Sermon: "Shelter on the Stormy North Side of
Jesus" Rev. David P. Anderson
Isaiah 43:6-21; Phipl. 3:8-14; Luke 20:9-19
We read again from God’s perfect Word,
recorded in the Gospel of Luke, and we read
in Jesus name: 17 Jesus looked directly at
them and asked, "Then what is the meaning of
that which is written: "’The stone the
builders rejected has become the capstone’?
18 Everyone who falls on that stone will be
broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls
will be crushed." (Luke 20 NIV)..
One of our favorite Lenten Hymns–one we all
love to sing–is "Rock of ages cleft for me."
This morning I would like to ask you how you
would picture Jesus as a rock?
Does your picture of Jesus as a rock look
like a stone, smooth on all sides... with no
sharp edges... never cutting or hurtful?
Or is your picture one of a beautifully cut
gem, polished and sparkling.. a Jesus framed
and adorning our walls, but like an ornament,
makes little practical difference in our
lives?
Or is your picture of Jesus as the rock, one
of a white stone, finely chiseled; with
square, sharp edges and easily made to fit
the places where we want Him to support our
lives... to bear us up.... to make us strong?
Is your picture of Jesus that of a jagged
rock, cutting and cruel, bringing difficulty
and hardships into your life?
When I picture Jesus the Rock, I see a great
mountain o stone, like Mount Rushmore.
To the south of this great mountain of rock,
and facing heaven’s glory, I see trim, tight,
shining, well cut and polished edges,
sparkling like the facets of a great jewel.
But to the north, where humanity lives in a
cleft, I see a rugged, threatening, terrain
with cliffs, jagged rocks, and dangerous
falls.
Where did we ever get the idea of the "Gentle
Jesus, meek and mild" except that we want to
see Jesus from the south side... in heaven’s
light... sparkling in the beauty and glory of
eternity? This isn’t where we presently
live, so we’d better see our Lord as He saw
himself--a suffering servant to all humanity.
Jesus did not speak of Himself as a smooth
rock, or a beautiful rock, or a stone
builders’ want to place in their walls! No!
He is the rock of granite who causes our
conceits and ambitions to be broken to pieces
and crushed under a servant’s weight. He is
the stumbling block of God’s concealed,
murky, sacrificial presence within a world of
transparent selfishness and greed.
All through the Scriptures we hear the sound
of people stumbling.... Nicodemus,
bewildered! A young man sorrowful, for he
was very rich; James and John, tripping over
ambition; Peter, afraid in the firelight...
swearing;
The disciples, sullen and angry, gathered
after the crucifixion around the table with
the dust of the road still on their feet....
Thomas, shaking his head at the news of the
Resurrection; Paul, on the Road to Damascus,
"breathing out threats of slaughter." And
poor John Mark, who, "departing from them
returned to Jerusalem."
We ourselves, disappointed with how God has
acted at critical times in our lives...
bitter, neglectful of worship, and doubting.
We stumble over the north side of Christ the
Lord--
Jesus–like a mountainous block of granite-~->
at the north side rough-hewn, discarded, and
put out of mind. Workman stumble over it.
Glory seeking Christians, with infinite
pains, try to rid themselves of it; but the
ropes break, the girders give way, and it
crashes down as we are reminded that we live
on the Stormy North Side of Jesus.
On the stormy north side the prophets lived
and brought God’s holy word to the people.
God loved these men of flesh and blood, and
considered them friends. But on the stormy
north side they were beaten, abused, and
ridiculed-- even killed.
The stormy north side of Jesus looks like
Calvary’s mountain and we don’t much like to
see it. We don’t want to live there and we
become angry when the cold winds of suffering
and pain beat upon us.
Yet the Great Rock Himself–one side toward
heaven beautiful and bright, & one side
toward Calvary rough and mean–is rolling down
the ages.... rolling down the corridors of
history, and He can’t be stopped!
He rolled down from Calvary’s mountain
covered in blood and gore and paused briefly.
He rolled out of the dark tomb–Satan thought
that he had buried Christ in death, but the
Lord of Life broke the bonds and rolled on
and on...
He rolled through the institutionalism and
superstition of the Dark Ages... and He kept
on rolling.
He rolled as the Jesus of history through the
intellectual and spiritual sterility of Deism
and the Enlightenment... and He kept on
rolling.
He rolled through slavery... the industrial
revolution... the age of science... World
War One and World War Two... and He kept on
rolling.
He rolled through the deaths of our loved
ones... our diseases... our set-backs... and
our great questions concerning evil and
suffering... the personal ones... the ones
each of us own... the ones upon which we have
stumbled... and He keeps on rolling.
