This kind of art is called a “holusion.” To see the garden, you have to look behind the chaos, behind the swirling mess, behind all the confusion. Stop concentrating on each individual blob and color and pattern. Let your eyes un-focus. Concentrate (or stare) off into the distance (http://www.vision3d.com/sgphoto.html) and then you can see the real picture. Can you see the garden now?
It’s not easy, is it? It takes concentration. It takes patience. It takes discipline to focus on the “big-picture” instead of fixating on all these individual images. Maybe you find it just as difficult to always remain focused on the “big-picture” of your Christian life. It’s as though this holusion constantly hangs in front of your eyes. You watch a society sinking into a swirling mess of rejecting what is right and embracing what is wrong. You’re left without answers when streaks of tragedy rip into your life. Role models disappoint you; your best-laid plans fail, and you’re left frustrated to see God still remaining in control. That’s why God gives you these words from Ezekiel. He gives you a long-term focus on life by looking at life through his eyes. See The Lord Is Your Shepherd, who rescued you from gloom, who leads you to good pastures, and who will tend you forever. It can be difficult to see at first. Just consider Ezekiel’s audience: the nation of Judah. The Lord does not look much like a shepherd. There is no protection, no safety, no life filled with good-feeling blessings. Look around Judah and watch nothing but utter chaos unfold. Massive siege towers lean against city walls, their bridges unrolled and soldiers streaming out. Babylonian soldiers march through their beloved city streets, sword in hand, seizing Jewish politicians, shoving them into wagons and carts, and whisking them away and out of sight. Over there, troops unwrap the gold from inside God’s church; some pick away at the fine cedar paneling and others pull down the glistening white-stone walls with ropes. Dust blows down the empty streets in the once-bustling marketplace. Jerusalem has fallen— and there is nothing anyone can do to change it (Ezekiel 33:21). Life suddenly feels so dark; the future feels so uncertain, as if a thick cloud drops down and crushes out any remaining light of hope that God is still with believers. This is not the way life is meant to be; this is not the kind of life anyone wants. God creates a perfect Eden (Genesis 1:1-2:4). No tears, no sadness, not even a reason to be sad. No death, no mourning, no heart-wrenching sorrow that comes from losing loved ones. No pain, no hurt, no single ache from getting older. Life is filled with non-stop, constant happiness! Most of all, God himself is their God (Revelation 21:3-4). This is the “big-picture” behind the swirling mess of Babylonian captivity; God desires life lived with him and his commands! Yet, that “big-picture” shatters into pieces the minute God’s creation finds no happiness with him. Yes, God did not remove himself from the nation; it is the nation which chose to scatter from him! It is those in Jerusalem who ran to foreign kings for help instead of God their King! It is those in Jerusalem who favored prostitutes instead of God’s gift of marriage. It is those in Jerusalem who turned worship into nothing more than a empty-minded habit (Ezekiel 22). God is not the problem; the fault lies with the nation. They are the ones who made the “big-picture” into a blurry mess. They are the ones who scattered into the darkness. Darkness is not God’s intentions for his creation—and not just for those of long ago, but also you who live today.Even though about 2,500 years separate you from Ezekiel’s audience, God still created the Garden of Eden for you. God still desires that you find perfect joy in obeying his Word, praising him, and trusting him. Yet, relationships crumble when you find little contentment in God’s instructions for you as a wife … as a husband (Ephesians 5:21-27). Fear over health, worry about money, apprehension over the future flares up when you begin questioning God’s control over his world. That feeling of abandonment swells up when you run away from the Bible for comfort and instead search for answers in godless friends, family, and leaders. The reason the “big-picture” becomes blurry, unfocused, confusing, and frustrating comes, not because of God, but because we scatter from him—and we have scattered from him the very moment we are conceived. By nature, I am sinful (Psalm 51:5). By nature, I do not choose to do what is good. By nature, God would have every right to leave me in eternal darkness. Yet, God himself steps into this confusing picture, rolls up his sleeves, and makes something clear: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. Those lost in the uncertain darkness of sin, God finds. Yes, God himself. He does not demand that you find him (John 15:16). He does not hand you a new set of Ten Commandments to follow (John 14:6). God himself makes a promise to you: I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. The Lord, your Shepherd, kept his promise. Under Good Friday’s clouds and thick darkness, the Lord rescues you from gloom. On the cross, Jesus pries open the jaws of death to free you and he lets those jaws close around his own life. Thick darkness blacks out his life as he dies for your willful wandering. He dies to remove eternal darkness from you forever. On Easter Sunday, he rises from the dead. In fact, he is the first to rise and remain alive! He intends to lead you out of your grave as well (1 Corinthians 15:20-28). He enters heaven, sitting on his throne, getting ready to gather you around him forever! The Lord Is Your Shepherd and he rescued you from gloom. Now, you get to live in the light of the knowing peace with God! That means, the best is still yet to come because The Lord Is Your Shepherd who leads you to good pastures. Yes, right now, in this life, as you live; the Lord presently, currently remains active! Six times he stresses what he will do. I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. And God did! After seventy years of living in the nation of Babylon, God led the nation of Judah back to their old homeland. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land. And they did! They farmed the land and led their cattle to rivers. Kings ruled the nation again. Homes dotted the countryside; businesses opened shop; an economy and government started again. Yet, this promise does not stop with Judah’s return from exile. God points ahead to the day when Jesus would be the Shepherd among many people. Jesus is born in that nation of Judah. He ministers to those living in the land of Judah. He enters heaven after his earthly ministry is over. And he still tends to you, his sheep. How? With the Word of God [the Bible]. Look to the Bible; see what he promises to do: I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign Lord. I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak. When you are crushed by guilt, when you feel that God cannot possibly love you, listen to Jesus say: “I have found you, healed you from sin, and brought you into my believing flock.” When life appears to be this blurry picture, listen to Jesus say: “I strengthen you with my promises.” When violence rips through society, trust that I send my angels to protect you (Psalm 91:10-11). When friends take advantage of you, do not take revenge because I will take revenge (Romans 12:19). When you feel sad or depressed, see that I am with you always as I bless you with friends and family, and I provide for you, as I lift you spirits by remaining in your life (Matthew 28:20; Hebrews 13:5). The Lord Is Your Shepherd who leads you to good pastures of his Word, so that you may be fed, strengthened, and nourished. Not just that, The Lord Is Your Shepherd who leads you to good pastures as he defends you from your spiritual enemies. [B]ut the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice... God has not lost control of his world. With that same powerful Word he strikes down the devil. The devil has lost; you will not go to hell. With that same powerful Word God strikes down a godless society. No one can change the fact that you are heading towards the eternal pastures of heaven. No one can fluster the spread of God’s Word. In fact, the Word of God is spreading like wildfire in countries that still stand so opposed to its teachings. With that same powerful Word God will forever damn the devil, the evil angels, and those who rejected him. This is the “big-picture.” It may appear blurry at times, but soon it will become perfectly clear. The Lord Is Your Shepherd, who leads you to good pastures of his Word and who will tend you forever. Perhaps a better way of saying that is: The Lord Is Your Shepherd, who tends you forever, That means right now and he continue to do so. Through Ezekiel God promised: I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd. When Ezekiel first says these words, King David has been dead for over 400 years. God is not promising to raise David from the dead. Rather, he draws your attention to that great descendant of David’s line: Jesus Christ. Ezekiel points ahead to what will happen (Jesus will come); you (and I) get to look back and see what has happened. God has already raised up his servant David. He has already sent his Son to the cross. He has already raised his Son from the grave. He has already taken his Son into heaven. He has already placed a crown on his Son’s head. He has already entrusted all authority to Jesus. What’s left? I the Lord will be their God…He is now, but soon you will see him face-to-face. [A]nd my servant David will be prince among them. He is now, but soon you will stand around the golden throne of the triumphant Lamb. Where God gets to be with his people and live among them. Just as the way God has made it to be. No one will get in his way. I the Lord have spoken. Can you see the “big-picture” now? Look behind the chaos, behind the mess, behind the confusion— and see what God is doing now. Look into the Bible and see what God has done behind the scenes of this life. The One born Christmas day has lived for you, died for you, rose again for you, and entered heaven to prepare your eternal home. God still rules all things so that you may lift your eyes up to him and trust his ever-present, guiding care. With his Word he makes one final guarantee: “Yes, I am coming soon” (Revelation 22:20). Gain a long-term focus on life by looking at life through God’s eyes. See The Lord Is Your Shepherd, who rescued you from gloom, who leads you to good pastures, and who will tend you forever.
