First Presbyterian Church of Baton Rouge FPC BR

We celebrate today how a mother’s love is faithful, often hidden, persistent and ever hopeful. Good mothers reflect to all of us these qualities in our Lord. Our God seeking the lost coin of our humanity, got down on hands and knees to come find us. He laid aside his glory and took up the confines of flesh. He offered himself utterly, even to the last drop of blood on the cross.

We turn to the Word first and always on ourselves. Then, and only, then, out of our brokenness, out of the mercy we have received, out of our gratitude to God, do we dare to speak to others as God leads. In this way, we live within this text, “Judge not, that you be not judged.”

Psalm 110 directs us to a mighty king who brings peace, a priest who offers bread and wine and blessing. He already exists and yet is coming. He will share rule with the I AM himself. Remind you of anyone? This swirls our minds. But we need to realize the depth of the person of Jesus. To know him rightly, we need to see how Jesus alone pulls all the threads of Scripture together. He is our savior. He is our Lord. He is also our priest who offered the perfect sacrifice to God: himself on the cross. He also continues in the role of priest, connecting God and humanity.

Sin isn’t a spiritual parking ticket, or a little too much dessert after a nice meal. Sin is adultery. It is a betrayal of our love, and a profoundly hurtful act. It’s saying we can be engaged to two fiancés at once, that the bloodshed, the life given up on our behalf is a laughable, somewhat provincial gift, and we’re trading it for the latest trending fashion to come across our phone. I’ve seen it happen to friends, parishioners, and fellow pastors.
It seems so exciting and exotic for a moment, maybe awhile. But it leads to a “mouthful of gravel.”

These terrible pains, these days of falling into dark wells, get used by our gracious Father to create resurrection hope in us. They are not punishments. Our Father does not delight in them with some perverse pleasure in our suffering. But he has provided a way that they need not destroy us. In fact, our broken hearts can open a path to becoming compassionate people. Uniting what has been done to us to the cross of Jesus, we can find freedom so fresh it feels like resurrection.
He makes us new, drawing us up from all the thousand ways of death. He restores us from the pit.

Jesus is the cornerstone on which our new lives can be built. Jesus is also the rock of truth against which we can wreck our lives. This is true if you’ve never been a Christian, someone joined to Christ. You can continue on your own, and never solve guilt, never solve loneliness, never solve death. Or, you can cry out to Jesus, “Lord, save! Hosanna” and discover that he answers all those questions. This is true if you’ve been a Christian forever, but you’re holding back parts of your life. Thats exhausting and futile. Peace lies just the other side of crying out, “Lord, save. Hosanna!”