The Church Grows by God’s Grace.

15. May 2012 by admin.

Dan Herold

May 13, 2012

Acts 11:19-26

Now those who had been scattered by the persecution in connection with Stephen^(U) traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch,^(V)telling the message only to Jews. ²⁰ Some of them, however, men from Cyprus^(W) and Cyrene,^(X) went to Antioch^(Y) and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news^(Z) about the Lord Jesus. ²¹ The Lord’s hand was with them,^(AA) and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.^(AB)

²² News of this reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas^(AC) to Antioch. ²³ When he arrived and saw the evidence of the grace of God,^(AD) he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts.^(AE) 24 He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit^(AF) and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.^(AG)

²⁵ Then Barnabas went to Tarsus^(AH) to look for Saul, ²⁶ and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples^(AI) were called Christians first^(AJ) at Antioch.

In our text today we hear about a city called Antioch. There are a couple of Antiochs mentioned in the New Testament, but the one mentioned here in Acts 11 was located in Syria. It was founded by one of Alexander the Great’s generals. When the book of Acts was written, Antioch was the second most important city in the Roman Empire. It was intended to be the eastern capital of the Roman Empire as the empire continued to expand and a second center of government was needed.

 

            Roman emperors often visited Antioch. It was richly adorned as a prized city in the empire. Its main streets were paved with granite, it featured large temples to the Roman gods, and the rest of the city was purpose built to show off the grandeur of the Roman Empire. However, if you search for Antioch in a history text book, you’ll learn that Antioch is remembered as a center of Christianity, not a monument to Rome. Why is that? How did it happen? Paul and Barnabas did a lot of work there as did Peter, but they would be the first to tell you it wasn’t because of them that the church at Antioch grew. They would tell you, as our text tells us, that the church grows by God’s grace. And in his grace he provides opportunities for growth and he provides workers for his church.

 

            By his almighty power, God guides events to give his church opportunities to grow. He even has the power to use things we would never think of to cause it to grow. One of those type of situations is mentioned in verse 19. We are told that, “…those who had been scattered by the persecution in connection with the stoning of Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch.”

 

            Earlier in the book of Acts, we are told about this man named Stephen. He was a leader in the church who preached about Jesus. Some of the Jews opposed him and brought false charges against him. Stephen was then brought before the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling council, and was accused of blasphemy. Stephen gave a speech condemning those who had rejected Jesus as the Messiah. As you might imagine that didn’t go over so well, and in their rage the members of the Sanhedrin seized Stephen, dragged him outside the city, and stoned him.

 

            Now try to imagine being a Christian in those days. It seems like everyone hates you, most of them would like to kill you, and now one of the best leaders you have was just executed for talking about the same faith that you have. It would be difficult to see how any good would come out of such a situation. But, by the grace of God, this event led to the growth of the church!

 

            The persecution that followed Stephen’s death caused Christians to leave Jerusalem and spread out into the world. First, they went to neighboring countries. They went to Phoenicia to the north of Israel (modern day Lebanon), Antioch in Syria (just to the northeast of Israel), and Cyprus (an island off the coast of Syria). There they found fellow Jews to talk to about Jesus.

           

            God provided these Christians who fled Jerusalem with an audience, and they naturally began to talk to them about their faith in Christ. Some of the others, perhaps, had been blessed with more courage and broke out of their cultural bubble and began to talk to Greeks. In other words, they began to talk to people they had nothing in common with other than their need for a Savior, and God worked through the Word as they shared the message of salvation. So, God provided an opportunity for growth through an event from which many of these Christians probably thought no good would ever come.

 

            God had provided a way for believers to spread the gospel. As they did so, we are told, “The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.” It wasn’t fancy words or any other gimmick that these believers used. They simply shared their faith and God worked through his all-powerful Word. As the church grew, the believers in Antioch were given a new name. “They were called Christians first, at Antioch.” The source of all the growth in the church at Antioch was so obvious, even to the unbelievers, that they were now called, “Those who belong to Christ,” or, “Christians.”

 

            In last week’s sermon, we heard about how absolutely necessary it is for us to stay connected to God, that he is the vine and we are the branches, and apart from him we can’t do anything on our own. This morning we heard that same point repeated in the Gospel lesson. The way we stay connected to God is by being in his Word; by being here in his house, by being in Bible Class, by taking part in the Lord’s Supper. God puts opportunities to stay connected and grow right in front of us! Then he blesses us and uses the Word to make his church grow!

           

            Here at Messiah we have experienced some incredible growth. Look at the building we have and the souls we are able to reach through our child care center. We are approaching an all-time high in membership! None of that has happened because of any ground breaking marketing campaigns or anything else we have done. It happened because God made it happen. It happens through faithful use of his Word and sacraments. Over the years our plans and goals as a congregation may change from what they were originally, but we can’t deny that God is blessing us richly…often in ways which we never would have imagined possible.

 

            While it’s true that this congregation has been incredibly blessed with stability and the faithful service of one pastor for 25 years, Messiah’s growth can’t be attributed to his work either. Just like our text points out in verse 21 it’s the Lord’s hand that causes growth. If Pastor Rockhoff were to take a call or retire, this congregation wouldn’t shrivel up and die…God would still provide for its growth by his grace through his almighty Word!

 

            God provided those persecuted Christians with opportunities for growth just like he provides us with opportunities to be in his Word and grow. In his grace, God also provided workers for the church at Antioch and he still provides workers for his church today.

 

            We hear about one of those workers at Antioch in verse 22. We are told that news of this (the growth of the church at Antioch) reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch.

 

 

            Barnabas isn’t what we would consider one of the main characters of the New Testament, but from the little bit we are told about him we can learn a lot. First, we can start with his name. Literally it means, “son of encouragement.” Barnabas had a unique gift for ministry-he encouraged others. He accompanied Paul on his first missionary journey and encouraged Paul in his work just like he encouraged the Christians in Antioch. He wasn’t just what we would think of as a motivational speaker, but we are told, “He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit, and faith.” He used the Word faithfully and encouraged others to do the same.

 

            We also hear about another worker whom, in his grace, God provided for his church. In verse 25 we are told, “Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he found him he brought him to Antioch.” This must have been an interesting situation for the Christians who fled from Jerusalem because of persecution! Who was the one leading the persecution that caused them to flee? Who was it who stood by and watched in approval as Stephen was stoned? None other than Saul, the same man who Barnabas was bringing to Antioch! This is one of those times where we just need to stop and marvel at the infinite wisdom and grace of God.

 

            It’s only by God’s grace that a man, who purposely killed those who believe in Jesus as their Savior, would be forgiven and given such an important role in the growth of the Christian church. A number of years before he came to Antioch, Saul was traveling to Damascus and on his way something miraculous happened. He suddenly saw a bright light which blinded him, and he spoke with God. After that, Saul was brought to a Christian in Damascus where he learned about his Savior. Saul was chosen by God as the man who would bring the message of salvation to the Gentiles, and he was given a new name, one with which we are more familiar, Paul.  Then, after his conversion, Paul spent 15 years in training before he began his ministry.

 

            That seems pretty spectacular, doesn’t it? A former persecutor became one of the most prolific missionaries ever! There’s no way God could ever match that, is there? I don’t know of any other cases like Paul’s conversion, but God still miraculously provides workers for his church. It is only by his grace that we have been blessed with the faithful pastors who serve our congregations. It may not seem spectacular, but the way God takes sinful men and works in them through his Word and uses them for the good of his church is certainly a miracle.

 

            As a church body we have been graciously blessed with a training system for pastors which is second to none. Our pastors are well prepared for all the challenges they face in ministry  by their solid Bible-based training. God has provided faithful men to preach his Word and God uses that preaching for the good of his church.

 

            If you ever have the opportunity to visit the seminary campus in Mequon, Wisconsin, take some time to wander the halls and see the graduation pictures of every class that has gone through Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary. Take that opportunity, not so that you can be impressed with the men themselves, but to rejoice and thank God for the workers he has provided. Thank God for his grace, that even in the darkest days he still provides for his church. Even when his church faces foes on all sides, he still provides workers who are trained in the truth to preach the gospel. But even if you never get that chance, remember pastors and those studying to be pastors in your prayers. Thank God for the workers he provides and pray that he continue to bless them throughout their training.

 

            At the same time, remember that they aren’t the only ones whom God uses. Some are called to be pastors, but they aren’t the only ones who can share their faith. God has given his Word to all of us. He promises that his Word never returns to him empty, so don’t be afraid to use it! It’s not you or your personality that is going to win someone over…it’s the Holy Spirit who works through the Word! And when God causes his church to grow, the cause is obvious. It was obvious in Antioch so much that the believers were given a new name there. “They were called Christians.”

 

            It has been said that God works in mysterious ways. Those first century Christians who were being persecuted after the execution of Stephen probably didn’t quite see how God would use that event for their good. However, God used that event to send believers out and spread the gospel. God used that event, which seemed awful, to cause his church to grow.

 

            Likewise, God can use the times in our lives which seem awful to us for good. Maybe a job change brought you into a new church family where you have grown in your faith and encouraged others in their faith. Maybe the death of a loved one has brought you closer to God and your fellow Christians. In every circumstance God’s Word is powerful and effective. God works through his Word and blesses us, as members of his church, through the Word. He can use any and every situation as he provides opportunities for growth and workers for his church. He provided for the growth of the church at Antioch, and provided workers. He has provided for growth here at Messiah, and has provided workers as well. He has provided for growth in his church throughout the world, and will continue to provide workers for his church.

 

            On our own we can do nothing, but by our connection to Christ through faith we are able to carry out the work God has given us. And as we carry out that work we can rest assured that the church grows by the grace of God.

 

Amen.

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Stay Connected To The Vine!

7. May 2012 by admin.

Pastor Jonathan Rockhoff

May 6, 2012

John 15:1-8

“I am^(A) the true vine,^(B) and my Father is the gardener. ² He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit,^(C) while every branch that does bear fruit^(D) he prunes^[a] so that it will be even more fruitful. ³ You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.^(E)4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you.^(F) No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

⁵ “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit;^(G) apart from me you can do nothing.⁶ If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.^(H) 7 If you remain in me^(I) and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.^(J) 8 This is to my Father’s glory,^(K) that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.^(L)

In the name of Jesus, the Vine, dear fellow branches of our Lord, and especially you, our graduates/confirmands,

I have one tree in my entire yard, a single 15-foot silver maple in my front yard.  Last summer I came home and noticed its main trunk had been split, and only half of it remained upright.  Perhaps it was hit by lightning, or maybe it was just the windstorm that caused the damage.  My son and I twisted off the damaged half, and I hoped that somehow the tree would continue to survive despite having its trunk weakened.

About a week ago after mowing the backyard, I came around to the front and noticed that the other half of the tree’s trunk had succumbed to the wind.  A few twists of the remaining trunk soon severed it from the rest of what remained of the tree, and the branches were cut off and placed in the trash dumpster to be hauled away.

That’s what you do with branches that break off from a tree – you get rid of them because they’re no good anymore.  They’re lifeless.  They’ve been severed from their life supply.  They no longer beautify the tree.  They no longer serve a purpose.

This morning from John’s Gospel we’re compared to branches connected to a vine.  Jesus is that vine, the vine that gives us life and makes it possible for us to bear fruit.  However, if we become disconnected from him, then we’re no better off than dead twigs lying at the base of a tree.  Without our connection to Christ, we’re useless.  Without our connection to the Vine, we have no life in us.

