Why We Are
Truly Called Christians
Pastor Mathew Magera – 1/1/17
– Sermon 203
St. Thomas Lutheran Church,
Trufant, MI
To God be the Glory!
Grace and peace to you from
God our Father, from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
This day, January 1st, in
the Lutheran Church is set aside for the festival of the Name of Jesus. I
looked up many things about Jesus’ name but I also had to recall that this day,
the Name of Jesus, was not always called this and for good reason as it is not
exclusively about his name. Jesus officially received his name, fulfilling the Jewish
Law, on his 8th day of life along with getting the customary circumcision along
with it. We don't always hear this story very often. But, this feast day, when
it does fall on a Sunday, has only had this name for the past couple decades.
Before that it was known as the Feast of the Circumcision of Christ, which
still remains its focus though having its name changed to be more approachable.
So, not always do you hear the phrase "let's dive on in to
circumcision" but today would happen to be one of those days. Now on this
topic, you may have some questions swimming in your heads right now, aside from
why do we have to talk about this, but I hope that by considering its importance
in history we might also discover why it is important for us to hear, and if
nothing less, it gives you a great lead in when somebody asks you how church
was this morning.
Why did God
invent circumcision?
Perhaps our first and most
obvious question... why dedicate an entire Sunday to circumcision? Who would
listen to something like this? Why would it matter? I mean, yes, we still have
a similar practice today but for entirely different reasons. So, why would God
invent something like circumcision in the first place? Going back to the days
of Abraham, we find its origin in Genesis 17. In this chapter, God does three
things. He changes Abram's name to Abraham and he changes Sarai's name to Sarah.
Now before going any further, we probably know this story very well. It’s a
benchmark Sunday school lesson but what we don’t always hear about in Sunday
school is the third thing God does in this chapter, namely he introduces
circumcision as a covenant between God and Abraham. It is literally skipped
over.
Within this covenant, God’s
part of the covenant promises abundant descendants and eternal faithfulness.
Sarah's part of the covenant was to bear the offspring. Abraham's part of the covenant
was obedience through circumcision. Who got the benefit of this one? This is
where we wonder. How did God come up with this? I have a fictitious theory on
this. Were Father, Son and Holy Spirit up there in Heaven just conversing one
day and this just came up? I imagine God the Father about to talk to Abraham
and saying to the Son and Holy Spirit, "How far can I take this? What
could I say that Abraham would never do?" And a discussion ensues until we
reach circumcision. God the Father details the procedures to the Son and the
Holy Spirit and their jaws are just about on the floor. So the Holy Spirit
says, "ok, ok, okay, what if Abraham follows through and actually does
it?" So, the Son says, "He'll never do it. I'll bet my life he would
never do it." Boom. Story of the cross right there. Abraham does go
through with it and Jesus dying is just him living out the consequences of the
bet. No, of course that's not what happened, but we still put this question in
our long list of questions we want to ask when we get to Heaven.
If it is meant to cut off
evil, Martin Luther suggests the hand or the tongue be cut off instead as there
is clearly more evil done through these parts. But, this practice was not
intended to cut off evil or redeem us in any way because as we know very well
nothing we can do can earn our righteousness, only God can give it. If a hand
or tongue was cut off as part of the practice it might lead people to believe
that the evil being considered was in the words spoken or the works done but
this is not the case. In order for God to show where the problem of sin was, it
had to go to the source of the problem. So, sorry, men. Even though Eve ate the
apple first, we are the source of the world’s problem. No, it has to do purely
with reproduction and the idea that sin is passed down from the father. It is
then understood that the nature of sin originates here. A person and everything
connected with their origin are corrupt and sinful. Any child that has a
biological father carries on this sinful origin. Sin cannot be driven out by
any law or any punishment. Only the grace of God can take away sin. So, the
first step toward righteousness then was shown in this covenant with Abraham
that showed the Jewish people that though Abraham's descendants would be
numerous, they would still carry on the sinful nature and that only by God's
grace could that nature be wiped away. Just think about this. Every person who has
had no biological father has been a perfect being. As far as I know only three
people fit this category: Adam, Eve, and Jesus. Luther says that if a child
could be born without a father, these children would be pure and holy. (pg
153). And so the practice of circumcision in the Jewish faith began as a way to
remember the sinful nature they were truly stuck in.
What does it
mean for Jesus?
Why did Jesus need to go through
with this? First, the Scriptures clearly indicate that his name was given to
him prior to this point so a naming ceremony for him was not necessary. Second,
if he was the Son of God, there is no lawful reason why this practice of
circumcision would be necessary for Jesus as he is lacking the sinful nature
that you and I both have. So, what does this mean for Jesus? It is true, Jesus
did not need to go through any of the events of this day, it was not necessary.
