I Come Empty to Be Filled

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All Saints Sunday is a special Sunday in many Lutheran congregations. 

Today we honor and celebrate the “saints.” 

Every time we say the Apostles’ Creed we declare that we believe, trust, and confess in the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints.” 

With Martin Luther we confess that the holy Christian church, the communion of saints, the church against whom the gates of Hell will not prevail, includes all past, present and future believers in Jesus Christ. 

All Saints Day, is therefore, a day dedicated to thanking God for the whole body of Christ, especially for those who have gone before us in faith and the inspiration we who are left behind gain from their example.

This is exactly what the Apostle Paul did in his Letter to the Hebrews. 

He admonished his congregation to look at those who have gone before them and to be inspired by their example: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” (Hebrews 12:1 NIV). 

The congregation Paul addressed in this letter was made up primarily  ofJewish converts who believed that Jesus of Nazareth was the long-awaited Messiah and therefore was their Saviour and Lord. They believed that through Jesus’ innocent suffering and death their sins were atoned for and by his glorious resurrection he opened for them the gate to eternal life. 

As Jews, they had enjoyed considerable freedom in the Roman Empire. However, as converts to Christianity, they found themselves in the throes of persecution at the hands of their fellow Jews, who despised their conversion, and the Romans. They were poised to return to Judaism. 

Paul encouraged them not to do it. He encouraged them to look at the heroes of the Old Testament who persevered through all manner of trouble and persecution because they believed in the coming of the Messiah. 

He lifted up Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and Moses. He reminded them that they all looked to the future, to the coming of the Messiah. 

They all died without seeing that day, but went to their eternal rest believing God’s promise of a Messiah would be fulfilled. What these saints of God hoped for, and lived for, came to pass in Jesus Christ. “Be like them,” Paul cried. Look to them and be inspired to persevere in the faith!

Paul continued, after you’ve looked at these Old Testament saints, fix your eyes of faith on the one their eyes of faith were fixed on: Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2).

In today’s Gospel lesson we fix our eyes upon Jesus and his Sermon on the Mount. 

A large crowd of people stood before him. He had his eyes fixed on them. Who did he see? 

How would they describe themselves? One may have said. “I come broken to be mended. Another: “I come wounded to be healed.” Yet, another “I come desperate to be rescued,” or “I come empty to be filled.” 

Most all would say, “I come guilty to be pardoned.” How were broken, wounded, desperate, guilty and empty, the poor in health and spirit, greeted by treated by Jesus? 

With open arms. 

He called them blessed, which meant that they would receive God’s grace and presence through Jesus. 

Jesus mended their physical and spiritual brokenness, as he does ours’ today. 

Jesus healed their woundedness and he heals ours. He rescued them from sin, death and the Devil, pardoned their sins and he is still doing the same today. 

Jesus filled their emptiness with his words and his presence, as he does for us today.

Jesus saw past their infirmities and saw that those who he had mended, healed, rescued, filled and pardoned would do great things. 

He saw the people in front of him that day as instruments or channels for his peace, love and joy despite their own brokenness. He saw them as faithful witnesses to him in circumstances that should have extinguished their flame of faith and cast them and all those around them into darkness.

Those whose eyes of faith are fixed on Jesus see him as the epitome of humility and meekness. He showed humility and meekness under the most horrific of circumstances. 

During his earthly ministry religious leaders constantly presumed to teach him (the Son of God) the Torah and its meaning. He suffered their insults and their blasphemies against him. They had called him a sinful Samaritan, a madman and worst of all they accused him of being a pawn of Satan. 

They declared that Jesus’ ministry was empowered, undergirded and directed by Satan. He suffered their hatred and cruel physical abuse. 

However, he did not meet their hatred with hatred. He did not strike them blind, deaf or dumb, or turn them into dust. He spoke the truth to them with the intent of turning them to the truth. 

When the Jewish religious leaders and Roman authorities sentenced Jesus to death and hung him on the cross, he did not call down curses on them. Instead, Jesus sowed seeds of love. He prayed to God to forgive them, because they did not know what they were doing. 

In his last moments on this side of the grave, Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.” (Luke 23:46). 

Jesus’ words and deeds inspired others.

Acts Chapters 6 and 7 record the execution of St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr. 