This morning let’s listen to our Lord as we’re encouraged to:

“Stay Connected to the Vine!”

                                                                     I. Planted in Christ

                                                                    II. Pruned by the Father

                                                                   III. Producing much fruit

It was Maundy Thursday, the night before Jesus would be crucified, when he spoke the words of our text to his disciples.  He would soon be leaving them.  And yet he wanted them to “remain” in him – to stay connected to him – because they would be the ones left with the responsibility of carrying on his mission and spreading his message to the ends of the earth.

We can picture our Lord making his way from the upper room to the Mount of Olives, a journey that most likely took him past a number of grapevines, providing Jesus with a visual illustration to use in teaching his disciples and us today about the importance of staying connected to him.  So he begins (v 1), “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.”  Sometimes in the Old Testament a vine is used as a picture of Israel, God’s chosen people.  Here Jesus calls himself the vine, “the true vine.”  In him is found real life and genuine strength.  Unlike Israel, Jesus is faithful to his promises and supplies lasting hope for his people.  He is the vine, and God the Father is “the gardener,” the one who works the soil.  He takes care of what’s in his vineyard.  He’s the one who planted you and me, making us branches of his Son, the true vine.

Let’s be sure and give God all the credit for planting us in Christ.  All that we are as God’s children is because we’ve been connected to him.  Our Savior is like the grapevine in Hampton Court near London.  It’s believed to be about 1000 years old and has one root which is at least two feet thick.  Some of its branches are 200 feet long, and even though they are so far from the main stem, still they bear the same sweet and delicious fruit.  Life flows from that single root throughout the vine, bringing nourishment and strength to each of its branches.

Jesus promises us the same spiritual nourishment and strength, but we have to stay connected to the vine.  He tells us(v 4), “Remain in me, and I will remain in you.  No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine.  Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.”  We can become disconnected.  Here Jesus is actually saying “alwaysremain in me.”  That means staying close to him by staying close to his Word.  For you as our confirmands, today is your confirmation, but it’s not your graduation from God’s Word.  You’ve spent the last three years studying that Word, but today does not signal the end of your studies.  Each day God wants us to be in his Word so that we continue to grow.  Each day he wants us to be connected to him.  The formal instruction of confirmation class may be over, but just like all Christians, there’s so much more for you to learn.  Faithful church attendance, Teen Class and youth group, personal study on your own – these are all ways for you to make sure that you remain firmly connected to the vine, Jesus Christ.  After all, today you’ll be taking vows that say you’ll do just that.  By doing so you’ll continue to grow in your faith and in your love for the Lord.

If a gardener goes to the trouble of planting something, he’ll also want to take care of it.  That may involve some clipping and trimming.  God the Father, our “spiritual” gardener, does just that for us.  After planting us in Christ, he now “prunes” us so that we stay connected to the Vine, our source of strength.

God is a gardener who looks for results (v 2), “He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.”  If we’re truly connected to our Savior, God expects a response of faith and gratitude from us.  This is the “fruit” we bear – everything we do as believers in faith and love for him.

In order for such fruit to grow, some pruning has to be done.  Sometimes it can be a bit painful as God allows a sickness, a broken relationship, or some other hardship to come into our lives.  But God often uses such maladies to prune away from our lives the useless shoots such as conceit, greed, jealousy, lust, or self-pride.  The writer to the Hebrews has this commentary (Heb 12:7,11), “Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. . . . No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful.  Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”  By pruning away the bad branches, God is simply making more room for the much more beneficial fruit of the Spirit:  “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Gal 5:22,23).  These are the kinds of fruit we’re capable of producing once we’ve been properly pruned.  More on that fruit later.

We’re all ready to bear fruit right now, because we were first pruned long ago.  Jesus tells his disciples (v 3), “You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.”  He says the same to each of us.  All of us have been cleansed in the blood of our Savior, and now Paul tells us (Ro 5:1), “Since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”  And how did we find out about that cleansing peace?  Paul again tells us (Ro 10:17), “Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.” “You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.”  In his Word we’ve been pointed to our Savior’s cross.  In his Word we’ve learned of his forgiveness.  We’ve been cleansed!  Now, to keep us clean, the Father continues to prune away any branches that could harm our faith and our connection to our Savior.

Those who have what is called a “green thumb” understand the need for pruning.  If you have a green thumb, you understand that household plants need attention to stay healthy.  They need the occasional pruning to clear away dead leaves and lifeless branches.  It works the same way with us.  As we struggle through this sinful world, be thankful for the pruning that takes place.  It’s God’s way of keeping you spiritually healthy, of keeping you close to him and his Word.  In the Lutheran Confessions we’re told:  “By means of the daily exercise of reading and practicing God’s Word, he would preserve us in faith and his heavenly gifts, strengthen us from day to day, and keep us to the end.”  At times life as a Christian may prove difficult and prove to be a challenge.  But don’t lose your connection to the Vine, but realize that God’s pruning is only strengthening your connection to your Savior!

The whole purpose of the Father’s pruning is for us to be productive branches, able to produce fruit.

The only way to produce fruit is to stay connected to the vine.  Jesus says so (v 5), “I am the vine; you are the branches.  If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”  Just as a vine must supply vital sap to its branches, so Christ must supply life to his people.  Apart from him?  We’re “nothing.”  We’re left dead in sin and unable to produce any kind of God-pleasing fruit.

We can try, but on our own we die.  No fruit means no faith, and no faith means no life.  Here’s the warning our Lord gives us (v 6), “If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.”  God never ignores or excuses fruitlessness.  He won’t just look the other way.  All fruitless branches are cut off and cast aside.  They’re disconnected from the vine.  They become nothing but kindling – dead branches meant for the fire.  If there’s no fruit, then there’s no faith, and finally no salvation.  All that’s left is fire.

But if we stay connected . . . (v 7), “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.”  Our connection to Christ causes his will to become our will, leading us to seek the things that are important in life.  We’ll learn to pray for things that are spiritually beneficial to us.  We’ll develop godly priorities.  And we’ll learn that our prayers will be answered by a God who knows what’s best for us.  Then our connection will be strengthened all the more, and we’ll bear even more godly fruit.

Then, as fruitful vines, we’ll lead others to the gardener (v 8), “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”  Our “produce” is always meant to give God glory.  Remember Jesus’ words (Mt 5:16), “Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”  You and I serve as proof of what God can do with sinful, dead branches.  In Christ he gives us life, prunes us, and makes us productive once more – all to his glory!

That’s our purpose in life, and it’s important to remember that as you live in a world that often leaves you with the feeling that you have no purpose.  So many fall into the trap of thinking that their life has no meaning, that no one cares about them, that they have no influence on this world.  But Jesus tells us differently.  He says that we’re planted here on this earth to “bear much fruit.”  As Paul tells us in Ephesians (2:10), “We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

You are all God’s workmanship.  Most of you were connected to him way back when you were infants through the washing of Holy Baptism.  Over the years he’s strengthened that connection so that you’ve grown in faith through the study of his Word.  Now this morning you’ll be making a promise to your Savior that you’ll stay connected to him the rest of your life.  No matter what you may become in life, no matter what occupation you may pursue, you’ll be considered a success as long as you stay connected to the Vine.  Apart from him, you’ll be nothing.  With him you’ll remain productive branches bearing fruit for your Lord.

So whenever you’re outside and you see some dead branches that have broken off from a tree, let those branches remind you of what you would be without your Savior.  Better yet, as spring rolls in and brings with it new buds and sprouts to the bushes and trees around us, let those signs of life remind you of what you are as long as you stay connected to your Savior.  You’re alive, because you’re connected to a living, life-giving Savior!  Remain in him, and he’ll always remain in you!

                                                                                                                                                            Amen

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We’re Safe In The Arms of Jesus

30. April 2012 by admin.

Pastor Jonathan Rockhoff

April 29, 2012

John 10:11-18

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. ¹² The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. ¹³ The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

   ¹⁴ “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— ¹⁵ just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. ¹⁶ I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. ¹⁷ The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. ¹⁸ No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”

In the name of our Good Shepherd Jesus, dear fellow members of his flock,

The church in which I grew up back in Tawas City, Michigan featured beautiful stained-glass windows on each side of the sanctuary.  There was Peter being saved from drowning by our Lord.  Another pictured Jesus about to make himself known to Mary Magdalene after his resurrection.  But my favorite of all was one that looked very similar to the clipart picture inside your bulletin this morning – a picture of Jesus as the Good Shepherd.

Many Christians have found great comfort and security in this biblical picture of our Savior.  While it reminds us of how frail and weak we are as lost and wandering sheep, it also reminds us that we have nothing to fear.  That’s because with him as our Good Shepherd:

                                                               ”We’re Safe in the Arms of Jesus”

                       I. Love compelled him to ultimate sacrifice

                          II. Power compelled him to total victory

Jesus spoke the words of our text about six months before he would suffer and die.  Doesn=t sound much like a man lamenting his last few months on earth, does it?  There=s a sense of certainty in Jesus= words.  With him, the outcome was never in doubt.  Jesus wanted his followers to have that same kind of confidence, so he paints for them the beautiful picture of a shepherd caring for his sheep.

The people to whom Jesus spoke were familiar with the work of a shepherd and with the importance of that ancient profession.  They knew what sheep were like.  Today we need a little help.  Being a city boy, my knowledge of sheep and their habits has to come from books.  But here=s what I found.  In short, sheep don=t know anything and they=re susceptible to everything.  They have the reputation of being docile, harmless, and rather stupid animals.  In storms they have been known to pile up in the corner of their pasture, sometimes smothering each other to death.  Although they are susceptible to many diseases, especially those that come from cold, damp weather, still during a storm they resist efforts to be rounded up into a barn.  If a sheep stumbles and falls into a ravine and rolls over on its back, the poor animal is often helpless and can=t roll over and stand up again.  And, of course, a sheep doesn=t have fangs or claws or the ferocity to defend itself from a hungry predator.  In short, sheep are helpless without a shepherd.

Shear off the wool and underneath you=ll find sinners like you and me.  We=re the hapless sheep that like to wander, that get ourselves rolled over onto our backs and can=t right ourselves again.  We=re the ones who, by nature, don=t know anything and yet are susceptible to everything — to every temptation the devil may hurl our way.  Yes, Awe all like sheep have gone astray@ (Isa 53:6).  In short we, too, are helpless without a shepherd.

That=s why the words before us this morning mean so much to us.  Listen to the words of Jesus (v 11), AI am the good shepherd.  The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.@   Jesus calls himself Athe good shepherd.@  He is, literally, Athe shepherd, the good one.@  He=s in a class all by himself.  No other shepherd even comes close.  Our translation of Agood@ is a bit bland.  It could also mean Aexcellent@ or Aideal.@  He=s the only one who could live up to his Father=s expectations and receive these words of praise (Mt 17:5), AThis is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.@

What makes Jesus such an ideal shepherd is his selfless, sacrificial love for his sheep.  AThe good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.@  Such a shepherd not only cares for his sheep, providing them with pasture and water, going after the lost, even standing between the flock and potential danger, he=s also willing to make the supreme sacrifice — that of laying down his life for the sheep.  It=s love that compels the Good Shepherd to this ultimate sacrifice.

Contrast this with the attitude of the Anot-so-good@ shepherd (vv 12,13), AThe hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep.  So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away.  Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it.  The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.@  The hired hand isn=t motivated out of love or compassion or devotion to the sheep.  He=s only in it to make a buck!  We can just hear him, complaining about the lousy hours, poor pay, and smelly working conditions.  With this kind of attitude, it=s understandable to picture the hired hand running for the hills at the first sign of danger.