So, she hopped out of the lifeboat. She dashed across the deck which was already slanting at a dangerous angle. She scurried through the gambling rooms— where all the money had spilled out and rolled alongside the wall in an ankle-deep pile. She rushed into her room, swatted away her pearl necklaces, brushed aside her diamond rings, and tossed her golden bracelets to the floor. Her eyes found what she was looking for: a little wooden crate resting on a little wooden shelf over her dresser. Her fingers reached up and grabbed three small oranges from that crate. She shoved them into her coat pocket, stepped over her fine jewels, dashed through the piles of casino-cash, and hopped back into the lifeboat.
Three small oranges. That’s all she wanted; that’s what she risked her life for. As the Titanic was sinking into icy waters, three small oranges became far more valuable than any amount of money, gold, or jewel. I am sure if you would have asked her the night before what she considered most valuable in life, she would have pointed at her fine wealth. Now faced with life-threatening disaster, her perspective on wealth had changed. What her eyes once considered priceless was now discovered not to be as valuable as first thought. What her eyes once considered worthless had now become a real treasure. Can your eyes distinguish between what is worthless and what is truly valuable? Jesus says in our gospel reading: The eye is the lamp of the body. Your eyes take in light; they process what is happening all around you. Depending on what your eye perceives as valuable, You will find your treasure and You will serve it whole-heartedly. What your eyes consider priceless may not be as valuable as first thought. What your eyes consider worthless may carry more treasure than ever imagined. So, How Good are Your Eyes? If your eyes are good, [then] your whole body will be full of light-- and Jesus is asking something more than just: “Do your eyes work?” “If your eyes are good,” he says, that is, if your eyes recognize what holds real value in this earthly life, then your whole body will be full of light. If you identify the one Treasure that will never wear out, then you will unlock real contentment. Most of all, you will have a clear vision on what you really need and what you aim/live for in life. Yet, [i]f your eyes are bad, [then] your whole body will be full of darkness. Again, Jesus is not asking if your eyes are faulty or diseased or if you are blind. He literally says: “If your eye is evil,” that is, if your eye does not understand what is truly necessary in life, then your whole body will be full of darkness. If your eye considers storing up earthly treasures as life’s ultimate goal, then your life can become aimless; you will have never discover lasting satisfaction. Eyes become bad when they see earthly treasures as life’s truest riches. It happens when you search for a secure future in your bank accounts. It happens when you buy big Black Friday gifts all to reap praise from your [grand]children. It happens when you look to your new car or big house to determine your status among friends. Storing up earthly treasures never fills the heart with lasting contentment because earthly treasures change. Rust destroys the once-new car— and the car you once prided in, does not really seem all that important now. Your [grand]child’s changing age changes how they praise your gifts; you can never hold their affection with the same present for all their life. Bank accounts are emptied by hackers and scammers, by unexpected bills and poor choices. Placing your heart, your joy, on the things you own can toss you into spiritual darkness because they always change, because they go away, because they cannot bring the real security your heart craves. Jesus makes that point clear: No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money. Money wants your entire heart. God wants your entire heart. So, if your eyes love Money, then you will not want to give any money in worship. If your eyes love the boats and the cars your money can buy, then you will make sure nothing interrupts your time with those things—be it your kids, your friends, or your God. Your priorities will shift; you will devote more time to getting more money—whether that means you work more hours or you stop paying for the needs of your household. In fact, anything that gets in the way of accomplishing this goal, you will hate— and that means despise. You will want nothing to do with God because he demands too much from you. Yes, you may still worship him, but your heart will not delight in him. You will no longer see him as a loving Provider, but rather as another Person with hand out, asking for what you own. That is why it is important to ask yourself: How Good are Your Eyes? Because with your eyes, you will find your treasure. You will discover what your heart loves. The thing your heart loves most, there your treasure will be. What you consider a treasure, that will be the object you worship. The object you worship can toss you into eternal emptiness. What your eyes consider priceless may not be as valuable as first thought. What your eyes consider worthless may carry more treasure than ever imagined. So, How Good are Your Eyes? It’s difficult, is it not? It’s difficult to love God with a single-minded heart. It gets frustrating when you want to love God, but instead find more coziness in your wealth. It gets irritating when you desire to serve God whole-heartedly, but again find yourself proud over your purchases. You may despair when once again, you realize your eyes still are not the “good” eyes God desires. Yet, having “good” eyes does not start with you; it’s Jesus who gives you good eyes. During his 33 years on this earth, he [S]tored up […] treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal, that is, Jesus’ eyes never consider earth to be life’s truest treasure, rather he sets his sights on opening heaven for you. The Jews offer him a crown and throne, but Jesus willingly wears a crown of thorns and sits on a cross. People shout: “Rule us! Be our earthly King! Drive away our Roman overlords!” Yet, Jesus chooses instead to hear the people later shout: Crucify him! The poor, the sick, the helpless hold out their hands for money and for healing—and he not only gives these things, but strives to fill those hearts and bodies with his saving love. Your Jesus comes not to make earth into heaven, but rather to make heaven your new home. His heart is completely devoted to serving his God and Father—and he has placed that heart into your life. Do your eyes see this? Look to the cross and see what money cannot buy: your freedom from hell. Set your sights on things above— literally looking up at the sky, if you must. Look up to the heavens and see the eternal inheritance that Jesus has won for you. Setting your eyes on Jesus means that your eyes will find your treasure. With your “good” eyes locked on Jesus, your treasure, you will serve your treasure whole-heartedly. No longer will you feel this pull to find self-worth in what you own. No longer will you try to muster up ways to be grateful for what you have. With “good” eyes, your body will be full of light; you will delight every day not in what you have, but rather in the One who gave it to you. Look at the many, many blessings you have in your life, but do not just stop and stare at what you have; consider how you got it. You have money because you have a job. You have a job because you have a talent. You have a talent because God blessed you with that talent. Remember, I cannot do everything you can; you cannot do everything I can. God has given us each special gifts and skills. With those talents, you are able to help others, serve others, and earn a living for yourself. Your earthly treasures come because of a God-given talent which lands you a job which gives you a paycheck. And please remember, that you receive a paycheck because God blesses you with a government that manages the economy. The United States of America works to ensure you have a job. If the economy does well, you will have a job in (or near) your hometown. Having a job nearby gives you an opportunity to work. Having an opportunity to work means you get to earn money which means you can buy clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home, land, cattle, and all you own, and all that you need to keep you body and life (Luther’s Explanation to the First Article). Tracing the path of your earthly blessings will lead you to the One who gave them to you in the first place. More than that, tracing your earthly blessings back to God will fill you with joy every single day because you will delight in a loving God who never changes. The more your eyes focus on God the Giver, the more you live content knowing that God will always fill your life with everything you need— just has he has done and just as he still promises to do. No longer will you needlessly fret, asking: “Will I have enough?” Rather, you will bow your head in prayer and say, “Lord, give me my daily bread.” Like that young lady scrambling through the sinking Titanic, your perspective on wealth will change. The earthly wealth the world considers valuable pales in comparison to the immense wealth of calling God “your God.” Good eyes means You will serve your treasure whole-heartedly. So, How Good are Your Eyes? Your eyes are good because Jesus has made them good. This Thanksgiving, focus your attention on Jesus, your Savior. See the priceless gift of forgiveness he freely hands to you. Look up at the heaven stored up for you— a heaven that never fades or perishes. God for you is the real reason you can give thanks. Setting your sights on Jesus fills you with lasting contentment. Why? Because your eyes have found your treasure! Your eyes lead you to serve it whole-heartedly!
