26	technology to figure out whose family he
5:29	was from and stuff like this have you
5:31	ever have you ever taken a dna test from
5:33	like
5:34	ancestry.com boy
5:36	if you haven’t done that yet and you end
5:38	up doing it you might find people that
5:40	you’re related to that you had no idea
5:43	you know see i recently did a dna test
5:46	with ancestry.com and every now and then
5:48	i get notifications that they’ve well
5:51	reevaluated my dna
5:53	and
5:54	from that i’ve been able to figure out
5:56	well apparently there’s a lot of irish
5:58	in me a bit of welsh which i didn’t
6:00	expect some scottish but here was the
6:03	big surprise a couple years ago when the
6:05	technology hit that next level plateau
6:09	i found out
6:10	that i had an aunt
6:12	that i had no idea about
6:14	apparently my grandfather had sewed some
6:16	wild oats and
6:18	there was a there was a young girl
6:20	conceived as a result of it so i have an
6:22	aunt who’s my same age talk about
6:25	awkward we exchanged emails but there
6:27	was no denying it our dna said that we
6:29	were related
6:31	and so my dad in his cold case this
6:33	murder
6:34	that took place 24 years ago they were
6:36	finally able to start to branch out they
6:39	figured out which family this guy was
6:40	from were able to get some dna from
6:43	other family members they narrowed it
6:45	down and they were finally able to send
6:47	some police officers to arrest him he
6:49	had moved from alaska down to arkansas
6:52	and when they showed up he didn’t he
6:55	didn’t want to go quietly so they had to
6:57	go and actually get an arrest warrant
6:59	and when they came back he had done
7:02	himself in
7:04	horrible when you think about it right
7:07	but here’s the thing
7:09	we are all capable of this and if you
7:12	think well you know
7:14	murder is kind of a
7:16	big thing well let me remind you
7:19	that murder Christ says is committed
7:21	every time we hate
7:24	somebody within our heart
7:27	every time
7:28	it’s without fail and you’ll note how
7:30	many times do we hear the word hate
7:32	regarding joseph’s brothers he was his
7:35	father’s favorite they hated him
7:37	couldn’t speak well of him his father
7:38	made him a coat of many colors
7:41	hated him even more he had a dream and
7:43	then they hated him even more and then
7:45	he had another dream and boy that was
7:47	the straw that broke the camel’s back
7:50	but
7:51	in this lenten tide
7:53	we again
7:55	are considering our own sin in this
7:57	regard and we must recognize that
8:01	we are all already guilty of murder even
8:04	if we’ve never physically killed anyone
8:08	and Christ in his word calls us to
8:12	repent
8:13	and to bear fruit in keeping with it
8:15	with repentance in love and forgiveness
8:17	towards neighbor and so i would note
8:19	that it’s very easy to be slighted by
8:22	somebody or
8:24	to slight somebody to hurt their
8:26	feelings to do something that could
8:28	cause them to
8:30	well have feelings of ill will towards
8:32	you but as Christians we are called to
8:34	settle our accounts quickly with those
8:37	whom we sin against and those who have
8:39	sinned against us
8:40	by forgiving them going and telling our
8:43	brother the sin that they’ve committed
8:45	so that they would repent be forgiven
8:48	and reconciled and you sit there and go
8:50	yeah but you don’t understand what a
8:51	lousy brother i have yeah actually i do
8:54	and
8:55	regarding that
8:57	Jesus kind of anticipates it because at
8:59	one point somebody asked Jesus how many
9:02	times should i forgive my brother if he
9:04	sins against me seven times and Jesus
9:07	says no 70 times seven and he says even
9:10	if he comes to you in the same day and
9:13	says i’m sorry
9:14	seventy times you forgive him each
9:17	and every time
9:19	from your heart
9:21	boy boy is that hard
9:24	boy is that hard
9:26	but i would remind you that we are all
9:28	greatly forgiven in Christ
9:31	and it’s here that we consider
9:34	another aspect of this account you’ll
9:36	note that the story of joseph
9:38	so many ways so many touch points
9:41	parallels the life of Christ his death
9:44	his resurrection his ascension it’s in
9:47	his saving of the world joseph out of
9:49	all of the characters in the old
9:51	testament is this one who is
9:53	most obviously like Jesus and these
9:56	touch points are actually quite
9:58	fascinating for us and so as we look at
10:02	the story of joseph here tonight we note
10:05	then the hatred the absolute cutting cut
10:08	shutting off of their heart towards
10:10	their own brother but note then that
10:12	these brothers of joseph they conspired
10:16	to harm their own father as well
10:20	knowing full well that joseph was alive
10:23	they let their father mourn and weep for
10:26	day after day after day for a long
10:29	period of time and they didn’t even open
10:32	their mouth to speak a word to him to
10:35	offer him any comfort any solace they
10:38	allowed the ruse to stand
10:41	it’s very sad when you think about it
10:43	how must someone hate his own father to
10:47	do such a thing
10:48	but there’s another aspect to this and
10:51	as i was reading the concordia pulpit
10:52	kind of trying to figure out how to work
