Numbers 21:4-9; 1 Timothy 2:1-6; John 16:23-33
Easter 6
In the name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit
This past Wednesday I was driving on the highway, and I saw a billboard that had just three words filling the entire sign. The billboard simply said, “You are enough.” I imagine those who paid for that wanted to spread an encouraging mental health message in a world that often seems to beat us down. “Don’t always compare yourself to others and seek external validation. You are enough.” And there is certainly some truth there. As a creation of God, you most certainly have great value, no matter who you are. Your value doesn’t come from pleasing other people and living up to their standards for looks or achievements before you’re worth something. You don’t need to be fake. Your individual humanity is precious.
But of course, there’s much more which that phrase is trying to communicate. In our world the statement that “You are enough” means that you are good enough of yourself, that your intrinsic value comes from within. The world says that you should believe in your own innate abilities and potential, that you should embrace your own desires and prioritize personal growth and self-care, even when affirming yourself means affirming something that is not God-pleasing. Slogans like this can encourage you to look to your own inner strength, to your own spiritual power.
And that’s a problem. Because the truth is, you and I are not enough–not of ourselves. And when we feel that “not-enoughness,” we’re feeling the reality of our fallen condition, that things aren’t quite right with us. We shouldn’t deny that; because if we do, then we deny our real need for being saved, our real need for Jesus. Sometimes when people look in the mirror and say to themselves, “You are enough,” what they’re really doing is trying to justify themselves, who they are and what they do (or don’t do). And while that may work for a while and help you maintain a positive attitude, eventually it ends badly, especially as we stand before God. For Romans 3 states that none of us is justified by who we are or by what we do. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” You and I are not enough. We need restoration.
Beware, then, of looking within yourself for answers or for power or for some spiritual connection to the divine. For whether that inward look leads to self-love or self-loathing, you’re still lost inside yourself. And that sort of navel-gazing and self-focused life is not what you were created for.
What God created you for is to live outside of yourself–in Him by faith, and in your neighbor by love. Our eyes are to be directed not inward, but outward and upward.
When the Israelites were in grave danger because of the fiery serpents, what was it that saved them? Was it their own inner resources or intelligence or spirituality? No, they finally acknowledged that they were inwardly full of sin against the Lord. They looked outside of themselves to the Lord’s servant Moses for help. And the solution the Lord provided was outside of them, too–the bronze serpent on the pole. When the Israelites stopped focusing inward and downward on all their serpentine troubles and instead looked outward and upward to the Lord, when they trusted in the Lord’s external promise connected to that bronze serpent, they were healed and restored and safe.
So it is also for you. The serpent wants you to focus on yourself–whether it’s on all your shortcomings and flaws and troubles in life, or whether it’s on all your wonderful qualities and good deeds and amazing achievements. That’s the venom of sin that has been injected into your veins–what Luther called man curved in on himself. Left in that condition, you will die. But God does not leave you in that condition. Instead, the Lord shares in your humanity and allows the serpent to sink its fangs into Him. Having absorbed all the deadly venom into Himself, Jesus is lifted up for you on the cross. He who knew no sin became sin for you, so that you would become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor. 5:21). Jesus allowed Himself to be treated as if He were the evil one so that you would be treated as beloved children, holy and righteous in God’s sight. For the risen Jesus has crushed the serpent’s head. Though of yourself your efforts and merits are not enough, looking to Christ on the cross and trusting in His all-sufficient death and resurrection, you are saved and restored and made whole. It is written in John 3, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” In this Jesus alone you are justified. Baptized into Him, you have the greatest worth. Trusting in His promises, you receive His enoughness.
That is why the Epistle points us to Jesus as the One we should look to as our Mediator before God. Don’t try to come to God on your own–it won’t go well for you. There is a saying in the legal profession that the one who represents himself in court has a fool for a lawyer. How much more is that true when we stand before the Judge of all things! Thankfully, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous One. He is our wise lawyer. Since He Himself is both God and man, He is the One who is able to bring God and man back together and win for you a verdict of mercy. You can’t win this yourself. You need a Mediator. Jesus is the only One for the job.
And this applies, then, also to prayer. You don’t come to God on your own; you come in Jesus’ name. Your prayers are offered through Jesus Christ our Lord. That’s why it is appropriate to pray “Our Father” even when you’re alone. It’s not just that you are always linked together with other Christians when you pray–which is a great thing to remember–you are connected with Christ Himself. He is right by your side as you pray, bringing your prayers to the Father with a holy “our” so that they are heard and answered according to His good and gracious will. Jesus is your Mediator in prayer. He is the One who gives you access to the heavenly throne. It’s His name and His credentials that get you in.
Don’t ever take prayer for granted. It is a key way God has given you to get outside of yourself. When you are tempted to wallow in anxiety or self-pity or pride, prayer helps you to get the focus off of yourself and onto the One who is the source of every good gift and all that you need in both body and soul. The very act of prayer reminds you that the place to look is not within but outside of yourself. Things are not in your hands but in His hands. To pray is to believe that for the sake of Christ, God is truly good and merciful. It is to come to Him as dear children to a dear father. It is to know that even when the answer to prayer isn’t what you expected or hoped for, in the end you will understand; Father knows best. In the end He will come through for you in ways far beyond your expectations.
Note how Jesus doesn’t mince words here: in the world you will have tribulation. Don’t be surprised by that as if it’s some strange thing. Rather, let that tribulation accomplish its purpose of driving you away from self-focused trust. Let it drive you to Him who suffered all tribulation for you to show you the way through it and out again in the resurrection of the body. Receive His words when He says to you, “Take heart, I have overcome the world.” Jesus is the Conqueror. He is Lord over sin and death and the devil. And in Jesus you also are more than conquerors. Pray to Him, that your joy may be full. Take refuge in Him, and all will be well in the end. And until then, remember what He says, “These things I have spoken to you that in Me you may have peace.” “You can endure with confidence and a restful heart. My grace is sufficient for you; it is enough. And in Me, you are enough. Look to me for your validation and justification. You have a standing and a place in the household in My name. Keep your eyes fixed on Me, the One who was lifted up for you.”
In the name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit