The Reason to Endure

11. March 2010 by admin.

Hebrews 12:1-3

Hebrews 12

God Disciplines His Sons

¹Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. ²Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

Summary:  Focusing in on the crucified Savior will give us all the reason we need to endure as we run the Christian race to receive the crown of life through the merits of our Lord.

In the name of Jesus, whose wounds bring us true healing, dear friends in Christ,

We don’t know who wrote the Epistle to the Hebrews. But he must have been familiar with the Olympic games of that day. He compares Christians to the runners in those ancient contests. Each participant would put his all into a race, knowing that there was only one winner. And so we as Christians are encouraged to put our all into the race of life, knowing that we have a crown awaiting us through the merits of Jesus, our Savior.

Tonight while reminding us that living the Christian life may not always be easy, the writer to the Hebrews still gives us:

“The Reason to Endure”

A foot race is a good picture of the Christian’s struggle to stay the course, to keep the faith, and to finally receive the prize. I know some of you have run marathons. Even if you’re doing so just for fun, you don’t just jump out of bed one day and decide to participate. You know you have to prepare for weeks, if not months, so that you’re ready for that long-distance race.

You have no business entering a race unless you’ve trained for it. In those early Olympic games, each competitor had to take an oath that they had trained for at least ten months before the games began. Without training, you still might be able to look good at the beginning of a race. But it wouldn’t be long before your lungs would start burning, your legs would start to feel like Jello, and your heart would be screaming at you in no uncertain terms. As Christians we need to be in daily training. Our training consists of daily putting to death our sinful nature and bringing forth the New Man that was given to us at our baptism. We grow stronger with practice – the practice of saying “no” to sinful temptations and “yes” to lives that are God-pleasing.

Any runner who’s serious about a race will also make sure that he has the right equipment. Those of you who run regularly know the importance of having shoes that are comfortable and broken in well. The clothing you choose is also important. You don’t want anything long or flowing that could obstruct your legs or your arms. Nothing heavy. You want to wear something light, something that allows you to breath easily. It seems as if the Hebrew Christians were getting bogged down by the things of this world that were now threatening a successful finish to their race. So they were given this encouragement (v 1), “Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance.”

“Perseverance” often makes the difference in whether a race is won or lost. One track coach made this point as he recalled a race that he ran during his college days. He was shoulder to shoulder with another runner in a long distance race, and he felt like he was sprinting just to keep up. Although his heart was pounding and his body felt like it was overheating, he tried to appear as cool and composed as possible to his opponent. Then, with a forced smile on his face, he turned to his competition and said, “Doesn’t this feel great?” Little by little, he saw his opponent falling further and further behind, and the victory was his.

We have a similar voice in our ears while we run the race of life, telling us that we can’t possible finish successfully. Our adversary, the devil, taunts us all the way, reminding us of our weaknesses and our sins. He makes our race a constant struggle, one that is grueling for our souls.

Those who first received this letter to the Hebrews were in danger of falling out of the race and losing their newfound faith in the crucified Christ. They were tempted to go back to the Old Testament worship of a “Messiah-yet-to-come.” It was proving to be such a tough sell to get people to believe in a Savior who ended up on a cross. If they gave up the cross and went back to their old Jewish faith, then their fellow Jews would ease up on them, and life would be much simpler. They had been running the race successfully, with their eyes centered on Jesus, but the noonday heat of persecution and the thorns and thistles of this world were starting to take their toll. Now they were in danger of giving up on the race and giving up on their crucified Lord and Savior.

Look around you today and you’ll still see people quitting the race that they started. They may have gotten off to a good start by being brought into God’s kingdom through the water and the Word of baptism. They may have even been strengthened through the Holy Spirit with strict training as they grew older. They learned to understand that Jesus’ cross was their cross, breathing in the oxygen of forgiveness as they pressed on toward their heavenly goal.

But then they quit. They believed for a while, but then they gave up. What drove them from the race? Maybe their parents dropped the ball. Maybe they got tired of fellow Christians who “talked the talk” but never seemed to “walk the walk.” Maybe they thought that after confirmation, they were good to go and stopped training. Perhaps they convinced themselves that there would always be time to train tomorrow. Maybe they thought, “Right now I’m young and healthy and have a lot on my plate. When I get married and settle down I’ll have more time for God.” Others who had reached that point in life may have found another excuse. “So much is expected of me at work and from my family, I just don’t have time for church.” Then middle-age sets in, and “God-time” is pushed back until retirement. Then, it’s all too easy for the lifelong procrastinator to find yet another excuse for keeping God out of the picture and out of their schedule.

Now, if you read the Book of Hebrews, you’ll understand why the writer of this epistle uses such an urgent tone. He sees how easily it is for us to be distracted from running the Christian race by so many “less worthy” things in life. Remember what God said to the rich man who was only concerned about life on this earth? “You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself” (Lk1 2:20)! Who knows when our race will end? That’s yet another reason for us to endure!

The apostle Paul warns us in Corinthians (2 Co 6:2), “I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.” The time is now to make time to hear the Word! The time is now to make time for the Holy Spirit to strengthen your faith! If we despise him today and do not listen to him when he comes to us, we’re in danger of pushing him away forever. I fear for those who have spent a lifetime making up excuses for despising the means of grace. How much hope can we possibly have that that person will suddenly change their ways in the eleventh hour?

Sit back and take a casual approach to life, and we’ll grow fat and flabby – totally unfit to run life’s race. So I ask you: What kind of spiritual shape are you in right now? If you can’t even run a lap right now, how are you going to last for a whole marathon? If you can’t bear the little crosses that come into your life right now without grumbling and complaining, how are you going to endure for the rest of your life? With so many temptations waiting at every turn, how can any of us endure the day of our Lord’s return?

Take a look at how others endured for the answer (v 1), “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses . . .,” the writer begins. The word “therefore” means that we have to look back at what was just written in chapter 11. Along the sidelines, encouraging you as you run your race, are all the saints who have gone before us. There’s faithful Abel, the first person to suffer martyrdom as a child of God. You’ll see Noah, who in holy obedience built an ark to save himself and his family. There’s also 75-year old Abraham, the one who believed God would give him and Sarah a child even in their old age. Look closely and you’ll see Isaac and Jacob, Joseph and Moses, and all the Old Testament saints who clung to the promise of a yet unborn Messiah. You’ll see King David, all the prophets, and the God-fearing women who had to fight off so many worldly distractions. They all endured persecution and trials because of their faith – but they kept running! And now they’re encouraging each of us (v 1), “Throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and . . . run with perseverance the race marked out for [you].”

Those who run marathons admit to receiving a boost of adrenaline when they see friends and family encouraging them along the way. It’s no different for us while running the race of life. We have “a great cloud of witnesses” cheering us on, “By the grace of God, we made it! By his grace, so can you!” They were once where we are now – “sinner-saints” struggling to stay on course. But now they are where we want to be: covered with white robes, washed in the blood of the Lord, wearing the crown of life won for them by their Savior!

With all the saints encouraging us, still they’d be the first to tell us not to focus on them. As you strain for the finish line, keep focused on the Savior! He’s the one responsible for us even being in the race, having not only brought us to faith and kept us in the faith through the Holy Spirit, but also having won our salvation by dying in our place. Earlier in Hebrews we’re told to center our attention on what he suffered for us (Heb 5:7-9), “During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.” The reason to endure is found when we focus our eyes on the suffering Savior and his great love for us. He endured the cross “for the joy set before him” – for the joy of seeing us with him for all eternity. Now we endure so that his suffering was not in vain (v 3),”Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart” – and in so doing, make his suffering all for naught.

As many of you may have already heard, another race was completed this morning when the Lord called my father home. Now along with the apostle Paul and all the saints, he’s able to proclaim (2 Ti 4:7), “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” My dad’s eyes were fixed on Jesus as “the author and perfecter” of his faith. That was the reason he endured the race. May it be yours and mine as well!

Amen

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Ignorance Is Not Always Bliss

8. March 2010 by admin.

1 Corinthians 10:1-13

1 Corinthians 10

Warnings From Israel’s History

¹For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. ²They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. ³They all ate the same spiritual food ⁴and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. ⁵Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered over the desert. ⁶Now these things occurred as examples^[a] to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. ⁷Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in pagan revelry.”^{[b] 8}We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. ⁹We should not test the Lord, as some of them did—and were killed by snakes. ¹⁰And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel.

¹¹These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. ¹²So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! ¹³No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

Summary:  Paul warns us against complacency, citing the faithlessness of many in Israel in spite of their seeing the Lord’s signs and wonders. We are not able to stand just in our own power, but in his mercy the Lord provides a way out of circumstances that test us.

In the name of him who is the same yesterday, today, and forever, dear friends in Christ,

“Ignorance is bliss.” Such is the theory for those whose lack of knowledge of something negative allows them to be happy — at least for the time being. Ignorance is bliss for the sports fan who taped his favorite team’s game on TV and watches it with high hopes, not knowing that they lose on a last-second basket. Ignorance is bliss for the person who charges left and right with credit cards, unaware that there will come a time when those charges will have to be paid off. And ignorance was bliss for me for most of my life, as I believed that nothing bad could possibly come from drinking milk, causing me to boast to my doctor about how much milk I drank each day, only to hear her tell me that too much milk can be bad for you because it also contains calories that can add up when left unchecked. Regardless of the outcome, there are a number of situations in life in which we’d have to agree that ignorance is bliss.

And yet such a theory does not apply in all cases. Ignorance is not bliss for the person who refused regular checkups and so didn’t catch the cancer until it had reached a very advanced stage. Ignorance is not bliss for the student who goofs around all semester, not worrying about the poor grades he’s getting, only to find out that by semester’s end he’s failed the class. And ignorance is not bliss for the young child who didn’t know that playing with matches was dangerous and ended up burning down the family home.

There’s a reason why the Lord chose to include in his Holy Scriptures the history of his chosen people Israel. Not only did he want to show us his love and faithfulness in dealing with these people, but he also wanted us to learn from their example and to avoid some of the same mistakes today. As we look at the words of the apostle Paul this morning, we’re reminded of the fact that:

“Ignorance Is Not Always Bliss”

I. Ponder the past

II. Strengthen faith for the future

Paul was writing to the Christians in Corinth, people who in many ways were similar to the Old Testament Israelites. Both the Corinthians and the Israelites were privileged to have received God’s grace and to have been called his children. But both often took his grace for granted. Take a look at Paul’s letters to the church in Corinth to get an idea of how they had gone astray. Adultery, a case of incest, and drunkenness are all addressed by Paul. They had to be reprimanded for choosing favorites among their pastors. They misunderstood the concept of Christian freedom, often acting as if Christ had freed them to sin instead of from sin. So now Paul uses the history of Israel to teach and to warn these Corinthian Christians.