By “persecution,” I am talking about someone beating you up for faith, throwing you in jail, torturing you, burning down your church, passing laws against the public worship of Jesus, passing laws against owning a Bible, or even coming out to kill you (https://www.opendoorsusa.org/christian-persecution/)
So, at what time in world history have Christians suffered the greatest persecution? It is not the Roman era, when emperors outlawed Christianity, locked Christians in the Coliseum with lions, crucified them, and beheaded them. It is not the Middle ages, when pastors like Jan Hus and John Wycliffe were burned alive at the stake because they stood on Scripture instead of conforming to manmade teachings in the Catholic church. It is not during the 1400s, when Muslim nations spread throughout the Middle East, pushing Christians out of their homeland, even killing Christians as “infidels.” Nor was persecution at its greatest during the Great Migrations of the 1800s, when hundreds of thousands of Europeans crossed the Atlantic to enter the New World— desiring not only economic wealth, but also religious freedom. The greatest time of Christian persecution is now. It is estimated that 100,000 to 150,000 Christians are murdered each year because they confess Jesus as Savior. Each month about 214 Christian churches are targeted and destroyed by non-Christian enemies. Each month about 772 acts of violence are committed against Christians. In fact, more Christians have been killed in the past 100 years than the previous 2,000 years combined. Surprised? (https://listosaur.com/miscellaneous/10-shocking-facts-about-christian-persecution-today/) From the moment angry Cain murdered his God-fearing brother Abel, believers have faced opposition because they cling to Jesus as Savior (Genesis 4:3-8). It means, the pressure to abandon your grip on God’s clear teachings will always be there. On some days, in some occasions, you may even feel those against you are more powerful than the One who is for you. Yet, remember this: You are Triumphant in Christ! Even when you suffer, Jesus is still in control. Does it feel like that? That you are triumphant--now? Probably not. Usually it’s the opposite, right? You see almost on a daily basis this growing hostility to Christian teachings. Scientists declare: “We know beyond any doubt that God does not exist!” but in the same breath say: “But aliens might exist, we just haven’t found them yet.” You see more people staying outside of worship than coming to worship. Television shows, movies, and late night hosts use the name “Jesus” as more of a term of excitement instead of honor. Society appears to respect your God very little and wants you to be aware of that. For Daniel, the nation in which he lives— Babylon— not only respects God very little, but even passes laws against worship. (read also Daniel, chapters 3-5) The law was simple: For the next thirty days, pray to the king of Babylon alone or be thrown into the lions’ den (Daniel 6:7). Yes, the law is unfair. Yes, the law singles out those who believe in the one true God of Israel. Yes, the law singles out a man like Daniel, someone rising through the ranks of the Babylonian government. And yes, the law is set as a trap. Daniel’s enemies knew he would break this command. If they catch Daniel, then he dies. If he dies, then they rise in power. And Daniel? Well, when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before. Daniel did not have to publicly demonstrate his faith. After all, the decree stands in effect for only thirty days! Daniel (1) could have not prayed. He (2) could have prayed at the king’s feet, but really addressed his prayer to God. He (3) could have shut his windows, turned off his lights, locked his doors, and prayed in secret. Yet, he does not do any of that. He walks up the stairs to his room, flings open the window shutters, bends down on his knees, extends his arms, lifts his hands up, bows his head, and prays! To change his prayer habits would have been the same as giving in to the demands of the decree. He would allow a law to change the way he worships. [But] these men went as a group and found Daniel praying and asking God for help. So they went to the king and spoke to him about his royal decree: “Did you not publish a decree that during the next thirty days anyone who prays to any god or man except to you, O king, would be thrown into the lions’ den?” They’re right; the king did command every single person in the kingdom to pray to him and to him alone. And the king cannot take back his order. So the king had no other choice, but to give the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lions’ den. A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the rings of his nobles, so that Daniel’s situation might not be changed. Do you know how Daniel could have stayed out of the lion’s den? Cover up your faith. Don’t mention what you believe. Change what you believe to fit what the majority considers appropriate. I’m not too sure what is more surprising. Either the fact that 100,000 Christians are still murdered each year for their faith or that about 45% of Christians in America— a land in which you are free to worship wherever you please— actually worship every Sunday morning. That’s less than half of all Christians (not citizens, but Christians) in America make use of their freedom to worship publicly, without fear of any imprisonment, violence, or death. And yes, I know, some are out of town or must work Sundays or are homebound. Still, only 43% of Christians read their Bibles at least once every week (something that can be done at any time, in any place). Thirty percent attend Bible class. Even less have family devotions at home (http://www.pewforum.org/2015/11/03/u-s-public-becoming-less-religious/) What about you? You get to worship without the threat of imprisonment. You get to pray without worrying that someone will throw you into a lion’s den. You get to own a Bible without fearing that someone will kill you. So, do you pray before dinner? Do you say “thank you” to God for the food set before you? Do you pray before taking a test, asking God to bless your memory, or do you fear what your friend might say if he catches you with eyes closed, mouthing words? Do you openly admit to your doctor that you will listen to both (1) the doctor and (2) take your condition to God in prayer? When same-sex marriage was passed, do you mope around like Jesus lost, or did you pray that God use you to share his Word? Abortion still remains legal. Do you only see victory by protesting, or do you also pray for the unborn and your leaders to change such a horrible law? You may be aware of the personal beliefs of your children, or your parents, spouse, friends, and co-workers. Are you praying that God use you to share your light of faith? Or, have you given up all hope that they will see the Light of life in Jesus? My dear friends, the devil strives to throw opposition in your face as proof that you are on the losing side. That if your children reject Jesus, there is no more hope for them. That if your doctor scoffs at your beliefs, then you are the weird one. That if laws are passed, nothing can possibly change those orders. That if (1) you are a Christian and (2) life has not become perfect, then it never will. It will only get worse. You are Triumphant in Christ even when you suffer. Even when you are called names, mocked, ridiculed, hurt, or killed, You are Triumphant in Christ! How? Because Christ also suffered. A law did not command Jesus to pray to a king. Rather, powerful men rejected that Jesus is the King of heaven and earth. They did not throw him into the lions’ den. They nailed him to the cross. You and I should have suffered and died instead because of the occasions we hide trust in God. And yet it is Jesus who dies instead. Dying because you (and I) have hidden our belief in God. Suffering because you (and I) have denied knowing him. Paying our price so that you (and I) can stand forgiven! Yes, Jesus suffers and dies—but then rises again! Bursts out of the ground. Stands on the earth. Rises off of the planet. And sits over the entire universe in power! You are Triumphant in Christ even when you suffer because your Christ reigns triumphant now! Daniel knew his God stood in control over kings, governments, and nations. Yet, I’m not sure if Daniel expected to live through the night. Yet, it did not matter because Daniel was already Triumphant in Christ. If lived, he would still worship his saving God. If he died, he would still worship his saving God. Whether he lived or died, his trust for deliverance from eternal death would still rest in God. [And] at the first light of dawn, the king got up and hurried to the lions’ den. [… H]e called to Daniel in an anguished voice, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?” Daniel answered, “O king, live forever! My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, O king.” The king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den. And when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God. The wicked mob had plans, but God overruled their plan. He was not ready for Daniel to enter heaven. Instead, he sent his angel to keep Daniel safe. Even though humanity makes their plans, Jesus is still in control. He still sends his angels to protect you. The Bible teaches that angels are created by God to serve you (Hebrews 1:14). Yes, angels serve you! (Psalm 91:11-12) A missionary once shared his story of pastoring a group of Christians in a hostile, Muslim-backed region of Pakistan. This community of believers had built a church, even though their area was well-known for burning down churches. One day the missionary was tipped off by a local that a small mob was heading their way to destroy their church. The missionary and congregation could have fled, but decided to remain behind in the church. There, they prayed all night. They sang hymns. They read Scripture readings. Then the sun rose. The church still stood. More than that, they were still alive. A few days later, a local met up with the missionary. He had overheard that the mob marched towards the church, but when they arrived, they saw heavily-armed soldiers guarding the perimeter. They fled, thinking they had fallen into an ambush. Yet, the missionary did not station armed guards on the perimeter. Instead, God had sent his angels. So, does that mean no one will ever insult you, that no one will ever threaten you because of your faith? No. Nowhere does God promise to defend you with angels until the ripe old age of 100 years old. The Bible shares numerous accounts of men like Stephen, Zechariah, and Isaiah—men who are killed for not changing God’s message at the demands of kings. Only one of Jesus’ twelve disciples died of natural causes; the others died for their faith. What God does promise is: (1) to hear your cries for help, (2) to send his angels to protect you, and (3) to declare you forever innocent. Daniel rejoices that he is found innocent before God. Not only did he obey God rather than man, but Daniel trusted in the coming Savior who would wipe away his guilt. The same Savior who also declares you “not guilty.” Sin will never devour your soul. Jesus’ death has shut the devilish lion’s mouth forever. And Jesus reigns to bring your through this earthly night, and he will deliver you into heaven’s eternal morning. On this Reformation Day, dust off this prized jewel of Scripture. Make use of it in your home, your family, and worship life. God has seen fit to defend his Word over thousands of years so that you too may hear, come to faith, remain in faith, and enter eternal life. He raised up a servant like Martin Luther who stared death in the face because he would not take back his Bible-based convictions. Someone like that stood on Scripture to make sure that 500 years later you could still hear the only Way to heaven. That’s the purpose of Scripture: to point you to Jesus, the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He is the reason you hold firm in the face of opposition. You are Triumphant in Christ! Even when you suffer, Jesus is still in control.
