church

INI
Laetare, the Fourth Sunday in Lent
March 22, 2009
Ascension Lutheran Church, Tacoma WA
Paul Naumann, Pastor

THE BUCK STOPS AT THE CROSS
Genesis 3:9-15

To the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor
and glory forever and ever, Amen. Our sermon text for this morning comes
from the Book of Genesis, chapter three, beginning with the ninth verse, as
follows:

Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, "Where are you?" So he
said, "I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked;
and I hid myself." And He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you
eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?" Then
the man said, "The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the
tree, and I ate." And the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have
done?" And the woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate." So the
LORD God said to the serpent: "Because you have done this, you are cursed
more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; on your belly you
shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity
between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall
bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel." So far our text.

In the Name of Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of mankind first promised in the
Garden of Eden, Dear Fellow Redeemed,

President Harry S. Truman is remembered for many things. Mostly, people
remember him for being hardworking, a straight talker, and as honest as the day
is long. Most politicians will be evasive when something goes wrong; they'll
pass the buck, and lay the blame on anybody's doorstep except their own. But
Truman was an exception. He willingly accepted the responsibility for many
tough decisions - like dropping the first atomic bomb, organizing the NATO
alliance, and sending American troops to Korea. Sometimes he was wrong, but
he seldom made excuses. On his desk in the White House was an engraved sign
which said simply, THE BUCK STOPS HERE.

-- As I say, Truman was an exception, rather than the rule. "Passing the buck"
is a human trait as old as the world itself. How do we know? Because our text
for today shows us the world's first people actively engaged in it. For Adam and
Eve, sin was a new thing. But their reaction to sin set a precedent for every
person who would ever be born on earth. In fact, if you look at their example
closely, I think you will see yourself. Well, their answer to sin didn't work then,
and it still doesn't work. For the charge of sin to be answered, we need
something better than excuses. And God has made that answer available.
Today's theme is --

THE BUCK STOPS AT THE CROSS
I. Man makes excuses for sin.
II. God provides a Savior from sin.

Ever since the Garden of Eden, man has been making excuses for sin. Look at
the way Adam and Eve tried to "pass the buck"! When the Lord confronted
Adam with the fact that he had obviously sinned and been disobedient to God's
command, what did Adam do? Did he own up to his sin? Admit that he'd done
wrong? No, he quickly came up with an excuse. He tried to shift the blame to
someone else. The Lord said, "'Have you eaten from the tree of which I
commanded you that you should not eat?' Then the man said, 'The woman
whom You gave to=2 0be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.'" I'm not
to blame, Lord - it's all Eve's fault! And while we're at it Lord, we shouldn't lose
sight of the fact that You are the one who gave me Eve, this woman who has
led me into sin!

So Adam passed the buck. And what about Eve - would she accept the
responsibility? No, not her! "'The LORD God said to the woman, 'What is this
you have done?' And the woman said, 'The serpent deceived me, and I ate.'"
There's an old one. It's the Flip Wilson excuse: "the devil made me do it."

Both of them had sinned. Both were clearly guilty. But rather than own up to
their guilt, they made excuses. And sadly, that trait of making excuses became
an integral part of the original sin that they handed down to all their human
descendants, including us. None of us wants to take responsibility for our sins.
We're all very good at laying the blame on other people's doorsteps. We've
become adept at explaining away the guilt of sin. If we've said hateful things
about someone, it's because "they've got it coming." If we've been guilty of
drunkenness, we laugh a little nervously and say, "That was some party last
night." If we cheat on our taxes, it's because "everybody does it, anyway." We
look down hypocritically upon our neighbors and say with the Pharisee in the
Temple, "I thank you, Lord, that I am not as other men are…even as these
sinners!" An upstanding churchgoer cherishes a pet grudge against his neighbor
for years, and excuses it by saying, "I can't help the way I feel. Besides, he's got
it coming to him after what he did to me." Then that same person comes to
church and calmly says the Lord's Prayer. What can such a person be thinking
of, I wonder, when he says the words, "...forgive us our trespasses, as we
forgive those who trespass against us."

In the end, passing the buck doesn't work. We can't sidestep the responsibility
for sin with such easy explanations. In fact, there is no excuse for sin, a single
one of which is enough to condemn a person to hell for eternity. Scripture says,
"The soul that sinneth, it shall die!" Adam and Eve found that their excuses
wouldn't work, in the curses God pronounced on them after their fall. They
were removed from the Garden of Eden, and separated from the Tree of Life. If
there was to be an answer for sin, then it would have to come from somewhere
else.