First of all Paul wants them to remember the blessings God gave to Israel (vv 1,2), “For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.” God led his people out from under the oppression of the Egyptians. He led them through the desert during the day with a pillar of cloud, and at night that pillar became a pillar of fire. With his great miracle at the Red Sea he allowed his people to cross over on dry land as he held back the waters. These two events were a special kind of “baptism” for the Israelites. They indicated that they were special in the eyes of the Lord. God had indeed done great things for his people!

Today we’re reminded that we too are privileged people. We can’t help but think of our own baptism when God adopted us into his family and took away our sins. For the Israelites, passing through the Red Sea bound them to their Lord and to their leader Moses. Through baptism we are bound to our Lord and to our Leader, our Savior Jesus Christ.

Even while they wandered in the wilderness, God was always with his people (vv 3,4), “They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.” The Israelites received manna from heaven for 40 years in the desert. The Lord provided water for them from a rock. Both of these were “spiritual” blessings because they were the result of miracles. But their greatest blessing came as they “drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.” Physically they were sustained with water and manna, but spiritually they were sustained with the promise of a Savior! The promised Messiah would provide all their needs for that time and for eternity!

That message was needed by the Corinthians who tended to take for granted the news of a Savior from sin. Twenty-first century Christians are no different, for we often take our Savior for granted as well. Each week we have the opportunity to eat and drink the spiritual food of God’s Word, with even more opportunities during the Lenten season on Wednesday evenings. We’re able to hear about our Savior’s great love for us, love that led him to Calvary’s cross. There’s no excuse for us to go “hungry” when we have so many opportunities to “feast” on God’s satisfying Word!

With all the blessings, both physical and spiritual, that God had given to Israel, it’s hard to imagine how they could overlook them. But they did – and their ignorance brought anything but bliss (v 5), “Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered over the desert.” Over 600,000 men over the age of 20 left from Egypt, but only two of them, Joshua and Caleb, would ever enter the Promised Land. The people took God’s blessings for granted. Instead of relying on him, they looked to themselves. In ignorance they disregarded the commands of God and ended up paying for it with their lives by dying in the desert – anything but bliss for these rebellious people!

Paul saw many of the sins committed by Israel being committed by the Christians in Corinth (vv 6-10), “Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: ‘The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in pagan revelry.’ We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did – and were killed by the destroying angel.” Any of these sins sound familiar? They’re the same ones being committed still today. Paul warns us not to set our hearts on things that are “evil.” Just ponder the past and see what happened to Israel when they did.

First Paul points to the Israelites’ sin of idolatry, seen specifically when they had Aaron, the high priest, build for them a golden calf. They had grown impatient while waiting for Moses to come down from Mt. Sinai, so they made their own god to worship. Today many grow tired of waiting for Jesus to come again, so they often live as if he’s never going to show up. They make new gods to call their own, worshiping the things of this world. Be careful not to lose hope and fall into the same sin, but ponder the past and learn from Israel’s mistake!

Sexual immorality was the next sin Paul brings up. Against the Lord’s command on one occasion the Israelites decided to have relations with the women of Moab and take part in the worship of their fertility god Baal. They paid for it as the Lord wiped out 23,000 of them in a plague for going against his command. Today the same disregard for the Sixth Commandment is taking place with people living together without being married, with unscriptural divorces, and with an unhealthy fascination with pornography being flaunted in our society. In Corinthians Paul reminds us (1 Co 6:19,20), “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.”

The last malady mentioned by Paul was Israel’s constant grumbling and complaining. They didn’t like the food; they found reasons to beef about Moses’ leadership; they were tired of their desert wandering – you name it! They were never satisfied! So God had to teach them. On one occasion he sent some nasty snakes to sink their poisonous fangs into them. Another time the Lord simply opened up the ground and had the earth swallow up a bunch of the offenders. Should we be looking out for snakes or cracks in the ground today? Ever challenge the Lord’s care and providence with a few words of ingratitude? Ponder the past, and we’ll be reminded of our ignorance in taking the Lord’s blessings for granted!

Israel’s past was brought up by Paul to teach the Corinthians (vv 11,12), “These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!” It would be pure ignorance and utter foolishness for us to ignore the lessons from the past. God doesn’t want us to read about Israel’s mistakes and then simply conclude, “That could never happen to me!” Instead he wants us to realize our own weaknesses and vulnerabilities. The day we stop being humble and repentant is the day we stop being his children. If we ever think that we’re invincible, that our faith is insurmountable and immune to any temptation, then we’re setting ourselves up for a terrible tumble.

Our sinful nature prepares us for self-destruction by causing us to look inward for strength. In his Reformation hymn Martin Luther warns us (CW 200:2), “With might of ours can naught be done; Soon were our loss effected.” What happened to Israel could happen to us. Ignorance is not always bliss. That’s why it pays to ponder the past!

There’s hope outside of ourselves! Luther continues (CW 200:2), “But for us fights the valiant one Whom God himself elected.” When we recognize our own failures and weaknesses, then we realize we need one stronger than ourselves. Then we’re directed to “Jesus Christ . . . The almighty Lord” (CW 200:2). In him our faith is strengthened for the future!

Paul contrasts the unfaithfulness of Israel with the faithfulness of Israel’s God (v 13), “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” Israel sinned time after time, but God remained faithful to his promise and continually called them to repentance and offered them his forgiveness. He led them into the Promised Land and gave them the Promised Savior.

That same faithful God is our God today. When we sin, he is the one who forgives us. When we are tempted to do wrong, he is the one who gives us the power to do what is right. When we’re faced with troubles and tribulations, he is the one who promises to provide a way out. When we were covered with sin, he was the one who gave us a Savior to provide a way out. He’s always been there for us and will continue to always be there for us. In him we find faith for the future!

And in times of trouble remember, “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man.” I like to think of this as the “never despair” passage, or even the “quit having a pity party for yourself” passage. You are not the first or the last of God’s people to suffer. Others have faced the same temptations you’re facing right now, and they’ve survived. How? They trusted in the Lord! He’s the one who regulates our lives so that none of us receives a trial or temptation that’s too much for us to handle. That’s his promise. He never lets a trouble come into our lives without also giving us some way to get through it. You may think otherwise, but God knows you better than you know yourself. When you think you’re at the end of your rope, it’s God who ties the knot at the end for you to hang on to. And then he pulls you up to safety. So “trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding” (Pr 3:5). Then you’ll find the strength your faith needs for whatever may come in the future!

Far too many today are living in spiritual ignorance, convinced that by avoiding the thought of death and by ignoring their own accountability, they’ll have – at least for the time being – some form of temporal bliss. But you know better. As one realist puts it, “Ignorance is not bliss. Ignorance is ignorance.”

You know that ignorance is not always bliss, especially when it comes to being ready for your Lord when he comes for you. You know that only the Holy Scriptures “are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (2 Ti 3:15). With such knowledge, no one will ever be able to call you ignorant, and the bliss you’ll enjoy will be eternal!

Amen

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The Cross of Christ – More Precious Than Life

3. March 2010 by admin.

Philippians 3:7-11

⁷But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. ⁸What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ ⁹and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. ¹⁰I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, ¹¹and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Summary:  We preach Christ crucified simply because the cross of Christ is more precious than life itself.

In the name of him who never leaves us, dear friends in Christ Jesus,

If I had entered this service with a hangman’s noose dangling from the chain around my neck, would you have been surprised? What if you saw a nicely-carved little wooden electric chair adorning the top of our baptismal font? If you’d find either of these things confusing, perhaps you can understand what those outside of Christianity are thinking when they see us wearing or decorating our homes with another symbol of execution. When they see the cross, without understanding its significance, should we be surprised if they find the display of such an item a bit morbid, if not even offensive?

But having been brought inside the realm of Christianity by the grace of God, you and I get it. We understand what the cross symbolizes. And we know that without it, there would be no hope for us. Without it, we would have nothing to look forward to except an eternity in hell.

This evening we continue to proclaim, “We preach Christ crucified.” The apostle Paul helps us see why this has to remain the central focus of our message and of our faith. Tonight we consider:

“The Cross of Christ – More Precious Than Life”

Of the time our Savior spent here on this earth, what would you think were the glory days of his ministry? When he was preaching to “standing-room-only” crowds? When he fed thousands of people with a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish? How about when he stunned the crowd with his message in his hometown of Nazareth? Most of us would agree that these were key moments in Jesus’ ministry. But they didn’t always bear the fruit we might have expected. One time while preaching to a packed house, Jesus had to rebuke his mother and his brothers who were trying to stop him, feeling as if he was making a fool of himself and had lost his mind. Shortly after he had fed the 5000, Jesus had to send the same crowd away because they were more concerned about having him fill their stomachs than their souls. And even though he amazed his hometown synagogue with his preaching, the people thanked him that day by trying to throw him off a cliff. By human standards, these “glory” days didn’t end very gloriously.

How about including these moments among the most glorious moments in Jesus’ ministry: His betrayal by one of his own chosen disciples; his Father saying “no” to his prayer to have the cup of suffering removed; his bloody sweat and prayerful wrestling in the Garden of Gethsemane; his failed efforts to get his drowsy disciples to watch and pray with him; his capture by the temple guard; his mock trial and being condemned by his own church; or how about the blatant miscarriage of justice that left him with a death sentence? Could these be listed among Jesus’ moments of glory?

Remember, everything Jesus did brought his Father glory. But on top of it all, the crowning moment of glory was Jesus’ suffering for our debt of sin. Remember what Jesus said right before his suffering began? “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds” (Jn 12:23,24). Remember what he prayed to his heavenly Father (Jn 12:27,28), “Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!” Everything Jesus went through – his incarnation (becoming one of us), his blameless childhood, his spotless ministry – was proof that his desire for our salvation was stronger than any temptation this world had to offer. And now the ultimate glory would be given to the Father as Jesus loved us to the point of death, proving that the cross was more important to him than his own life.

