(Sermon by Pastor Michael D. Schultz 05/28/06) 

INTRODUCTION:

There’s not much that I would be able to share with you if I had to talk to you about the sport of boxing.  I’ve never done it before.  I’m fairly certain that I wouldn’t do very well taking punches to the face or the midsection.  The one time I was in a gym where there was a speed bag, I had no success getting the right rhythm to keep that bag moving, and my untrained arms gave out very quickly anyway, as you might also find any time you have to do extensive work above your head.  Arms quickly get heavy.

But you probably know very well a phrase that comes to us from the world of boxing.  If a boxer were losing and were running the risk of getting hurt, it used to happen that a trainer or someone from his corner would throw the sponge or something else into the ring to signify that the fight should be ended, that the boxer was giving up.  That’s how we came to have the phrase, “throwing in the towel.”  You don’t ever have to have set foot in the ring to know what that phrase is all about.  We sometimes feel like throwing in the towel.

If things ever get to that point in matters that have to do with our trust in God or our faith in Jesus, it’s a very dangerous thing.  Have you reached that point, lately?  I’ve had enough.  I can’t take anymore.  What’s the use?  Might as well throw in the towel.  There’s a firm, attention-grabbing word from the Maker of heaven and earth, delivered to each of you through watching Jesus ascend into the sky till he was hidden by the clouds.

Don’t Throw In The Towel

It’s not a pep talk and it’s more than a well-meaning, “Hang in there!”  It’s the Lord of hosts, the glorious triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit speaking to people who are taking serious spiritual shots to the face and midsection every day, people who face all kinds of temptations to give up and pack it in.  The message is one that encourages and energizes, one that leaves you saying, “Quitting the Christian faith is not an option.”

Quitting appears to be an option when we’re tempted to think that God doesn’t care or that it’s not worth it to keep relying on something or someone we’ve never really seen.  Quitting appears to be an option when Christianity doesn’t seem to bring unending benefits, when it seems to bring unending obligations and even troubles instead of blessing and reward.  What are the things that have made you think about throwing in the towel?

Seemingly unanswered prayers?  A lot in life that brings little satisfaction but there seems to be no way out?  Don’t feel the love, from people who are supposed to love you? (from God?)  One crisis is followed by two more instead of by relief?  You go to church, give offerings, read the Bible, do the things you pretty much know you should be doing, or at least you try your best to do them, and still you feel like you’re never getting ahead?  Dare I even suggest that the absolution, the announcement of forgiveness straight from God, and the sacrament of Christ’s body and blood for forgiveness, and God’s clear promise of being in heaven with him forever have little or no affect on you, so that you walk out of the doors of God’s house feeling little or no better than when you walked in?

If none of those examples rings true and you can still identify things that I might never touch on that you know have tempted you to give up on God, take whatever it is that has made you feel that way and ask yourself this:  If Jesus Christ himself stood before me and I bared my soul and laid it all out on the table, why I felt that his taking hold of me and rescuing me from hell weren’t enough to stop me from giving up on God, what would he say?

Would he say, “I’m sorry to hear that”?  Would he say, “Well, please get back to me if the time comes that I can be of any further service to you”?  Would he say, “Fine, then to hell with you”?  The temptation to throw in the towel and give up on God, however you’ve experienced, or the act of giving up on God, to whatever degree you’ve done it, is unbelief.  It’s not trusting the God who is 100% trustworthy.  What would he say to that?  What should he say to that?  What does he say to that?  He says, “My friend, what will you have if you give up on me?  You’ll have nothing.”  That is a scary thought.

So Hebrew Christians who had those thoughts just like we do were told to remember what happened in the first chapter of Acts.  Forty-three days after he died and forty days after he rose, Jesus ascended.  He’s the high priest who passed through the heavens, having done what only he as high priest could do – having offered the sacrifice to end all sacrifices.

Cast off Jesus and there’s no sacrifice for your sins.  But look at him going up into the sky to return to his Father and realize what you have.  With his sacrifice offered and accepted, and with him back at God’s right hand, the Lord of hosts looks at you, prone to sin and practiced at giving up on God, and he says, “What sin?  I see no sin in you.  Your history of discouragement and doubt and ditching me – that’s what it is – history.  My Son’s sacrifice erased it all.  I should know.  The history of my Son’s life says so, and he’s right here at my side telling me so.  His ascension tells you so!”

Don’t throw in the towel.  Hold onto your confession of Christ.  Without him you have nothing but sin and guilt and the punishment that goes with them.  With him you have no sin, no guilt, no punishment and nothing but God’s unconditional love.  Christ has ascended and you are invited…

You are invited to take whatever it is that tempts you to doubt God’s love, whatever it is that tempts you to think God doesn’t care, whatever it is that bothers you and distresses you and beats up on you and depresses you, whatever it is that would ever make you think that the triune God cannot resolve it for you or will not help you through it, and you’re invited to walk into the throne room of the Almighty with it…

…But before you walk in there, you have to know that someone has gone before you.  The same Jesus who was sacrificed for you experienced every one of those temptations while he walked this earth, but without once falling to them, without once sinning.  He’s not disgusted by how much you struggle with sin and unbelief or with how weak you are.  He sympathizes with you because he knows what you’re going through, and before you ever say the first word of a prayer for help, he’s already presented your situation to his Father.  Having gone through it all and now constantly seated in power at God’s right hand, he is in the perfect position to ask God to help you and strengthen you with just what you need.

So as you fold your hands and bow your head and you get ready to come into the throne room of God pleading for what you need, Jesus tells you, “You’re going to get what you need.  I’ve already seen to it.”  Don’t throw in the towel.  Ask for what you need, because you have a high priest who has ascended in order to make sure that you get it.

Quitting the Christian faith is not an option.  Christ has ascended in victory that is not only his but yours.  He is seeing to it that you will follow him home. Get that towel out of here. 

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