Sermon – Hebrews 5:5-10 – Jesus Our High Priest

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

Sermon – Hebrews 5:5-10 – Jesus Our High Priest

Pitts Creek and Beaver Dam Churches

Lent 5

March 25, 2012

Why did Jesus have to die such a humiliating death on a cross? This is a question we have as we approach Holy Week. It was also a question facing the early church which the evangelists had to answer. Peter told the churches that Christ had to enter into our suffering to find us and bring us to God. Paul told the church of Rome that Jesus died on the cross to justify us so that we fit together in a right relationship with God and with each other. And Paul told the Corinthian church that Jesus died a shameful death on the cross to demonstrate God's power to find us in our shame and redeem us. Today we will hear as the author of Hebrews tells Jewish Christians that Jesus died in order to serve as our High Priest. We will look at this further but first let's pray.

“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)

Hebrews 5:5-10 ⁵ So Christ also did not take upon himself the glory of becoming a high priest. But God said to him, "You are my Son; today I have become your Father." ⁶ And he says in another place, "You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek." ⁷ During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. ⁸ Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered ⁹ and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him ¹⁰ and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.

The Jewish Christians faced a problem. They were no longer welcomed in the Jerusalem Temple. We know that persecution had started against the Christians. Paul had been arrested went he tried to enter the Temple. And the new Gentiles in the church were unable to go into the Temple at all. The importance of entering the Temple was related to the forgiving of sin. It was thought that the Temple was the earthly home of God. And so you were expected to make a pilgrimage to the temple, at least once in your life to present a sacrifice and receive forgiveness from God.

The process of forgiveness worked this way. Since God is holy and you are not you are unable to approach God yourself. Someone who is holy needs to be the intermediary. This person, or priest, would listen to your prayers, learn about your joys and concerns, and offer your prayers to God, asking God to bless you by forgiving your sins and giving you what you need for life. This priest was expected to remain holy in order to approach God with your prayers. And this priest was expected to know you and what was happening in your life in order to take your prayers to God.

This function of a priest is similar to what I do as a preacher, but there are some major differences. Like a priest, I need to know you. I need to know your joys and concerns. I need to know what's bothering you. I need to know the questions you have for God. I take all of this and hold it in my mind and heart while I study the scripture passage assigned for a Sunday. I try to see how the Bible passage answers your questions and deals with the problems you face. Then I put together a sermon which talks about the scripture and how it intersects with your life. And I pray that whatever I say in my sermon can be used by the Holy Spirit to do something for you. So as a preacher I take your joys and concerns, bounce them off the Bible and tell you about it. The Holy Spirit then takes whatever my mouth says and transforms it into whatever your ears hear. And you are transformed. So the difference between a preacher and a priest is that I do not deliver your prayers to God. Rather I take your prayers, pass them through scripture, and send them back to you.

But if I don't take your prayers to God who does? Who is your priest who knows you, and is holy enough to approach God on your behalf? This is a problem facing us as it was a problem facing the early church who found their path to the temple and the priests barred by their faith in Jesus Christ.

We don't know who the author of the Book of Hebrews was. We do know that he was a preacher, Hebrews is most likely a sermon, and he was speaking to a group of Jewish Christians. He told them that they did have a high priest, someone holy enough to come into God's presence and someone who knew their joys and concerns, heard their prayers and understood their experiences. This priest was none other than Jesus Christ, who had lived with them, experienced what they had experienced, including suffering and death, and had ascended to be with the Father. Jesus Christ is the high priest who hears our prayers and delivers them to God.

But it was difficult for the Jewish Christians to believe this. Yes, Jesus was the Christ, the anointed one. He was from the tribe of Judah, so he was anointed as King, a descendant of David. But everyone knew that the high priest must be from the tribe of Levy and a descendant of Aaron, Moses' brother. Jesus was not from the tribe of Levy and not descended from Aaron. So Jesus could not be the high priest. And the Jewish Christians worried about who would intercede for them with God as their priest.