That’s how much the Savior loves you – he treasured your life more than his own. When suffering and the cross came his way, he embraced it and, in so doing, he embraced you! If you take one thing home with you this Lenten season, may it be that you’ve learned that your eternal life with Jesus was more precious to him than his own life on earth!

St. Paul knew what the cross of Christ was all about. He also knew that it was more precious than life. How so? He learned it the hard way – by starting out despising it! Remember that before he became known as Paul the apostle, he was better known as Saul the persecutor. At that time he was doing everything in his power to snuff out what he considered to be “the Jesus cult.” Had he been at the foot of the cross on that Good Friday, you can bet he would have joined in with the cries of “Crucify him! Crucify him!” Since he couldn’t get his hands on the leader himself, he devoted his life to the next best thing – arresting and putting to death as many of his followers as possible. How did Saul hope to get to heaven without Jesus? He tells us in his own words, right before the words of our text this evening (Php 3:4-6), “If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless.” Like so many today, Saul didn’t think he needed a Savior. He could stand on his own two feet before God’s throne and present his earthly resume as proof that he belonged in the Lord’s kingdom.

Something in Saul had to die for him to finally “see the light.” One day while on a road trip to Damascus to round up some more Christians, such a death took place when Jesus himself showed up to a stunned Saul, proclaiming (Ac 9:5), “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” With this miraculous appearance, Jesus put to death Saul’s notion that he was doing God a favor by chasing down Christians. He put to death Saul’s belief that his pedigree and his earthly accomplishments were all that he needed to open the doors of heaven. In fact, all his shining virtues were actually the most shameful vices in the eyes of God. The only hope for Saul was to trust in Jesus – the one he was persecuting – for forgiveness. That day a death and resurrection took place in Saul. He died to his old way of thinking and was made alive with the peace and forgiveness in Christ his Savior.

Not only did his name change from Saul to Paul — his tune changes as well (vv 7-9), “But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ – the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.”

As evidence of the change that had taken place in him, Paul now approached the proclaiming of name of Jesus to the world with even more zeal than he utilized in trying to silence it before his conversion. And it didn’t matter to him if doing so put him in harm’s way. On one occasion when his credibility as an apostle was being attacked, Paul defended his ministry and gives us a glimpse of what he endured for his Savior (2 Co 11:23-26), “Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked. I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers.” He goes on to talk about the times he was exposed to the elements, without food, and without water. On top of it all there was his constant concern for the welfare of new Christians that caused him untold inner turmoil.

And all this for what? Because Paul knew that the cross of Christ was more precious than his own life! History reveals that Paul paid the ultimate price for embracing Christ – he was executed in a Roman prison. To Paul the cross of Christ was more precious than life.

You and I may not have seen a bright light on a roadway centering around the face of Jesus to bring us to faith. Perhaps on the day of our conversion, the only light present came from church candles or sanctuary light bulbs. We weren’t knocked to the ground but probably just held in the peaceful arms of our parents or sponsors. We didn’t hear the voice of Jesus but just that of the pastor as he sprinkled or poured a few handfuls of water on our heads while saying, “. . . in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” But at that moment a death took place, a drowning of the old Pharisee that lived in each one of us that was at that time the center of our universe and the self-appointed hope of our salvation. While he went under and was drowned, a new resurrection of faith came forth that looked to Jesus instead of to self for eternal salvation. As Paul describes it in Romans (6:4), “We were therefore buried with [Christ] through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead . . . we too may life a new life.”

And so since that day we’ve learned all about death as we’ve daily drowned that sinful nature that keeps rearing its ugly head along with all the temptations of the devil and the world around us. We do so every time the Holy Spirit leads us to repent of our sins and turns us to the cross of Christ for forgiveness. Now we, too, can say with Paul, “Whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.” We, too, are willing to give up everything, even life on earth, rather than be apart from Jesus. The cross of Christ is more precious than life – more precious than our lives here on this earth!

Paul had learned this lesson throughout his ministry, but especially while writing this letter to the Philippians. For two years he had been under house arrest in Rome, awaiting trial before Caesar. He was hopeful of being set free, but he also knew that he could be executed for his faith. Who could blame him if he had become depressed and despondent, just staying in bed and praying that he would die?

But this letter to the Philippians is proof that Paul saw his house arrest as the pulpit that God, in his infinite wisdom, chose for him at that time. Even though he was in chains, stuck behind four walls and under the careful watch of a Roman soldier, Paul could still effectively preach the gospel. And in this way his prayer was being answered (vv 10,11), “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.”

In the same way, no matter what the circumstances of your life, your pulpit has been chosen by God. It’s where you’re standing right now. It may be a pulpit of pain or health, one of gainful employment or no employment at all. It may be one besieged by struggles within or struggles from those who repeatedly reject what you have to say. You may be in the prime of life or on the verge of death. That doesn’t matter. His promise of forgiveness has made it possible for you to “know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings,” and it has given you a pulpit from which you can preach the cross of Christ crucified to the world – a cross that is and will always be more precious than life!

Amen

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Take Time for Your Calling

2. March 2010 by admin.

Ephesians 5:8-17

⁸For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light ⁹(for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) ¹⁰and find out what pleases the Lord. ¹¹Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. ¹²For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. ¹³But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, ¹⁴for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said:
“Wake up, O sleeper,
rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.”

¹⁵Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, ¹⁶making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. ¹⁷Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.

Summary:  Paul uses the metaphor of darkness in characterizing the life of the Ephesians before grace came to them.  But the grace of God changed them from children of darkness into children of light.  Paul exhorts them and us:  “Live as children of light.”

Dear friends in Christ, called to share his light and love with the world,

I’ve always supported the concept that, because of the demands of our schedules, people today just don’t have as much time to do things as they used to. But recently I read something that challenged that theory. Since there have always been 24 hours in a day no matter what era we’re discussing, how we use those 24 hours is what makes the difference. The argument was presented that years ago life was actually “harder” on people as they typically worked 18-hour days, six days a week. People used to be physically worn out from jobs that once involved more manual labor – much of which has been replaced by white collar jobs today — that they had to use more time to rest. In the end the conclusion was that today we have just as much time, if not more, than years gone by, so to argue that we’re “just too busy” for something holds less water than it once did.

Every day still does have 24 hours. But how we use our time has a lot to say about whether we see time as our biggest enemy or as one of the greatest tools we have to accomplish our calling as Christians here on this earth.

As we continue our monthly emphasis on the theme, “Christ’s Love, Our Calling,” let’s review how we use the time God has given us. Today you’re encouraged to:

“Take Time for Your Calling!”

I. Your calling to light

II. Your calling to love

At the beginning of the chapter of our text, Paul reveals the high calling to which we’ve been called (Eph 5:1), “Be imitators of God . . . as dearly loved children.” A little overwhelming, when you think about it, isn’t it? After all Scripture tells us that “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all” (1 Jn 1:5), while Paul tells us in our text (v 8), “You were once darkness.” He goes into more detail earlier in Ephesians (2:1-3), “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.” That’s what we are by nature – dead and lifeless, void of anything that would allow us to reflect the light of our Lord or to imitate him in any way.

Lest we try and alter reality and pretend we don’t see anything wrong with what we and this world have become, God’s light reveals the truth (vv 13,14), “But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for it is light that makes everything visible.” Light shows things for what they are. Light never lies. If there’s a scratch in the paint, light will reveal it. If there’s an imperfection in a diamond, light will make it evident. The light of God’s Word compares our life to what he expects and demands of us. And who of us can claim to not be affected by the self-centeredness and self-gratification of our culture? Our own sinful inclination is to join the “me” generation and put our own needs or desires first above everyone else. Even though we try and ignore it, God’s light reveals the end result of such selfish living (Eph 5:5), “For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person – such a man is an idolater – has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.” And, as we read earlier, “like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.”

The key word here is “were.” By the grace of God, things have changed (v 8), “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.” Light always breaks darkness. Darkness cannot exist in light. The love of God in Christ has shattered our darkness and has “made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ” (2 Co 4:6). In Colossians Paul reminds us that it was God who “rescued us from the dominion of darkness” (Col 1:13).

Think about the transformation he’s accomplished in each of us. He chose you and me before the creation of this world to be his children. He planned out our salvation through the work of his Son. He turned our hearts to him by bringing us to faith through the work of the Holy Spirit. He’s led us to grow as heirs and saints through his Word. He’s determined the time we’ll join him in heaven. And until then, he prepares in advance opportunities for us to share his light with others.

Once darkness, now we’ve become a remedy for darkness – we’ve become light! Now we are to live according to our new calling (vv 8-10), “Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord.” To “live as children of light” actually means to “keep walking around” in the light. Strive for a life of “goodness, righteousness and truth,” meaning that our own plans and perspectives and priorities cannot become more important than God’s. Instead of establishing and living by our own agendas, Paul says to “find out what pleases the Lord.” Be constantly testing and measuring your actions, your choices, you thoughts, and your attitudes. How do you do that? You stack them up against the Word of God! Listen to your Lord as he speaks to you in his Word! There he transforms our hearts and our minds as we study his message as he brings to light who he is and what he’s done for us – and what our purpose is as his children! Then as you live his will and put it into practice, no longer conforming to the ways of this world, his will becomes even more clear and your life will be even more blessed. You’ll become all the more determined to fulfill your calling as children of God, imitating the determination and urgency of Christ himself who proclaimed (Jn 9:4), “As long as it is day, we must do the work of him sent me. Night is coming when no one can work.”

It’s in Christ that we discover who we are and what we’re living for. In him we find our calling, and knowing our calling affects how we live (vv 15-17), “Be very careful, then how you live – not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.” We might paraphrase these verses with the cliches, “Use your time wisely,” or “Seize the day.” Be careful, because “the days are evil,” and it’s easy for us to be consumed or absorbed by the evil of this world. Instead, let’s replace the evil and the hatred that is so prevalent today with God’s love!

Earlier in this chapter Paul encourages us to “live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (Eph 5:2). You heard it in our Gospel lesson this morning, that our calling can be summed up simply by saying (Mk 12:30,31), “Love the Lord your God . . . . Love your neighbor.” If our calling is to love, then we have to realize that love takes time. Let’s take time for our calling as we strive to show love for others.