10:55	the sermon here tonight the fellow who
10:58	put the put together a sermon on this
11:00	exact same text in the concordia pulpit
11:03	noted that there’s another similarity
11:05	between Jesus
11:06	and and joseph and that is the silence
11:10	of god
11:11	which is an interesting point if you
11:13	think about it
11:14	because
11:15	in the previous chapters of genesis we
11:18	have seen god communicating quite
11:20	clearly with israel and as i’ve already
11:23	pointed out well when
11:26	when jacob was in big trouble he was
11:29	heading back to canaan because god
11:31	verbally told him to go back
11:34	when he went when he was heading back
11:36	his brother esau had 300 armed men and
11:39	were heading in his direction and he
11:42	panicked
11:43	decided to take his whole family and his
11:45	herds and break them up into two groups
11:48	thinking that if esau attacks one group
11:50	then maybe at least the one group will
11:52	survive you have to wonder if if even
11:54	jacob himself was hoping well if esau
11:56	attacks i hope he attacks this one not
11:58	that one he was a fellow who also played
12:00	favorites with his own wives if you
12:02	think about it and what happens god
12:05	shows up that night and wrestles with
12:08	jacob wrenches his hip renames him
12:12	israel and
12:14	blesses him face to face and he calls
12:17	the place itself where this took place
12:20	penae el which means the face of god is
12:24	communicating with israel throughout his
12:28	life
12:28	and then when his son goes missing it is
12:32	complete
12:33	and utter
12:36	silence
12:38	not a word
12:41	god
12:44	was a willing participant
12:47	it’s a little weird when you think about
12:49	it
12:50	but it’s really not
12:51	and this is where we want to consider
12:53	something here and that is is that
12:55	another parallel between joseph and
12:59	Jesus
13:00	is that when Jesus
13:02	well when he had been betrayed not for
13:04	20 pieces of silver but 30.
13:07	and when he not thrown into a pit but
13:10	was beaten to within an inch of his life
13:13	when he was scourged mocked and punched
13:15	in the face had a crown of thorns driven
13:17	into his skull
13:19	and he was bleeding and then nailed to a
13:21	cross and suspended between heaven and
13:24	earth why
13:25	because he was bearing the punishment
13:27	and the guilt and the iniquity of all
13:29	all of us you and me included
13:32	that one when he was on the cross when
13:35	the sun darkened Christ cried out my god
13:38	my god why have you forsaken me
13:41	while Jesus languished while he suffered
13:45	in soul
13:46	in mind and definitely in body
13:50	god the father remained completely
13:52	silenced practically turned his face
13:54	away from Jesus
13:56	to allow this to all go down
14:00	and if well
14:02	if israel if jacob is any indicator of
14:05	what the father was going through it had
14:07	to be horrifically terrible
14:09	but yet god remained silent and it’s
14:12	here will we recognize that in our walk
14:16	with Christ
14:17	as we journey
14:20	from our baptismal waters through the
14:22	wilderness of this life to the world
14:25	that is to come the promised land of the
14:27	new heavens and the new earth
14:29	that along the way there are times when
14:31	it seems like in the midst of our
14:33	sufferings
14:34	god
14:35	isn’t
14:36	well
14:37	offering any words of comfort at all
14:43	Christ says my god my god why have you
14:45	forsaken me the psalmist cries out how
14:48	long o lord will you forget me forever
14:51	and it’s here that we note that
14:53	sometimes god does some of his most
14:55	important and difficult work
14:59	he does it on us
15:01	in complete silence
15:05	it’s painful
15:06	but we’ll note this that sometimes the
15:09	most painful things we have to go
15:10	through are exactly the things that we
15:12	need to go through in order to be healed
15:14	of some of our own sin sickness
15:17	i remember when i was a kid
15:19	that when i would get the belt from my
15:21	dad my dad would always tell me those
15:23	stupid words this is going to hurt me
15:25	more than it hurt you and it never did
15:27	never did ever
15:29	but i think of another time when i had
15:32	to experience great pain
15:34	in order to experience a healing i know
15:37	it seems kind of a weird if you kind of
15:38	put in those terms but
15:40	the day before i started the seventh
15:42	grade it was the last day of summer and
15:44	i didn’t want to go shopping with my
15:46	mother because have you guys noticed
15:48	this about women when they go shopping
15:50	they wander
15:52	okay when i go shopping i know what i
15:54	want i know what aisle it’s on
15:57	i sometimes even work it out on the app
16:00	that i have for the store figure out
16:02	which aisle which bay whatever and i go
16:04	to that store park my truck go in go
16:07	straight to where the item is pick it up
16:11	go to the
16:12	self checkout and get out
16:14	women not so much women they just wander
16:17	around aimlessly and i don’t understand
16:20	what this is all about well
16:22	when i was getting ready to go into the
16:24	seventh grade right before school
16:26	started my mom decided she wanted to go