The author of Hebrews, like any good preacher, took this concern to scripture to see what the Word of God had to say about it. He searched the Hebrew Bible and found this.

Genesis 14:18-20 18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, 19 and he blessed Abram, saying, "Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. 20 And blessed be God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand." Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

Psalm 110:4 4 The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind: "You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek."

Melchizadek literally means, “king of righteousness”. He would be a king who would free the prisoners, clothe the naked, feed the hungry, and deliver people from grinding poverty. We are also told that he was also the king of Salem, or Shalom, which means “peace”. So he would be a king who delivers us from war and violence. And Melchizadek was a priest of God Most High. A priest? He was not of the tribe of Levi. Levi was still three generations away. He was not a descendant of Aaron, Aaron would not be born for centuries. But Melchizadek was a priest. And in fact he was a priest not just in Abraham's time but forever.

And so too is Jesus because Jesus just like Melchizadek, is the king of righteousness and peace, and just like Melchizadek Jesus came with gifts of bread and wine. Just like Melchizadek, and unlike all the descendants of Aaron, Jesus lives forever. The unmistakable conclusion is that just like Melchizadek was a priest of the God Most High, so too Jesus is our high priest. The reason Jesus suffered on the cross was to know us, to know our suffering, to know what it is like to die. Jesus knows who we are, what we think and feel, and our joys and concerns. So like a good preacher, or a good priest, he listens to our prayers and knows what they mean. Jesus is also holy. He is sinless and so as our high priest has the ability to be in the presence of God. Jesus has ascended to the right hand of God where he can whisper our prayers, our joys and our concerns, directly into the Father's ear. So Jesus takes our prayers and gives them to God as our eternal high priest.

As I have already said, I am not your priest, rather I am your preacher who takes your prayers, your joys, your concerns to scripture to see what it says and report back. But are there priest here in the church? Are there priests who experience what we experience and holy enough to talk with God on our behalf? In the protestant tradition the answer is yes. There are people who know us and what we are going through and are holy enough to bring this to God. Who are these people? They are all of us. All of us who profess our faith in Jesus Christ. By confessing our sin and repenting we are made holy so that we can pray for one another bringing each other's joys and concerns to God. This comes to us as a gift from our great High Priest, Jesus Christ.

So I urge you to talk with each other, and with your families, and with your friends and learn about their joys and concerns. Learn about what they are thinking and feeling. Be with them through times of joy and sorrow. And be their priests offering up prayers to God on their behalf. The world desperately needs priests of the Most High God to minister to our needs and intercede on our behalf with our Father in Heaven. You as the followers of our Great High Priest, Jesus Christ, are the priests the world needs now. Priesthood is your calling as children of God.

Lord Jesus, we have assembled today as priests of the Most High God. We are forgiven sinners made holy by your blood. We are here today to offer our prayers and prayers of others to God. We ask that you hear our prayers as you always have. Since you were with us you know what we experience, our joys and our concerns, and we ask that you explain our prayers to the Father and ask Him to intercede on our behalf. We acknowledge you as our great High Priest who lives forever as King of righteousness and peace. Amen.

Sermon – 1 Corinthians 1: 18-31 - Jesus was Crucified for our Salvation

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

Sermon – 1 Corinthians 1: 18-31 - Jesus was Crucified for our Salvation

Pitts Creek and Beaver Dam Churches

Lent 3

March 11, 2012

Here we are at the third Sunday of Lent. We have been with the early church trying to figure out what Jesus' suffering and death really meant. The early church had asked the question, “Why did Jesus have to suffer and die such a humiliating death on a cross?” Peter told persecuted churches that Jesus suffered to enter our suffering to bring us to God. Paul told the church of Rome that Jesus was lifted up on a cross to justify us, to straighten, plane and sand us smooth so that we can fit together with God and with each other. And today we will read as Paul tells the church in Corinth that Jesus died on the cross to empower the church. We will get to all this, but first let's pray.