Have we “made the most of every opportunity” to show love for others by sharing the light of God with them? It’ll always be a work in progress. I had to remind myself again of my calling when I went in for my every-other-month haircut this past week. In an attempt to make conversation, the new girl asked me about my weekend plans, affording me the opportunity to tell her I was a pastor and would be working. But it took awhile until the light bulb went on for me to ask her which church she attended. It still doesn’t come as naturally as it should. But for the guilt of missed opportunities, there is forgiveness. And with forgiveness there comes a renewed sense of purpose to live up to our calling – our calling to show love to others by sharing God’s light.

But it’ll take time! The reality is – you’ll always find time for what you value the most. If you value and love this world and this life and all the material gratification it has to offer, then that’s the “god” you’ll serve, doing whatever it takes to make your goals a reality. But if you value and love the Lord and what he has done for you and for your eternity, your life will be less focused on temporal self-interests and more focused on the eternal interests of others. Our lives will reflect the knowledge that we’ve been called to love others and not just ourselves.

If you’re looking for purpose in your life, understand that the time we take for our calling will be well worth it, because it will make a difference. To a world that is scared of death, fearful of economic collapse, and petrified by any number of other uncertainties, we bring a message of hope and confidence found in the cross of Christ. To a world of lies and deception, broken promises, and shattered dreams, we bring a message of truth from a God who never lies, who’s never broken a promise, and who promises to fulfill all our dreams of living forever with him in the mansions of heaven. You and I have been called to serve as floodlights for the rest of the world, exposing the fruitlessness and uselessness of living in darkness, while shining forth the way of true happiness found in Christ!

But be sure and take the time necessary to live up to your calling. If you’re looking for a good flashlight, you’ll look for both quality and quantity. You’ll want it to provide a bright light, and you’ll also want it to provide enough light to lead you through the darkness. The same works for us and our calling. Let’s make sure we’re qualified to be God’s light by immersing ourselves in his Word. Then we’ll be “charged up” to provide even more light and reach even more people with the light of the gospel!

Like it or not, our lives are measured in hours, days, months, and years. As much as we like, we can’t change how we’ve used our time in the past. But God can – and has! – by forgiving our past failures and now calling us to make the most of every opportunity we have to serve him. So budget your time accordingly. You have 1440 minutes every day to help live out your calling as a child of God. Take time for your calling! And remember – you’re never too busy to spend time with his Word, and you’re never too busy to spend time sharing his light!

Amen

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Justified by Grace Alone Through Faith Alone

25. February 2010 by admin.

Romans 3:21-25

Righteousness Through Faith

²¹But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. ²²This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, ²³for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. ²⁵God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement,^[a] through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—

Summary:  It’s vital to our spiritual health that we continue to discard our own ideas of work righteousness and cling only to the righteousness won for us by the crucified Christ.

In the name of the Lamb of God, the guiltless slain for the guilty, dear friends in Christ,

The Lenten season provides us the opportunity to sing many of the well-known and much-loved Lenten hymns. One hymn that has been one of my favorites ever since I was in grade school is the one we’ll sing later this evening, “O Dearest Jesus.” It seems to capture so well the injustice of what took place during Jesus’ trials and his ultimate execution on the cross. Listen to the words of the first verse:

O dearest Jesus, what law have you broken

That such sharp sentence should on you be spoken?

Of what great crime have you to make confession –

What dark transgression? (CW 117:1)

“What law have you broken, Jesus?” You won’t get the answer to that question from the high priest or the Jewish ruling council. They couldn’t come up with any incriminating evidence. But that didn’t stop them. Without finding a single fault in him, they still pushed to have him executed. And the Jewish mob that called for his crucifixion? They came up empty as well when looking for any “dark transgression” to hang on Jesus’ head. But, when given a choice, they still called for the blood of him who was known for healing people while at the same time insisting that Barabbas, a murderer, be set free.

“What law have you broken, Jesus?” Interesting, isn’t it, that God reserved the answer to this question for the lips of a godless governor (Jn 19:6), “I find no basis for a charge against [this man]” was Pontius Pilate’s verdict. And yet, in hopes of satisfying the bloodthirsty crowd, he still added (Lk 23:22), “I will have him punished and then release him.” But why should even this “milder” sentence be spoken against our dearest Jesus?

“Of what great crime have you to make confession – what dark transgression?” God answers this question through the lips of a dying criminal who was also sentenced to death on a cross (Lk 23:41), “We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”

Only Pilate and this dying thief spoke a word in Jesus’ defense. The prophecy our Savior made on Palm Sunday was being fulfilled (Lk 19:40), “If [these disciples of mine] keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” If not his followers, then the most unlikely of men would proclaim his innocence.

The question of the hymn writer is meant to be rhetorical — no answer is expected. He simply wants to get us thinking. “Think about it, Christians! Death happens only to sinners. And you know that Jesus is like us in every way, except without sin!” The only crime Jesus was guilty of was loving us too much. He loved us too much to let us suffer for all eternity. So he made our sins – and the sins of the entire world – his own. And that’s why, by preaching Christ crucified, we proclaim that we are:

“Justified by Grace Alone Through Faith Alone”

It would be easy for us to cast the blame for our Lord’s death on those who reject him as the Savior. Earlier in Romans Paul describes what happens to those who have no room for God in their lives (Ro 1:28-32), “Since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.”

Written some 2000 years ago, still, what a fitting description of our world today – a world that repeatedly goes against conscience and suppresses the truth of God in order to indulge itself in the selfish and sinful ways of the flesh. Abortion, homosexuality, drunkenness, infidelity – even though people know these things are wrong by virtue of the natural knowledge God has placed in their hearts, still they reject his will and not only commit such sins themselves but “approve of those who practice them.” Certainly it was sins such as these that sent our Savior to the cross!

But before we don our pharisaical garments and proclaim (Lk 18:11), “God, I thank you that I am not like other men – [like those sinful people who reject you and do such terrible things],” let’s take a good look at ourselves. Are we any better, having heard the Word of God in addition to feeling the pokes and jabs of our conscience, and yet still refusing to take it to heart? Listen again to Paul, this time in Romans 2 (12,13), “All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.” In other words, our only hope is to be justified by grace alone through faith alone.

When it comes to keeping God’s law, do we sometimes resemble the wealthy young man who came to Jesus, convinced that he had done everything God expected of him? To be declared righteous by God’s legal system, then we need a perfect scorecard. Take this brief test and see if you’re eligible:

1) Have you ever bowed down to idols? What about all the material goods that you’ve spent your life hoarding up? Have they ever become more important than God?

2) Never cursed using God’s name? Do you use it regularly in prayer or in giving thanks?

3) A regular church-goer? Do you always take what you hear to heart or do you sometimes leave as empty as when you arrived?

4) Always honored the authorities? Maybe to their faces, but what about when their backs are turned?

5) No murders on your record? What about the anger you’ve kept in your heart or how easy it was to walk by on the other side of the road when someone needed your help?

6) Leading a pure and decent life in words and actions? So you’re filtering out some of those movies and TV shows that are anything but “pure and decent”? And everything you view on the Internet is God-pleasing?

7) No bank-robbers here this evening? Have you ever “stolen” time from your employer by stretching lunch hours or by using company time for personal errands?

Not one to tell lies about others? So you quickly silence those who do, right?

Need I go on? If we try to lay claim to heaven by God’s legal system, we don’t have a leg to stand on!

This is where Paul says that all of us, Jew or Gentile, see the same picture when we look into the mirror of morality (Ro 3:9), “What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin.” If none of us can be saved by the law, what purpose does is serve (Ro 3:20), “Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.”

Choose the path of the law to enter God’s kingdom, and you’ll be stopped by a roadblock piled high with our iniquities and transgressions. There has to be another way – and there is! When our path to eternal bliss is blocked by the law, God reroutes us on a path that leads to the hill of the Skull, pointing us to his beloved Son hanging there on the cross, and tells us . . .

“But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify” (v 21).

O happy day! There’s another kind of righteousness — other than the self-righteousness that lets us down – a righteousness that comes “from God,” wrapped in human flesh and hung in our place upon that awful cross of Calvary! Why continue to struggle to save ourselves when our only hope is outside ourselves? The man who falls into quicksand only hastens his own demise if he thinks he can wiggle his way out of it. His only hope of salvation is to find something to cling to. So it is with righteousness. Your own will sink you; only God’s will save you!

His is a righteousness “apart from law.” “Of what great crime have you to make confession?” In two words, my crime – our crimes! The righteousness needed to cover these crimes has nothing to do with our keeping the Ten Commandments. It’s “apart from law.” It comes only from the Lamb of God keeping his own demands in our place. By his death, he made our debt with God right.

This is righteousness we could never find on our own, so it had to be “made known” to us. If God had not told us who that man on the middle cross was, we wouldn’t have believed it. There’s no way we’d be in his house tonight except for the miracle of faith worked in our hearts. The messengers through whom God has revealed such knowledge to us are “the Law and the Prophets.” Way back in the Garden of Eden we hear God telling Satan that he would be the one to make things right when he said (Ge 3:15), “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head.” Throughout the Old Testament God’s spokesmen pointed to this righteousness that came from God (Ac 10:43), “All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” The righteousness that saves – God’s righteousness in Christ – was made known to us through his Word.

We’re all in need of this righteousness, because we’re all under the same sentence (vv 22,23), “There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” But before we have time to despair, Paul delivers the good news that, just as all have sinned, so also all “are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” (v 24). We’ve been declared “not guilty” by the undeserved love heaped upon us by our Lord, as evidenced in the fact that he gave up his Son to buy us back from the devil! “God presented him – in our place! — as a sacrifice of atonement — making us once again “at one” with him! –, through faith in his blood.” Summarizing it with the words Paul uses in 2 Corinthians (5:21), “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

Whence come these sorrows, whence this mortal anguish?

It is my sins for which you, Lord, must languish;

Yes, all the wrath, the woe that you inherit,

This I do merit.

What punishment so strange is suffered yonder!

The Shepherd dies for sheep that loved to wander;

The Master pays the debt his servants owe him,

Who would not know him. (CW 117:3,4)

“This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe” (v 22).

It’s that simple. We stand before God, justified by grace alone through faith alone. That’s the only reason we can finally sing:And when, dear Lord, before your throne in heaven

To me the crown of joy at last is given,

Where sweetest hymns your saints forever raise you,

I too shall praise you. (CW 117:7)

This is why we preach Christ crucified!

Amen

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The Word Is Near

23. February 2010 by admin.

Romans 10:8-13

⁸But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,”^[a] that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: ⁹That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. ¹¹As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.”^{[b] 12}For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, ¹³for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”^[c]

Summary:  Paul makes it clear that there is no such thing as a “silent Christian.” One reason we gather on the Lord’s Day is to acknowledge publicly that Jesus Christ is Lord, and that we are committed to being his disciples.

