“A Beautiful Benediction”
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit. Amen. Mosab Hassan Yousef was born in 1978, on the other side of the world,
and into a culture completely foreign to us. His father was Sheikh Hassan
Yousef, one of the founders of the Islamic terrorist group Hamas. As the
oldest son of a sheikh he was an Islamic prince. From childhood he was
groomed to someday take over as leader of the Hamas terrorist organization.
As a teenager he was involved in terrorist activities and served time in prison. But, in 1999, at the age of 21, he had a chance encounter with a
Christian cab driver who gave him a Bible. Since childhood he had
memorized the Islamic Koran, but now he began to secretly read the Christian
Bible. From reading the Bible he was converted to Christ, and in 2005 at
the age of 27 he was secretly baptized. For years he had to keep his
Christian faith secret because he was working as a spy, inside the worldwide
network of Islamic terrorism, and he helped to thwart many terrorist attacks.
But, in 2008 the designated future leader of Hamas shocked the Islamic world by
announcing his conversion to Christianity, and renouncing Islam. He took
the Biblical name Joseph and moved to the United States. He lives here now
under this assumed name because a death sentence has been pronounced upon him by
al-Qaida. The former Islamic prince is now a devout Christian. Today’s Epistle Reading from Hebrews explains how such an amazing
transformation could take place, the power behind Joseph’s conversion and faith,
and yours too: “May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal
covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the
sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us
what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and
ever. Amen.” These verses are near the end of Hebrews, and they close the book with
“A Beautiful Benediction.” It’s one of many benedictions found in the
Bible. The word “benediction” comes from the Latin meaning “to pronounce
good things” upon someone. The most familiar benedictions from the Bible
are the ones we use regularly in our worship services. From the book of Numbers in the Old Testament comes the Aaronic
benediction, which Aaron and the other priests were given by God to pronounce
upon his people of old: “The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face
shine upon you and be gracious unto you. The Lord look upon you with favor
and give you peace.” And in the New Testament, the Apostolic benediction is given by the
Apostle Paul at the end of 2nd Corinthians: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”
Like these more familiar benedictions from the Bible, today’s Epistle Reading is
also “A Beautiful Benediction.” “May the God of peace.” Joseph says that is what first attracted
him to Christianity. All his life he had known only a god of hate and war.
But, when he started reading the Bible, he wept with joy because for the first
time in his life he learned there is a God of love and peace. Because of our sins, we do all deserve the wrath of God. We do
all deserve divine punishment in this life, and eternal death and damnation.
As Paul says in Colossians, “Once you were alienated from God and were enemies
of God because of your evil thoughts and actions.” But, that’s where all other religions in the world, including Islam,
stop, with the bad news of our sin and God’s judgment. Joseph wept with
joy the first time he read the Bible because of the Good News, the Good News of
Christianity that you won’t find in Islam or any other religion, the Good News
of God’s love and forgiveness in his Son, Jesus Christ. As Paul continues
in Colossians, “But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through
death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation
. . . For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him
to reconcile to himself all things . . . by making peace through his blood, shed
on the cross.” “May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant.”
The covenant in the Bible is God’s declaration and promise to humanity that one
day he would send the Messiah to be the Savior of the world. Covenants in
ancient times were like a blood oath, ratified by the shedding of blood.
In the Old Testament, it was the blood of the sacrificial animals that testified
to God’s covenant of salvation. But, those animal sacrifices of old were
prophetic, pointing forward to the ultimate sacrifice, God’s Son, Jesus Christ.
His blood shed on the cross fulfilled God’s eternal covenant of salvation, his
blood takes away the sin of the world, his blood cleanses you from every sin.
“For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to
reconcile to himself all things . . . by making peace through his blood, shed on
the cross.” “May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant
brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus.” This is another unique
teaching of Christianity that attracted Joseph when he started to read the
Bible. As a Muslim he was expected to make a pilgrimage to Mecca, and
worship at the tomb of the dead founder of their faith. But, Jesus
says in Revelation, “I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive
forever and ever!” All other religious teachers and philosophers and
supposed prophets are dead and buried. But, Jesus promises, “Because I
live, you also shall live. . . I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever
believes in me, even though he dies, yet shall he live. . . For my Father’s will
is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal
life, and I will raise him up at the last day.” Paul says in Romans, “He was delivered over to death for our sins and
was raised to life for our justification.” Jesus’ resurrection is God the
Father’s assurance that his Son’s sacrifice is accepted as payment in full for
the sins of the world, as payment in full for all your sins. Jesus’
resurrection is your assurance that your sins are all forgiven, that you have
been justified in God’s sight. Jesus’ resurrection is your assurance that
you will rise from the dead to eternal life. As Martin Luther says in the
Small Catechism, “On the Last Day he will raise up me and all the dead, and give
unto me and all believers in Christ eternal life. This is most certainly
true.” “May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant
brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep.”
The imagery in the Bible of the Good Shepherd beautifully portrays the tender
love and care of Jesus for us. As the book of Isaiah says, “He tends his
flock like a shepherd; he gathers the lambs in his arms, carries them close to
his heart, and gently leads [them].” Instead of the angry, violent god of
Islam, Joseph says, “I converted to Christianity because I was drawn to Jesus’
grace, humility, and unconditional love.” “May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant
brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep,
equip you with everything good for doing his will.” After that cab
driver gave Joseph a Bible he read it constantly, though he had to be careful
that he wasn’t caught because that would have meant severe punishment and
torture. And a few years later it was an even bigger step when he
wanted to be baptized, because if found out that would have meant certain death.
But, Joseph said in an interview on CNN, “[Physical] death is not the worst
thing that can happen to a human being . . . the worst [is] spiritual death [of
the] soul. . .” And he says that one day he would like to go back and tell
his family and friends, who have disowned him, “There is only one way to
Paradise, the way of Jesus who sacrificed himself on the cross for all of us.” How could such an extraordinary transformation take place? Joseph
was brought to faith and empowered and equipped through the Word of God, which
he faithfully studied and read, and through the rebirth and renewal of Holy
Baptism. Like Joseph, plug into God’s power for your life in the Word and
Sacraments, and God will equip you with everything good for doing his will.
As Joseph said in an interview, “It’s a beautiful thing to see the change God
has made in my life.” Return to Top | Return to Sermons | Home | Email Church Office
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