Already in the Garden of Eden, God knew that man was lost. His crowning
creation had been completely corrupted by sin. Man had fallen from grace, and
lost the image of God's holiness and perfection. Adam and Eve's feeble
attempts to pass the buck only made things worse, compounding their
transgression. The Lord knew that if mankind was to be saved, something more
than excuses must be provided. Since there was no excuse for sin -- God
provided a SAVIOR from sin! The buck stops at the cross.

It's interesting that the very first Gospel promise was uttered as20part of a
curse. And a very severe curse it was! God was addressing Satan, who had
taken the form of a serpent in order to trick Eve into sinning. "The LORD God
said to the serpent: 'Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all
cattle, and more than every beast of the field; on your belly you shall go, and
you shall eat dust all the days of your life.'" We don't know what the serpent
looked like before the fall. It may very well have been a beautiful and attractive
creature. We do know the results of the Lord's curse, however - every time you
shudder at the sight of a snake, you're experiencing the effects of that curse.

But it was God's final words to Satan which revealed His plan to save mankind
from sin. This is the first Gospel promise, the words we treasure, the words we
teach to every young confirmand: "And I will put enmity between you and the
woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and
you shall bruise His heel."

God predicted that there would be enmity between the "seed of the Serpent"
and the "Seed of the woman." One day, the battle would be joined, and a fight
to the finish would be fought. Now, who do you think was meant by the "seed
of the Serpent"? Obviously, that stands for the forces of Satan, the Devil
himself and his evil angels. Then who was God referring to when He said that
the "Seed [or the "descendant"] of the woman" would fight against the devil?
Who did God mean when He later told Abraham, "In your Seed all the families
of the earth shall be blessed"? The Apostle Paul explains it in Galatians 3,
"Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, 'And
to seeds,' as of many, but as of one, 'And to your Seed,' who is CHRIST." -- Gal
3:16. Jesus Christ is the Seed of the woman. He's the one God promised to s
end - a Champion who would fight the devil for us. He wouldn't back down, He
wouldn't pass the buck. Way back then in the Garden of Eden, God was
predicting Good Friday. He was pointing toward the cross, where a titanic fight
to the finish would take place. There, on the cross of Calvary, the fate of
mankind would be decided once and for all. The buck stops at the cross!

But God not only predicted the fight, He also predicted the outcome of that
fight. He told Satan, "[The Seed of the woman] shall bruise your head, and you
shall bruise His heel."

Now, anyone who has lived in rattlesnake country will tell you that there's only
one way to kill a snake. You've got to hit it on the head. And that's just what
God said would happen to Satan. Jesus Christ - the Seed of the Woman - would
deliver a crushing blow to the head of Satan. On the cross, Jesus would atone
for all our sins, thus destroying the devil's power to condemn us. Yes, that
victory would come at a cost. The devil would strike a blow at Jesus' heel,
inflicting terrible suffering on Him -- finally even death. But Jesus died the
winner, not the loser! The proof of Christ's victory came on the third day, when
He rose from the grave in triumph. The Bible says, "Jesus our Lord -- was
delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification." Rom 4:25
KJV. The buck really does stop at the cross, and the proof is in the empty tomb!
Paul's words to the crowd in Antioch are words for you, too, "We declare to
you glad tidings; that promise which was made to the fathers. God has fulfilled
this for us their children, in that He has raised up Jesus." -- Acts 13:32-33.

There was a sign on our Savior's cross, put there by Pontius Pilate. In three
languages it said, "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews." But there could
just as well have been another sign, one that said, "The Buck Stops Here."
Because that's where Jesus took the responsibility for all your sins, and for
mine, too. Are you tempted to make excuses? Don't! There's a much better way
to get rid of sin's guilt. Solomon said, "He who covers his sins will not prosper,
but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy." -- Prov 28:13.
Wife, have you failed to submit yourself to your husband? Husband, have you
failed to love and cherish your wife? Come to the cross, Jesus has paid the price.
Children, have you disobeyed your parents? Come to the cross. Young people,
have you allowed lustful thoughts to occupy your mind? There is forgiveness,
come to the cross. Older people, have you indulged in hateful words about your
neighbor? Come to the cross. No matter what your offense, there is pardon for
you here. We don't need an excuse for sin -- because God has provided us a
SAVIOR from sin!

Famed radio commentator Paul Harvey died a few weeks ago. He once
remarked that we don't have to go all the way to Iraq to find America's enemies,
because we've got a more deadly enemy in the streets right outside our homes.
He was talking about the scourge of drug abuse and, certainly, he had a point.
But personally, I don't think we even have to go that far! Satan is the most
powerful enemy we've got, and he's at work in our very hearts. As powerful as
he is, though, God has given us the power to defeat him. "Resist the devil,"
says James, "and he will flee from you." And because of what Jesus did for us
on the cross, we know that the final victory will be ours. Paul's parting words to
the Romans are words we can take home with us this morning: "The God of
peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ be with you. AMEN."