Dear fellow believers, trusting in the Mighty Fortress that is our God,

A few years ago I was diagnosed with high blood pressure. I knew it was inevitable. My doctor had been monitoring it for some time, saying that I was right on the edge when it came to needing medication. So when yet another reading came in a bit high, that was it. Now I’m resigned to the fact that I’ll probably be taking it for the rest of my life.

About a year or so ago, I let my prescription run out and wasn’t all that concerned about filling it right away. I had the bottle in my car as a reminder to renew it, but I just kept putting it off until finally I began to suffer from headaches and what seemed to be some slight tightness in my chest. When I did finally check my blood pressure, it was sky high! Needless to say, I filled my prescription ASAP and have not let it lag since.

The point of all this? The medication I need to keep my blood pressure in check is easily accessible, and for me to not use it would be nothing but foolishness. If making use of such medication for the body is a “no-brainer,” then how is it possible that so many neglect to use the medication that is so readily available for the soul?

This morning we’re given the reminder of how greatly we’ve been blessed to have the Scriptures so available for what ails us spiritually. Listen as the apostle Paul proclaims:

“The Word Is Near”

I. For you to believe and confess

II. For all to trust and be saved

Paul was trying to combat some of the teachings of some rather legalistic Jews, teachings that had to do with how we are saved. It seems as if there were still some content to mix in their own work-righteousness with God’s righteousness. In so doing, God’s righteousness through Christ was slowly being pushed out of the picture. Earlier in this chapter Paul writes (Ro 10:3), “Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.” They were making salvation more difficult than it really was. Certainly, our salvation isn’t cheap — it cost God his one and only Son. But from our point of view, nothing extraordinary has to be done on our part to obtain it.

In the verses before our text Paul tells us (Ro 8:6,7), “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ (that is, to bring Christ down) or ‘Who will descend into the deep?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).” We don’t have to go and “find Christ.” That’s because the Word is near (v 8), “‘The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,’ that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming.” Paul quotes from Deuteronomy, actually using a passage which Moses used to describe the law of God. Here Paul uses these words with a different twist, to emphasize the nearness of the gospel, what he refers to as “the word of faith.” The good news of salvation has been made known to us — it’s actually become a part of us. It’s in our mouths and in our hearts. As Paul says in another epistle (1 Co 3:16), “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?” By the power of that very same Spirit, God’s Word has become a part of us, and we have become a part of God’s kingdom.

There’s a danger which goes along with having something so important so close at hand — we’re tempted to take it for granted. The child who can’t wait to leave home soon realizes the blessings which he forfeits when it comes time to be on his own. Or we don’t think much about having a car to take us places until it ends up in the shop and we’re forced to go without it for a while. There’s the temptation to take God’s Word for granted because it’s so accessible. We can read our Bibles anytime we want, but do we? No one threatens to persecute us if we do, and yet in too many homes that precious Book remains on the shelf or packed away out of sight. The Word is near, but don’t let its nearness lessen its value. Treasure it by using it often!

What is the wonderful “word of faith” which Paul is proclaiming? “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved” (vv 9,10). The Word of God is near us, and we are to do two things with it: believe it and confess it. Notice how closely connected the two are. Faith in our hearts and the confession of that faith with our mouths go hand-in-hand. You really can’t have one without the other. When faith is worked in your heart, you’ll be led to confess that faith, and you can only confess that faith if it is truly in your heart. Confession without faith is empty and meaningless. On the other hand, Martin Luther writes, “Faith which leads to righteousness does not arrive at its goal of righteousness, that is, salvation, if it does not arrive at confession. For confession is the principal work of faith by which a man denies himself and confesses God.” Faith results in confession, and confession is a sign of faith. They cannot be separated.

So what does the nearness of the Word lead us to confess? That “Jesus is Lord.” This little phrase is believed to be one of the oldest confessions of faith in the early Christian church. When the Old Testament was translated in the Greek language, the word “Lord” was used over 6000 times to stand for God. We just sang in Luther’s Reformation hymn (CW 200:2), “You ask, ‘Who is this?’ Jesus Christ it is, The almighty Lord. And there’s no other God.” That’s the confession we make. And how do we do it? Paul reminds us (1 Co 12:3), “No one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit.” The blessing of having God’s Word so near to us has enabled the Holy Spirit to work in our hearts, leading us to make the saving confession that “Jesus is Lord.”

The Word is near — for us to believe and to confess. God’s taken care of the believing part through his Holy Spirit. But how are we doing on the confessing of that Word? We do it every Sunday when we recite together the Apostles’ and Nicene Creed. We’re expressing our fellowship, our unity as a church in which we all share the same confession. But we need to guard against making our confession a mere mechanical recitation of meaningless words. And, in addition to this warning, let us also remember that our confession wasn’t meant to be restricted to this building. Jesus himself tells us (Mt 10:32,33), “Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.” Silence is a form of disowning. Certainly, a Christian lifestyle can speak volumes to those around us, showing others what a difference it makes to be a child of God. But there comes a time for us to open our mouths, to speak the Word, to make a public confession. We can’t just be “wallflower Christians,” content to stay in the background and hide the light of the gospel under a bushel. Muffle the confession and soon you’ll do the same with your faith. Instead, exercise your faith by talking about it! Let others in on what should never be a secret: “Jesus is Lord!” We have all the material we need, because the Word is near for us to believe and to confess!

So who’s our target audience? You can shoot in any direction, because the Word is near and is meant for all to trust and be saved.

Once again Paul goes back to the Old Testament, this time borrowing a verse from Isaiah (v 11), “As the Scripture says, ‘Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.’” Notice how Paul never relies on human reason or on his own wisdom, or even on popular opinion when it comes to making his point. He does the same thing Jesus did in our Gospel lesson when confronting the devil with the words, “It is written” — he went to the Word! You never go wrong when you rely on the Word of God. When you trust in your Lord and in what he says in Scripture, you “will never be put to shame.”

That’s the Word which has been brought near us and which is intended to be brought near to all people (vv 12,13), “For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile — the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’” The Jews of Paul’s day liked to think that there was a distinction when it came to being saved. Paul wants to put an end to such thinking. It wasn’t that Jews could be saved by the law while Gentiles were saved through faith. There is no distinction. There’s only one Lord and one way of salvation. Paul’s words here let the air out of all those who try to claim that it doesn’t matter what religion you are — Buddhist, Moslem, Jewish, Christian, or whatever — “we all end up in the same place anyway.” That’s baloney! Jesus tells us otherwise (Jn 14:6), “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” There is only one Lord, one way of salvation. And that Lord is Lord of all.

This Lord “richly blesses all who call on him.” The Greek verb form is a present participle, meaning that God “keeps on blessing” those who call on him. And the greatest blessing? “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Those are the same words Peter quoted from the prophet Joel when addressing the crowd at Pentecost. On the one hand, he could tell those people assembled in Jerusalem that they were guilty of putting to death the very Son of God. And yet, on the other hand, he could offer them the word of salvation — all because of God’s love and forgiveness. That’s how we are saved. That’s the Word that has been brought near to us and to all people to trust and to be saved!

God has done his part. He’s brought the saving Word of his gospel near to us so that we can be saved. Now the ball’s been handed off to us. The verse immediately following our text asks some thought-provoking questions (Ro 8:14), “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?” The answer? They can’t. Not unless we take the message that’s in our hearts and let it flow forth from our mouths for others to hear. They can’t call on Jesus as their Lord unless we show them what he did for the world when he went to Calvary’s cross. They can’t call on the name of the Lord if they don’t see what that same Lord has done for us. They can’t call our Lord their Lord if we keep the Word away from them and sit on it and keep it only for ourselves.

So how do we get the Word in here (point to heart) to come out of here (point to mouth)? What should be so easy has become so difficult because we’re out of practice. We’ve somehow been convinced that we play such a small part in God’s plan that our inactivity won’t matter. How untrue! Satan uses this trick on far too many Christians, taking us out of the battle, one-by-one. And with each Christian he silences, his work becomes that much easier. Don’t roll over and let him win! Get back on the battle line! Get back to exercising your faith by verbalizing it! Practice may not always make perfect, but it will help you become more comfortable telling others about their Savior. And, in that way, the Lord will let you be a part of bringing his Word near to even more souls.

This past Wednesday we started up another Lenten season. During this time of the year, the Word of God is indeed near to us, perhaps nearer than in any other season of the church year. We add special midweek worship services to our schedule, services in which we walk side by side with our Savior through his sufferings and out to the hill of Golgotha. During the Epiphany season we saw who Jesus was. During Lent we focus on what he does for our salvation. The extra services give us additional opportunities to do just that. And over the next two months, you’ll have the opportunity to attend 16 different worship services here at Messiah – an average of about two each week!

Is it too much of a good thing? No way! You can eat too much candy and get a bellyache. You can have too much fun at a party and pay for it the next day. But you can’t overdo it with God’s Word. Make it your norm to be here every Sunday and also on Wednesday evenings for our midweek services. The Word is near! Don’t take it for granted. It’s a good thing! And I promise that you’ll never get too much of it!

Amen

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Midweek Lenten Service

18. February 2010 by admin.

1 Corinthians 1:18-25

Christ the Wisdom and Power of God

¹⁸For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. ¹⁹For it is written:
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”^[a] 20Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? ²¹For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. ²²Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, ²³but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, ²⁴but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. ²⁵For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.

Summary:  Even though the message of Christ crucified may appear to be foolishness to many, as Christians we rejoice in the power provided by the wonderful wisdom of a God who loved us enough to send us his Son for our salvation.

In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, whose passion set us free, dear fellow reconciled children of God,

“If God is almighty, can he create a stone that is too heavy for him to carry?” Perhaps you’ve heard this thought-provoking question before. I hope you didn’t waste too much time or too many brain cells trying to answer it. For us as Christians, there’s no need for us to get too upset by such seeming contradictions. We willingly recognize that there are a number of divine things that defy human logic, and that’s O.K. We expect matters of faith to often be strange to our way of thinking. Rather than try to explain them, we just accept them as fact. Why? Because God says so. That’s the same answer we use for other mind-boggling questions such as:

How can God be three and one at the same time? The doctrine of the Trinity is bad math to the world’s way of thinking.