Stephen was one of the first Deacons of the fledgling church. Stephen was an amazing man of God. He longed to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. He had a hunger and thirst for righteousness, to be in a right relationship with God and to live a life that reflected his relationship to God. 

God answered his prayer. 

His words and deeds reflected the presence of the Holy Spirit. He preached the Gospel and defended the faith. 

Through the proclamation of the Gospel, Jesus used Stephen to make peace between God and countless people in Jerusalem.

He was a great administrator of the church. He made sure church resources were applied to the needs of widows and orphans in his congregation in Jerusalem. He was a consummate debater and would overcome the arguments of the Jewish sects that sought to undermine the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Stephen’s ministry was thriving, and the community should have been grateful. However, as the saying goes: “No good deed goes unpunished.”

The authorities could not defeat Stephen in debates, nor could they outdo him through acts of mercy and charity; so, they engaged in a criminal conspiracy against him. They began spreading rumors about Stephen. They accused him of blasphemy. “Then they secretly persuaded some men to say, “We have heard Stephen speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.” (Acts 6:11 NIV)

He was put on trial before the Sanhedrin, the highest Jewish authority. They produced false witnesses, who testified, “This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place and against the law. For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs Moses handed down to us.”

Stephen spoke in his defense citing the Old Testament. 

His speech began with Abraham and the Patriarchs. His speech was full of mourning and pathos. He laid before them how generation after generation of God’s people rejected God and grieved the Holy Spirt. 

This broke Stephen’s heart. 

He mourned for his people then and now. 

As the members of the Sanhedrin listened to Stephen their faces grew red and they saw red. 

By contrast, Stephen’s face glowed like an angel. Stephen’s words inspired intense anger and hatred. 

An angry judiciary sentenced him to death and an angry and rabid crowd was all too eager to stone him to death for confessing Jesus Christ as the Messiah. 

The scriptures declare, “But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”(Acts 7:55-56) 

Only a man with a pure heart could see God’s glory and our Lord Jesus.

As the rocks hurled by the crowd mercilessly pelted him, St. Stephen did not call down curses on his attackers. Instead, the Book of Acts testifies: “Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.”

In the crowd that witnessed Stephen’s stoning was a young Jew named “Saul.” 

The men who stoned Stephen had put their coats at Saul’s feet. This gesture meant two things. First, the removal of their overcoats freed those who were going to hurl stones from the restraint caused by their bulky outer coats. 

It also was a sign of homage to Saul. 

They meant that this young man was a powerful leader and gave his blessing to this atrocity and affront against God. 

Saul believed he had achieved a victory over this new Sect. A powerful voice in this Sect had been silenced, with the approval of the crowd. Saul believed he was unstoppable. However, Saul was no match for Stephen’s prayer.

Jesus answered Stephen’s prayer. 

Jesus forgave Saul and contended with him. Eventually Saul took on the name “Paul.” 

The Hebrew name Saul means “to ask for, borrow or beg.” 

Saul had “asked for” a mission. He had asked for the authority to destroy this new Sect that worshiped Jesus. 

The Greek name Paul means “small or humble” 

Jesus made a “Saul” into a Paul. 

Paul no longer approached people full of himself and power he borrowed from some religious leaders; rather, he came humbly and meekly in Jesus’ name. He came only with the words of the Gospel that Jesus had given him. 

Through the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus, Paul was the instrument that God used to reconcile sinful people to Him. 

He once wanted to destroy and obliterate any writings associated with the church; however, by the power of the Holy Spirit he became the New Testament’s most prolific writer. He went from persecuting Christians to being persecuted by the Jewish and the Gentiles authorities. He occupied the jail cells that he once threw Christians into. Like his fellow believers he was beaten and was once even stoned and left for dead (but miraculously survived).

Paul mourned a lot during his ministry. 

He mourned for himself. 

In the 7th Chapter of his letter to the church at Rome he confessed that he was in bondage to sin and could not free himself. 

He confessed that he wanted to do good, but all he ended up doing what was evil in God’s sight. 

He confessed that he was trapped in a body consigned to death and perdition and deserved this fate. Who could save him from his body of death? 

The answer: Jesus! 

Paul’s words have inspired hundreds of millions who mourned over their sin to face their sinfulness and believe trust and confess that Jesus loved and forgive them despite their unworthiness and gave them a new start! 