16:28	shopping shopping at all places a place
16:30	called save on it’s a drugstore in
16:33	southern california and i didn’t want to
16:36	go in with her it was the last day of
16:39	summer
16:40	so what did i do i had my roller skates
16:43	on
16:44	and i was roller skating on the sidewalk
16:46	in front of save-ons
16:48	while my mother was shopping
16:50	and i hit a bit of uneven pavement and
16:53	my skate my roller skates came to a stop
16:56	but i didn’t i went flying like superman
17:01	without the ability to fly and when i
17:04	hit the ground
17:06	i felt a very weird
17:08	warm sensation in my right arm and when
17:12	i looked at it one of my bones was
17:14	sticking out of my arm
17:16	and i decided it was time to scream
17:19	bloody murder and bloody murder i
17:21	screamed and so they figured out who my
17:23	mother was brought her out and she
17:26	didn’t even put me in an ambulance she
17:27	just threw him in her car and we went to
17:28	go see my stepdad my stepdad’s an er
17:31	physician so he puts the x-ray puts my
17:34	arm under the x-ray says yep you broke
17:36	it really okay i knew that and he says
17:38	yeah but setting this thing is going to
17:40	be a little bit beyond my skill so he
17:42	called the orthopedic surgeon who
17:44	happened to be a personal friend of his
17:46	the orthopedic surgeon comes in takes a
17:48	look at the at the x-ray takes a look at
17:50	my arm and goes yep
17:53	i oddly enough think i can set this
17:55	thing and you won’t need any surgery he
17:57	says however because of the way you
17:59	broke it i’m not going to be able to
18:01	numb it up though but don’t worry it’ll
18:03	it’ll it’ll be really quick you know it
18:05	won’t it won’t be that bad
18:08	terrible terrible things to tell a child
18:11	so
18:12	he went ahead and put the plaster on it
18:14	while it was still soft he said all
18:16	right we’re gonna count to three on
18:18	three ready one two and at two he went
18:21	and you heard the crack
18:23	and the scream
18:26	and the throbbing
18:28	but he said it right
18:29	he said it right but man did it hurt it
18:32	really legitimately hurt
18:34	but you know what
18:36	never broke this arm again
18:38	and it works perfectly fine that’s what
18:40	i needed at the moment
18:42	and so we note that sometimes
18:46	what we need
18:48	in order to help us
18:50	overcome if you would by the power of
18:52	the holy spirit
18:54	some of our desire
18:56	for sin
18:58	is we need god’s discipline
19:00	and god’s discipline in the book of
19:02	hebrews is oftentimes described in terms
19:04	of a scourging in and of itself it’s
19:06	painful and it’s difficult and you know
19:09	what by the silence of god here in this
19:12	text and by the silence of god while
19:13	Christ was suffering
19:15	i think it’s good that god is silent
19:17	while he’s scourging us
19:20	because we can see that when he is
19:22	silent
19:23	he’s working
19:25	pretty important things
19:27	when he was silent in the case of joseph
19:30	he was working the salvation of the
19:32	world at that time
19:34	joseph needed to go into slavery
19:37	even worse he needed to go into prison
19:39	for a crime he didn’t commit and he
19:41	suffered greatly the psalms tell us
19:44	as a prisoner and god didn’t speak a
19:47	word to him
19:50	and he didn’t speak a word
19:53	to jacob had he spoken a word to jacob
19:55	jacob would have come and rescued him
19:57	and in saving jacob he would have
20:00	imperiled his own life in the life of
20:01	his own family
20:04	and so
20:05	as we consider this account there’s so
20:08	many facets so many different ways in
20:10	which we can work this
20:12	but since we’re working in light of our
20:14	own repentance let us understand this
20:17	that it is a painful process to go
20:19	through
20:20	to have god’s law convict us of our sin
20:23	it is a painful process that the holy
20:25	spirit goes through in pruning us
20:28	and sanctifying us and god disciplining
20:30	us because of his great love for us
20:33	and we’ll note that it took
20:35	Jesus himself bearing our sin on the
20:38	cross and suffering greatly for us to be
20:40	reconciled to god
20:42	and so let us again repent of all of our
20:45	malice and hatred but also let us repent
20:47	of the ways in which we somehow throw a
20:50	finger at god and blame him for the
20:52	suffering that we’re in when we’ve
20:53	brought it upon ourselves or even worse
20:56	when god is disciplining us and we are
20:59	not burying up properly underneath it i
21:02	assure you that each and every one of us
21:04	deserves far more than the sufferings
21:06	that we go through
21:07	and yet god
21:09	doesn’t give us what we deserve
21:12	not now and not in eternity
21:15	so let us repent
21:17	of disdaining god’s silence and embrace
21:20	it and know that he hasn’t forsaken us
21:22	because scripture is clear i will never
21:24	leave you or forsake you but in the
21:26	midst of that silence he may in fact be
21:28	working something very important for our
21:30	own salvation just like he did for
21:33	joseph just like he did for jacob and
21:35	just like he did for Jesus in the name
21:38	of Jesus amen

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