How can Jesus be completely God and completely man at the same time?

How can Jesus be conceived and born into this world but still be considered eternal?

How can Jesus fill the entire universe and yet lie in a manger at the same time?

How can Jesus as true God never slumber or sleep and yet be found sleeping in the stern of a boat?

Or, as we begin our journey with the Lord to the cross, there’s still one more question:

How can God be eternal and yet at the same time die on the cross?

The human mind presents these questions and many others as apparent contradictions. But those trained in the school of the Holy Spirit don’t lose sleep trying to explain the impossible. We’re comfortable with the fact that we have a God whose ways are not our ways and whose thoughts are far superior to ours. We know that without our Spirit-given faith, our mind would be tied in knots and finally be forced to label such inconsistencies as nothing but foolishness.

And so we add to the discussion the cross of our Lord (vv 18,20), “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. . . . Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?” Here we have perhaps the greatest contradiction of all: Can the holy and righteous God lift a burden created by his own creation by becoming part of that creation and placing the world’s guilt and punishment on himself?

As we begin our 40-day Lenten journey, we focus in on the answer to this mystery. The solution is found in what we can call:

“The Foolish Wisdom of the Cross”

The foolishness of human wisdom was on full display by those surrounding our Savior during his passion. “Where is the wise man?” Paul asks (v 20). The savvy politician Pontius Pilate thought he was a wise man who made a wise choice in how he handled the Jewish rebel thrown on his porch. He wasn’t about to let what he saw as petty, moral bickering amongst the Jewish people ruin his political aspirations. So in spite of the fact that his own personal interrogation of Jesus found him free of any blame, the spineless Roman governor caved in and sold his soul for the sake of political convenience. Even the warnings of a nightmare-haunted wife went unheeded. To Pilate, the “wise” choice was to save his own neck and let the people do as they pleased with Jesus.

“Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world” (v 20)?

Scholars and philosophers both depend on the unreliable human intellect to answer questions, including those of a divine nature. If there is a god out there, the perceived picture of such a divine deity could not possibly be satisfied by this Jesus of Nazareth being dragged through the Jewish judicial system. Caiaphas, the high priest presiding over the travesty of a trial on that early Good Friday morning, couldn’t possibly imagine the silent Sufferer in his courtroom as his Messiah. He was more concerned with the survival of Israel as a nation, and the trouble this Jesus was stirring up put such survival at risk. So Caiaphas, scholar and philosopher that he was, convinced himself that he was doing God a favor by helping get Jesus out of the picture. So he uttered the prophetic words (Jn 11:50), “It is better . . . that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.” Ironic, isn’t it, that out of the foolishness of Caiaphas God brought forth such a “wise” statement?

More foolishness, this time from a king who wanted more proof before he would buy into Jesus. “Jews demand miraculous signs” Paul states (v 22), and Herod was proof of that. He’d been waiting to see Jesus for some time, so when the opportunity presented itself and Pilate sent Jesus his way, Herod was hoping to be entertained with a miracle. But Jesus did no miracles – he didn’t even utter a word while in Herold’s presence. His demand for a miraculous sign went unfulfilled.

Sometimes Gentiles are just as guilty of being foolish “sign-seekers.” I don’t think I’m alone in sometimes seeing myself amongst those at the foot of the cross, yearning for more proof and joining in the cry (Mk 15:32), “Come down from the cross, that we may see and believe.” But to the shame of such foolish thinking, Jesus did not come down. Up until then, these people hadn’t been convinced by any of his other miracles: the miraculous feedings, the exorcisms of demons, the healing of lifelong illnesses, or the raising of Lazarus from the dead. On top of that, our salvation depended on his refusal to satisfy their request for a miracle. So be happy that he stayed on that cross to complete the payment for our sins!

Christ proved that “the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength” (v 25). In our Creator we find the ultimate mystery. Consider how God described himself to Moses on Mount Sinai (Ex 34:6,7), “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.” There you have it. God is completely merciful. In his great compassion he chooses to forgive everything that would damn the world to hell.

But there’s more! God continues describing himself to Moses as a God who “does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation” (Ex 34:7). Our God is not only compassionate; he’s equally just. Therefore, he has no choice but to punish sins – your sins and mine.

Here is the stumbling block for so many who rely on human wisdom instead of on God’s “foolishness”: How can God be perfectly merciful, forgiving every sin, and at the same time be perfectly just, punishing every sin? Humanly speaking, God is an oxymoron – he’s two irreconcilable things at the same time – a contradiction too big for the human mind to accept.

These two contradictory thoughts can only be reconciled by the cross. That’s why “we preach Christ crucified” (v 23), because God laid all of the punishment for our sins on his holy, innocent Son on that cross. “We preach Christ crucified” because on that cross we see the perfect mercy and love of God coming to us as poor sinners. And it’s in that foolish wisdom of the cross that we find confidence to proclaim with Paul (Ro 8:31,32), “If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him us for us all – how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?”

No doubt the cross will continue to be seen as foolishness by the unconverted until they realize the seriousness of their sins. That’s why it makes no sense to drench people with the gospel until you’ve first scorched them with the law. Once they’ve recognized the futility of their own efforts to satisfy the demands of their Creator, then they’ll be open to hearing of another solution. Then their conclusions about the cross will be changed. What they perceived as foolishness will then, by the power of the Holy Spirit, be seen as wisdom!

“If God is almighty, can he create a stone that is too heavy for him to carry?” Such a question is child’s play when compared to the even greater mystery of how a just God who requires payment for sin can also be a merciful God who provides payment for sin in the form of his very own Son. But that mystery is solved when we look to the cross, and on the foolish wisdom of that cross we can stake our eternal happiness. That’s why we preach Christ crucified!

Amen

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Have You Seen the Light?

14. February 2010 by admin.

2 Corinthians 4:3-6

³And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. ⁴The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. ⁵For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. ⁶For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”^[a]made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

Summary:  In this Epistle Paul says that, while unbelievers can’t make sense of the Gospel, we who believe are privileged to see the glory of God in the face of Jesus. How happy for us that God’s greatest glory is to be seen in him who is our Savior!

In Christ Jesus, the One we preach as Lord and Savior, dear Christian friends,

Have you seen the light? Earlier we heard about Moses and how he saw the light on his many trips up Mt. Sinai to receive God’s law. Then we read about Peter, James, and John seeing the light on the Mount of Transfiguration when they caught a glimpse of Jesus’ glory as he was changed right before their eyes. But what about you? Have you seen the light? That sounds like a question you might hear from one of those TV evangelists. I’m not always sure what they mean with such a question, but I do know what the apostle Paul meant when he talked about “the light” in the words before us this morning. The light, according to Paul, is the life-saving truth found in the gospel of Jesus Christ. And if you haven’t seen it yet, you’ll be exposed to it this morning as the question is asked of each one of us:

“Have You Seen the Light?”

I. We’re blinded by Satan

II. We’re enlightened by the Savior

We know that Paul had literally seen the light while making a business trip to Damascus. You may remember that Paul’s “business” at the time was persecuting Christians. The especially sad thing about it was that at the time Paul actually thought he was doing God’s will by rounding up Christians and threatening them with death if they didn’t renounce their faith in Jesus Christ. Paul thought he had already seen the light and was doing a God-pleasing thing. So he knew what it meant to be on the other side. He knew how it felt to be in the dark, to have the gospel “veiled to those who are perishing” (v 3).

Having been shown the light through Jesus’ miraculous appearance on the way to Damascus, Paul was able to switch sides and begin working on lifting the veil that hid the gospel from others. Having seen the light, now he wanted to expose the one responsible for hiding it (v 4), “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” The reason a blind man can’t see the sun is not because the sun isn’t shining; it’s because the man is blind. In the same way when people don’t believe the gospel message about Jesus, it isn’t because the message is somehow defective or lacks power. It’s because Satan, “the god of this age,” has blinded their hearts.

The devil is a master of deception. He pulled the wool over the eyes of Adam and Eve, and ever since it’s been his goal to continue to blind more and more people today. In Old Testament times Satan convinced the Israelites to worship the false gods of the heathen nations around them. In the New Testament we read about Paul’s trip to Athens and how he ran into people who looked to human philosophies and intellect to unlock life’s mysteries. And “the god of this age” is still active today. There are some one billion Hindus still worshiping idols in India and the Far East. There are more than one billion Buddhists in the world who bow before their false gods. And as if the loss of life and the physical destruction that took place in Haiti weren’t bad enough, although Roman Catholicism is the official religion of Haiti, the fact remains that voodoo can be considered the country’s national religion. If so, “the god of this age” was able to welcome many more lost souls into his kingdom after last’s month earthquake.

And don’t think that the devil has given up on you yet either! He wants to blind each of us once again and hide the light of the gospel from us. He does that in various ways. At times he simply tries to distract us, convincing us that our jobs, our hobbies, our busy schedules are all more important than time for God and his Word. He misdirects our trust, luring us into believing that money and all that it can buy is all we need for happiness and security in this world. He corrupts our hearts and makes us greedy, unwilling to part with our dollars when it comes to doing the Lord’s work because we have so many other “important” things that we have to finance with our hard-earned dollars. Don’t think so? Then check your offerings and see if you’re spending more money each month on cable TV or on your cellphone plan than on helping finance the spread of the gospel light to the world. And if chasing wealth isn’t a problem for some, then it might be alcohol or drugs that Satan uses to induce spiritual blindness, leading people to trust in these temporary earthly escapes rather than in the light of the Lord. Or step on a college campus where absolute truths are questioned and dismissed time after time as the devil leads people to look to themselves for answers and to extinguish the light of God’s Word. As John writes in his Gospel (Jn 1:5), “The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it” – all because so many have been blinded by “the god of this age.”

And yet Jesus comes to us with this good news (Jn 8:12), “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” Just like a nightlight shines through and shatters the darkness of night, so also the Savior has enlightened those once in the darkness of unbelief!

Just as one who is physically blind cannot do anything himself to lift that blindness, so also we couldn’t lift the blindness of sin that encompassed us. But God could. First Paul explains his – and our – role in all of this (v 5), “We do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.” Along with Paul we admit that there is nothing in ourselves that can produce the life-saving light we need for salvation. So along with Paul we don’t point people to ourselves. No, we preach Jesus Christ as Lord! We’re just his servants, his spokesmen, the tools he uses to enlighten others with his gospel message.