heater fired on, the adhesive ignited, and the house exploded. The two men claimed the warning label: “flammable” and “keep away from heat” did not prepare them for the explosion. They filed suit against the adhesive manufacturers and the jury awarded them $8 million. (https://www.legalzoom.com/articles/top-ten-frivolous-lawsuits)
The city council of San Francisco, California prohibited McDonald’s from handing out free toys in Happy Meals. Litigation director Stephen Gardner concluded that children will pick greasy, obese-causing food for the sake of receiving a toy. “It's a creepy and predatory practice that warrants an injunction” he claimed. Some Californian cities now ban McDonald’s from including toys in Happy Meals. (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mcdonalds-hit-by-happy-meal-toy-ban/) Last Sunday, a 23-year-old Traverse City man flipped his car into a ditch. He claims another last-minute heart-wrenching Detroit Lions loss made him take the right hand turn too fast, thereby rolling his car. Deputies later determined the man was legally drunk. (http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2017/09/drunk_fan_rolls_car_blames_lio.html) A chemical company pays out $8 million because two men carelessly place a flammable substance beside a flame-producing object. No more Happy Meal toys because parents will not tell the child “No”- Happy Meal, “No”-deep-fried foods, no McDonald’s. A car crash blamed on the results of a football game. Those are all examples of a common occurrence, are they not? Shift the blame. Defend the action. Declare innocence. Is that the way God views accountability? This stubbornness is really nothing new. From the beginning of time, human beings have refused to take accountability for their actions. Adam blames Eve for him eating the forbidden fruit. Eve blames the devilish serpent for her touching the forbidden tree. Cain defends, “I’m not in charge of my brother’s whereabouts!” King David kills a man because he slept with his wife and impregnated her. When the heart is confronted with its evil, it scurries away from its guilt. Or, consider the accusations spewing out from the Israelites. “The fathers eat sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.” What do they mean with that? Well, their fathers ate the grapes, and they, the children, suffer the effects of crooked and dull teeth; the sourness still makes them pucker. Their fathers committed the action; they suffer. “God, my father bribed the corrupt judges, not me.” “God, grandpa shacked up with the temple prostitutes; I did not.” “God, your kings are the ones who cheated widows out of restitution! We did not.” “God, you punish us for the wrongs we did not commit.” It’s true— sort of. Yes, the sons did not bribe judges, but they showed no remorse after trampling down God’s commandments. Yes, the sons did not sleep with prostitutes, but they tolerated the seductive lies of false prophets. Yes, the kings cheated widows, but the sons worshipped little statues— cheating God out of the respect and praise owed him. That is why these Israelites, who accuse God of injustice, suffer! They committed crimes against God, and God punished them. He allowed the Babylonian army to swarm over the city walls, seize the upper class, rip them from their homes, from their families, from their land, and drag them away to Babylon! God is not at fault. They are. And if I am honest with myself, that’s not too easy to admit. How often does your heart point its finger at your spouse as the reason for your marriage woes? “He’s too demanding.” “She’s too selfish.” ‘He sits around doing nothing.” “She spends all of your money!” Or, do you blame your teacher your failing grades? She assigns too much homework and you have band, sports, and clubs after school. She should not reprimand you for homework you chose not to complete; you didn’t have time to finish it! She should not hold you in detention because she deserve every word you mouthed off to her. How often are you the supposed innocent victim of budget troubles? (I am not talking about those times when expenses do rise over income). Rather, you can’t afford gas because it’s the fault of gas companies! Your accuse the landlord of being greedy. It’s the government’s fault you can’t give more of an offering! It’s all someone else’s fault! They are the reason you suffer! Is it really? Could it be, that even when you argue, that maybe it is you who is selfishly defending your wants to the exclusion of the other’s requests? Could it be, that your teacher is demanding because you first fail to respect her authority as a teacher? Could it be, that budget woes come because of your misplaced priorities? The truth is, regardless of how you feel about your actions, God sees it differently: You are accountable for the things you do. For every living soul belongs to me, the father as well as the son—both alike belong to me. The soul who sins is the one who will die. God does not excuse the overbearing, manipulative wife because her mother was just as conniving. God does not ignore your fist to the face because the other guy “started it.” You cannot blame your parent’s poor marriage as to why you refuse to marry your boy/girlfriend. God holds each individual life to the standard of his Ten Commandments—yours included. The soul who sins, the person who does not perfectly obey them, is the one who will die—and not the “someone else” you want to blame. If that sounds unsettling, it’s because it is. Really, when you read these words, what does your heart immediately want to scream? “No! God’s saying something else here.” “No! God is not serious. He’ll overlook some things.” “No! God doesn’t understand every single reason for every single action!” Or, does your heart even scream what Israel did? “The way of the Lord is not just!” My friends, your (and my) heart will try to defend its wicked actions to the very end. Your (and my) heart will try to remove the hellish penalty you deserve. Your (and my) heart will try to cram a new message into the mouth of God. It will deny accountability for your actions. It will deny that you are responsible. It will deny that you ever committed any wrong! The heart will even stand up to God and say: “I don’t see how I sinned. If I haven’t sinned, then I don’t need Jesus.” That is not the answer to removing rebellious transgressions. The truth is, it is fair that if God etches Ten Commandments into your heart, that he enforces those commandments. It is fair that your Maker holds you, the person he knit together in the womb, to his standard of perfect obedience. What is not just, what is not fair, is that God would place Jesus onto the cross to be held accountable for my actions. It is not fair that Jesus is accused of being “guilty” for the crimes I have committed. It is not right that God holds Jesus accountable for my self-righteous pride which refuses to believe that I am wrong. But God takes no pleasure in the death of anyone. And so he delights to declare you “Forgiven!” It is Jesus who lifts up your earned consequences and removes them forever! Jesus is the reason God still cries out: Repent! Turn away from all your offenses. To “repent” means to turn away, like taking a U-turn, turning 180degrees in a different direction. If you drive a car north and take a U-turn, you are now heading south. If you behave one way, you will turn and do the opposite action. If you repent of gossiping, you will encourage. If you turn from drunkenness, you will be sober. If you repent from manipulating others, you will live as an honest spouse. Why would you do this? So that sin will not be your downfall! Literally, God says: So that iniquity is not your downfall. “Iniquity” pictures rebellion against authority or rioting against established leaders. To say “I’m sorry,” but continue in a willful habit, addiction, or behavior, really says that you are not sorry. To know drunkenness is a sin, but gladly going too far—really says that drunkenness is not as bad as God makes it out to be. Or, God desires you to make worship your number one priority each week. Yet, making up excuses as to why Sunday mornings do not fit into your schedule is to defend your act of staying out of worship. You are rebelling against God’s command. If you find fault with the commands God gives, you will try to change them. Yet, God asks you: “Where do you draw the line?” Sin will be your downfall because you will always find a new excuse to defend disobedient behavior. If you defend disobedience, you will very little reason to listen to God at all. You will eventually stand over God and tell him what you will and will not follow. What a reason to examine your heart’s beliefs! What a reason to do what is just and right! How do you know what is just and right? Compare your life according to God’s commands. Have you been the loving spouse God calls you to be—always giving love instead of waiting to receive love? Have you been the helpful neighbor—standing up for the oppressed, helping the poor, defending reputations? Have you honored God’s gift of your body? When you realize that your actions have bent away, turn! repent! and live! Run to Jesus and remember that he dies to purify us from all sin. Be assured that God has removed those wrongs as far as the east is from the west. Live a new life—with a new heart and a new spirit. This new heart and new spirit never comes for you trying hard to be a better person. It does not come by shaming yourself into being a better Christian. The only way you receive a new heart and new spirit comes from listening to the Word of God. As you hear, read, and learn, the Holy Spirit plants those teachings into your heart. That is why we sing after some sermons: ‘Create in me in me a new heart.’ You are asking that God the Holy Spirit take the message you just heard and bury it into your heart. You are praying that he shape your thoughts, words, and actions to match up to God’s perfect will. You pray that he put to death every evil desire and impulse and give you a new desire, a new heart, a new spirit to live according to his commands. Do You Want to Live? Then, turn from evil and receive a new heart. Examine your life according to God’s commands. Remember that God holds you accountable for your actions. He will not punish another for the things your hands have done. Sin is that serious. It is so serious that Jesus steps into life to cleanse your heart from all evil. He wipes your heart clean—and that is what God, your Father now sees. A new heart. A new spirit. A new desire within you. A new life bent on obeying him. A new life—not heading for death, but for life. And God makes that clear. Do You Want to Live? Then, turn from evil and receive a new heart.
agonizing minutes. By the end, five young girls lay dead and another five lay critically injured.
