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Show Beginning of Jent a time to reflect on sacrifice of Saviour By REV. ERIC V. KAELBERER : i Pastor of Cross of Christ Lutheran Church Each week I prepare a sermon, a . message, which is preached in our Church. Mostly I preach according to a standard set of lessons, called a lectionary. The appointed Gospel for last Sunday was from Luke 4:1-13, Jesus' temptation in the wilderness. This lesson was selected selec-ted because last Sunday was the Fust Sunday in Lent During Lent we examine our need for the Savior and His perfect all sufficiency to take away all our sins. The Temptation account reminds re-minds us of at least two things. First "Jesus was tempted in all ways, even as we are, yet without sinning" (Hebrews 4:15). He knows what we go through every day,' the things that tempt us to sin. Yet, unlike us, Christ Jesus never gave in to those temptations. He overcame them. Second: Because He overcame all temptation, Christ Jesus' sacrifice sacri-fice for us on the Cross was and remains re-mains more than enough to cover all the sins of the world. Jesus overcame that sin through the- Cross, where He died. The empty tomb is the guarantee that His Sacrifice was fully acceptable to the Father. The reason I bring this up is that it gives us strength to live even under the most severe of trials. There once was a youlig man of IS who fell during a skiing- accident. acci-dent. He fractured his back and while able to move, he could not get out of bed without extreme agony. For 40 years he lay, bedridden, often suffering excruciating pain as I he moved Bilt4ay after day God, in ; His grace was able to comfort and keep this man. Many folks visited t with this man, for the witness of His . " grace, good cheer, and courage was . - not only inspiration, it gained wide1 notice in the surrounding area. "One day a visitor asked the man, 'Doesn't Satan ever tempt you to doubt God?" "Oh, yes!" the crippled man replied, "he tries to tempt me. I lie here and see my old schoolmates going along with their j lives, without a care in the world, and Satan whispers, 'If God is so " good, why does He keep you here -all these years?' Then, seeing an old friend walking by in perfect health, Satan screams at me. 'If God loved . you, why did He permit your back to be broken?"' The visitor asked, "What do you do when Satan tempts you." The 1 crippled man smiled and replied, "Oh, I take him to Calvary to the foot of the cross, show Him Christ Jesus, and point to those deep wounds, and say, "Doesn't He love me?' ' And the fact is that Satan got such a scare there nearly 2,000 years ago that he cannot stand to be reminded of Calvary; he flees from me every time! " Dear reader, as the Christian Church ' celebrates the love" of Christ, the Christ who was crucified for my sins and yours, we find our strength, it does not come from within, it comes from the man of sorrows, who overcame all temptation temp-tation to restore the lost and lonely world. Thanks be to God, from whomall blessings flow. Amen! |