“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)

It was the winter of 56 AD. Paul was in Ephesus, and he received some troubling news from Corinth. Paul knew the Corinthian church well. He had established it five years before and spent several years there helping it get started before leaving to resume his missionary travels. Paul had come to Corinthian in response to a dream he had of someone urging him to come to Macedonia. He had responded to this dream and arrived in Corinth around 50 AD where he met Priscilla and Aquila who were Christians from Rome working in the leather industry. He experienced numerous problems there and so probably wasn't surprised that divisions remained. So Paul sent Timothy to Corinth to find out what's happening and report back.

When Timothy returned he delivered a discouraging report to Paul. First, people were complaining about Paul's preaching. Paul was not a particularly good preacher. He wasn't very charismatic. Maybe it was his accent or clothes. But when compared to the philosophers and debaters in Corinth, Paul's style left a lot to be desired. There was a faction that wanted someone like Apollos, a great speaker, to come to Corinth for the church. But this wasn't the only problem. Another faction in the church questioned Paul's background. Paul just wasn't one of the twelve. Paul hadn't been a follower of Jesus before his death. And in fact Paul had been a persecutor of the early church. Paul didn't even know Jesus until that episode on the Damascus road when he encountered Jesus in a flash of light. Paul just didn't have the right credentials. And so a faction wanted someone like Peter to come to the church.

All of this had to be hard for Paul to hear. He had worked so hard to bring the church to Christ and still it was divided. But Timothy had even more bad news for Paul. People in Corinth were questioning Paul's primary teaching. They were concerned that Paul had put the cross at the center of their faith. Paul had insisted that the leader of the church was the resurrected Jesus Christ who had died on a cross. The Gentile Christians in Corinth thought that this belief in a crucified savior was foolish. You had to be mad to worship someone who died on a cross because crucifixion was the most shameful way to die. The Romans had picked up crucifixion from the Persians. It was a way to humiliate any political opponent. Crosses were setup just outside the city gate to that all your friends and family could see you suffer and thus be deterred from ever opposing the Emperor. The Son of God would never let something like this happen. He would never die a shameful death on a cross. So they questioned Paul's central teaching and their faith was tottering. The Jewish Christians in Corinth also had problems with Paul's teachings on the cross. It was inconceivable to them that the Messiah would die on a tree. The Hebrew scripture cleared stated that anyone who died on a tree was cursed. So anyone who died on a cross was also cursed. Why would God allow the Messiah to be cursed. It didn't make any sense. Paul's whole teaching on the cross was being questioned.

Differences plague the church today as well. We find ourselves arguing about theology and biblical interpretation. This week New Castle Presbytery debated an idea that we should split into two presbyteries one theat believed one way on certain issues and one that believed the other way. People were passionate on both sides believing the other to be foolish. The idea that we should be united in Christ ultimately prevailed, but our differences remain and we are left struggling to discern God will for us.

Paul knew that he had to respond to the Corinthian church before disagreements turned into divisions and the possible the death of the church. A letter was needed, maybe also a visit, maybe more that one. So he began writing what we know today as First Corinthians and here is part of what he said to the church.

1 Corinthians 1:18-31 ¹⁸ For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us 

who are being saved it is the power of God. ¹⁹ For it is written: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate." ²⁰ Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? ²¹ For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. ²² Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, ²³ but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, ²⁴ but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. ²⁵ For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength. ²⁶ Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. ²⁷ But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. ²⁸ He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things-- and the things that are not-- to nullify the things that are, ²⁹ so that no one may boast before him. ³⁰ It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God-- that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. ³¹ Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord."

So, according Paul, God chose crucifixion as the manner of Jesus' death intentionally. He chose what was foolish, what was shameful, what was cursed to demonstrate his great power. God can take what is foolish, what is shameful, what is cursed and transform it into a blessing. And this is really good news for the Corinthians because many of them were foolish, many of them were filled with shame, many of them were cursed, but in Jesus Christ they were all transformed to new life. All of this is the great paradox of our faith. God uses the foolish, the shameful, and the cursed to transform the foolish, the shamed and cursed to new life in Jesus Christ.