Think of the Pharisees of Jesus= day and their indifferent, selfish attitude toward God=s people.  They were only in it for personal gain, to look good and to elevate themselves to a position of honor.  The Ahired hands@ of today would be those who show little concern for the welfare of others, who have no love for souls, but labor only for a paycheck, being consumed by their own greed.  With no one caring for them, the sheep are attacked and scattered.  Behind all attacks is none other than the devil, the Aroaring lion@ who is constantly seeking someone to devour (1 Pe 5:8).

How important it is for us to have Jesus as our Good Shepherd!  He promises to be with us always, to never leave us or forsake us.  He loves us too much.  It was that love that led him to make the ultimate sacrifice.  Shepherds were expected to protect the sheep, but giving up one=s life for his sheep was considered beyond the call of duty.  Not so with Jesus!  He made the ultimate sacrifice.  AThe good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.@  We=re safe in the arms of Jesus!

Being willing to give his life for us was, indeed, the ultimate sacrifice.  But what good would it be for a shepherd to fight with a predator and lose?  If the shepherd is dead, the sheep are left behind as sitting ducks.  That=s why it=s equally important for us to realize that our Good Shepherd also comes equipped with power that compels him to total victory.

AI am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me — just as the Father knows me and I know the Father — and I lay down my life for the sheep@ (vv 14,15).  Jesus= power is evident in his knowledge of his flock.  Earlier in this chapter our Savior talks about the close relationship that develops between a faithful shepherd and his flock (Jn 10:3,4), AThe sheep listen to his voice.  He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.  When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.@  The sheep learn to know their master by his voice, and because of the way he always cares for them, they trust him.  They follow him wherever he leads.  And the shepherd gets to know his sheep.  He calls them Aby name.@ He keeps track of which ones are feeble and which ones need special attention, which ones are sick and which ones are apt to wander.  Shepherd and sheep come to know each other so well because they end up spending so much time together.

Jesus says, AI know my sheep and my sheep know me.@  He=s talking about those who follow him, those who Aknow@ him by faith.  Our Lord knows us inside and out.  He knows us each by name.  He knows our needs, our wants, our weaknesses, our pain.  As we come to know him more and more, we learn that we can trust him.  We realize that we have the same bond that he has with his Father.  That=s how close he is with us.  He=s brought us back into his Father=s fold.  Ironically, to do so, the Good Shepherd himself had to become a lamb — the sacrificial ALamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world@ (Jn 1:29)!

Jesus died so the sheep could live — all the sheep (v 16), AI have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen.  I must bring them also.  They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.@  Jesus intended for his flock to be an international one — one filled not only with Jews, but also with Gentiles.  That=s good news for us!  As Isaiah prophesied (Isa 60:3), ANations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.@  All this would be possible only because Jesus had power that compelled him to total victory.

AThe reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life B only to take it up again.  No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.  I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again.  This command I received from my Father@ (vv 17,18).  Jesus was loved by his Father because he willingly consented to be a part of his plan for saving mankind from sin.  Jesus willingly gave up everything, even his life, for his sheep.  He did so voluntarily.  No one took his life from him. His death was truly a self-sacrifice.  He had the authority to give up his life, but he also had the authority to take that life up again.  According to plan, he would go through death, suffering even the agonies of hell, to make a full payment for our sins.  But another part of that plan would be for him to overcome death and rise again.  You see, Jesus= death was the necessary sacrifice for our sins.  His resurrection was proof that the sacrifice worked.

Interesting, isn=t it, that while death overcomes us, Jesus gave himself up to death.  Once we die, our powers cease.  But when Christ died, he still had power to rise again.  It=s that power that compelled him to total victory.  It=s that power that makes us able to believe him when he tells us (Jn 14:19), ABecause I live, you also will live.@  That=s why we trust him when he promises (Jn 14:3), AI will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.@  And that=s why, no matter what comes our way in the meantime, we won=t flinch but will always know that we=re safe in the arms of our Savior, Athe good shepherd@ – compelled by love to ultimate sacrifice, compelled by power to total victory.

After a bad dream or a skinned knee, it often takes the loving arms of a mother to quiet a troubled child.  She provides the comfort and reassurance that everything=s OK.  Wrapped up in the arms of our Lord, we also get the feeling that everything is going to be OK.  No doubt, David sums up that feeling better than I can.  When in the arms of the Good Shepherd (Ps 23:6), ASurely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.@

Amen

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True Believers Walk With God

23. April 2012 by admin.

Dan Herold

April 22, 2012

1 John 1:1-2:2

The Word of Life

 ¹ That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. ² The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. ³ We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. ⁴ We write this to make our^[a] joy complete.

Walking in the Light

 ⁵ This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. ⁶ If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. ⁷ But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all^[b] sin.

 ⁸ If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰ If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.

1 John 2

 ¹ My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. ² He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for^[c] the sins of the whole world.

Some of you may know the name Stan Lee. He is the creator and founder of Marvel comics. He created characters such as the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, Spider Man, the Avengers, and many other well known comic book super heroes. He also has a unique way of greeting his readers whenever he writes a letter to his fans, a foreword to a collection of comics, and even sometimes in interviews. He usually addresses his fans as “true believers.” For these “true believers” each month brings the next installment of the story. They eagerly wait to see what is next in the lives of these characters that they have grown to love. Many of them attend comic book conventions dressed as their favorite hero. When you see one of them there is no doubt that they are “true believers” as Stan Lee calls them.

 

            The text before us this morning comes from John’s first epistle, and it also is about true believers. Most Bible scholars are in agreement that this letter was written as a response to a group of false teachers. These false teachers were claiming that they were the only true believers. So, John wrote a response to their claims and tells us exactly what a true believer is and how we can tell who they are. He tells us that true believers walk with God; both in doctrine and in practice.

 

            The false teaching that John is responding to is what has come to be known as Gnosticism. Gnosticism was incredibly widespread in the days of the apostles and many variations of it are still present today. One of the main teachings of Gnosticism is that only those who possess a special knowledge, beyond faith in Christ, will be saved. What it boils down to is that Gnosticism requires more than what God tells us is necessary for salvation. John, however, brings us back to the core gospel message of Scripture, and then addresses three of the most prevalent errors in Gnosticism.

 

            First of all, John establishes himself as an eyewitness to the resurrection, and, therefore, as a credible authority on the matter at hand. John says,  “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We write this to make our joy complete.”

 

              John emphasizes that Jesus, who he calls “the life,” has appeared and John has seen him. This is the central message of Christianity, that Christ died and rose again and that by his death and resurrection we are assured of our own forgiveness and eternal life. John is also pointing out that he isn’t making any of this up, he is only telling them what he has witnessed first hand.

 

 

 

 

            One of the easiest ways, however, to fall into false doctrine is to say too much about things we aren’t told very much about. It doesn’t make sense to our sinful minds that God would save us entirely by his grace. So, the Gnostics rationalized that in order to be saved we have to understand how it works. That idea, however, isn’t found anywhere in Scripture. Nowhere does God say that we need to have any special knowledge or understanding to qualify for heaven, just believe. Having faith does not mean that we understand how every thing works. That is why in the following verses John repeats the message of salvation through Christ, and deals with the errors this false teaching has brought about.

 

            John begins by telling us who God is in verse 5, “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.” Light is often used as a symbol of holiness. God is holy, in him there is nothing that isn’t holy. So then, “If we claim to have fellowship with him,” we are saying that we also are holy. And we can say that because we are holy- we have been washed in the blood of Christ which purifies us from all unrighteousness. However, if we continue to walk in darkness, or in other words we continue to sin deliberately, then we are lying about our fellowship with God. Light and dark are opposites. You can’t be both at the same time, it’s either one or the other.

 

            Here, John is addressing the false teachers. The teachers of Gnosticism taught that it was by virtue of this special knowledge that they would be saved and that nothing else mattered. They taught that even though they continued to live sinful lives, they would be saved because of the special knowledge they possessed. However, John clearly states that if we say that sin does not break our fellowship with God, “we lie and do not live by the truth.” Clearly we see in Scripture that God hates sin.

 

            Now, take a minute to just think about our world today. I think you will see that this battle didn’t end with John’s letter…it is still going on today. You don’t have to look too far to find someone who will try to convince you that sin doesn’t offend God. It could be your friend who bends the figures on his taxes for his favor, it could be your neighbors who are living together but have no intentions of getting married, or it might even be a person who claims to be a Christian but is defending and promoting homosexuality. No matter how you spin it, mixing light and dark just doesn’t work!

 

            Our sinful nature’s greatest desire is to ignore what sin is. We want to brush it off as a minor offense that God won’t hold against us. But God is serious about sin. He destroyed the world with a flood because of sin. Sin results in death. Sin separates us from God. Sin damns. That is why we need to take sin seriously.

           

            But John’s message isn’t all doom and gloom. He says in verse 7, “If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another.”

 

            What does it mean to walk in the light? It doesn’t mean that we are so perfect that we can overcome sin on our own. Listen to how verse 7 ends, “…and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.“ Walking in the light isn’t something we can do on our own. It is only because of Christ that we are able to, because Christ walked perfectly in the light for us. Jesus lived a perfect sinless life and gave that life as a ransom for you and me.

 

            That is the message of Scripture. It is the message of sin and grace, of light and dark. We were born in the darkness of sin, but by God’s grace we walk in the light. So now since we are true believers and walk with God in doctrine it becomes visible to all because we also walk with God in practice. Just as you can tell who those “true believers” are at a comic book convention, you can tell who Christians are because their actions reflect their faith. You see them living their faith.

 

            The next two errors which John addresses made themselves very evident in the lives of those who followed false doctrine. The next error was that Gnostics said that once a person obtains that higher knowledge they no longer sin. John quickly counters that statement though in verse 8. “ If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.”

 

            To that point, there isn’t much more to say is there? The idea that we no longer sin is so foolish that all we can say is that if you think you don’t sin you deceive yourself and the truth is not in you. In His Word, God makes it abundantly clear that we are still sinful creatures. Because, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” In Psalm 19 David even asks, “Who can discern his errors?” Our sins are so numerous we don’t even know all of them! But John goes on to say, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

 

            There is no special knowledge required. Simply trust in God’s promises. Through faith in Christ all our sins are forgiven, even the ones we don’t remember. The error of Gnosticism wasn’t that they couldn’t list each and every one of their sins. Their error was that some of them said that they no longer were sinful. And unless they ceased to be human, they were lying.We are told in Ephesians that by nature we are objects of wrath and dead in our sins. Everything on this earth has been corrupted by sin and it will only be made perfect in heaven. And it is only through Christ that we will be made perfect in heaven. 

 

            The final error which John addresses here is that some said that sin never existed. John responds to that claim in verse 10, “If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.” Again, very straight forward. If you outrightly deny Scripture you have called God a liar and his Word has no place in your life. If you have become so bold as to tell the Creator of the universe what sin is or is not, then you have rejected God and taken his place for yourself. And Proverbs 29:1 tells us the punishment for that. “A man who remains stiff-necked after many rebukes will suddenly be destroyed.”

 

            All of these errors which John addresses are characterized by a lack of love. Saying that sin doesn’t offend God shows a lack of love for God. Saying that you no longer sin will breed an attitude of moral indifference which is a lack of love for one’s self. Lastly, saying that sin never existed will lead you to not love or care for others. If everyone is on their own and there is no right or wrong, why would you concern yourself with anyone else? The common thread throughout all false teaching is that it lacks love.