We rightly turn people’s attention to their Creator for the light that they need (v 6), “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” Paul takes us all the way back to the creation of the world with this passage. He reminds us that it was the almighty God who was responsible for creating light when there was nothing but a dark world. Light would never have come into existence if it wasn’t for his command (Ge 1:3), “Let there be light.” In the same way, had God not created faith in our hearts, we too would still be in spiritual darkness. We wouldn’t see the seriousness of our sins, nor would we see the need for a Savior.

So why did God choose to shine the light of faith in our hearts? All because he loved us! It wasn’t anything that he saw in us that caused such a reaction. It’s humbling – but true! – to think that you and I are even lowlier than a piece of produce in the supermarket. What do I mean? When you go shopping for vegetables, you look over the choices you have before you, seeking the best tomatoes, onions, and carrots that you can find in the bin. When God looked into the bin of humanity, he saw nothing but rotten and spoiled vegetables, fit only for a compost pile. But he loved us anyway! And he purchased us — with the blood of his Son (Ro 5:8), “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Unworthy as we are, he still gave us “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” He “made his light shine in our hearts” by showing us the Savior!

But this good news comes with a warning: we can become blind again. That’s what Satan wants, and he’s determined to make it happen. It really doesn’t take that much to blind us again. Think of how you can block out the sun’s light with something as small as a penny if you hold it just right. And so when people fall from faith, it’s often a process that started with something small. Perhaps it was missing a Sunday or two because of work or weariness that slowly became the norm instead of an exception. Or maybe Satan just made you so “needed” at work that time for church or personal Bible study was slowly squeezed out of your schedule. Or maybe he started to dim the Lord’s light by piling on the problems and making you miserable, leading you to doubt God’s love and the answers found in his Word. If any of these are a temptation for you, rejoice and thank God that you’re here this morning, resisting the lies of the devil and letting God shine his light in your heart through his Word!

Things have changed for you and me. Once blinded, now we can see! We’ve been enlightened by the Savior. Now let’s work with the Holy Spirit to keep the light on. In Ephesians Paul tells us (Eph 5:8), “You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light.” What does it mean to live as children of light? First of all, live in the light by exposing yourself to the light as often as you can. This Wednesday evening we begin another season of Lent that will draw you to “the glory of God in the face of Christ,” enlightening you once again to all that our Savior endured for our salvation. If you want a year-round tan, you understand the importance of keeping your appointments for regular tanning sessions at your local tanning beds. If you want to be “tanned” with the light of Christ, don’t miss your appointments with him on Sunday mornings or Wednesday evenings. Make sure you’re getting plenty of “Son-light” – light that comes only from the Jesus, the Son of God!

And then don’t hoard the light and keep it to yourself. Jesus tells us (Mt 5:16), “Let your light shine before men” so that they’ll “praise your Father in heaven.” There’s no reason to let anyone continue to stumble around in darkness, not when there’s plenty of light to go around for everyone. There’s no reason to let “the god of this age” work unopposed in this world. Give him some competition! Unveil the gospel of Jesus Christ so that others can also see the light!

Have you seen the light? If so, then continue to live in that light and let it shine for all to see! And keep praising God! Because of his amazing grace, each of us can rejoice and sing (CW 379:1), “I once was lost but now am found, Was blind but now I see.”

Amen

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Go Fish!

7. February 2010 by admin.

Luke 5:1-11

Luke 5

The Calling of the First Disciples

¹One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret,^[a]with the people crowding around him and listening to the word of God, ²he saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. ³He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat. ⁴When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down^[b] the nets for a catch.”

⁵Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”

⁶When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. ⁷So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.

⁸When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” ⁹For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, ¹⁰and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.

Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men.” ¹¹So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.

 

Summary:  This is the familiar story of Jesus calling fishermen to be fishers of men, after he had supplied them with a great catch of fish.  We weren’t called in the same dramatic way, but we too are to be instrumental in our Lord’s outreach to those around us.

In Christ Jesus, dear fellow followers and fellow fishers,

 

I haven’t done much fishing for many years.  Maybe it’s because we used to spend so much time fishing when I was a kid.  If we weren’t fishing for perch in the Tawas Bay off the Tawas City dock, we’d be down at the little Tawas River throwing our lines in and waiting for a little rock bass or sunfish to grab the bait.  Plenty of memories were made during our little fishing expeditions.  There was the time we were convinced we saw a sea monster (turned out to be a muskrat).  On another occasion one of the Rockhoff boys lost control of his bike and rode it right into the river.  And then there was the time when Roger lost his balance and fell into the water (even though to this day he claims that he had a little help from his big brother pushing him!).  Believe it or not, there were also times when we actually caught some fish!

 

Any successful fisherman will tell you that to catch fish, there are a few things to keep in mind.  First of all, you need to be properly equipped.  Fishing poles, lures, nets, maybe a boat – the better equipped you are, the better your chances of catching fish.  Secondly, you have to be patient and trust that the fish will come.  You can’t just pull up and move to a new spot every 10 minutes just because you haven’t had a nibble yet.  A good fisherman trusts that the results will come.  Finally, you have to use the proper bait.  You have to know when to use nightcrawlers, minnows, lures, and the like to reel in the kind of fish you’re after.  Use the wrong bait, and your patience will be put to the test when you come up empty.

 

If you want to know more about fishing, you’ll have to ask my brother – he’s more of an expert at it than I’ll ever be.  But for today all we’ll need to know are the basics about fishing to understand the message our Lord wants to get across to us.  We’ll learn that it’s not fish we’re after, but people!

 

Today Jesus tells each one of us:

 

“Go Fish!”

 

                                                     I. Equip yourselves with the Word

                                                    II. Put out into the water with trust

                                                   III. Bait the hook with your heart

 

     In last week’s Gospel lesson we heard how Jesus was rejected by the people in his own hometown of Nazareth.  However, in other areas of Galilee he continued to be quite popular, as we discover in the words before us this morning (v 1), “Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the people crowding around him and listening to the word of God.”  What a great joy it must have been for our Savior to see so many people eager to hear God’s Word, the same joy pastors feel when they see a full church on Sunday morning!  And yet such a pressing crowd of people posed a problem.  With so many people wanting to get close to Jesus, it was becoming more and more difficult for everyone to hear.  Our Lord had a solution (vv 2,3), “He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets.  He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore.  Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.”  A small boat became Jesus’ pulpit for the day, allowing him to continue equipping the people with God’s Word.  The boat he used belonged to Simon Peter who, along with James and John, still used fishing to provide for their families.  Even though they had earlier come to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior, as of yet they had still not been called to be full-time followers.  So we find them readying their nets for another night of fishing when Jesus approaches and asks to use Peter’s boat.  We’re not told of any hesitation on the part of Peter.  He seems ready and willing to serve his Savior by helping him find a way to deliver his message to the crowd.

 

As fishermen the disciples knew the importance of being properly equipped.  That’s why Jesus found them working on their nets for their next venture out on the lake.  To go “fishing” for our Lord, as Christians we also need to be properly equipped.  Jesus does just that by equipping us with his Word.  It’s my opinion that one of the main reasons why we don’t cast our lines out into the water and share our faith with others is because we don’t feel we’re equipped to do so.  We don’t think we know enough about the Bible.  We’re afraid we might not know what to say.  We picture ourselves being caught off-guard and put on the spot.  We feel that we’re not equipped to “go fish” for our Lord.

 

Jesus “taught the people.”  He wanted them to know the way of salvation so that they would be equipped to tell others.  It’s no different today.  He still teaches us, equipping us with his Word.  But that means we have to put ourselves in a position to hear that Word.  If you want to be a better fisherman, you’ll read up on the topic and take time to watch some of those exciting fishing shows on TV.  To fish for our Lord means that you’ll read up on his Word and make time to hear that Word in church and Bible Class.  Paul tells us (Col 3:16), “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.”  Jesus himself proclaims (Lk 11:28), “Blessed . . . are those who hear the word of God.”  We’re blessed when we ourselves hear the Word because our own faith is strengthened, and consequently we become better equipped to tell others what we’ve learned.

 

Let’s make sure we’re properly equipped to “go fish” for our Lord.  Then we can put out into the water with trust, knowing that our Savior guarantees results.

 

Peter sets a wonderful example for us when it comes to taking the Savior at his word.  Listen as Jesus offers some advice that must have seemed a bit out of place (vv 4,5), “When [Jesus] had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ‘Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.’  Simon answered, ‘Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything.  But because you say so, I will let down the nets.’” Any good fishermen knew that the best fishing took place at night in shallow water when the fish came in to feed.  In addition, the fish weren’t biting.  The all-night session they had just finished hadn’t produced a thing.  It would have made perfect sense for Peter to say, “Jesus, thanks for the advice, but we’re the experts here.  You do the preaching, but leave the fishing to us.”  But even though it went against what his years of experience told him, Peter trusted his Savior, “Because you say so, I will let down the nets.”  “Jesus, it doesn’t make sense, but I’ll trust you.”

 

Good decision, Peter!  “When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break.  So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink” (vv 6,7).  I remember a couple of times fishing from the dock in Tawas Bay when the perch were running and we literally were pulling them in, one after the other, so fast that we didn’t even have to bother baiting our hooks.  Still, those runs couldn’t possibly compare to the run the disciples ran into that day.  It was a fisherman’s dream – or maybe a nightmare!  So many fish that their nets began to tear apart!  When the relief boat was called in to help, it too began to sink from the weight of the catch!  Peter’s trust in his Lord was rewarded with results beyond his wildest imagination!

 

One of the reasons why I’m not such an avid fisherman is because I’m not all that patient.  If I don’t see results rather quickly, I feel as if I’m wasting my time.  If someone could guarantee that I’d catch some fish, then I’d be inclined to hit the lake more often.  When it comes to “people-fishing,” we have such a guarantee.  In Isaiah (55:11) God promises us, “My word . . . will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”  When you “go fish” for the Lord, you never return with an empty stringer!  Maybe you won’t catch all the “fish” you’re trying to catch, but you’re still going to catch some.  How can you be so sure?  Learn from Peter: “Because you say so, Lord, I’ll keep working on that friend of mine who’s so nice but still hasn’t taken that step to come to church with me.”  “Because you say so, Lord, I won’t give up on my kids but will keep encouraging them to remember what’s most important in life – their relationship with their Lord.”  “Because you say so, Lord, I’ll continue to put you and your kingdom first when it comes to my offerings, trusting that you’ll provide all that I need here on this earth.”  “Because you say so, Lord, I’ll continue to put out into the water of this world, trusting that you’ll bless me with a catch!”