Today as in the first century we value wisdom. Wisdom is the opposite of foolishness and we treasure it greatly. We spend a lot of time and money on education. We think that if we obtain enough knowledge we will become wise. And we depend on this wisdom to improve our lives. But no matter how much wisdom we have received we find that it is not enough. We try to wise, but over and over again we do foolish things. And when we act foolishly we find ourselves filled with shame and feeling cursed. I think this is one reason why people leave churches. They hope to find wisdom by coming to church. They hope that through this wisdom they will lead a better life. But then they do something foolish. Maybe they cheat on their spouse. Maybe their drinking has gotten out of control and relationships hurt. They feel foolish for what they have done, and experience shame coming to church. We love them and reach out to them, but they leave feeling cursed and we see them no more.

Jesus died a foolish, shameful and cursed death on a cross to find us in our foolishness, shame and curse. Wherever we are, whatever we have done, nothing is so foolish, nothing is so shameful, nothing is so cursed as to separate us from God's love in Jesus Christ. So if you have a disease, or if you have gone through a divorce, or if you have gone bankrupt, or if you have been addicted to drugs or alcohol or prescription drugs, if you have experience foolishness, shame and curse in any way Jesus died on a cross for you with the promise of God's power to transform you. So I invite you who are foolish, filled with shame, or experiencing a curse to experience the power of God through the death of Jesus Christ because Jesus has come into your foolishness, your shame, your cursed life to save you and bring you to new life.

So if someone says to you that you are a moron for believing that God died on a cross, or if someone tells you that it is stupid to believe that your God died a shameful death, or if someone argues that Jesus' death on a cross shows that he was not the messiah because he was cursed then you can respond by telling them that God is so powerful that he transforms the foolish, the shamed and cursed to shame the wise so that we realize that wisdom is not our ultimate goal. What we really want and really need is faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ which brings us to new life. Faith is far more important than wisdom.

Father in heaven, we thank you for using the foolish, the shameful and the cursed to bless us. Help us to grow our faith in Jesus Christ so that by your power we may received the promised new life in Christ. This we pray in his glorious name. Amen.  

Sermon – Romans 4: 13-25 - Jesus' Cross was Raised for our Justification

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

Sermon – Romans 4: 13-25 - Jesus' Cross was Raised for our Justification

Pitts Creek and Beaver Dam Churches

Lent 2

March 4, 2012

This is the second Sunday of Lent and we are continuing to join with the early church in wondering why Jesus suffered and died such a horrible death. This was not expected for a messiah and descendant of David. And it was totally senseless for the Son of God. Last week we heard the Apostle Peter tell us that the reason Christ suffered was to bring us to God. Christ entered the sin swamp where we live in order to save us in our baptism and so he suffered the same way we do. Today we will turn to the Apostle Paul as he struggled to explain why Jesus was raised up on a cross. But first let's pray.

“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)

Romans 4:13 - 25 ¹³ It was not through law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. ¹⁴ For if those who live by law are heirs, faith has no value and the promise is worthless, ¹⁵ because law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression. ¹⁶ Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring-- not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. ¹⁷ As it is written: "I have made you a father of many nations." He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed-- the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were. ¹⁸ Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be." ¹⁹ Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead-- since he was about a hundred years old-- and that Sarah's womb was also dead. ²⁰ Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, ²¹ being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. ²² This is why "it was credited to him as righteousness." ²³ The words "it was credited to him" were written not for him alone, ²⁴ but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness-- for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. ²⁵ He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.

It was the winter of 57-58 AD. The Apostle Paul was writing an important letter to the church in Rome. He did not establish this church and as far as we know had never been in Rome. He was planning to travel there, but was not yet ready for that journey. Paul was familiar with the church because he knew two of its members, Priscilla and Aquila who had worked with him as a tent maker in Corinth. Presumably they had told Paul about their church.