 

 

 

 

 

            So then, if false teaching is characterized by lovelessness, how do true believers walk with God in practice? By showing love! By showing the love which naturally flows from being forgiven. We show that love by admitting that we are sinful and by loving God’s Word. We show our Christian love in the way we conduct our own lives. We don’t go along with all the ways of the world because we love ourselves because we are not our own; we were bought at a price and we are God’s own property. We show our love by confronting sin in the world and not ignoring it. We love others and care for their souls so we tell them about their Savior and why they need him. We use Law and Gospel because without the Law showing our need for a Savior there is no use for the Gospel which shows us that Savior.

 

            Our sinful minds have twisted the truth so perversely, though, that it is no longer socially acceptable to tell someone they are sinning. But isn’t that the height of Christian love and concern for our fellow man? The most unloving thing we could do is to ignore someone’s sin! Tell them about it! Tell them they are sinning and their soul is in danger! Tell them you are concerned for them! Every false teaching can be recognized by its lack of love. True Christianity though is recognized by its love. In the 5 short chapters of 1 John he uses the word “love” over 50 times!

 

            Love is the marker of true belief, but on our own we can never love as we should. John, though, tells us about how we can love in the final verses of our text.

 

            John writes, “But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.  He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. “ We can love because we have Christ’s love in us. Christ intercedes for us every time we sin, and every time we sin and come to God for forgiveness we are forgiven. That forgiveness, the grace and mercy of God, is what enables us to love. But we also need to hear the Law. We need to hear that we are sinful in order to know why we need a Savior.

 

            The only place where we can find out about the forgiveness we have through our Savior, though, is in the Bible. That is why our lives need to be firmly built on biblical doctrine. When we have a solid doctrinal foundation it is evident as we put our faith into practice.

 

            You can tell who true believers are. It’s true that only God can see our hearts so some may be hypocrites, but true belief is visible. Just like Stan Lee’s “true believers” can be picked out of a crowd by how the act and talk, Christians can also be recognized by their actions. True Christian believers walk with God. They walk with him in doctrine by trusting his word and believing in it. They also walk with him in practice because our faith becomes visible through our actions. So as true believers who have been made righteous by Christ and empowered by the Holy Spirit to go forward and walk with God both in doctrine and in practice.

 

Amen.

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Peace Be With You!

17. April 2012 by admin.

Pastor Jonathan Rockhoff

April 15, 2012

John 20:19-23

 ¹⁹ On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” ²⁰ After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. ²¹ Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” ²² And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³ If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

In Christ Jesus, our risen and living Lord, dear fellow recipients of his resurrection joy,

“Conditions Prime for Twisters Today.”  That was the headline in yesterday’s Wichita Eagle newspaper.  Did it make you a bit uneasy when you read it or heard similar weather reports for the day?  Did it put you on edge, rattle your routine, or mess with your sense of calm?  That’s what happens when something robs you of your peace.  We’re left with a fear of what’s coming, and an uncertainty of what to do next.

That’s what the disciples were feeling that first Easter evening.  It was just three short days ago that they were enjoying a nice Passover meal with their Savior.  But that very night he was seized, then put on trial, sentenced to death, and finally crucified on a cross.  Their world had been shaken, and for them there was no peace.

But Jesus would change all that.  All it took was one visit in which our Lord spoke these comforting words:

“Peace Be with You!”

                                                    I. Peace that is ours in the risen Christ

                                                         II. Peace that is ours to share

We shouldn’t be too harsh on the disciples for the way they reacted to the events of the last few days.  Not only had they seen their Lord and Master put to death, but now their heads were being filled with all kinds of reports that his tomb was empty and that he had been seen alive.  The Jewish leaders were already starting to spin the story that they had stolen his body to fake his resurrection, so who of us could blame them for hiding out “with the doors locked for fear of the Jews” (v 19)?

With minds still racing and hearts still pounding, these disciples were in for another surprise (vv 19,20), “Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you!’  After he said this, he showed them his hands and side.  The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.”  And with good reason!  This was their Savior, appearing to them and bringing both peace and proof.  He came with peace to calm their troubled hearts, and he came with proof that the rumors were true.  He gave them a glimpse at his nail-scarred hands and his sword-pierced side.  It wasn’t just wishful thinking by the women.  It was true!  Jesus was alive, and he was standing right in front of them!

“Peace be with you!”  It was a common greeting for that day, but that evening those words meant so much more – and not just for those disciples.  The peace that Jesus brought to the world through his death and resurrection silences all our fears and doubts.  It was a peace that was so dearly needed because of the turmoil that mankind had brought into the Lord’s creation.  When Adam and Eve gobbled down the devil’s temptation by eating the forbidden fruit, sin disrupted the peace that had encompassed their world.  It took a promise by God himself to restore that peace, a plan that would eliminate our sins and provide righteousness in their place.  That promise and plan reached its fulfillment on Calvary’s cross, and it was confirmed a success by a risen Savior on Easter morning.

And now that peace is ours in the risen Christ!  God the Father raised his Son from the dead because he had successfully completed his mission.  Now when the Father looks at us, he can declare us justified – “not guilty” because of Christ.  The apostle Paul tells us what that means in Romans 5 (1), “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

What does that peace mean?  It means that there’s no more worrying about how we’re going to make things right with God, because Jesus already has.  Our salvation is complete – it’s all finished, “paid in full” on the cross.  A resurrected Savior gives us the peace of knowing that death isn’t going to be our swan song.  It’s not the end, but just the beginning of life the way God intended it to be – a life of perfect happiness, void of sin and its effects.  Now and forever in heaven we can live in the peace that is ours in the risen Christ.

Jesus proved that the peace he brought was genuine by displaying the scars on his hands and side.  We can call them “victory” scars, since they proved to the disciples that the man standing before them was, indeed, their living Lord and Savior, the one who had won the victory over death and the devil.  Thomas needed to see those scars to believe, and Jesus blessed him with the opportunity to see for himself.

You and I are blessed with another form of our Savior’s presence every time we receive his body and blood in his holy supper.  By the “real presence” of our Lord in this sacrament, we are given the peace that comes from knowing our sins have been forgiven.  We, too, are assured of sharing in our Savior’s victory.

But our Lord’s peace isn’t limited.  It’s not something to be hoarded or tucked away for safekeeping.  Jesus told us in John 3:16 that “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son.”  If God’s love encompasses the entire world, then it makes sense to share his peace with the entire world.

“The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.”  You and I are overjoyed to have the peace that is ours in a risen Savior.  But there’s a world full of people that are still unaware of the peace that has been won between God and his creation by the risen Savior.

During the War of 1812, the British lost 2600 men in just 25 minutes trying to gain control of the city of New Orleans.  The saddest part of all this?  None of those fighting in this battle knew that a peace treaty had already been signed.  So many perished simply because they didn’t know that there was peace.

Too many are perishing today without knowing the peace won by Jesus Christ.  Jesus gave his disciples, along with you and me today, a way to remedy that situation (vv 21,22), “’As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.’  And with that he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’”  Just as God the Father had sent his Son into this world on a mission, Jesus now gives us our marching orders.  He’s sending us out with power – the power of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus promised this same Holy Spirit to his disciples when he told them (Jn 14:26), “The Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”

This is comforting for us as we now go out into the world to share the peace we have in Christ.  We never have to rely on ourselves or be afraid of our own shortcomings, because we know that we have a greater power working in us.  We know that the Holy Spirit is there to help us with the words and with the confidence we need to make a difference.  He’s there to help us share that message of peace.

Jesus reminds us of the source of our power, and he also reminds us of the source of our peace.  The peace that we share comes through the forgiveness of sins, and the Lord calls upon us to share that message of forgiveness with others (v 23), “If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

Jesus has entrusted to you and me the privilege of announcing to those who repent that their sins – the roadblocks keeping them from heaven – have now been removed.  I told my wife yesterday afternoon that Tyler Road north of 21^st Street was now open once more.  That means something to us, because that’s the route we take to get home from church and the eastern side of Wichita.  All the cones are gone and the barriers have been removed.  Once again we have a clear path to our home.

The peace of Christ assures everyone that once again they have a clear path to their home in heaven.  The cones and barriers of sin have been removed.  Jesus cleared the path by bringing the peace of forgiveness to all.  Now he wants us to share that message with those who feel the weight of their sins and are looking for the peace that only forgiveness can bring.

But did you catch the warning that we’re also to deliver?  “If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”  Don’t misunderstand what our Lord is telling us here.  It’s not as if we’re being given the right to “pick and choose” those we want to forgive.  God truly wants us to always be willing to forgive everyone who sins against us.  However, to offer forgiveness to someone who is not sorry for what they’ve done and who does not seek the Lord’s forgiving peace would be to offer them a false and non-existent forgiveness.

So there are times when we are called upon to warn someone caught up in sin who is not repenting or changing their lifestyle.  That’s showing real love at a time when most people are inclined to just be quiet and not say a thing.  We may think we’re doing the “decent” thing by not pointing out the sin of a friend or family member, but leaving them to live in their sin isn’t doing them any favors at all.  The loving thing is to point out their sin, to let them know that there is no forgiveness for those who continue in their sins, and that they’ll only find true and lasting peace by repenting and seeking strength from God to do what’s right.  Then we can follow up our preaching of the law and what will happen if they remain in their sin with a message of pure gospel – highlighted by the peace that is theirs through the Lord’s forgiveness!

“Peace be with you” was the message Jesus brought to the disciples that night, and soon they would be able to share that message with the world.  “Peace be with you” is the same message given to each of us, and we also are entrusted with sharing that message with the world that still so desperately needs it.  Easter Sunday was a good start as we were blessed with 58 visitors to our worship services last Sunday.  They heard the message of peace that comes with a risen Savior.  Have you followed up on those who were your friends or family members?  Have you reminded them that we offer that peace every Sunday?  Have you invited them to come again?  The opportunities are there.  The Lord will keep giving us an audience.  He’ll always make sure that there is someone out there with whom we can share his peace.

Late last night many of you were finally able to hit the hay with some semblance of peace as most of the storms passed through our area without too much damage being done.  We thank God for allowing us to wake up with peace restored and with another day of his grace.

After the storms caused by our sinfulness, peace between God and man was restored on Easter morning.  That peace is ours in the risen Christ, and that peace is ours to share.  May that “peace be with you” – now and for all eternity!

                                                                        Amen

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Live On The Promises!

9. April 2012 by admin.

Pastor Rockhoff

April 7, 2012

Mark 16:1-8

¹ When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. ² Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb ³ and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”

 ⁴ But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. ⁵ As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.

 ⁶ “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. ⁷ But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’”

 ⁸ Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.

In the name of Jesus, who suffered, was crucified, died, and was buried – but now Christ is risen – he is risen, indeed!

If you’re a bargain shopper, you would have loved to be in on one of the best bargains of all time.  On July 4, 1803, President Thomas Jefferson was able to pick up a little piece of land – 825,000 square miles, actually! – from his good friend Napoleon for the low, low price of $15 million.  What we learned in history class to call “The Louisiana Purchase” would double the size of the country and begin the expansion of America from sea to shining sea – for the bargain basement price of just 3 cents an acre!