 

The hook we use to reel in others has to be the gospel.  It’s the only thing that can truly get people “into the boat” and into God’s kingdom.  But how we bait the hook is important.  Jesus tells each of us, “When you go fishing for souls, be sure and bait the hook with your heart!”

 

Seeing our Lord’s power at work can be very humbling.  It had an effect on Peter (vv 8-10), “When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, ‘Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!’  For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.”  Peter’s reaction reminds us of Isaiah in our first reading this morning, when in the presence of  the Lord he cried out (Isa 6:5), “Woe to me! . . . I am ruined!  For I am a man of unclean lips.”  Peter knew that what he had witnessed was a miracle only God could perform.  He realized his sinfulness and expressed how unworthy he felt to be in the presence of such a perfect and powerful Savior.

 

Jesus knew that such humility is necessary when it comes to the type of fishing he had in mind.  He has a new occupation planned for Peter (v 10), “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men.”  Humbly recognizing his own sinfulness and his need for a Savior, Peter was now ready to head out for bigger fish.  Along with the others, he would now turn in his nets of rope for the net of the gospel!  He would go fishing for men!

 

There was no reason for the disciples to be afraid, because they had seen Jesus’ power at work.  And they wouldn’t be fishing alone.  Jesus would be with them, and his promise was true: “. . . you will catch men.”  That was good enough for them (v 11), “So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.”  They saw Jesus in action, and they heard him promise an even better catch than the two boats full of fish.  Now they would catch men!  And they wouldn’t be disappointed.  Flash forward to Pentecost when 3000 people were baptized and reeled in with the gospel.  They had the right bait – humble hearts that trusted in Jesus, humble hearts that sought out lost souls!

 

The same bait works today.  Finally, you’ll never be a successful fisher unless your heart is in it.  Like Peter, we have all the motivation we need.  Paul reminds us (2 Co 5:15), “He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.”  When you bait the hook with your heart, when you’re motivated to reach out to others simply out of love, then you’ll be successful.  You can’t be “guilted” into sharing your faith.  You can’t do it just because the pastor said you should.  Sharing Jesus with others has to come from the heart.  If you truly care for someone, you’ll want them to be with you in heaven someday.  Motivated by your Savior’s love, be sure to bait the hook with your heart when fishing for souls!

 

Sometimes when we went fishing as kids, we had the right equipment, we trusted that the fish would bite, and we had the right bait on our hooks, but we still didn’t catch any fish.  We were often so easily distracted by watching leaves float down the river, by trying to snag crawfish, or by skipping stones on the water.  Finally Dad or Mom or another adult would have to give us the reminder, “You can’t catch anything unless your line’s in the water.”

 

You’re equipped with the Word.  You know that there are souls to be reeled in.  You have your heart to use as bait.  Jesus says, “Go fish!”  All that’s left is to make sure your line’s in the water!

 

                                                                                                                                    Amen

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Don’t Lose the Wonder of Christ’s Love

2. February 2010 by admin.

1 John 3:1-2

¹How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. ²Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears,^[a]we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

Summary:  God lavishes his love on us and calls us his children.  May we never lose the wonder of Christ’s love!

Dear Christian friends — loved so much by your God that he calls you his children,

Do you have many memories from when you were an eight-year old? Probably not too many. It would take something quite extraordinary for you to store it up in your mind into adulthood. I have one such memory. In 1969 I was eight years old when my parents took my brothers and me to our first professional baseball game in Detroit. The previous year the Detroit Tigers had won the World Series – an event that would capture the attention of any young sports fan. Now I was being taken to Tiger Stadium to see the play in person. And when I walked in, I saw grass that was greener than any flourescent marker could color. The echo of the stadium left me speechless, as if I dare not try to compete with the booming voice welcoming me and everyone else to the ballpark. And then I saw them – players I had only known from Saturday afternoon TV broadcasts: Willie Horton, Stormin’ Norman Cash, Dick McAuliffe, Jim Northrup, and (my favorite to this day) Al Kaline. I imagine these names may not be all that familiar to you, but they were my heroes! Being there, watching them playing on that pristine field of green in that cathedral of a stadium – the wonder of that day took my breath away and made a memory that remains so very vivid even some 40 years later.

I’ve got some news for you this morning that also has the potential to take your breath away. You’ve heard it before but, chances are, your sinful nature has removed a bit of the luster from it. So today we’ll let the apostle John tell us about it once more, with this encouragement:

“Don’t Lose the Wonder of Christ’s Love!”

The children in our child care center often sing a song entitled, “I Am Special.” It’s important to reinforce this concept for them, because they may not always feel so special. The same ailment may afflict us as adults. We may not feel so special when others get all the attention, when people forget our names, when we feel as if our lives have little if any significance and we’re just going through the motions day after day. Add to it that the world may not see us as very special. But rather than just ignore us, we’re often attacked because of what we stand for and believe. And we find that uncomfortable, because we often gauge our identity on what others think of us – our accomplishments, our looks, our possessions.

All too often we allow how the world looks at us to influence how we see ourselves. And that’s a shame, because the world really doesn’t know us all that well. Why not? John tells us in our text (v 1), “The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him” – the world does not know God! So don’t let the world define your identity! Instead, let God. And here’s how he sees you (v 1), “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called the children of God! And that is what we are!” There’s a special connection we have with our Lord, a special relationship of endearment we can depend on. He knows my name and your name. He accepts each of us as family, despite what we may think of ourselves.

All this took place when we were baptized into his name – in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Now we bear his name and are connected to his identity. We’re his children! And if that’s what he calls us, then that’s what we are! That’s our identity!

Because of his omniscience God knows all about us. But to heighten our identity as his children it’s important for us to learn as much as we can about him. God stepped into our world and visually introduced himself in the person of his Son who became human like us and for us (Jn 1:14,18), “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. . . . No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.” Jesus Christ revealed the Father to us. From our Savior we’ve learned what he and his grace are all about.

We would have no relationship with our Creator if it wasn’t for his Son. There would be no “lavished love” without Christ. Instead of the wonder of God’s love we would only feel the heat of his anger. Instead of being children of God we would be left as his enemies.

If you think you’re identity as a child of God isn’t all that vital, if you think you can survive outside of God’s family and can stand before him on your own, remember his standard of perfection. Remember how far short we all fall. Remember what we are by nature and what we have become by our attitudes and actions. Otherwise we won’t be able to grasp the wonder of his love. Earlier in his epistle John warns us (1 Jn 1:8,10), “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us . . . . If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.” Overlooking who we really are is the core of our problems in all of our relationships – with God, with family, with our fellow members, with the world around us. We’re afraid to come clean, to admit our faults and failures. But it’s vital that we recognize what we are by nature so we can see what we are by God’s grace. Perhaps we need to take to heart what Jesus told the church at Ephesus (Rev 2:4,5), “Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first.”

That includes remaining close to God. Can you remember the childlike love you had for your father, how you looked up to him and trusted him to take care of things for you? If you didn’t have such a father, perhaps you’ve seen that love and trust in the face of a child you know. What makes that relationship so special?

It’s love! God’s love for us is so great because he prefers to be intimately called our Father instead of being seen as some cold, distant force. Christ’s love for us is so great because he prefers to be called our brother instead of being seen as a condemning Judge. Here’s how Paul describes that love (Ro 5:6,8), “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. . . . God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” John tells us that God “lavishes” his love on us. He did so in preparing a perfect world for us. He did so even more in developing an intricate rescue plan even though we, his creation, turned our backs on him and became helplessly separated from him. And now, because of Christ’s self-sacrificing love, he’s brought us back into his family. We can call him “Father,” and he calls us his children!

We’ve already mentioned that the world may not recognize our identity as God’s children, “The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.” But the wonder of our identity won’t be fully seen in this world, even by us (v 2), “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known.” Sometimes we may not feel all that special. We see our failures and inadequacies and wonder how there can be anything special about us. It’s then that we have to remember, “. . .what we will be has not yet been made known.” Let Paul explain in Corinthians (1 Co 13:12), “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” As God lavishes us with his love here on this earth, we still know that the best is yet to come (v 2), “But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” The fullness of our identity as God’s children won’t be fully known until we see our Savior appear in power and glory to take us home to heaven! Then we shall be “like him,” easily identifiable with glorified bodies, free from sin and its consequences, ready to live in the company of our God for all eternity!

Don’t ever lose the wonder of God’s love! We’ve been given a new identity, created to be like God. Until we’re called home, let’s reveal to the world what our Father is like.

Children mimic their parents in many ways. How a son walks or talks can reveal to people who his father is. In the same way, Jesus tells each of us (Mt 5:16), “Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” In other words, let them see the Father in you! Paul tells us that to do so we “should no longer live for [ourselves] but for him who died for [us] and was raised again” (2 Co 5:15). Let them see your new identity as a new creation of God. Mimic your Father so that others can’t help but take notice. Let them see what a difference the wonder of God’s love has made in your life!

Three things to take home with you today:

First, don’t lose the wonder of Christ’s love and your identity as a child of God, but build on it. Your adoption is complete. It was paid for by the blood of Christ. The Father put his signature on the contract at your baptism. Ever since then, the Holy Spirit has enabled you to grow and appreciate your identity all the more. Don’t ever take it for granted!

Secondly, make sure that wonder doesn’t wear off by spending as much time with your heavenly Father as possible. Make the effort to get to know him and the love he lavishes on you by spending time in his Word and in his house. Meditate on his wonderful promises in private and family devotions, and receive the sacrament of his Holy Supper regularly to fuel your sanctified life. Learn as much as you can about his love so that . . .

Finally, you can be like him and please him by the way you live. Remember how happy it made you when you made your father happy? It works the same way with your heavenly Father. Having accomplished our salvation by lavishing his love on us in Christ, now we have the rest of our lives to say thank you with lives that will make him smile and lead others to see him the same way we do – as a loving Lord and Father.

On that summer night back in 1969 the Detroit Tigers ended up losing to the California Angels, 3-1. But it didn’t matter. The outcome did nothing to diminish the wonder of that day still etched in my memory.

The wonder of Christ’s love is so much greater, because the outcome of his arrival did not end in defeat. He was victorious and, because of him, so are we! That’s the wonder of it all, a wonder that’s just too precious to lose!

Amen

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