Sermon Texts: Romans 10:8b-13
In World History class this week we are studying ancient Rome. The Romans were noted builders & among their greatest constructions were their pagan temples. One of the more interesting ones we learned about was the Temple of Vesta which was located in the Roman Forum. When compared to their other Roman temples, it was a modest structure. But its small size was deceiving because it was considered to be the most important building in the Roman Empire because of what took place inside.
You see, within it a fire was kept burning, 24 hours & day, day after day, for centuries. The keepers of this flame were a small group of young girls who had been hand-picked for the job. They were called the “Vestal Virgins” & they were housed in a beautiful complex behind the temple. Nice housing was one of the few perks of the job. When selected, they were then obligated for the next 30 years to keep the temple’s fire burning because the Romans believed that as long as the flame burned in the temple of Vesta, the city of Rome would endure. This is, in part, how Rome came to be called the “eternal city”.
But the belief of the Ancient Romans in the myth of the Vestal fire was false. Today the flame, to which those young Roman virgin girls devoted so much care & attention to, has been extinguished forever & the temple in which they kept their watch is in ruins. The Roman Empire & its Emperors, seemingly unbeatable & all powerful & destined to last forever are long gone never to return again.
Christians, too, have a light which requires our attention. That light is the message of the Gospel, the Good News that in Christ Jesus all our sins have been forgiven & we have been chosen for eternal life. From generation to generation the Church is mandated to make the stewardship of the Word of Christ Crucified its top priority. Yes, other matters may for a time occupy our attention, but none are greater.
The cross of Jesus is what the season of Lent is focused on. The Word of the Gospel does much more than inform us of the details of that story. It is not given to us to shame us into better behavior nor is it delivered to us as a great example of what we need to do to make ourselves righteous nor was it told to us so that we would have the correct religious theory or “God idea” to decide on as if our intellectual agreement equated to holiness. No, the preaching of the cross, as Paul well knew when He wrote his letter to the Romans that we just heard, makes us participants in Jesus’ death & resurrection & new life.
My friends, we can’t deny that there is suffering & a cross to be carried during Lent but it isn’t the trivial religious ritualism or self-improvement psychology that most people commonly associate with the season. No, as Luther so well noted, the cross can never be chosen; it can only be given & endured.
What do I mean by that? Simply this: Most people in our culture avoid going to church because they already think of themselves as righteous; that is to say acceptable to God by their own deeds. And, if for some reason they become convicted that they are unrighteous, their bondage to sin leads them into heretical religion, not to the cross. In their blindness, they want to believe the Devil’s old lie that they can justify themselves before God by what they choose to do or not to do so Lent’s focus on Christ becomes dimmed. The mark is missed because only the Law, not the cross of Christ is preached.
If the cross is talked about at all, it is given as an abstract idea or doctrine. It’s taught as a history lesson about how Jesus may have done something on the cross, perhaps even for you, but that happened long ago & now you’re an idle spectator to it. You don’t really have to suffer or die on the cross with Jesus.
But the Word of Gospel, the unconditional Gospel promise that Christ died for you, is real suffering because it truly puts you at the Cross’s foot. This simple message takes you right there: “Your sins are forgiven for Jesus’ sake”. The old sinner can’t abide this cross because it can only be received, in faith, by hearing. There’s zero you can do to make God give you it because it comes from outside of you.
Yes, Brothers & Sisters in Christ: In the hearing of those Words, God’s salvation has now come to you!
Furthermore, since those Words are God’s own promises for you. They contain His Spirit to keep them near to your heart & in your mouth. You can now, in faith, confess that Jesus is Lord, & truly believe that you’ll be saved. By God’s power, you can now resist Satan’s greatest temptation which is unbelief.
So my friends, as we journey together with Christ carrying our own crosses, we are reminded by text’s like Paul’s today that we carry inside of us an even greater flame than that of the Vestals. We carry the Gospel, God’s eternal flame, inside us to keep His promises of new life in our hearts & minds forever.
This is also why we have inside our Church sanctuary a continually burning red lamp. Its presence here represents the eternal light of Christ’s Kingdom which is the real Empire & only reign that won’t end.
This truth is one of the real joys & freedoms we celebrate during Lent too. You see, the light of Christ isn’t dependent upon us for it to endure. We don’t keep the Gospel’s light alive but rather the Gospel’s light keeps us alive. We can take great comfort in this even as God’s calling to bear witness to Jesus’ Cross challenges us. We can do so because God has said He will provide all the resources & power to make His Word known. We don’t need to “sell” Jesus or force anyone to make a “decision for Him.” We just need to confess the truth we believe that is near our hearts & in our mouths: Jesus died for you.
So let’s depart today giving God thanks & praise because He’s chosen to keep His eternal light burning not in beautiful marble temples of stone but in humble, even ugly, earthen pots like you & me. God keeps the Gospel Word, the truth that Jesus is your Lord who loves you & is with you & on your side now & always, near you always. Jesus truly is the God who is down to earth, in your hearts, on your lips, as near as your breath, & as near as your tongue as you receive His life-giving Supper. He’s as close to the hurts & hopes of your life as you are now. And God, in doing so, also promises to keep you from ever being put to shame. The light of Christ will shine on you no matter how dark the darkness is.
Amen!
Bethany Lutheran Church, Covington MI 