Later that same day, President Jefferson gave a young army captain a fascinating letter.  The letter gave him permission to call on any U.S. agency anywhere in the world and take anything he wanted.  He could also ask any citizen of any country for something he needed with the guarantee that the U.S. government would pay it back.  At the bottom of the page, it said, “I, Thomas Jefferson, President of the United States of America, have written this letter of general credit for you with my own hand, and signed it with my name.”  This letter still stands as the most unlimited letter of credit ever issued by an American president.

That young man walked out with all the power and promises  of the United States of America backing up whatever he needed.  He could get weapons from the armory, money from the treasury, supplies from the quartermaster.  He could offer anyone anything, and the government would pay it.  That man walked out of the president’s house that day with a huge promise.

What would you do with a letter like that?  Would you wonder if it would work?  If you drove up to Fort Riley, could you pick up a tank or helicopter?  Could you hike over to McConnell and put in a request for a refueling tanker to take you there?

The trouble with big promises is that they’re often hard to keep.  We warn our children, “If it sounds too good to be true . . . .”  We warn them because nothing is worse than counting on a promise that isn’t kept.

Broken promises often mean broken hearts.  That’s what happened to the women walking the dark roads of Jerusalem early that Easter morning.  Jesus had made huge promises to them.  He had promised them that he was the Son of God who had entered their world to be their Savior.  He had promised them that he was the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  He had promised them that nothing could separate them from him, that nothing could snatch them from his hand.  And they had believed him!

But then he died – killed on a cross – and his body was laid on a cold slab of stone.  They were on their way to pack his dead body with spices – a loving, but futile attempt to keep the cruel realities of death away for a little longer.  Their Savior had died, and all his promises died with him.

And yet he had predicted this.  He had told them that he was going to Jerusalem, that he would be arrested.  He even told them that he would be crucified, and that after that he would rise again and meet them in Galilee.  But now they all seemed like empty words.  Jesus was dead, and none of those promises seemed to matter.

That’s because a dead Jesus is worthless.  A dead Jesus is a broken promise that’s been stripped of its power.  A dead Jesus is like me signing some sheet of paper and saying that you can stop over at McConnell and pick up that tanker and take it for a joyride.  I can promise all I want, but I can’t make it happen.  Just stop over at McConnell and tell me how it goes.

These women were so distraught with grief that they overlooked one massive obstacle standing in the way of their plans (v 3), “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”  But before they could come up with a game plan, we’re told (v 4), “But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away.”  The grave was standing open!  They looked into the tomb and stared at the stone slab where the dead Jesus was supposed to be – but he wasn’t there!  Christ is risen!  He is risen, indeed!

“Don’t be alarmed,” spoke an angel sent from God to calm their nerves and comfort their hearts (v 6).  And then he told them that Jesus keeps all his promises.

“You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified” (v 6).  “Not just anyone, but your Jesus, the one who was put to death up on that cross.”  “He has risen!  He is not here.  See the place where they laid him” (v 6).  “This is where the dead Jesus was, but not the living Jesus.  Where is the living Jesus?  He’s right where he promised he would be!  He’s alive!  He’s kept this promise, and he’ll keep every promise he’s made to you.”  “Go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee.  There you will see him, just as he told you” (v 7).

“Just as he told you”!  Those words are important.  Jesus had told them all about this, because he knew why he had come into this world, why he had dragged himself to that dreaded hill where he would be displayed for all to see on that cross of shame.  You see, that was really my cross.  My failings, my shortcomings, my sins made that cross necessary.  And so did yours.  It was just as God had told us (Ro 6:23), “The wages of sin is death.”  The problem is, we don’t always want to hear what God has to say.

There’s a part of us that wants Easter, without Good Friday.  We want the lilies and the baskets and the bonnets, but we don’t want to look at that cross.  We don’t want to see our Savior suffer.  When we look at the cross, we can’t escape the fact that God knows our sins and God hates our sins.  We don’t want to see Jesus die, because it makes us face the fact that we’re sinful failures – just like he told us.

We want to hide from that cross – but don’t look away!  The cross is painful to see, but it, too, was part of God’s plan.  God loved you and me so much that he put his own Son up on that cross instead of us.  He had his own Son pay for every selfish word, every wicked thought, every dreadful deed – God the Father put them all on his Son, and Jesus paid for every single one of them – in full, for us!

And then he died.  But he didn’t stay dead.  He couldn’t, because that wasn’t part of God’s plan.  He came back – “just as he told you.”  It was all part of God’s plan from the very beginning.  Jesus rose from the dead to show that we can live on his promises.  Christ is risen!  He is risen, indeed!

The angel made it sound like his resurrection was no big deal.  “Go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee.  There you will see him, just as he told you.’”  Everything was happening as promised.  Everything was going to be just fine.  Jesus had kept his biggest promise, so the rest wouldn’t pose a problem for him either.  He kept his promise to rise from the dead, and that means that we have no reason to doubt that he’s forgiven our wickedness and will remember our sin no more.

Friends in Christ, Jesus invites you to live on his promises!  To know you are forgiven, to know that you are in God’s favor, to know that nothing can keep you out of his kingdom – how can all those promises be true?  Because Christ is risen!  He is risen, indeed!

The young man who walked out of President Jefferson’s house with the big promise was Meriwether Lewis.  He and his friend, William Clark, were preparing to explore the 825,000 square miles that the president had just purchased.  With the power of the government behind them, they were able to round up everything they needed for their trip:  rifles and powder, soldiers and horses, boats and beads.  They were set to go.

But big promises didn’t make their journey any shorter.  In front of them lay 4000 miles of undiscovered and unchartered territory that would take them over rivers and plains, across mountains and snowy passes.  They would enter the great unknown and march from one side of America all the way to the Pacific Ocean.  Even though big promises didn’t make their trip any shorter, they did give them everything they needed for the trip.

I’m glad all of you are here this morning – whether it’s your first time worshiping with us or the third time you’ve been here this weekend.  It’s good for you to be here, to celebrate Easter and hear the huge promises made by our God.  The resurrection of Jesus is God’s guarantee that you can find a life worth living, no matter how long your journey, no matter what challenges await you along the way.  Your journey may not be any shorter, but God’s promises do provide everything you need for the trip.

That’s important to know because our life isn’t always as pretty as today’s lilies and colored eggs.  Too often our life is filled with the ugliness of disappointment and failure, of worry and guilt.

Some days life makes us feel like Lewis and Clark trying to cross a continent.  After many months on the expedition, Lewis and Clark had followed the Missouri River all the way to its source in the Rocky Mountains, and they were pretty sure that on the other side of the hill, they were going to see gentle slopes leading to the ocean.  No such luck!  They climbed that hill and saw . . . only mountains, miles and miles of mountains so high that their snowcaps never melted.  Their problem was much bigger than they had thought.

Do you know the feeling?  Just when you think you’re over the hump, then here come some more mountains!  Maybe it’s your marriage.  Maybe it’s your kids or your social life.  Maybe it’s school or your job.  You climb the hill, only to find that the problem is way bigger than you thought.

Big promises don’t make the journey any shorter, but they give us everything we need for the trip.  When the journey gets long, it’s time to live on the promises!  Listen to what Jesus promised his disciples on the night before he died (Jn 16:33), “In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart!  I have overcome the world.”  Did you hear that?  That’s ahuge promise that says there is no mountain in your life too large for Jesus.  There is no valley too deep for your Savior.  If he’s overcome the world, then he’ll make sure every mountain and valley we face in life will work out for our good.  How can we be so sure?  How can we have such certainty?  Because he kept his biggest promise:  Christ is risen!  He is risen, indeed!

What makes life worth living?  It doesn’t come from a life free of problems.  That’s just not going to happen, not on this side of heaven.  No, a life worth living comes from a life that has been freed from its problems.  They can no longer weigh you down.  God wants you to be free to live in peace, regardless of your past.  He wants you to live in hope, regardless of your circumstances.  That kind of life can be found in only one place – in Jesus Christ our Savior.  He promises that whoever believes in him will live, even though they die.  Sure, the journey’s long, but his promises are huge!  Live on those promises!

Two years and four months after walking out of the president’s house, Lewis and Clark’s party looked up and in the distance saw what they were waiting for.  Clark wrote down these words:  “Ocean in view!  Oh the joy!”

Friends in Christ, God brought you near to him so that you can find a life worth living.  Later this morning you’ll walk out of God’s house – but you won’t leave empty-handed!  You’ll leave holding on to the promises of God – promises of forgiveness, of favor, and of a life that will never end!

Jesus lives!  In that simple statement you have the proof that you can live on God’s promises every step of your journey until, finally, you reach your home, the country that knows no end, the life truly worth living.  Then you can cry out, “Heaven in view!  Oh the joy!”

All because Christ is risen!  He is risen, indeed!

                                                                                    Amen

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The King of Glory Comes!

2. April 2012 by admin.

Dan Herold

April 1, 2012

Zechariah 9:9,10

 Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! 
   Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! 
See, your king^[b] comes to you, 
   righteous and having salvation, 
   gentle and riding on a donkey, 
   on a colt, the foal of a donkey. 
¹⁰ I will take away the chariots from Ephraim 
   and the war-horses from Jerusalem, 
   and the battle bow will be broken. 
He will proclaim peace to the nations. 
   His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River^[c] to the ends of the earth.

With Easter approaching, I’m sure some of you have begun making preparations for a family gathering. The house needs to be cleaned, meals need to be planned, and along with all the work, excitement is beginning to build up. Getting to see family members, especially the ones you don’t get to see very often, is a happy occasion. On the day of your get together that excitement seems like its about to burst out, you can hardly keep it inside, and as soon as you see the first guest’s car arrives you know the party is starting! You greet your guests with a smile, and it’s almost impossible to hide the joy you are feeling as you welcome your guests into your home.

 

            Today we are celebrating a welcome party as well. On Palm Sunday we celebrate Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem some 2000 years ago. On that day the excitement had been building in Jerusalem for quite some time, and when Jesus arrived he was greeted by the people shouting,

“Hosanna!”

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!”

“Hosanna in the highest!”

As we heard this morning in our gospel lesson.

 

Now, as we look at the words of the prophet Zechariah, who prophesied Jesus’ entry in Jerusalem, we see that the King of Glory comes…both with earthly humility, and with heavenly peace.

 

            In Zechariah’s prophecy, he begins by proclaiming,

Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion!

Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem!

 

However, at the time when Zechariah wrote, the nation of Israel wasn’t doing a whole lot of rejoicing. The Northern Kingdom had been carried off into exile by the Assyrians never again to return home. The Southern Kingdom, of which Zechariah was a resident, had just returned to Jerusalem from exile in Babylon. They had been torn away from their homes and forced to live in a foreign land for around 70 years. When they returned from exile, the Israelites sort of fell into a nation-wide depression. One of the biggest factors in their sadness was the fact the the beautiful temple which Solomon built, the place where God dwelt among his people, had been destroyed.

 

 

            The temple was the center of religious life for Old Testament believers and its absence left them feeling lost. Think of how you would feel if you were cut off from your church and home for 70 years, and then one day your were allowed to come back here and found the building destroyed. It would be devastating to have such an important part of your life taken away from you. But even if that were the case, we would have cause to rejoice just like the Israelites did at Zechariah’s time. We can rejoice because our King of Glory is coming. However, lest we fall into the trap that so many of the Jews did, the prophet makes us aware that our King of Glory comes with earthly humility.

 

            In verse 9 Zechariah tells us that our King is humble. When Jesus walked this earth 2000 years ago he did so humbly. He was in a state of humiliation, or in other words he chose not to make full use of his Godly power. He didn’t come as the super hero some might have expected, but he came as a humble human, born of a virgin mother, who would die a criminal’s death. Because he came in humility, he was rejected.

