Jesus Is Our Redeemer

A Myriad of Beauty: A Look at Who Jesus Is • Sermon • Submitted 2 months ago • Presented 2 months ago

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Ethan was an amateur woodworker. Although he was only 8 years old and he wasn’t allowed to use his dad’s power tools on his own yet, he still loved to build things. One Saturday morning, he and his dad were googling some woodworking sites for ideas for something that Ethan could build on his own and they came across some plans for a sail boat. So Ethan and his dad went to the hardware store, got all the materials he needed, stopped for some ice cream, went home and then set everything up at the little workstation in the garage that Dad had made for him so they could do projects together.

Using hand tools like a small saw, a hammer, a chisel and even an old hand drill that used to belong to his grandpa, Ethan built the boat. He built the body, sealed all the cracks, attached a small rudder on the back end, made the mast, then he waterproofed and painted the boat, taking the time to put his initials on it. Then he made a small sail and attached it with twine. It took him all weekend to build it but when he was done, his face beamed as he looked upon his creation - this thing that, to everyone else’s eyes, looked like just a toy boat but to Ethan’s eyes, was a part of him.

The next weekend, He took it to the lake just down the street from his house and gently placed the boat in the water, hoping it would sail. Sure enough a bit of a breeze suddenly filled the little sail and the little boat went rippling along the waves near the edge while Ethan ran beside it.

Suddenly before he knew it, the boat was out of his reach. Ethan ran into the cold water and tried to grab it, but it was moving too fast and soon it was out past where he get it. As he watched it float away, he hoped maybe the breeze would shift and his beloved boat would come sailing back to him. Instead he watched it go farther and farther until he couldn’t see it anymore. When he went home crying, his mother asked, "What's wrong, didn't it work?" And he said, "It worked too well."

Some time later, the little boy was downtown with his Mom and walked past a second hand store. There in the window he saw the boat. It was unmistakably his, it even had his initials on the side. Ethan and his mom went in and said to the older man behind the till, "That's my boat" and he walked to the window, picked it up and started to leave with it.

It turns out the man behind the till was the owner of the shop and he said, "Wait a minute, Sonny. That's my boat. I bought it from someone." The boy said, "No, it's my boat. I made it. See. Here are my initials.“ And as he showed the man the boat, he told him all about how hard he worked to make it.

The man said, "I'm sorry, son. If you want it, you have to buy it." Well, neither Ethan nor his mom had any money, so he went home a bit dejected but also determined to get his boat back. He worked hard mowing neighbours yard and doing chores for his Grandma and he saved every penny he got.

Finally, he had enough money. His Mom drove him into town to the store and the whole car ride in, he hoped beyond home that the boat would still be there. He ran up to the window of the store and his heart sank when he couldn’t see it. They went in and asked the owner if he still had it.

And he did - he had just moved it to make way for something newer. Ethan was so excited he almost dropped his money. He went up to the register and paid for the little boat that he had made. As he left the store holding the boat close to him, his mom heard him say quietly, "You're my boat. You're twice my boat. First you're my boat 'cause I made you and second you're my boat 'cause I bought you!"

Like that boy with his boat, Jesus looks upon you with love. He loved you first because he made you.

1 Corinthians 8:6 NLT

6 But for us, There is one God, the Father, by whom all things were created, and for whom we live. And there is one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things were created, and through whom we live.

But he loves you twice, because he bought you back.

1 John 4:9–10 NLT

9 God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. 10 This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.

Ephesians 1:7 NIV

7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace

Good Friday is a opportunity for you and I to sit in the love of God as we reflect on the sacrifice of Jesus. To a greater degree than any other day, we remember that we were lost in our sin and our self-centeredness. We remember that we were without hope and that we needed a Saviour. We remember that God, in his infinite love for you and I, sent Jesus to be that Saviour. We remember that Jesus, perfectly innocent of all wrong-doing, was unjustly put to death on a cross. And we remember that God used his death as the payment for our sins so that we could, by faith in Jesus, be filled with the Holy Spirit and become free from the power of sin and death.

Jesus is our redeemer. Out of his infinite love for you, he created you and then he bought you back when you were lost.

I use the past tense because I know that for most of you in this room, this is a reality that you accepted sometime before today. Many of you know this truth and live it beautifully and my hope is simply to remind you of that which you already know and point your gaze to Jesus.

But for some of you, maybe this redemption isn’t in your past. Maybe you are sitting there because someone invited you, or dragged you here this morning but you’ve felt that lostness that I’m talking about. You’ve felt lost in life, without purpose or overwhelmed with your own sin or just disconnected from life.

To you, I would say that Jesus, our redeemer, loves you and has already paid the price to buy you back. But where you differ from the boat is that the boat is inanimate. You are not. You have a choice. You can either stay where you are, or you can come to Jesus. You can, even now, believe that Jesus died for you and choose to follow him.

Jesus loves you twice. He loves you because he made you, and he loves you because he bought you back. Jesus is our redeemer.

(Pause)

So often, we let words like “Jesus loves you” and “Jesus died for you” float over us, acknowledging them, but not letting them really sink in. So today, we are going to do something a little different.

We are going to take communion. Communion is a event where we take a bit of bread or cracker (and we have gluten free ones for those who desire it) and a bit of juice and through the eating and drinking of them, we remember Jesus. Jesus himself used these elements to show his disciples what was going to happen on the cross. The bread represents his body, which was broken, for us. The juice represents his blood, which was poured out for us. When we take these elements, we both remember what Jesus did, and we declare that we are in Jesus, as Jesus is in us.

Now this isn’t what’s different. We do this once a month. But what is different about this time is that we are going to have an extended time of reflection and private prayer. After I pray, a video is going to play that I hope leads you into some personal reflection on who Jesus is, what he has done for you, and what your response should be to that is.

The video has two parts, broken up by distinctly different music. One is meant to stir the heart and the mind. The second half of the video is just a still picture of the communion elements with some music behind it. The table is unmanned and open. The idea here is to spend some time in quiet contemplation, both bringing to God whatever you need, as well as expressing thanks for the redemption that he bought for you.

Then, when you are ready, you can come up and get your bread and juice, return to your seat and take them. You can come up as individuals, as families, or however you want. The time is yours. After the video is finished, we will have about a minute of relative silence as you finish your prayers or taking of communion. Then the worship team will come back up and lead us in a couple more songs.

Now, through this whole time, I will be sitting in the front row up here. If you would like to come and pray with me, I’m happy to pray with you about whatever is on your mind.