WEBVTT
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The name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.
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Amen.
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Today we recognize Jesus's transfiguration on the mount that time
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where he took his disciples up and he showed them his glory and power
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there. Matthew says he's shown like the sun.
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And you know what that's like because you, I know you have looked at
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the sun before.
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You're not supposed to do that.
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But you know what Jesus looked like?
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He looked like the Son as bright as the sun.
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What amazing account that was.
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So I'm going to look at the Exodus account another time, where the
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disciples of God beheld him in front of their faces.
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They didn't die.
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The story we read, the narrative is in Exodus.
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It's actually at the end of a covenantal ceremony. A time where
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after God had rescued his people from the Egyptians, he brought them
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to the mountain, and there he claimed them as his own, his own holy
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and purified people.
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They would be guided and shaped by His Word.
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And we come in at this narrative where Moses had taken the blood of
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the sacrifice and cast it on the Israelites.
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There the blood struck them in the heads, ran down their faces, maybe
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in their mouths and on their clothes.
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They were purified in the blood of a sacrifice. A symbol of God's
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judgment on one for the sake of another, these Israelites were
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purified.
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Now, they, after this, went up into the mountain, and there they
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beheld God in all of his power and might, standing on his own two feet in
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front of them.
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And he did not lay his hand on them.
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He spared their lives because of the blood of the sacrifice.
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Now, this blood of the sacrifice, sure, something had to die.
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In that blood was death, but also through that blood was life.
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You see to us today like blood is your blood on them when on their
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faces, in their mouths.
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I don't want that purification.
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That sounds gross. To us today
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that sounds gross.
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But to the Israelites in that time was a sign of life.
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The blood is what gave life.
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It flowed from one member of the body to the other.
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You can even see it as you look at your hand, on the back of your
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hand, your vein.
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That blood has pulsed through your whole body, connecting one member
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to the other.
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That blood was scattered on the Israelites.
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It was connected one over there to one over there to one way over
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there.
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The Israelites were connected with the living blood of the sacrifice.
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They were one people shaped and guided by God, God's Word, and made
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holy
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and pure.
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Now, by now, I'm sure some of you with your training have connected
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some of the phrases and words I've been using to Jesus and his work.
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That's good.
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That's good, because this story with Moses and the Israelites and the
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blood of the sacrifice and God claiming his people does not stand by
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itself.
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Instead, it directs us directly to Jesus.
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It reminds us of his work on the cross, which connects every one of
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you.
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No, we didn't get splattered with blood of the sacrifice.
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Some of you are like, thanks be it to God that we didn't get blood
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sacrifice thrown on us.
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But instead you had a different washing.
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You were still washed in the blood of the sacrifice.
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But it was spoken through God's word and through his water that for
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some of you may still remember it pouring down your head, getting onto
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your face and into your mouth.
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That water that cleansed you and purified you of your sin because of
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the blood of the sacrifice that is Jesus Christ. In your baptisms
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Paul reminds us we're united with him in his death on the cross, that
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bloodied mangled, body of Jesus, on the cross, that's you, but doesn't
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stop there.
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Blood also symbolized that life that you are buried, therefore, with
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Christ in your baptism.
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And you are brought to new life with that living, breathing, walking
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Christ, the body of Christ, that is you.
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You are the body of Christ
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through your baptisms, you are connected to each one, every member of
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the body of Christ here and in all the other churches around, even
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churches throughout time.
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You are connected to those Israelites on the mountain through the
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blood of the sacrifice that penetrates time.
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This is who you are shaped and guided by God's word to be the purified
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and holy and blameless body of Christ.
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I think it's at this time we often reflect, isn't it?
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Has your thoughts and your words and your actions demonstrated the
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purified, holy body of Christ?
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Maybe that's a little too much.
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Let's just focus on the words.
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Have your words been an example of the purified body of Christ?
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See, maybe one shake of the head, a lot of silent head shakes, it
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looks like this.
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You're thinking about it, aren't you?
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It's easy for us, isn't it?
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Even though we're the purified and holy sanctified body of Christ, we
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are still tempted to run our mouths in judgmental and critical ways,
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especially of others, especially of those in authority isn't it?
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You can think about bosses, managers, dare I say, public officials.
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Those are the easy targets.
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But your seminarians, you are at Concordia Seminary, your future
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pastors and the purified and holy body of Christ.
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Your words, I'm sure, have been pure and blameless again in that
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silent head shake.
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So about you, those people in authority, at times, we all have been
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critical and judgmental of our professors, haven't we?
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I'm speaking seriously for a moment because you are students of a
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seminary and you have professors.
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And often we get into our minds that we have the right or the say to
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say, well, that assignment, that's dumb.
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I shouldn't have to do all these readings.
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Didn't they get together and decide how they should divide the work?
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Judgmental and critical of those who have been placed in authority
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over us?
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God placed those people in authority over us.
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Now, isn't ironic that I'm standing up here judging you?
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I don't think I'm immune from that charge either.
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In fact, I might make a judgment that I'm better than you are at
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judging and criticizing.
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I have proof.
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I have proof.
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Before I came to the seminary, I was an engineer at a company that
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developed autonomous vehicles.
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I was in a position called the head of a department called the
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Continuous Improvement.
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Listen to those words continuous improvement.
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It was my job to be judgmental and critical of every aspect of the
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vehicle we sent out.
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To judge was a keen eye, every design and modification.
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To look at that vehicle, though it looked like it didn't have any
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failures, I was to find the flaws in it and call it out and make
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changes.
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Do you see the difference?
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It was my job to judge and to be critical of that piece of equipment.
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I get into trouble and I corrupt and contaminate the body of Christ
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when I am judgmental and critical of those in authority.
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And I have no business being judgmental and critical of.
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That includes my professors and the assignments I'm given.
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Let's look at on the other side what kind of witness you, the body of
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Christ, purified and blameless could give to the world if instead
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of going along with that thing that we learned in undergrad to be
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judgmental and critical of our professors and the assignments.
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Instead, we spoke well of them.
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We moved into our role as student, and we respected those people that
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God placed in authority over us, even though we're really tempted to
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be judgmental about that new assignment.
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That wasn't on the syllabus, but we've you spoke well of those people
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anyway.
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Imagine the witness you would give to the world of the purified and
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holy glorified body of Christ.
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Professors, I'm not leaving you out of this.
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As professors, you are in a position to be judgmental and critical of
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us, especially of our words.
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I'm calling you to fulfill your role, to hold us accountable.
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Students under your care, to check us, put us in line, cut that
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behavior out.
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Let us know that's not how the body of Christ acts.
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We're different.
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We're set apart.
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That's your call.
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Because we are all connected through that blood of the sacrifice.
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Just like on that mountain, just like on that cross Jesus, purified
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and holy body that you are.
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And we look forward to that day where we see God again, descending in
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the clouds.
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We get to see Jesus in all of his power and glory, and we get to see
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Him and not squint.
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We get to stand before Him and not die.
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Because He will show you mercy, and it won't end there.
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He will take us to that heavenly feast, just like on the mountain, but
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even grander, because we'll be there with the entire body of Christ,
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holy and blameless.
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And we will dine in a feast of feast that never happened before.
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That is our hope and our future as the body of Christ.
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Amen.
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And may
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the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding.
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Guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, into life everlasting. Amen.