We don't know how the Roman church got started. But what we do know is that people from Rome were present in Jerusalem on Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came upon Peter and the other apostles. The were part of the crowd of 3000 who were baptized that day. And presumably they returned to Rome and started a new church. This church would have been made up primarily of Jewish converts who believed that Jesus Christ was resurrected from the dead. But there also would have been some Gentiles who believed in God and accepted Christ as their Lord.

A crises hit this church in 49AD when it was only about 15 years old. By imperial decree all Jews were expelled from Rome. The Jewish members of the church had to leave. We know that two of these Jewish Christians Priscilla and Aquila left Rome went to Corinth. They left behind the Gentile converts to Christianity who continued the church in their absense. A few years later the imperial decree was lifted and Jews could return back to Rome. Many did including Priscilla and Aquila. But that's when the real problems in the Roman church started. The Roman church had become a Gentile church. Circumcision was no longer required. Other Jewish customs had been dropped. And when the the former Jewish leaders returned to the church there were conflicts between these two ethnic groups. Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians fought over religious practices and control of the church. It's possible the Priscilla and Aquila contacted their friend Paul to help with this situation. And that's probably why Paul was writing this letter.

Paul realized that sin was keeping the Gentiles and Jews apart. It was like having two pieces of wood that are so warped and jagged that when you are trying to join them together they just don't fit. They need to be straightened, planed and sanded smooth first before they can be joined. The two pieces of wood need to be justified before they can fit together. And just as blocks of wood need to be straightened, planed and sanded smooth so too did the Gentiles and Jews in Rome before they could fit together.

But how does this happen? How can people be planed and sanded smooth so they fit with each other? As Paul was thinking of these questions he remember a story in the Book of Genesis about Abraham. Abraham was by any definition pretty rough. He had plenty of blemishes. On two occasions he pretended that his wife was his sister in order to pimp her as a prostitute for money. Abraham was not a real good example of Christian living. In order to have a right relationship with God he needed a lot of straightening, planing and sanding. So how could Abraham be justified, straightened, planed and sanded smooth, to fit properly with God? Well, according to Genesis, from God's perspective, faith looks just like straightening, planing and sanding. Abraham's faith was “credited to him as righteousness”. So faith is kinda like makeup covering over blemishes so that we appear OK when God looks at us. When we have faith we don't need straightening, planing and sanding.

This was the answer for the Roman church. The faith of the Gentile Christians made them look to God straight and smooth. The faith of the Jewish Christians made them straight and smooth from God's perspective as well. And so Jews and Gentiles can fit together, unified in the church because they are both straightened, planed and sanded smooth by their faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

And so this is why Jesus was lifted up on a cross. His suffering and death led to his resurrection which, if we believe it, is the faith that straightens, planes and sands us smooth so that we can fit together with God. Jesus was lifted up on the cross so that we would be justified.

This was Paul's message to the Roman church. The Jewish Christians had argued that believers had to obey the law of Moses. But Paul pointed out that Moses lived generations after Abraham. So Abraham could not have been justified by the law. He was justified by his faith. His faith had straightened, planed and sanded him. And the Gentile Christians thought that the Law of Moses did not apply to them. But Paul said no. The Gentile Christians knew what God required of them too. They had no excuse. But obeying God's law was still not enough to be justified. They had to have faith in the resurrection of Jesus Christ to be seen by God as already straightened, planed and sanded.

So too with us. We can never get ourselves right with God by following the law of Moses or by trying do what is right. We are just too warped by sin. We need to be straightened, planed and sanded smooth. And it is our faith in Jesus Christ that God sees as straightening, planing and sanding. It is our faith that justifies us with God.

Of course the church today suffers from division. We are divided into denominations by differences in practices and beliefs. We are divided by ethnicity into Black, White, Korean and Hispanic churches. We are divided by worship style into churches for different generations. The only way we can be united is if we are all justified with each other by our common belief in the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And so this is why Jesus was lifted up on the cross. Christ died for us so that our faith would justify us with God and with each other.