 

            Even though Zechariah told the Israelites 500 years before Jesus was born that the Savior would be humble, many of them couldn’t accept that their Savior would arrive riding on a donkey. If you have ever seen a donkey they are not glorious animals by any stretch of the imagination. They are simple humble beasts of burden.

 

             Our sinful minds would expect the son of God Almighty to come in at least riding a horse. Or better yet in a grand parade like the scene from the movie Aladdin when he Aladdin the sultan’s palace as Prince Ali with hundreds of musicians and servants, with singing and dancing! But no, he comes to us humbly and riding a donkey, a symbol of peace. He didn’t come riding a horse as a king would into battle, but on a lowly peaceful donkey.

 

            The prophet goes on to describe the King of Glory, who comes with earthly humility, as gentle, righteous, and having salvation. Typically kings aren’t thought of as gentle people. If you know the name of any kings from world history, chances are you know their name because of the wars they waged. Kings become famous as warriors, rarely as peacemakers.

 

            But our King of Glory comes with salvation, or deliverance. He brings us deliverance from the war we are stuck in, a war with God which our sinful nature has trapped us in. Our King has righteousness which delivers us from that war. Our King kept the Law, which we couldn’t even begin to keep, perfectly for us. And for someone who accomplished such an amazing task, we would expect him to come in glory, but instead he comes with earthly humility.

 

 

 

 

 

             What a contrast it is between who Jesus is and who our sinful minds naturally want him to be! How often are we expecting a miracle and we overlook God working right in front of us? Sometimes it might seem like you will never be able to pay this month’s bills or you’ll never find a decent job in this economy, but eventually your eyes are opened to a solution that was right in front of you the whole time. We are constantly being tempted to make God into what we want him to be rather than believing who he is.

 

            The Israelites were expecting a political Savior from the oppressive Roman empire. However, as often as we scoff at that idea we fall into the same trap of thinking that someday God is going to make everything on this world better…but this world will never be perfect because it is tainted with sin. When we welcome our King of Glory, when he comes again in his full glory, he won’t make this world perfect but rather he’ll destroy it.

 

            There are some churches out there that will tell you that when that happens you better be in Jerusalem because that’s going to be our new home. They say that Jesus will rule from there over his perfect kingdom here on earth. 2000 years after the first Palm Sunday some people still don’t get it! Jesus is not an earthly ruler, he never was and never will be! His kingdom is in heaven! Zechariah told us he wasn’t going to be anything like earthly kings. Our King comes in humility and gentleness. He rides a donkey. And most importantly, he doesn’t bring us earthly wealth or peace, but he brings salvation!

 

            Jesus rode into Jerusalem as a king because he is one, but not like our sinful minds expect him to be. And as our King of Glory brings salvation, he comes with heavenly peace. The humble way Jesus entered Jerusalem isn’t at all what we would expect from the King of Glory, but the peace he brings us far surpasses anything we could imagine.

 

            In verse 10 Zechariah describes the heavenly peace that our King of Glory comes with. Speaking from God’s perspective he writes,

“I will take away the chariots from Ephraim

and the war-horses from Jerusalem,

and the battle bow will be broken.”

 

            Our King has promised to remove the tools of war. The chariots, war-horses, battle bows, and everything else used to wage war won’t stand a chance against the heavenly peace our King brings. Not even the most terrifying tools of war can overcome our King of Glory. No machine guns, fighter jets, or nuclear bombs can destroy the peace our Savior won for us on the cross. That’s difficult for us to grasp though, because peace on this earth is not familiar to us.

 

 

 

            Peace was something the Israelites knew very little about. In the centuries leading up to Zechariah’s time, Israel had almost constantly been at war and Jerusalem had recently been put under siege twice. The Northern Kingdom had been destroyed and the Southern Kingdom had been carried off into exile. Shortly after they returned from exile Alexander the Great would come to power and wage war throughout the known world conquering nations and building his empire. War was all around them much like it has been for many of us throughout our own lives.

 

            Yet, Zechariah tells us that our King will, “Proclaim peace to the nations.”  Unlike so many earthly kings who only talk about peace though, our King has to ability to enact peace. And “his rule will extend from sea to sea.” Earthly kings, at their most powerful, only control what happens within their borders, and many don’t even have full control over that! Jesus, our King, has power that is not confined to borders, but he rules over all of creation. His authority is universal and as we heard in the epistle lesson this morning, “At the name of Jesus, every knee should bow.” Our King’s earthly humility may not have been what we expect, but his heavenly peace is more than our minds can comprehend! It’s so difficult for us to grasp because our sinful minds are fixated on the here and now. So easily we fall into the same old trap of looking for an earthly Savior.

 

            However, peace on earth is too good to be true. It can never happen because as long as this world exists it will be corrupted by sin. However, that doesn’t mean this prophecy hasn’t or won’t be fulfilled. We have been promised heavenly, not earthly, peace. Peace will be ours in our heavenly home where we will live for the rest of eternity

 

            The heavenly peace which our King brings, comes in the form of forgiveness, salvation, and freedom from the bonds of Satan. Being born as sinners we were born as prisoners of war…prisoners of Satan and captive to sin. But our king came to rescue us and will come again to bring us his heavenly peace which only he can offer.

 

            When the Israelites returned from exile and finally rebuilt the temple, they wept at the site of the new temple. They wept because the place where God dwelt among them had been destroyed, but God didn’t leave them. He promised to send a Savior who would live among them. When Jesus had finished his work on earth he ascended to heaven where he is ruling from today as our King of Glory. He hasn’t left us, he’s still very much with us as we will be reminded in a few minutes as we celebrate the Lord’s Supper. Not only is Jesus ruling over us from heaven, but he will come again. So as we look forward to his return, remember how he came into Jerusalem as our King of Glory…with earthly humility and heavenly peace. Prepare your hearts to welcome him again with shouts of joy and songs of praise when our King of Glory comes to bring us everlasting heavenly peace.

 

Amen.

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He Suffered

26. March 2012 by admin.

Pastor Jonathan Rockhoff

March 25, 2012

Hebrews 5:7-9

⁷ 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. ⁸ Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered ⁹ and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him 

In the name of the Savior who suffered so we wouldn’t have to, dear friends in Christ,

 

Do you like going to the hospital?  I’m not talking about going as a patient, just as a visitor.  Many people don’t like even visiting someone in a hospital.  They find it too depressing, often because they find it hard to see people in pain.  Most people would rather see others well and happy, so they tend to avoid seeing people who are sick and suffering.

 

Sometimes we as Christians would rather not picture Jesus as he suffered for our sins.  Instead we prefer the image of him as the little baby in the manger or as the compassionate Good Shepherd cradling a little lamb.  Seeing him on the cross can be a bit humbling, since it reminds us of what our sins did to him.  And yet remember why he was on that cross (Isa 53:4), “Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows.”  As our High Priest, Jesus not only provided the sacrifice for our sins – he was that Sacrifice!

 

With Holy Week being only a week away, let’s begin to prepare our hearts for what’s to come by taking a closer look at what Jesus endured for us, using the simple theme:

 

“He Suffered”

 

                                                                          I. It was so very real

                                                                          II. It was so very necessary

 

The verses preceding our text emphasize the role Jesus played in our salvation as our High Priest.  Old Testament high priests served as intercessors or “go-betweens” in behalf of the people as they approached their God.  Jesus serves that role for us, stepping in with his righteousness and covering our sins so that we can stand before our Creator without fear.  But none of that would be possible if it were not for the fact that he suffered.

 

Our text picks up on the thought of Jesus going beyond the role of the Old Testament high priests by actually stepping in as our Sacrifice.  We’re reminded that his suffering wasn’t anything to scoff at.  It was so very real!  First let’s take a look at the inner struggle that confronted our Lord (v 7), “During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears.”  The opening phrase, “during the days of Jesus’ life on earth,” reminds us that Jesus wasn’t always true Man.  He had to humble himself in order to become one of us, taking on the form of a servant, making himself subject to human emotions and feelings.  That’s why he, too, turned to his Father in heaven with “prayers and petitions” which were made “with loud cries and tears.”  We think of the evening spent in Gethsemane before his capture when he wrestled with his Father in prayer, feeling the agony and grief of what was to come.

 

Keep in mind that even though he had taken on a human nature, he still remained divine.  As true God, Jesus knew what lay ahead.  He could see the torturing, the mocking, the despising headed his way.  Yes, he could see that the suffering predicted for him would be so very real, culminating in an agonizing death on two wooden beams.  The events of Good Friday would not catch him by surprise.  The thought of such suffering was enough to solicit from him“prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears.”

 

We can’t possibly imagine the agony our Lord endured, knowing full well the unavoidable suffering in his future.  But think of how you would feel if you knew that next Sunday on your way home from church you would be in a car accident that would leave you paralyzed, and there was nothing you could do to prevent this from happening.  The dreaded anticipation alone over the next week would be almost too much to bear.  What Jesus went through was so much more agonizing.  He knew he would have to face the physical pain of the scourging and the crown of thorns, leading up to the spike-like nails being driven through his hands and feet as his only means of support while hanging and waiting for his last breath to leave him.  But even greater than these pains of the body would be the suffering of his soul as he was separated from his Father’s love, causing him to cry out (Mt 27:46), “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”  Such suffering was intensified all the more as the weight of every sin ever committed was heaped upon his shoulders.  No wonder he longed for another way to save mankind when he prayed in Gethsemane (Mt 26:39), “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me.”

 

Jesus knew where to turn as he anticipated his impending suffering.  We’re told his prayers were directed “to the one who could save him from death” (v 7).  He turned to his Father, the one whose will he had come to accomplish.  And we’re told Jesus was not disappointed (v 7), “And he was heard because of his reverent submission.”  Wait a minute!  How can we say that Jesus’ prayer for an alternative salvation plan was answered if he ended up having to suffer and die?  Take a closer look at his prayer in Matthew (26:39), “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”  Jesus was heard because he submitted to the will of his Father!  His prayer was simply that when all was said and done, his Father’s will would be done and that he would be strengthened to carry out that will.  We see God’s answer in Luke’s Gospel (22:43), “An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him.”  Now, ready for what lay ahead, we see Jesus with renewed strength telling his disciples (Mt 26:45,46), “Look, the hour is near, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.  Rise, let us go!  Here comes my betrayer!”  Jesus was ready to face his suffering, suffering that was so very real.

 

But it had to be that way.  Without a Savior to suffer for us, you and I would each have to be accountable for our own sins and suffer the consequences ourselves.  But Jesus came and took our place.  He suffered so we wouldn’t have to.  And while his suffering was so very real, it was also so very necessary.

 

The ultimate test of our Savior’s obedience came in his willingness to suffer (v 8), “Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered.”  It’s possible to translate “a son” in this verse as “the Son,” meaning that even though he was the very Son of God, still he placed himself under the law and “became obedient to death – even death on a cross” (Php 2:8).  You might say that Jesus went through the “school of hard knocks,” but not because of his own foolishness, which is often the case with us.  No, it was necessary for him to submit his will to that of his Father’s and, in the process, to learn obedience from everything that he endured.  How many times he must have been tempted to give it all up, to proclaim that it wasn’t worth it, to come down from the cross to bring forth vengeance on his enemies.  But he never did.  He never bypassed his path of pain .  Instead he learned what it meant to obey his Father, continuing with his plan even in the midst of such terrible suffering.