He was and is always above the law but he submitted to it by becoming like us
so that he might save it from us. Paul says in Galatians 4, "He was put
under the law so that he might redeem them who were under the law." We
also know in Matthew 5 Jesus says that he came not to abolish the law but to
fulfill it. This right here is an example of Jesus fulfilling the law and it
has purpose too. Jesus is, of course, doing everything right. He is born
sinless, lives sinless and dies sinless.
So, in a way, I might see
Jesus’ life like a videogame. Like the Jewish Law, the purpose of a video game
is to throw you challenges so that you cannot beat it. The law and the
videogame has the power. But, when you beat a videogame, you become the master.
The game cannot throw you anymore challenges. You will be forever known as the
conqueror over that game. In the same way, by fulfilling the Jewish Law much
like a set of videogame challenges, there is nothing else the Law can do, it
must submit to Jesus. We know that the punishment for not fulfilling the law is
death, but Jesus goes so far as to say that the Law is now subject to death, it
can’t kill anyone anymore after Jesus because Jesus is in control. Jesus didn't
just throw the law away, by submitting to it, to being named and circumcised on
the 8th day of life, among the other parts of the law he keeps, he fulfills the
requirements of the law, he surpasses its challenges and becomes the victor
over it. So, for Jesus, circumcision was definitely not necessary because he is
God but it was necessary in that it gave him opportunity to fulfill the law so
that we wouldn’t have to suffer the consequences.
What does it
mean for us?
So, then lastly, what does
this all have to do with us? What does this Jewish ritual have to do with any
of us? Of course the answer is that because Jesus fulfilled the law, it is no
longer required of us. The fact of the matter is that because Jesus did not do
this for himself and because he had us in mind the entire time, because Christ
is the victor over death and because death submits to him, all believers in
Christ must also be masters over death. Death is our subject, our criminal whom
we judge and execute through Christ. At the moment of our last breath, the law
will wrongly accuse us but because we have Jesus and share in his victory, death
will have to submit to us too. When Christ died and overcame death, a new law
was written, a law of grace. This is why we do not make sacrifices, or
celebrate Jewish holy days or anything in Jewish ceremonial law, because Christ
fulfilled all of that for us on the cross. This is why we talk about
circumcision today because just as Jesus fulfilled the law even as a helpless
little infant so we too have fulfilled that law because of him. And if Jesus is
able to fulfill even the tiniest snippets of law, pun very much intended by the
way, what is to say that Jesus, our Savior, can't fulfill even more of it for
us? When the angel appeared to Joseph, before Jesus was even born, his purpose
was set out. The angel said to him, "She [Mary] will bear a son and you
shall call him Jesus, for he will save his people, freeing them from their
sins." Thus, we are not saved by the works of the law because Jesus
accomplished that for us. Instead, we are saved by faith in Jesus the perfector
of that law. I don't think we have ever considered thanking Jesus for being
circumcised but hearing this should give us a reason to do exactly that, for by
Jesus doing such a little thing, he accomplished much bigger things for us out
of pure love.
So, then at Jesus' naming on
the 8th day, we could say that we also receive a name. In John 1, we hear,
"Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he
gave the right to become children of God - children born not of natural
descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God." We,
who receive what Jesus did for us, also receive a new name, a child of God. And
John says that we cannot earn this out of natural descent. Why? Because natural
descent is sinful and as we've heard, we cannot overcome that. Only by God's
decree can we receive that name as a child of God. Only by God's announcement
can we be forgiven for our sins. Only by God's grace can we become victors over
death because of Jesus. Only by God's love can we be valued so much so that
Jesus would sent to die for us.
Circumcision, as I have said
before, was a way for the Jewish people to remember the sinful nature that is
always passed down generation to generation. Much of the Jewish law was meant
to remind people of their sins. When Jesus died on the cross, a new covenant,
not of law, but of grace was put in place. We call these means of grace
sacraments. We baptize and we eat of the Lord’s Supper not as a means to
remember our sin but as a means to remember the one who sacrificed himself and
saved us from our sin.
Just as we are given the
same victory, just as Jesus bestows on us all that is his, so we are called by
that same name. We are given the right to be called children of God, otherwise
known as followers of Christ, best known as Christians. Jesus’ life fulfilling
the law for us and giving his perfect self to us also bestows upon us that same
name of Christ. It is in Christ’s name that we pray, it is in Christ’s name
that we are sent out, it is in Christ’s name that we are baptized, it is in Christ’s
name that we receive the body and the blood, the bread and the wine, it is in
Christ’s name. Christians. We become Christians as we put on Christ. Thank you
Jesus for fulfilling even the smallest parts of the law so that we can earn
that beautiful name of a Christian only because you, out of pure grace, gave it
to us. To God be the glory, now and always. Amen.