And this brings us to the table that is set before us today. This is a table that welcomes everyone whose faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ has made them straight, planed and sanded smooth, justified in the sight of God. At this table we, who have been justified into a right relationship with God, join with all Christians of all time and in all places who also are justified by their faith in Christ. This is where we are joined together, united into one church of Jesus Christ.

Father in heaven, we ask today for the gift of faith that you consider as righteousness. We ask that you straighten, plane and sand us smooth by our faith so that we are justified with you. We also ask for that faith that justifies with all Christians around the world. This we pray in the name of Jesus Christ, whom we believe died on a cross and was resurrected from the dead to new life. Amen.

Sermon – 1 Peter 3:18-22 – Jesus Suffered for Our Sins

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

Sermon – 1 Peter 3:18-22 – Jesus Suffered for Our Sins

Pitts Creek and Beaver Dam Churches

Lent 1

February 26, 2012

Today is the first Sunday of Lent. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and lasts for forty days leading us up to Easter. The cross is at the center of our attention during this period. We journey with Jesus toward his death, burial and resurrection experiencing his love, suffering and death. Therefore Lent is a somber time. It is a time for reflection on the meaning of Christ's passion. Why did Jesus suffer? Why was Jesus raised on the cross? Why did Jesus have to die? Of course we all have parallel questions to these. Why do we suffer? Why do we have crosses to bear? Why do we have to die? These are basic questions of our own existence. Lent is a time to look at scripture and try to answer them with God's help. So let's get started with prayer.

“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)

1 Peter 3:18-22 ¹⁸ For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, ¹⁹ in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, ²⁰ who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water. ²¹ And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you-- not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, ²² who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him.

When I was growing up my Roman Catholic friends would give something up for Lent. It was always something they liked, like ice cream or chocolate. I remember asking a friend why he did this. And he replied that Jesus died for our sins so we are not suppose to be happy. We are to suffer too.

Peter was writing to suffering churches. Christians had been baptized into hope of resurrection from the dead. They looked forward to their new lives in Christ. But the baptism, which was the source of their hope was also the source of their suffering. Their families and friends were angry because they didn't understand their devotion to Jesus Christ. People called Christians atheist because they refused to worship the Roman gods. Because of this the new Christians were persecuted, treated like aliens and exiles in their own land. It the midst of this suffering the Apostle Peter wrote them a letter to help. He explained in the letter that suffering is expected for Christians. We suffer just as Jesus suffered.

But why did Jesus have to suffer? Why was he mocked and beaten? Why was a crown of thorns placed on his head? Why did he have to carry his cross through the streets? How can we make sense of the Son of God going through things like this? These were questions facing the early church. The apostles were witnesses to what had happened. Their stories about Jesus were being told. But people wanted to know why these things had happened. So the writers of the books of the New Testament searched scripture and prayerfully asked the Holy Spirit for explanations to answer all the questions people had about Jesus and what happened in his life, death and resurrection.

The Apostle Peter wondered why Christ had suffered. Peter had been a witness to it all. He was the leader of a small group of twelve who had followed Jesus, listened to his teaching and gradually came to know that Jesus was far more than a teacher or prophet or even messiah; Jesus is the Son of God. So the visions of Jesus suffering during that last week of his life must have haunted Peter's dreams. So he tried to understand what this was all about. Eventually he realized that Jesus suffered for us. He suffered to bring us to God.

We are so tainted by sin that bringing ourselves to God is out of the question. We can't do it. We might take a step toward God but then take two steps backwards into sin. Try as we might it never works. If we are to get to God we need help. We have to be carried to God by someone else. The good news is that Jesus is there to carry us to God. But to do this Jesus must first get into the sinful muck we find ourselves stuck in. And so Jesus had to suffer to find us where we are to pick us up and carry us to God.