 

It was that suffering that guaranteed our salvation (v 9), “And, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.”  Don’t be confused by the phrase “once made perfect.”  Another way of translating it would be to say “having reached the goal.”  Does this help?  Let me explain.  Through his suffering and death, Jesus “reached the goal” of winning our salvation.  Where Adam failed and fell, Jesus resisted and prevailed.  He was the perfect Savior, the perfect Sacrifice, the perfect High Priest.  Through his suffering he was made complete, and therefore could rightly be called “the source of eternal salvation.”  Again, in the original Greek it literally means that he became the “cause” or the “reason” for our salvation.  “Jesus” is the only password that opens the doors to heaven (Ac 4:12), “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”  Only Jesus could pay the debt of sin for us.  That’s why his suffering was so very necessary.

 

The suffering of our Lord secured forgiveness for all people.  And yet it’s true that he’s the source of salvation only for those “who obey him.”  But don’t think that we, in any way, contribute to our salvation.  Think of it this way:  If the weatherman comes on TV and tells you to take cover because a tornado is heading straight for you, if you believe what he’s saying, you’ll “obey” him and do what he says.  That’s all that’s meant here in our text.  If we do what Jesus says in his Word, that’s a sign of the faith that’s in our hearts.  John tells us in his first Epistle (1 Jn 3:22,23), “We obey his commands and do what pleases him.  And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ.”  Simply put, Jesus is the source of salvation for all those who believe that he is the Savior, the one who suffered for the sins of the world.

 

Our salvation depends on having a Savior who suffered for us.  What troubles me is that there are many churches today – Christian churches – that don’t want to talk about what Jesus went through to save us.  To them it falls under the category of “negativity,” of something that can be depressing and cause sadness.  As a result, the season of Lent is all but ignored in some churches, with the emphasis switching from what Christ suffered to what we can do to find our own personal happiness and self-satisfaction.  People are encouraged to not be so hard on themselves, to not dwell on personal failures (which we call “sins”), but to instead accentuate the positive and somehow believe that God will accept them for who they are as long as they’re doing their best.  There’s no room for any self-examination if it means acknowledging your own inability to make something good of yourself.  In short, there’s no room for talking about your sinfulness.  When that’s the case, then there’s no reason to talk about the necessity of a suffering Savior.

 

What a trap the devil has set!  Ignore your sinfulness, and you’ll forget about your accountability before God.  Ignore the fact that he demands punishment for your sins, and you won’t need a Savior.  And if you don’t see the need for a Savior, then you’ll foolishly rely on yourself for your ticket to heaven and end up with an eternity in hell!

 

Even though it’s an ugly picture, and even though the path of our Lord’s passion wrenches and twists your stomach into knots, still pry your eyes open and unplug your ears so you can take it all in!  Let your heart be heavy when you hear of all that your Savior suffered for you, but at the same time let those images lift up your heart and give you hope.  Make no mistake about it – he suffered!  It was all so very real, but it was all so very necessary!  And always remember that because he suffered, you and I will never have to!

 

                                                                                                                        Amen

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God’s Grace Is A Life Changer!

19. March 2012 by admin.

Pastor Jonathan Rockhoff

March 18, 2012

Ephesians 2:4-10

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵ made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. ⁶ And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, ⁷ in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. ⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast. ¹⁰ For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

In the name of him who changed everything for us and for our salvation, dear friends in Christ,

With Kansas, Kansas St., and Wichita St. all making it into the NCAA tournament this year, March Madness has been in full swing in our area this past week.  If you’ve seen any of the games, there’s a good chance you heard some announcer describe a certain play as a “game-changer.”  It could have been a key 3-point basket, a last-minute steal, or a rim-rattling dunk shot – some play that seemed to have an immediate and lasting effect on the flow of the game.  In most cases, a “game-changer” will have a definite effect on the outcome of the game.

No matter how much of a fan you may be, whether your team wins or loses isn’t going to dramatically alter your life – at least, it shouldn’t.  But what God did for us in Christ has a lasting effect on us – for this life and for the life that is to come.  And it’s all a result of his grace!

In the Christian church calendar, today is Laetare Sunday.  Laetare is a Latin word that means “rejoice.”  Even in the midst of the Lenten season – a season of repentance and humiliation – it is proper for us to still rejoice as we anticipate the resurrection of our Lord and as we remember all that God has done for us through the suffering and death of his Son.

This morning we join together to rejoice over the difference our Lord has made in our lives as we note how:

“God’s Grace Is a Life-Changer”

                                                                 I. What we once were

                                                                II. What happened

                                                                III. How it happened

                                                               IV. What we are now

A change was needed in us because of what we once were by nature.  Martin Luther once described himself in his natural sinful state as “a poor stinking bag of maggots.”  In the words before us this morning, Paul gives us a less crude but still grim description of what we once were (v 5), “We were dead in transgressions.”  Notice he doesn’t describe us as “dying” or “condemned to die.”  He says we were “dead,” unable to help ourselves in any way.  When it comes to making things right with God, we’re helpless.  Isaiah reminds us that even “all our righteous acts are like filthy rags” (Isa 64:6) and make no impact when it comes to winning our salvation.

Spiritually, you could say that each one of us was stillborn.  We were all born dead in sin, entering into this world not as friends of God or even neutral towards him, but as his enemies!  In the verse before our text Paul reminds us that our only concern in our sin-motivated state is “gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts” (Eph 2:3).  We share this same affliction with the entire world (Eph 2:3), “Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.”  The righteous God in heaven had every right to hate such poor, wretched, rebellious creatures.  He had every right to condemn each of us to an eternity in hell as punishment for our sins.

But God didn’t hate us.  We were doomed by sin, but God didn’t leave us on the eternal death row.  Something happened to change our status.  Something happened to bring us, “dead in transgressions,” back to life.

Even though we were spiritually dead, God refused to sign our death certificate.  His love wouldn’t let him (vv 4,5), “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions.”  “Love” is what caused God to act, and “mercy” is the consequence.  Instead of punishment, God gave us love.  You’ve heard the passage before from Romans 5 (8), “God demonstrates his own love for us in this:  While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”  That love for the unlovable is what we call grace, and Paul clearly states (v 5), “It is by grace you have been saved.”  It’s grace that “made us alive in Christ” when we didn’t have a pulse.  In Titus Paul reiterates that “[God] saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy” (3:5)  – mercy shown as a result of his undeserved love for us!  God’s grace makes all the difference.  God’s grace is a life-changer!

All this took place when God the Father sent his Son to step in for us.  First he lived the perfect life required for salvation.  Then he swapped that perfect life of righteousness in exchange for the sinfulness that had us handcuffed and headed to hell.  In effect our Creator released us from the shackles of sin and connected us to our Savior.  What happens to him, happens to us.  When he died, we died.  And now Paul gives us the rest of the story (v 6), “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.”  When Christ was raised from the dead, so were we!  When Christ was given a place in heaven, so were we!  Even though we don’t experience the full effect of heaven yet while living here on earth, we still know we have a place there.  Our reservations have already been made in Christ!

Why did God do all this?  “. . .  in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus” (v 7).  God’s made reservations for us because he wants us to see what a life-changer his grace really is.  When we die, he can’t wait for us to open our eyes to the glories of heaven.  Nothing will compare to the “riches of his grace” that await us there.  And, because of God’s grace, even now we’re given a glimpse of those blessings as we experience his loving “kindness” as he provides and cares for us here on earth.

Last week I took a day or two to get my tax information together to send off to the people who do our taxes.  Up until that point, the thought of having to plough through all that information and fill out a 15-page checklist hung over my head and soured my mood for more days than it should have.  I hate doing taxes!  But once the information was mailed off, I felt a huge sense of relief that the chore was finally taken care of and accomplished.

There are way too many people in this world that have that same feeling when it comes to their salvation.  They falsely believe that “getting right with God” is something they have to accomplish, something that still has to be completed.  They have their own “checklist” for life, and they’re constantly reminded by their sinfulness that they’re not doing so well in checking off what they believe is necessary for their salvation.  They’re left with a continual feeling of uncertainty that they’re just not doing enough to get themselves into heaven.

The sad reality is that they’re missing out on the fact that their “spiritual taxes” have all been paid in Christ!  God’s taken care of everything!  There’s no more checklist to fill out, no more charts to keep to see if we’re “good enough” for heaven.  God’s grace has changed everything!  There’s nothing left to worry or fret about, because God’s grace guarantees us that all the paperwork has been turned in for our salvation – and it’s all approved in Christ!  God’s grace makes the difference!  God’s grace is a life-changer!

We’ve seen what we once were – dead in sin — and we’ve joyfully proclaimed what happened – made alive in Christ.  So how did all this happen?

Recently I had the privilege of talking with three senior boys from Bishop Carroll, a Roman Catholic high school.  They had a school project in which they were to compare Lutheranism with Catholicism.  One of their questions was, “What section of Scripture would you choose to summarize what you as a Lutheran believe?”  My thoughts immediately were drawn to the next two verses of our text, Ephesians 2:8,9:  “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.”  If you were able to commit to memory just these two verses of Scripture, you’d be equipped to give an adequate description of why you expect to be in heaven someday.  Could God have made it any simpler than this?  We are saved by his grace – love that we didn’t deserve – and such love comes to us “through faith.”  Faith is the result of God’s grace making us alive together with Christ.  It’s all his doing.  And lest we think that our salvation is accomplished by us working along with Christ, Paul tells us it’s “not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.”  If salvation is something we earn, then it can’t be a gift any longer.  But it’s “not by works.”  Otherwise we’d be able to boast about it.  But we can’t.  All we can do is sing the praises of our God for saving us by grace – his life-changer!

In place of the NELHS bulletin insert this morning, if you instead found a gift certificate from me for Cabela’s for $1000, you could do one of two things.  You could either laugh and tell each other that there’s no way I have enough money to offer everyone a $1000 certificate ($1000 X 100 bulletins = $100,000) and then use the certificate as a decorative bookmark, or you could head over to Cabela’s, load up with $1000 worth of goodies, and then give the cashier the gift certificate.  Whose fault would it be for those who didn’t believe I had the money to back up my offer?  They’d only have themselves to blame for not believing it was true.  But what if you believed me and went home with $1000 worth of Cabela’s merchandise?  Did you do anything to deserve a pat on the back?  Not at all!  You just believed that my gift was real.  All you could do would be to thank me for such a wonderful gift.

It’s just as foolish for us to try and take credit for our salvation when it’s all a result of God’s “gift certificate” – hisgrace!  Believe what the Bible says is true by the power of the Holy Spirit, and we cash in on God’s gift — all praise to him!  Reject it and toss that grace aside, then it’s our funeral – for all eternity!  And would you really want it any other way?  Would you really want to have to earn your salvation?  Would you want that hanging over your head every day?  Not me!  I’m glad God took care of everything by sending Jesus.  I’m glad he changed my life with grace!

Saved from an eternity in hell because of the underserved love of our God – what now?  We’ve become God’s projects!  His grace has changed us from dead sinners into working saints!

“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (v 10).  God has changed our lives by his grace so that now we can live for him.  We are God’s “workmanship” – a word that you could actually translate as God’s “works of art.”  God’s grace has changed us.  In Corinthians Paul explains (2 Co 5:17), “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.”  We are now his works of art!