Before our mind’s eye, as century fades into
century, and one generation gives way in
death to another, the great I AM rolls on and
on until one day He will land firmly into
place,and we will be transported from the
north side of Jesus to the south! Forever
gone the pain... forever gone the tears...
forever gone the deaths! Vanquished the
disappointments! Eradicated the presence and
power of Satan!
Yes my friends in Christ, we are destined to
live on the south side of Jesus! But not
now! Now we live with the prophets under the
shadow of the cross... enemies to the
world.... sheep to be slaughtered... soldiers
in a terrible warfare against a dark,
spiritual empire that carried Jesus Himself
to the cross.
And so the Church continues to gather in the
cleft of Jesus--on the north side, facing the
cruel winds of a terrible and fallen world.
We clutch at the robe of righteousness which
Christ has won for us, as sin--even our sin,
blasts coldly against us.
Our faces, like chiseled stone, look out into
the twilight of life’s storms. Problems may
descend upon us like ever-rolling rivers and
seek to wash us away, but we are anchored
securely by a power of love than will not let
us go.
Jesus took all the blood, nails and thorns
out of God’s curse against a fallen humanity,
and gathered them into His own body on the
cross. Luther reminds us that the wages of
sin is death... "but where there is
forgiveness of sins, there is life and
salvation." LIFE & SALVATION!!!
18 "Forget the former things; do not dwell
on the past," proclaims God through His
prophet. 19 "See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I
am making a way in the desert and streams in
the wasteland."
The Rock of Ages is rolling through the
wastelands of history. He passes by the
doors of our parish family and gathers us
into a Gospel adventure. Is the adventure
easy? No, for it takes place on the stormy
north side of Jesus. Do many stumble? Yes,
sadly, many stumble.
We have spoken today about suffering so that
we might not be tempted to stumble and reject
Christ during hardship. Jesus Christ is the
cornerstone who bridges this life with the
glorious life to come. To reject Christ when
we suffer, is to accept death and reject
life. It is like refusing the cure as we
foolishly call the cure a disease.
Jesus once said, "Do not be afraid of those
who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.
Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy
both soul and body in hell." (Matthew 10:28
NIV)
The greatest crushing blow cannot be
delivered upon our bodies or within our
worldly circumstances. The only fatal blow
is delivered to the human soul after death--
when the goats must hear Christ say, "Depart
from me."
The children of God will suffer on the north
side of Jesus, but the worst that the world
can inflict cannot compare with the words of
Christ, "Well done, good and faithful
servant."
My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ,
may the Holy Spirit motivate us to share the
Gospel as if it were printed up as tickets,
and we were ticket agents freely, joyously
giving them away. What will we ever do in
this life that is more wonder filled than
being instrumental in bringing even one soul
into the south side of Jesus?
St. Paul yearned to bring people into heaven!
Luke tells us of the time when the Apostle
Paul was getting ready to leave by boat for
Jerusalem. He stood on the docs at the
water’s edge and delivered a marvelous
farewell sermon to the Elders at Ephesus.
Listen to his heartfelt good-bye as he
willingly prepares to walk into the iron jaws
of death as a steward of the Gospel in order
to win souls for Christ:
22 "And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am
going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will
happen to me there. 23 I only know that in
every city the Holy Spirit warns me that
prison and hardships are facing me. 24
However, I consider my life worth nothing to
me, if only I may finish the race and
complete the task the Lord Jesus has given
me-- the task of testifying to the gospel of
God’s grace. (Acts 20 NIV)
The apostle leaves with a clear conscience,
believing that he has been empowered to be a
good steward of the Gospel. Listen:
25 "Now I know that none of you among whom I
have gone about preaching the kingdom will
ever see me again. 26 Therefore, I declare
to you today that I am innocent of the blood
of all men. 27 For I have not hesitated to
proclaim to you the whole will of God. (Acts
20 NIV)
My family at St. Peter’s--
May each of us leave this life and face our
death with a blessed memory of being used in
the service of winning souls for Christ.
We are cleft on the stormy north side of
Jesus for a purpose. I encourage you to
continue to give testimony to the living
Christ within your life, and some will
stumble over you, but remember that they are
really stumbling upon Christ Himself.
It is a glorious adventure that we have
undertaken by the power of the Holy Spirit.
May God empower us to be faithful stewards of
His Word and Sacraments, so that many might
receive Gospel tickets to the south side of
Jesus.
To Christ, the Lamb of God, be all honor and
glory and power and dominion forever and
ever. Amen.