Peter wondered how all this happens. How does Jesus carry us to God? When does this occur? Peter realized that all of this has something to do with baptism. It is in baptism that a believer's new life begins. So Jesus must be present at our baptism to catch us as our old lives perish, and resurrect us to new life in Jesus Christ. It works this way. When we pass under the baptismal waters, and it doesn't matter if the water is sprinkled or it you are submerged into Pitts Creek, when we go under the water our old selves die, we drown. We are no more. But Jesus is there with us, under the water, rescuing us, saving us, and bringing us to God. We emerge from the baptismal water, reborn into new life as followers of Jesus Christ, as Christians.

Peter's understanding of baptism was based on his reading of the story of Noah the book of Genesis. In Noah's time God sent rain for forty days and forty nights. The world was flooded. All evil perished. But God saved the righteous by having Noah build an ark, a large boat which held his family and two of every creature on earth. God saved this remnant from the flood to start new life on earth. And just as God sent Noah's ark to bring people to new life so to does God send Jesus Christ to save us from the drowning waters of baptism into new life.

But as Peter thought about this he became concerned about something else. What about all those people who died in Noah's flood. Why did God not save them? To answer this question Peter turned to a popular book of his day, a book not in the Bible. This is the book of First Enoch.

The story of Enoch begins in Genesis chapter 5. Enoch was the son of Jared, the great grandfather of Noah, and lived for 365 years. But he never died. He is one of two people in the Old Testament, along with Elijah, who never tasted death. He was taken straight to heaven by God. Over the centuries elaborate stories were developed speculating on what Enoch was doing in heaven. One of these stories, well known in New Testament times, was the story of Enoch visiting fallen angels. These were angels who had sinned by having children with humans and were imprisoned for their crimes deep beneath the earth. The story is that God sent Enoch to visit these fallen angels to bring them back to God. Peter thought, just as Enoch was sent to save the fallen angels, in the same way Jesus was sent by God to save those who had perished in the flood of Noah's time. And so just as Jesus saves us when we pass though the baptismal waters bringing us from death to life, so too did Jesus save those who drowned in Noah's day. Jesus must have visited hell to redeem the people Satan had imprisoned and bring them to God.

And this brings us to the Apostle's creed. There is a curious phrase in the Apostle's creed. We say it every week, but you may have wondered about it. The phrase I am talking about is, “he descended into hell.'' Why would Jesus go to hell?, you might ask. It doesn't make any sense. Many churches have erased this line from the creed. Theologians have been confused by this phrase for centuries. But I think that it is really good news. It means that Christ will go anywhere he has to redeem sinners and bring them to God. Christ suffered to bring us to God in our baptisms. While in the tomb he went into the depths of hell to bring as many as he could to God. This shows the great love and compassion Christ has for all of us. He will go anywhere, even to hell, to bring us to God.

In our lives we all experience suffering. As we get older we suffer from aches and pains. We suffer from illness. We suffer when our kids can't find jobs. We suffer when we can't pay our bills. We suffer when our lives don't go as planned, interrupted by surprises. Suffering is a fact of life. But whenever we are suffering we need to remember that Christ suffered too. Whatever pain you experience Christ also experienced it. And remember that Christ experienced his suffering coming to save you. Christ descended into your suffering to bring you God where all suffering ceases. This is really good news, and the hope of your baptism, because in your baptism your old life of sin died away and Christ lifted you up to new life, free from sin.

So this Lent do not be somber. Don't give something up to make yourself suffer. You will experience plenty of suffering without giving something up for Lent. Lent is not a time to be unhappy. Rather we should be joyful celebrating the hope that our suffering will end, and that our baptismal hope of resurrection to new life will be realized. So smile and be happy filled with joy that Jesus suffered to bring you to God.

Lord Jesus, we thank you so much for giving us this baptismal hope of new life in you. We thank you for saving us through the waters of baptism and bringing us to God. We know that you suffered greatly for us and remember your suffering in our own suffering. We thank you for being with us and understanding what we go through. For the great gift of our baptismal hope we praise you. Amen.