Paul promised that through faith in Jesus and his forgiveness, we are given a new heart and a clean heart. In 2 Corinthians 12:1-4, Paul, whose heart had been cleansed, confessed that he was taken up into the third heaven and he heard God speak.

In his letter to the church in Philippi Paul confessed he considered everything he had gained in his life garbage, a complete loss, when compared to the worth of knowing Christ Jesus his Lord, for whose sake he lost all things. 

He wanted to know Jesus more and the power of his resurrection and to share in his suffering and to be like Jesus in his death and thereby be resurrected from the dead. (Philippians 3:8-11) 

Paul shared Jesus in his preaching of the Gospel, and like Jesus suffered for it.

In 1 Corinthians 13:12 Paul reminds us that in this life we see Jesus and the mysteries of faith dimly. It is like looking into a mirror that is not clear. 

However, he assures us that one day we will see clearly. 

In eternity we will see our reflection in the apple of Jesus’ eye. 

For now, Paul tells us our lack of knowledge of the deep things of faith is eclipsed by the fact that we are known by Jesus. He sees us clearly and will guide us through this life to the next.

The fruit of Paul’s humble proclamation of the Gospel is seen in his letters to Timothy, Paul’s protégé and spiritual son. 

Jesus used Paul and his voice to produce something big in Timothy – a saving faith in Jesus. 

Paul and other elders saw the Spirit work mightily in Timothy. They laid hands on him and commissioned and ordained him as a pastor. 

Timothy was very young and often became discouraged. Paul encouraged him to press on and not see his youth as an impediment. 

He was to lead worship, to read the scriptures publicly and preach and teach. He was to be on the constant lookout for candidates for leadership in the church and gave even Timothy guidelines for the call of elders.

Paul also pointed out to Timothy that his was not the only voice that Jesus had used to plant the flame of faith in him. 

In 2 Timothy 1:5 Paul wrote to his protégé: “I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.” 

In 2 Timothy 3:14-15 Paul encouraged Timothy to continue to preach the Old Testament Scriptures and their fulfillment in Jesus. He had learned the scriptures from youth, from his mother and grandmother.

Lois and Eunice remain powerful examples of the influence that a mother or grandmother can have on a young person’s life. 

Statements like “My mom (or grandma) took me to church, taught me right, and prayed for me every day” punctuate many a testimony of a believer.

Paul lifted up the life-changing contributions of these two women. 

In Paul’s time, and in the Old Testament scriptures generally, women were not often mentioned by name. 

He honored the impact L

ois and Eunice had in preparing Timothy for ministry. His ministry included joining Paul in his missionary travels (Romans 16:21) and serving as a pastor of the church at Ephesus (1 Timothy 1:3). 

Lois and Eunice are an inspiration for all Christian mothers and grandmothers, reminding them that their godly influence has an eternal impact on the lives and futures of their children and grandchildren.

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Today I give thanks for all the “humble voices” that Jesus placed in my life. It began with my mother Jean and my grandmothers Alma and Maria. They passed on the faith that lived in them to me. 

Then there were the other voices who Jesus used to fan the flame of faith in me. 

These included my father, Sunday school teachers, pastors, my wife, and other brothers and sisters in Christ. Their contribution to the genesis and the growth in my faith in Jesus Christ was not limited to the words they spoke. 

They were not perfect, they were broken, wounded, desperate, empty and in need of pardon for their sins. Yet, inspired by the faith that lived in them, their lives often embodied the Gospel. 

Jesus shone through them. I was inspired by how the Gospel they preached had shaped and molded how they lived their lives. 

All of us can point to people in our lives that God used to humbly whisper the Gospel of salvation into our ears and embodied the Gospel in their lives. Give thanks to God for them today.

All those people, the ones that God used to ignite and fan the flame of faith in us, like Jesus, Stephen and Paul prayed for us. God answered their prayer.

Today Jesus sees past my brokenness, woundedness, emptiness, desperation and my need for pardon, and yours. 

He heals, fills, rescues and pardons us. 

He has filled us up with his love, grace and mercy to share with others. He calls us to be a Paul or Pauline for others. Let us lift up those who do not know Jesus, or who have fallen away, and pray that God would use us as a Paul or Pauline that humbly speaks the Gospel in their ears and thereby serve as a catalyst for all the great things God will do in the their lives through faith in Jesus. 

Amen.

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