Maybe you remember hearing about this school shooting; schools now lock their doors during operating hours because of it. Maybe you remember something almost more shocking than the shooting itself: the Amish community forgave the shooter. They consoled the shooter’s devastated father. They comforted his grieving wife and set up a fund for her family. They even attended the shooter’s funeral. A father of one of the victims even said: “[Roberts] had a mother and a wife and a soul and now he’s standing before a just God.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Nickel_Mines_School_shooting) Could you forgive something like that? It would be difficult, wouldn’t it? It’s difficult enough to forgive the driver who has cost you thousands of dollars in damage to your car because he was texting while driving. It’s difficult to pick up the phone and call your brother who accused you of being love-less. It’s difficult to even look at the teacher who disrespects your efforts in school. It can be difficult to let this debt against you go. It leaves you wrestling with so many emotions. On the one hand you understand the need to forgive, but on the other hand the drive, the passion to forgive is missing— and you’re left with this seething, pent-up anger inside. You want to leave this prison of hatred, but how can you do so while still properly dealing with the wrong committed against you? How Can I Forgive? How could Joseph ever forgive his brothers? He has eleven of them! And they unleashed horrors in his life! They alter the future of his life because they hate him. And Joseph has done nothing wrong! His father, Jacob, favors Joseph more than any other child. He hands him a fine coat crafted out of exotic colors and the finest of linens. He keeps Joseph home and out of the fields so that no harm comes to him. And Joseph’s brothers watch this! Why doesn’t their father love them all the same? Why is Joseph treated differently? Because this treatment is not fair. They hate it. They hate him. They hate Joseph so much that they plot out ways to kill him— literally: kill him. Have you ever reached the point when all you daydream about are ways to kill your brother or sister or mom or dad? That you actually devise a plot to lure him out to a desolate location? That you craft an elaborate story of how a wild lion jumped out of the brush and ripped him to pieces? That you point to a dried out cistern as the perfect hiding place for the body? (37:18-20). The brothers do! When their plan goes into motion and Joseph arrives at the desolate location, they don’t kill him. They do not kill him because there is no money in that. Instead, they sell him to a group of slave-traders for 20 shekels of silver. They place Joseph into a life of slavery for $252.72. How can you ever forgive someone who sells your personal freedom and any hope of a future for just a day’s wage? That’s not all there is; it gets worse. Because his brothers sell him into slavery, Joseph becomes a slave for the supreme commander of the Egyptian army. Joseph does well; his owner respects him. Yet, when his master’s wife lies about Joseph’s seductive ways, he’s thrown into prison. He’s forgotten; no one remembers an innocent man remains locked up. His brothers are the reason he rots in jail. How can you ever forgive that? How can you ever put such hatred behind you? How can you ever talk to them, let alone look at them ever again? Because that’s what happens. In our reading, Joseph finally stands in front of his brothers. He’s no longer a slave; he’s second-in-command over all of Egypt. Pharaoh had pardoned him and promoted him to the position of overseeing food distribution during a seven-year-long famine. The brothers now stand in front of him, begging for food. They do not recognize him, but he recognizes them. This is it, right? This is where you get your revenge. Your adversary cowers in front of you and you hold their future in your hand! You can make their life more miserable than the pain they inflicted on you! That’s what feels fair! That feels right! And that’s what our hearts may wrestle with doing. Make them slaves to you! The sibling who ripped into your reputation and your character— well, let her know you didn’t appreciate it. Hold a grudge! Stop calling her so she feels a hole in her life. Stop sending birthday cards so that she has a miserable day knowing that her sibling does not like her. Fasten her to the chains of guilt so that she must approach you first, bow down, weep and beg for your mercy and your favor! The one who costs you money, hold his guilt over his head! Don’t forgive him, but always mention the accident so that he feels compelled to sing his apologizes! That woman who hurt your family, well, give her the cold shoulder so that she realizes she cannot be friends with everyone. That she’s not as popular as she thinks she is. That you control her happiness. That’s what makes sense, right? That’s what our heart can lunge at! When someone hurts you, get even— no, inflict worse pain on anyone who crosses you— because, after all, you did nothing for them to start treating you poorly. They hurt you first and you had to suffer. So, make them suffer longer, feel more miserable, and hurt even more. That feels right and fair. That feeling of revenge makes it difficult to forgive. Even Joseph’s brothers expect revenge. They themselves admit it! “What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?” They make up a letter from dad saying: “I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.” They even try to punish themselves: “We are your slaves!” They know they deserve terrible punishment for their actions. Joseph stands in front of them, the second-most powerful man in the ancient world. Fingers lifting off his headdress. Index finger and thumb sliding off his signet ring. Chin rising so that his eyes look down at his brothers. This is it; this is where you get even. He opens his mouth, sighs, and announces: “Don’t be afraid. I forgive you.” How do you forgive something like that so quickly? He lost years because he was a slave! He is kept away from his family! He lives in another land! Yet, no grudge! No resentment! No anger! Just ““Don’t be afraid. I forgive you.” How Can I Forgive like that? Well, look at the words of Joseph. In verse 19 he says: Am I in the place of God? Joseph puts the motivation of our forgiveness into its proper perspective. If forgiveness is tied to what you feel is fair, then God should treat you fairly. That means, there is no reason for God to forgive the broken promises to be a more patient person. There is no reason for God to look past the times we locked his Word away so that it could not reach our ears, mind, and hearts. There is no reason for God to cancel out the many times we hated hearing his promises that we trusted in our own efforts and decisions. God would have every right to lock us up as eternal slaves in hell! That is what disobedience deserves. That would be fair. Yet, God, in mercy, cancels out our incredible debt. He allows his Son to suffer because evil men lied about his reputation. He allows his Son to be imprisoned to the cross because the Jewish nation hates him, the non-Jews reject his authority, and his disciples are too afraid to stand up for him. God forgets his Son on the cross, leaving him to cry out alone. God sends Jesus to pay your debt of millions owed him. God sends Jesus so that you are set free from hell’s bondage, set free from guilt, set free for eternal life! This is where forgiveness starts. How Can I Forgive? Do not start by looking at the person who hurt you. Start by looking at the God you and I hurt first. God would have every right to damn us to hell, but in mercy, he forgives. The first thing he says on Easter Sunday is: Peace be with you! Do not fear divine revenge. Do not be afraid that God will remember your wrongs and hold them against you. Live in the peace of knowing that God has taken your sins and has removed them from you as far as the east is from the west! See how much God has cancelled out! See that you stand before him a debt-free servant! You have been forgiven eternal death. Be compelled to forgive those whose actions against you do not result in you damning them to hell. To “forgive” means releasing someone from a personal grudge. The picture behind “forgiveness” is that of “lifting up and carrying away.” When Joseph reads the letter: “Forgive your brothers…” he is asked to lift up the baggage of hurt feelings, take them away, and leave resentment and bitterness behind. If you forgive someone, it means you do not seek revenge; you are not fighting to get even or to make someone’s life miserable for the sake of making their life miserable. If you forgive, you are announcing that person is set free from owing you repayment. So, does that mean you should shrug off and not pursue justice against those who wrong you? No, it doesn’t. Sin has consequences. Consequences may result in punishment. A change in that person’s life may come as a result of their actions. The son who takes advantage of your generosity may have to go without. No, not because you want him to become homeless and beg for food; rather, he you are teaching him how to better manage his money. The friend who lies, may lose your trust. It is not that you treat them poorly. Rather, the result of their lies means that you cannot expect him to be completely honest with you. The one who commits a crime, you forgive—meaning that you will not repeat that crime against them. You are announcing that they do not need to fear your wrath and anger. Yet, their actions may result in them repaying with time behind jail or restitution. How Can I Forgive? Announce that you hold no ill will against that person. Maybe you still feel angry. Maybe you really don’t want to see the person who wronged you—yet. What do you do? You pray. You pray because forgiveness is not a natural feeling. What is natural is to feel revenge and to get even with those who harm you. The power to forgive others may not come overnight. So, pray, ask God to put words in your mouth, patience in your heart, and kindness in your life. Even our Prayer of the Day addresses the need to pray over this. Lord, let your mercy and grace always lead us, let it motivate us in life and let it be our closing words. Let us show your mercy; let us reflect your undeserved love to others. And so we pray, “Father, forgive us our trespasses and move us to forgive those who trespass against us. It can be difficult to forgive. It’s difficult to forgive someone who has wreaked such havoc in your life. Yet, before anger takes a foothold in your heart, remember the havoc God has removed from your personal account. God, in mercy, releases you from an eternal prison in hell. He restores to you the rights of children! Set free from sin, you are motivated to forgive others. Set free from sin, you ask for the ongoing strength to forgive. Look to your Savior and find strength in How You Can Forgive.
of Houston, situated literally in the Gulf of Mexico. It looks like a little sandbar and lies just nine feet above sea level. When Isaac Cline arrived in Galveston, he was so sure that no hurricane would ever touch this booming city that he publicly spoke against the need for constructing a seawall.
