Jesu Juva

“Thou Hast Desired Thy Life for Man”

Text: Titus 1:1-9; Luke 10:1-9; Acts 20:28-35

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

Thy Word meant life triumphant hurled

In splendor through Thy broken world

Since light awoke and life began

Thou hast desired Thy life for man (LSB #834 v. 1).

Thou hast desired Thy life for man. It’s hard for me to think of a better way to encapsulate what God is all about than that. Thou hast desired Thy life for man. God wants us to have life. Physically and spiritually. And everything He does is for that. And sometimes, it seems, everything we do is against that. Abusing life, taking life, embittering life, pitting my life against your life. And we see the results on the news every night. We see the results in our neighborhoods and even in our own homes. And yet we know what we see is just the tip of the iceberg.

Because . . . Our fatal will to equal Thee,

Our rebel will wrought death and night,

We seized and used in prideful spite

Thy wondrous gift of liberty.

We housed us in this house of doom,

Where death had royal scope and room . . . (v. 2)

We housed us in this house of doom. It’s hard for me to think of a better way to encapsulate what we’ve done with the gift of life God has given us. We turned a world of life and light into a house of doom and death and night. Now you understand why Adam and Eve hid and trembled in fear. And it would still be that way - no, it is still that way! - apart from Christ. When we live apart from Christ, when we act apart from Christ, when our rebel and selfish will still exerts itself, we don’t improve things. Our lives or the lives of others. There is just more death, more destruction, more division, more hurt, more brokenness, more fear. We shouldn’t be surprised when we see it in our world, this house of doom.

But something changed.

Yes, We housed us in this house of doom . . .

Until Thy servant, Prince of Peace,

Breached all its walls for our release.

Thou camest to our hall of death,

O Christ, to breathe our poisoned air,

To drink for us the dark despair

That strangled our reluctant breath (vs. 2-3).

We’re being strangled. What a picture of sin! Sin isn’t harmless! Sin isn’t fun. Sin puts its evil fingers around your neck, and squeezes the life out of you. Like what you see in horror movies. And the harder you fight, the harder it squeezes. Until Christ came. Until the Son of God came to a frightened and dying Adam and Eve and gave them a promise of life. Until He came in our flesh and blood, into our hall of death, to breathe our poisoned air, to join us in our sin and break it. Break out of it. So this house of doom would not be our end, our doom, our grave. But there be life again. So He was strangled, the very Son of God, on the cross, captive, for our release. For light instead of night. For hope instead of fear. For forgiveness instead of condemnation. For life instead of death. So yes, . . .

How beautiful the feet that trod

The road that leads us back to God!

How beautiful the feet that ran

To bring the great good news to man (v. 3)!

And yet one more thing was necessary . . .

O Spirit, who didst once restore

Thy Church that it might be again

The bringer of good news to men . . . (v. 4)

And this is where the second half of this special day comes in, for this is not only Sanctity of Life Sunday, but the Commemoration of St. Titus. A pastor, a preacher to bring this good news to men. The good news of a Saviour who is not a law giver but a life giver.

Titus was not one of the Apostles - he was among the next generation, those appointed by the Apostles to continue their work. To preach Jesus, to preach His life that is for ALL people. No exceptions. From babies in the womb to hardened criminals on death row, Jesus died for all that all may live. That YOU may live. Because you’ve laid a few bricks in the wall and helped build our house of doom yourself. You know it. Maybe you’ve taken a life, hurt someone, embittered them, caused division, wreaked destruction, broke a relationship, a marriage, a friendship, induced fear. But Jesus breached those walls, provided the way back to God and to life, and the Spirit in the Church now proclaims this is the way. This is the way back to life. To forgiveness and healing.

And Titus was one of those who did that. And if you want some confirmation that this good news is for ALL people, look no farther than Titus, for Paul, as we heard, left him in Crete. Now, maybe that doesn’t sound like a big deal, but it was. For we learn just a few verses after those we heard today, that according to one of their own people, Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons. Titus didn’t get the cherry assignment, among the elite and good people and in the comfortable and affluent suburbs! Quite the opposite, in fact. But Cretan lives mattered, because ALL lives matter to Jesus. And, Paul said, raise up more men to serve as elders - which means pastors - in every town. So that everyone can hear, everyone can know, everyone can live. But it won’t be easy . . .

Which is what Jesus said to His disciples when He sent them out two-by-two, as we heard in the Gospel. He said, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. And as you know, lambs don’t fare well against wolves! Except one. One Lamb went up against the wolf, and won. Yes, He got chewed up. He still has the nail holes and scars to prove it. But those nail holes and scars are on a body that is not dead, but very much alive and giving life. Still snatching victims from the jaws of the wolf to live again. Healing their wounds with His forgiveness, restoring them in the waters of Baptism, and nourishing them with that same Body and Blood the wolf couldn’t consume. Now He wants to be consumed by us! Not for His death but for our life.

So while Paul told the Ephesian pastors that It is more blessed to give than to receive, we must first receive in order that we may give.

So . . . O Spirit . . . Breathe on Thy cloven Church once more,

That in these gray and latter days

There may be those whose life is praise,

Each life a high doxology

To Father, Son, and unto Thee (v. 4).

Breathe on Thy cloven Church. Kind of a spiritual CPR. That as God breathed life into Adam in the beginning, so the Spirit would breathe good air, healthful air, pure air into us, that alive again with Christ and His life, our lives be lives of praise and service, and of giving, supporting, and sustaining life. That the life we live, as Paul told the Galatians (ch. 2), is His life, given to us. And receiving that life, we can now give with that life. Giving of ourselves, our time and effort and love. And we can do so because you will never be able to out-give God.

Think about what we heard in the Gospel today. Jesus sends out His disciples and tells them to take nothing with them! They would have to trust and rely completely on God to provide for their every need. Even as lambs in the midst of wolves. And they were not disappointed. It wasn’t easy. But God is faithful.

As He is for us. It is not easy being a Christian in this world. It is not easy to live your faith in a world which thinks your faith is ridiculous. It is not easy to be pro-life in a world which wants to control life for its own ends. A world where I get to decide when I have children and how. A world where I get to live my life however I want. A world where I get to end my life whenever and however I want. A world where I can end the life of another if I don’t want them or they get in my way. And a world which thinks all this is meet, right, and salutary. Gray and latter days indeed!

But God has sent His Son and breathed on us His Spirit and given us life. What you do with that life now is the question. Are you going to continue the old or live the new? When you come into someone’s life, is it MY kingdom has come near you, so you can serve me, help me, promote me! Or when you come into someone’s life, has the Kingdom of God has come near to you? So I can serve you, help you, promote you. And if you find yourself like Titus, in the midst of a bunch of Cretans! Is that bad or good? Bad for you, or an opportunity for you to show them a better way. To tell them this is the way out. To live a life of doxology - of praise to the One who has given you life. No, it’s not going to be easy. You may find yourself out in the cold - metaphorically, or literally as we were on Friday! But if every life - including YOUR life! - matters to Jesus, then every life must also matter to us. From the womb to the tomb.

That’s the path Jesus trod, from the womb of Mary to the tomb of Joseph. And every place He went there was life. And now that One’s here today for you and your life. Not in a womb or a tomb but on this Altar. To raise you and strengthen you and nourish you to live. To forgive you and breathe into you. To heal you and restore you. That you walk out those doors today with His life, a life of high doxology. That no matter what division, destruction, brokenness, or death you encounter, in you, the Kingdom of God comes near it with life. And while you might just seem like one little, helpless lamb in the midst of a multitude of wolves, remember this: the Lamb won.

In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Now the peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.