But God didn’t want us to be “all dressed up with no place to go.”  He changed us into new creatures “to do good works”– not to win our salvation, but to serve the One who has given us our salvation.  And that includes everythingwe do.  Paul tells us in Corinthians (1 Co 10:31), “Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”  And don’t overlook the last part of verse 10, “. . . which God prepared in advance for us to do.”  Quite literally, the Greek says that God had prepared specific tasks for us “to walk into.”  It’s as if he took a look at what he wanted to accomplish in this world, all the good things he wanted done, and he put these tasks in our way so we couldn’t help but run into them.  So we really can’t take credit for anything that we do that is God-pleasing.  After all, he’s the one putting those opportunities in our lives.

What we can do is ask God to keep us from dodging those opportunities, because the devil has taught us how to be experts at “dodgeball” – of going to great lengths to avoid the opportunities to serve that our Lord has placed in our daily paths.  But the grace of God has changed us!  Because of his love for us in Christ, how could we possibly be concerned only about ourselves?  Now we’re God’s workmanship, eager to do good works!

So now we’ll offer the comfort of a God who’s always in control to a hurting friend or co-worker instead of “dodging” that good work by instead telling them to “just hang in there.”  We’ll warn a wayward brother or sister in the faith that the decisions they’re making with their living situation are jeopardizing their faith instead of “dodging” that good work by saying little or nothing at all to preserve our friendship.  We’ll stick up for a person whose good name is being ripped apart by hurtful gossiping instead of “dodging” that good work by joining in to try and fit in with the crowd.  Each of us will look at life differently – not as a series of rules and regulations we have to try and keep to earn our key into God’s kingdom, but as a life of opportunities God has prepared for us to show our love for him and for one another.

That’s what grace does.  You and I can never be the same after we learn about God’s grace.  It changed our status from sinners to saints, it changed our destiny from heaven to hell, and now it changes how we live our lives here on earth.  Praise God for such undeserved, yet powerful love.  Praise him for his grace — truly a life-changer!                                              

Amen

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Always Put God First!

13. March 2012 by admin.

Dan Herold

March 11, 2012

Exodus 20:1-6

 ¹ And God spoke all these words:

 ² “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

 ³ “You shall have no other gods before^[a] me.

 ⁴ “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. ⁵ You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, ⁶but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

In a little under two months one of the biggest horse races in the world will be held, The Kentucky Derby. Derby day is a huge event. There will be huge parties, thousands of people, bright colors, and a million other things that could distract the centerpiece of the event, the horses running the race. However, throughout the years horse trainers have developed a way to keep the horses focused on the race they are running. It’s a pretty simple method, they use blinders. Little pieces of plastic or leather which are put next to the horses eyes prevent them from seeing the distractions around them. To some it might seem cruel to restrict an animal like that, but really the blinders help keep the horses safe. If one of the horses were to get distracted and veer out of its lane and into another horse’s path it would undoubtedly injure itself and others. Likewise, we need help staying focused on what is in front of us. Just like the horses running a race, we are easily distracted and lose sight of what should be our number one priority, God.

 

            This morning in the Old Testament lesson we heard about a set of blinders that God has given us. He has given us commandments, and although at times they might seem oppressive to us they are for our own good. They blind us from the other distractions that surround us and focus our attention on God.

 

             The Ten Commandments weren’t given to the Israelites because God needed them to do something for him. No, they were given to help the Israelites keep their focus on their leader. The First Commandment is the one we will focus on today, and as we do we’ll see that it is really the foundation on which the other 9 are built. Everything else lines up if we heed the First Commandment and always put God first among the things that we fear, love, and trust.

 

            Take a look at how our text begins, “And God spoke all these words.” At first glance it might seem insignificant, but we are being told that these are God’s words and that should get our attention. If it was someone else speaking we might not be so inclined to hear what they have to say, but since God, the Creator of the universe, is speaking we know it’s something important. The natural knowledge of God that we all have tells us that when God speaks we should listen. Naturally, God commands honor and respect, so he identifies himself as the speaker to get our attention.

 

            And here’s the message God has for Israel and for us,  “I am the LORD your God.” He doesn’t say that he is a god, with a small g, but he says that he is our “God,” with a capital G. He is ours and we are his. As God’s creation, we belong to him and therefore he deserves our respect, or our fear. He is the ultimate authority. He has given us all that we have, even our lives. God doesn’t ask for anything more than he deserves, and he deserves to be put first in our lives.

 

            Israel had every reason to fear the LORD. They had seen what he was capable of, and God reminds them in verse 2 that it was he who, “Brought you out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.”

 

            Just in case the Israelites had forgotten everything God had done for them, he reminds them of what just happened. They had been rescued from a nation which had enslaved them, and their rescue was no small event. The Israelites had just seen 10 plagues strike the land of Egypt, with the final plague being the death of countless sons of the Egyptians, even the son of Pharaoh. After seeing that awesome display of power, how could God not be at the top of Israel’s list in fear and respect?

 

            Just to be clear though, the fear that God demands from us doesn’t entirely mean that we need to be afraid of God. The fear God demands contains a little bit of that being afraid type of fear, but predominately it is respect. We should be afraid of God’s wrath because we saw what it can do in the 10 plagues. We should fear his wrath because it is very real and very serious. But we don’t need to live in fear of God because he sent us his Son to take our place and suffer that wrath for us. Now, since we live in God’s grace, he commands us to always put him first and give him the respect he deserves as our Lord and Creator.

 

             If God comes first on the list of things you fear you will have the appropriate respect for all that God has created, but we often sin against this commandment by worrying that we aren’t giving enough attention to other aspects of life. One of the devil’s best tricks is to make you feel like there is something other than God that deserves your primary attention. For example, he will try everything he can to get you to take God out of first place and put something else, whether it be your job, family, or yourself, in his place.

 

            Nothing is to command as much respect in our lives as God. God doesn’t say that you should not fear and respect others things in the world, but he demands that your priorities be in order.

 

            There used to be a popular clothing line that had the slogan, “No Fear.” That’s not what God says though, is it? Throughout Scripture we are told to fear the Lord. In Joshua 24:14, “Fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness.” In Proverbs 14:2, “He whose walk is upright fears the LORD.” And in Psalm 147:11, “The LORD delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.” And the list could go on…

 

             Attempting to do away with fear elevates one’s self to the position of God. If you respect nothing, then you have made yourself an idol. God tells us, though, that he is our God. He tells us that we are to fear him…to honor him and respect him. However, fear isn’t all God wants. God also wants you to put him first among the things that you love.

 

            In verse 3 God tells us how he wants us to love him; by having, “No other gods before him.” The word “before” in this verse can be deceptive. Literally, God said that he doesn’t want us to have any other gods in his presence. Not just in front of him, but not even next to him, or after him. He is our only God. Nothing else compares to who he is and what he has done for us, and that means we can’t have any other gods anywhere- period!

 

            God doesn’t just tell us to to love him though, he also gives us a way to show that we have put him first in our hearts. He says, “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.” God created everything on earth, and as Creator he is greater than what is created. He tells us not to love anything he has created more than we love him. However, that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t love and appreciate God’s creation. But we need to look at our priorities, we need to put God first!

 

            This can be one of the hardest aspects of the First Commandment to grasp. God gives us friends and families, but then warns us about loving them too much. He even tells us in Matthew 10 that anyone who loves his father, mother, son, or daughter more than Him is not worthy of him. But then, just a few verses after this commandment in Exodus 20, we are commanded to honor our parents. How does it all fit together? Again, it is a matter of priorities. God has to come first. If God comes first then all our other relationships in life will line up appropriately.

 

            Since it was God who gave us our families, then God really deserves to be at the top of the list as the one who provided the ones we love, along with our families. God loved us so much that he created a world for us to live in, and when we messed up his perfect creation with sin, he still loved us and sent his Son to make things right again.

 

            Paul tells us in Romans 5:8 that God demonstrated his love for us in this; that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. God gave us the perfect example of love. He put us at the top of his list, ahead of even his own Son whom he sacrificed for us. And it’s that love for us which motivates us to love God and one another.

 

            Finally, as we’ve learned from Luther’s explanation of the First Commandment God wants us to, “Fear, love, and trust in him above all things.” In Exodus 20 God tells Israel, and us, that he is trustworthy. In verse 2 he reminded the Israelites that he, “brought them out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.” If God had rescued them from this foreign land and caused so much destruction in Egypt through the ten plagues, why would he not continue to guard and protect the Israelites? He had performed a miraculous deed as he separated the Red Sea and drowned Pharaoh’s army. But why go to all that trouble if he was not going to continue to bless his chosen people? We can trust God because he has shown us that he is trustworthy!

 

            We can trust God because he keeps his promises. He promised to send a Savior who would pay for all of our sins, for all the times we broke God’s commandments, and then Jesus arrived to live the life we couldn’t. God kept his word and gave his innocent Son as a sacrifice for us. So if God sent his only Son to die for us, why would he then stop blessing those who trust in him? He won’t! In fact, he promises to keep blessing those who trust in him. Take a look at what God says in verse 6, “…but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commands.” And that’s why God asks that we fear, and love, and trust in him above all else…he wants to bless us!

 

            But it’s so hard for us to trust. We always want to be active and do something. It is almost impossible for us as sinful creatures to simply trust that God will take care of us. He has promised to give us everything we need. Since he has shown that his promises are trustworthy in the past, why not trust in this promise as well?

 

            Part of God’s promise to provide for us is that he will be the one who provides for us. It quickly becomes obvious that we can’t provide on our own what we need the most, a Savior! We are fatally flawed and unable to live up to God’s demands. When we look to ourselves to provide that Savior we fail. When we look to other people for our salvation, they fail. When we come up with any plan other than God’s for our salvation, it is doomed to fail because no matter what the plan is, if we came up with it, it is affected by sin. Proverbs 14:12 says, “There is a way that seems right to man; but in the end it leads to death.” That’s why we need to put God first among the things that we trust. Only then do we have our feet planted on a trustworthy foundation, only then do we stand fully on the One who was without sin.

 

            Having taken a closer look at this commandment you have probably realized, just as I have, how woefully short we fall in every regard. We haven’t given God the proper respect. We haven’t loved him the way that he loves us. Rarely do we fully trust in him for all that we need. In every way we have failed to keep this commandment. And since we have failed, all we can do is repent and fall on the grace of God who sent his Son to be our Savior. We heard about God’s son in the Gospel lesson this morning. He shows us an excellent example of how he kept this commandment perfectly for us when he drove the money changers and merchants out of the temple.

 

            Jesus was consumed with zeal for the Lord’s house in a way that none of us ever will be, myself included. Jesus respected the temple. He was disgusted with the fact that it was being turned into a marketplace, and he showed how much he respected the house of the Lord. He loved His Father. He loved him so much that it made him angry to see others disrespect his house. What a wonderful reminder we have that where we fail, our Savior succeeds.

 

             In the season of Lent, we are reminded of how monumentally we have failed at keeping God’s commands. And yet, God continues to shower us with grace because of his Son. Since we are clothed in Christ’s righteousness God no longer sees our failures, but instead sees Christ’s holy glory!

 

            That is why we put God first among the things we fear, love, and trust. Without God we have nothing, without him we wouldn’t exist, and without him we wouldn’t be saved. And even though we have failed him in so many ways, he still loves us and blesses us with every good thing, but especially with grace and forgiveness through his Son, our Savior, Jesus. So out of thanks for all that God has done for you as Jesus himself tells us in Matthew 6:33, “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness.” Then everything else in life will fall into place!

 

Amen. 

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