Well, a few years after his confident assumption, a ship began sending reports of a tropical depression pushing west across the Caribbean islands. A few days later, the island of Antigua warned of a strong tropical thunderstorm. Soon, meteorologists stationed on Cuba warned of a category-4 hurricane (with winds whipping up to 145 miles-per-hour) heading westward towards San Antonio. Isaac Cline received these reports; Isaac Cline disregarded the reports. He believed the storm would boomerang to the northeast. But it did not. When the hurricane warning flags were finally raised in Galveston, it was too late. The Galveston Hurricane of 1900 remains the deadliest natural disaster in United States history. About 12,000 people lost their lives because Isaac Cline failed to warn the people of the approaching danger. When you are the watchman who has news for life, you become responsible for the lives of others. Isaac Cline had information that could have saved lives, but did not share that information until it was too late and too much life was lost. On this Christian Education Sunday, God asks you: How dedicated have you been at being my watchman? Much of our society remains comfortably uninterested in eternity. It can happen that even you and I grow unconcerned about what beliefs have entered our hearts. God gives you his Word and God Makes You His Watchman so that you may warn against sin and share God’s grace. In verse 7 God says: Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. There it is; you see whom God addresses: Son of man. In this setting God speaks to his prophet Ezekiel— a man, someone’s son. Yet, these words are not only meant for him; our gospel reading connects these words to you. Matthew 18:15 reads: If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault. God no longer talks to Ezekiel; he speaks directly to you. You are “sons” and “daughters” of man. That is saying more than: “You have a mom and a dad.” Being a “son of man” reminds you that you are different from a “son of God.” You are mortal. Your life has a beginning and an end. People who are mortal have a job: you are watchman. In ancient times, a watchman marched along the towering city walls, scanning the region for any sign of danger. The very instant he caught a glimpse of the enemy marching towards the city, he blasted the trumpet, warning the military to take up arms and alerting citizens to take cover. (1) The watchman recognizes danger. (2) He sounds the alarm. (3) He does everything in his power to keep people safe— because he holds people’s lives in his hands. Yet, God does not instruct you to climb a wall, march around, and scan the horizon for invaders. He explains what you, as a watchman, do. Hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. The ‘Word’ God has spoken are the Words that make up the Bible. The Bible teaches this one reality: one day you will stand before God Almighty. It can happen at any moment. You may close your eyes in death today and meet your Maker. Or your Jesus could rip the heavens open, slam his golden throne down on this earth, and send out hundreds of thousands of angels across the entire world to gather all people before him. Only those who cling to the saving work of Jesus are able to stand before him without fear. You know this message, right? You learned it in Sunday School, in catechism class, in Sunday sermons, and in Bible class. And if you heard this message, then it means God has spoken his Word to you. And if God has spoken his Word to you, then it means God has Made You a Watchman for the special task of warning against sin. Yet, why you? Out of all the people on earth, why are you made a watchman? I mean, you didn’t sign up for this, did you? After all, that’s Pastor’s job. You pay him to talk about Jesus and heaven and hell with people. No one’s paying you to approach a friend about their lifestyle. In the end, it’s really none of your business, right? If someone wishes to be an alcoholic and dabble with drugs, then that’s their right. If your son wants to live with his girlfriend outside of marriage, then he should be free to do so! If your child doesn’t want to worship, but still believes there is a God, then that’s good enough. If your friend thinks worshipping God out in nature is enough to enter heaven, then who are you to say otherwise? Why meddle? Why warn against sin? Do you want to know why? Because God has Made You His Watchman. He makes you responsible for the spiritual lives of others because he has put his Word into your life. You have the knowledge of what is going to happen on the Last Day. Not everyone knows. Not everyone is overly concerned about eternity. When [God] says to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you will surely die,’ and you do not speak out to dissuade him from his ways, that wicked man will die for his sin, and [God] will hold you accountable for his blood. The devil has led much of present-day society to label exposing sin as “judgmental.” Quite frankly, the devil just wants no one to point out sin so that more will join him in hell. And if he can get you and me to say nothing, then he has won. My friends, the reason to warn against sin is not to look morally better than someone else. The reason to warn against sin is not to shame others. The reason to warn against sin is not to pat yourself on the back for not struggling with the same addiction and habit as someone else. The reason to warn against sin is to warn against the eternal consequences of sin! To warn against eternal death separated from God in hell. God Makes You his Watchman so that you can warn against sin. God is serious about punishing sin. Yet, as serious as he is about removing sin, God Makes You his Watchman so that you can share his grace. “Grace” means “undeserved love.” God hands youa message of warning so that people may avoid judgment. Yet, for all those times you did not want to sound judgmental, all those times you turned a blind eye to a lifestyle you know was wrong, God would have every right to judge you. Yet, your Sovereign Lord [declares], “I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live.” You God wants all people saved (1 Timothy 2:4) and so he sends Jesus. Jesus does not ignore your failures; he suffers for them. He dies for the times you are too ashamed to warn anyone of God’s judgment. He suffers your judgment in order to stand you before God his Father forgiven! The reason God has Made You His Watchman is for you to share his grace. Yes, you! You may be an elderly watchman—70, 80, 90-years-old or older! If you ever ask yourself: “Why am I still alive? What does God want me to do?” then find a purpose for life in our verses. God makes You His Watchman! Just think of it—you have worshipped God for 70, 80, or 90 years—and you still come here! Why? Don’t you know everything already? Don’t you already believe in God? Don’t you know the Christmas and Easter stories forwards and backwards? Don’t you know all about heaven and hell? Of course you do! And yet, you realize that trouble does not go away as you get older. You still need to hear that God will not send you to hell because of the foolish choices of your youth. You still need to hear that God is in control of the world— including wars and natural disasters. You still need to cling tighter to grace— to be sure that God forgives you free of charge! You have worshipped here for years because you want to be reminded against and again just how much God loves you. So, what can you do at your age and at your stage in life? There are those who think they already know everything the Bible has to teach. God uses you (and your life experience) to encourage those younger than you to remain in worship. God is using you as his watchman to share his grace with your fellow believers. Maybe you are an empty-nester watchman. The kids are no longer kids; they are adults. Your son grew up, got married, lives right around the corner, and has a family of his own—with children who have yet been baptized! Your sister once worshipped with you. She lives five miles away, but doesn’t make Sunday a priority anymore. She travels around Michigan on the weekends. She stays up late Saturday night and sleeps in Sunday mornings. She worships with you only when the family is in town. Perhaps you ask your child: “Where’s God in your life?” As his mother, you want to see him in heaven. You’re afraid by the things he has said and the way that he lives that he considers forgiveness to be “fluff” and “unnecessary.” Tears well up in your eyes because you did not raise your child this way. What do you do? Sound the warning as the Watchman God has Made You. God instructs: If you do warn the wicked man to turn from his ways and he does not do so, he will die for his sin, but you will have saved yourself. Do you see the job God gives you? God does not say: “You must turn him from his ways.” He simply says: “You warn.” God assures you: If you warn and they ignore you, you are not guilty for their unbelief. As long as that child or sibling or friend is in your life, God uses you as his watchman to share his grace. Your kids may be growing up right now. If God has made you a parent, then it means God has made you responsible for the wellbeing of that child. So, you take care of them. You feed them, take them to school, enroll them in events; you shower them with so many blessings. Yet, as parents, you want your child to want to come to worship. You want child to spontaneously wake up early Sunday morning and come here. And sometimes they do— and what a blessing it is to see the Holy Spirit move their hearts in this way! Sometimes they don’t— and what a responsibility you have to crush the devil’s temptation raging in their heart to despise worship. As parents, sometimes you may have to make children come to worship with you. I would love for Clara to want to get shots because they keep her healthy. But she’s five-years-old. She does not want shots. I know shots are best for her wellbeing— and while she may not like me for bringing her to the doctor, I bring her to a person who will help her life. You bring your child to worship so that they can know Jesus better. If you desire for your child to want to worship, then talk about worship. What did you hear in the sermon that stuck out? How does it apply to what your family faces now? How does it give you comfort? Share it! Explain why you are here (when their friends are sleeping at home). Why do you worship in this church (and not somewhere else)? Explain to your child how God’s Word lights up the path to eternal life. Be the Watchman God makes You as you share the love of Jesus with your child. Isaac Cline had information that could have saved lives, but did not share that information until it was too late and too much life was lost. You have information that leads to eternal life. While this world continues, it means you have time to warn against sin. Sin is rebellion against God. It tries to remove you from him; it seeks to throw you in unbelief. It is that serious. Yet, as serious as God is about punishing sin, he more serious to forgive sin. He uses the Bible to tell you: “You are forgiven.” Forgiven by his grace, his undeserved love alone. Use the time you have now to share his grace with young and old and family and friends. Be the watchman God makes you. Someone to warn that unbelief results in hell. Someone to warn against sinful lifestyles. Someone to share God’s forgiveness. Someone to share the joy of growing closer to God. God Makes You His Watchman to warn against sin and to share God’s grace.
Augustine, the more the settlers of St. Augustine stood open to invasion. After 107 years of being attacked by the English, French, and Portuguese (and various pirates), the Spanish military constructed this fort [Castillo de San Marcos].
The fort still stands— and if you ever visit, its walls remain in pristine condition. You see, the Spanish used a special kind of rock for the walls called coquina. Coquina is a natural, hard, dense rock formed almost entirely out of crushed (and compacted) sea-shells. The Spanish discovered this hard rock would not erode from the ocean’s salty breeze. The walls did not dry out and crumble under the hot Florida sun. The best part about this hard wall? It resisted enemy cannonballs. Whenever enemy ships fired at the fort, those cannonballs would bounce off the walls—literally. No matter how long or how many cannons fired, nothing could demolish the fortress. At the end of the day, when darkness covered the water and the enemy ships stopped firing, Spanish soldiers would go out and patch up any wall damage. The next day, when the sun rose, the enemy had no idea where they had attacked the previous day. Three hundred-fifty years later, Castillo de San Marcos still stands because no one could destroy its walls. Isn’t it interesting to consider the reasons for constructing a fort at all? You build a fort because you have enemies. Someone will attack you. Someone does not care about your overall welfare. Someone hopes to destroy you. If you expect enemies, then you make every effort to protect yourself. God tells you quite plainly: Enemies will fight against you (Jeremiah 15:20)— enemies who stand opposed to Jesus, and therefore lived opposed to the teachings of Jesus you carry in your heart and practice in your life. The pressure to leave the family of God is intense. It’s tiring. It may even feel worthwhile to lay God aside. Yet, God barks out the encouragement: March On, Christian Soldier! Flesh will fight against you, but No one will overcome you. Did you expect that? Flesh will fight against you? But you’re a Christian! People are supposed to like you! You have God’s Word in your life. It means that you imitate Jesus by being kind and forgiving, patient and generous. Why would anyone ever fight against you? Not to mention, you have God on your side. Isn’t he there to make sure you always feel happy, that you always have money, that nothing bad ever happens to you? Why should anyone ever fight against you? You have done everything God expects of you! Just like Jeremiah. You see, God appoints Jeremiah to be his prophet. As God’s prophet, Jeremiah is sent to the nation of Judah (located in present-day southern Israel). He walks among his fellow Jews— people who knew God. People familiar with God’s miraculous Ten Plagues—plagues which pushed Pharaoh to let their ancestors leave Egypt. People who heard how God gave the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai. People who held the promise of a Savior from sin. So, Jeremiah traveled in a familiar location among people who shared much in common with him, and he preaches this message: If you put your detestable idols out of my sight and no longer go astray… As surely of the Lord lives,’ then the nations will be blessed by him (4:1-2). It’s a simple message: You will not die if you turn to God in faith. How do people respond? You understand, O Lord[…] think of how I suffer reproach for your sake. When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight, […] I never sat in the company of revelers, never made merry with them; I sat alone because your hand was on me and you had filled me with indignation. Jeremiah’s neighbors point a finger in his face, ordering: ‘Do not prophesy in the name of the Lord or you will die by our hands’ (11:21). A high-ranking priest in God’s temple who heard Jeremiah prophesying these things, [and] had Jeremiah the prophet beaten and put in the stocks at the […] Lord’s temple (20:1-2). Prophets shout: “You must die! Why do you prophesy in the Lord’s name that […] this city will be desolate and deserted?” (26:8-9). A captain of the guard had [Jeremiah] beaten and imprisoned (37:15). Government officials plead: “This man should be put to death. He is discouraging the soldiers who are left in this city, as well as all the people” (38:2,4). And a King answers: He is in your hands (38:5). What has Jeremiah done wrong? The nation of Judah rejected God. God threatened destruction for their unbelief. God had Jeremiah share his message of judgment. Jeremiah did what God said— and he suffers for it! People hate him because spread the Word of God! And God tells you—a Christian--flesh will fight against you. This idea that the life of a Christian will be easy and filled with nothing but happiness and pleasure and friendship does not pair with what God tells you to expect. Flesh will fight against you. Flesh, that is, those who reject Jesus will reject what you have to say. You invite your son to worship so that he might find the real purpose of life in this world. Yet, he laughs at you and gives some excuse as to why he doesn’t need God now. You teach that God’s view of relationships: one man and one woman, who do not simply live together, but are bound together in marriage. Yet, your daughter replies, “Yes, mom, but this is 2017. Get with the times!” You repeat: Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned (Mark 16:16). That’s what makes Jesus so important. Yet, your friend’s daughter says: “Don’t be so judgmental. There’s more than one right religion.” It hurts, does it not? It hurts when someone attacks your character and reputation. It hurts when someone avoids you— even though you are a pretty kind person. It hurts when you are called names, hung up on, shrugged off, and rejected. It feels like an unending pain or an incurable wound. Your ego stings because you repeat God’s Word— and people hate you for sharing it. Can you imagine how easy Jeremiah’s life would have been if he just said what people wanted to hear? He could have ignored Judah’s idolatry. He could have changed God’s message from: “Destruction!” to “Peace and safety!” He could have said nothing at all. Then he would have more friends and the temple priests would not say bad things about him and the king would not threaten his life. And if you keep your beliefs here in this church building or keep them bottled up inside of you, then your friends would not put you in that awkward spot of sharing beliefs they consider “weird.” Your co-workers would not call you judgmental. You could fit into the lifestyle of this world a little bit more. Yes, your life could be so much better if you just do not have God in it! Don’t agree with that? Want Jesus and pleasure in this world? That’s the paradox of which Jesus speaks. You can share God’s teachings on worship, money, sex and marriage, heaven and hell. You may lose respect because others do not want to hear God’s teachings. You may lose popularity because you serve God with your life. Or…, you can change God’s standards of morality to fit the popular thinking of this world and you will win many friends, but you will not have God on your side (see Matthew 16:25-26). You will either love God so much you would rather lose the world than to lose him, or you will love the stuff in this life so much that you would rather lay aside God than to lose wealth, status, or pleasure. God tells you what you can expect: Flesh will fight against you. People who have rejected God will reject the words of God you share. Nonbelievers are not the only ones who fight against your allegiance to Jesus, but the flesh of your own heart kicks against his teachings too. Look at your heart; examine what it loves most. See a dead end at the end of worldly wealth and success. Listen to the Lord [who] says: “If you repent, I will restore you.” Turn away from thoughts that seek worldly wealth; find real value in Jesus. On the cross, Jesus reveals what a heart wrapped up in worldly pleasure deserves: Separation from God. Jesus cries out: “God, why have you forsaken me? Where are you? (Psalm 22:1). No one pulls the nails out of his hands and feet. No one silences the smug soldiers taunting him. No one gives Jesus the glory owed him as God. No one gives him pleasure because he carries our disobedience. Jesus must endure shame and insult because by nature, everyone hates the perfect God stands for. Jesus must endure shame and insult because his life matches the perfect God demands. Even though many fight him, he offers the perfect life God demands. The perfect life no other human being has ever held in this life. All those times our hearts fight God and seek pleasure in this world, those are heaped on Jesus. He suffers, he dies, he is cut off from the sight of God, so that you never will be. He rises from the dead to show that God removed the sting of death. He appears to you in his Word and whispers: “Peace be with you; you are forgiven” (John 20:21-23). Flesh will fight against you because you are connected to Jesus. Yet, March On, Christian Solider. March on past the name-calling. March against the pulls and tugs to find real value in the amount of money you have or your popularity or the pleasure of homes and success. March On, Christian Solider, because you are marching to the real rest Jesus holds for you. March On, Christian Solider, because nothing will overcome you You will stand out in this world; God tells you to expect this much. You stand out— not because you (yourself) look different. You will stand out because you are a representative of God to this world. Frightening? It can be. Explaining that marriage is between one man and one woman for life may not make you too popular. Your child may not want to hear the reality that only Jesus makes people right before God. Your friends may laugh at you when you do not indulge with them. You may feel pressured to cave in, to place God off to the side, and share a worldly view on life. Yet, God promises: I will make you a wall[…] a fortified wall of bronze— something better than the coquina walls of St. Augustine’s fort. Imagine standing at the base of a towering wall made entirely of hazy-golden bronze. Strike it with a sledgehammer, but you cannot dent the wall. Shoot arrows; watch them ricochet off. Ram it with a tank, but the wall still holds. No one and nothing will penetrate such a defense. God makes you a bronze wall— made strong to withstand attacks on your faith. No, not because you are so strong, courageous, and mighty. It’s because God has given you his Word upon which to stand. In verse 19, God says: Let this people turn to you, but you must not turn to them. If you are insulted for the Bible’s teachings, then know this: they are rejecting God’s teachings, not your opinions. If your heart questions why you worship as often as you can, your heart needs to listen to God’s Third Commandment closer. If you are the last believer left on earth and you feel all alone, then know every single person left on earth must bend to you, not you to them. God’s message of forgiveness in Jesus will never change. People must change to hear the message. You who hold to this message will never be overcome. The God who conquered death will raise you to life on the Last Day of this world’s existence. The God who makes the devil’s accusations against you fall flat, assures you: “You are forgiven.” The God who removes the consequences of your sin (and mine), will bring you into heaven. No one will stop him from doing this. His Word stands. His Word is that bronze wall. You stand behind that wall. So, March On, Christian Soldier! Flesh will fight against you. Do not be alarmed at that. Flesh will fight against you, but No one will overcome you because God has enclosed you behind his wall. March On, to heaven Christian Soldier! No one will overcome you.
When you build a pyramid, you must lay the wide base on the ground and work your way up to a point. Just like when you build a house, you don’t start with building the roof; you start by laying a foundation. When you start by putting the important pieces in their correct place, everything else falls in line. If you start building at the wrong point, everything else gets messed up as well.
The same can said when you are building your life. You constantly face this longing to improve life and make it more pleasant. You encounter questions like: How can I be a better parent? … grandparent? How can I be a happier individual? How can I be more forgiving? How can I be a better steward of my wealth? In reality, you are searching for wisdom. You are searching for guidance so that you can avoid unpleasant pitfalls and frustrations, failure and disappointment. The problem is, so many times we start by looking for wisdom in the wrong place, and when we start at the wrong place, we end up with an answer that falls apart. So, God brings you (and me) to the very heart and foundation of true wisdom. He urges you: Humbly Recognize Life’s Truest Treasure, by starting at the Source of wisdom and by discerning true joy in God’s blessings. And what better place to start than by looking at the life of the wisest man the world has ever known? Our reading tells us (1) how Solomon receives his incredible wisdom and (2) how that wisdom is displayed. Now (just for a little bit of background), Solomon is the third king ancient Israel ever had. Israel’s first king is King Saul and when he dies, his family tree leaves the throne. A new dynasty rises, and its king is King David (an ancestor to Jesus). Eventually David dies and his son Solomon ascends the throne. So at the time of our reading, Solomon’s just a few years into his reign. You read that the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream. Stop and think about that for a moment. How do you picture young Solomon? Can you imagine what his palace looks like? …how his subjects treat him … what advice his advisers give? Do you envision Solomon as stressed out? …nervous? …a little timid? Solomon was probably in a good position to start ruling right where his father left off. The royal treasury holds over a centuries’ worth of tax revenue. His father was king, and if people respected David, then they would already respect him. His army marches at his order to any place, any time, for any cause. Solomon would seem to have everything necessary for a successful reign. Money, authority, military. So, it may sound out of place for God to say: “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.” What could Solomon ask for? “God, I’m king. So, my word stands. I have money; I can buy my way out of problems. I have respect, so people will listen to me. No thanks. I’ve got my kingdom under control.” That’s what you might expect to hear, but he doesn’t say that, does he? Instead he answers: [G]ive your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. Hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children want him to lead the nation. An economy needs his assistance for trade and income. Military must know whether to attack or defend. Solomon recognizes that he will need guidance, but he cannot rely on his own personal decision-making. He humbly admits this. He Humbly Recognizes Life’s Truest Treasure by starting at the Source of wisdom. He turns to God and following his Word. That humility is not natural. That is not something we are born with. The Bible says our sinful nature is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so (Romans 8:7). The sinful nature inside of us treasures our word more than God’s Word. It means, you will be constantly tempted to follow the guidance of whatever your heart feels is good and right. When God says: “Set aside in your heart an offering to give me,” (1 Corinthians 16:2; 2 Corinthians 9:7), the heart shouts: “No! That’s mine! I don’t want to give you anything! You’re not worth my money!” When Jesus says, “Forgive, each other as I have forgiven you” (Matthew 18:21-35; Ephesians 4:32) our heart screeches: “No! She hurt me! I’m not going to forgive until she hurts more than me!” When God says: “Trust me. Even as the world’s morality rapidly decays, I am with you always” (John 16:33), our heart cries: “No! I don’t believe that! There are more people who do not believe what I believe. Life’s not pleasant! I need to take over, God!” That sinful heart arrogantly claims your word is more valuable than God’s Word. That your thoughts are more important than the thoughts of God. The way you act must line up with how you feel, instead of what God calls “right.” Simply put, that sinful heart wants to rely on your decisions and to your decisions alone. And if God will not lead you to what you heart demands, then your heart will look for joy outside of God. If you look for lasting happiness anywhere else, you will only find eternal misery. Humbly Recognize Life’s Truest Treasure. It does take humility. It takes humility to put someone else’s word ahead of your own word. It takes humility to follow someone else’s guidance even when it means you are not in control. It takes humility to find priceless value in the wisdom God gives you. Solomon could not help but approach God in humility. After God asks Solomon to request anything, Solomon replies: “[God], you have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart… you kept your promise and [gave] him a son to sit on his throne.” Solomon does not brag about how his military cleverness won the throne. He does not thump his chest, boasting how his intelligence will govern the nation. It’s quite the opposite. Solomon humbly admits: The only reason he reigns is because God put him on the throne. The only reason you can stand before God today is because he gave you the most priceless treasure of all: his Son. For thirty-three years, the devil tries to persuade Jesus in finding value in the treasures of the world. He begs Jesus to challenge God’s promises. “Hey Jesus, look, you’re hungry. You’re a smart guy. You’re pretty powerful. Why don’t you make bread since it doesn’t look like your Father’s going to feed you today?” (Matthew 4:1-3) He pleads with Jesus to place his desires ahead of God’s wants. “Jesus. Hop off of the temple. Just do it. You know the Bible—and in the Bible your Father promises to protect you. You’re wise enough to know that” (Matthew 4:5-6). He even urges Jesus to find real joy in what the world offers. “Hey, Jesus. Look at all these kingdoms and their thrones and their banks filled with gold and their armies and their people—and see? See, look, they can all be yours. Just worship me and then you’ll be rich” (Matthew 4:8-9). Jesus is tempted just like you are—to follow your decisions and find real happiness in this fading world. And Jesus— he finds true wisdom in knowing the kingdom of heaven is his real home—and not just his home, but a home created just for you. He Recognizes Life’s Truest Treasure by starting at the Source of wisdom: The Word of God. Every time the devil tempts him, Jesus points back to the Word and says: “This brings real life” (Matthew 4:10). As he starts walking up Mount Calvary, he prays: “God, if it is your will, spare this pain, but let it be your will” (Matthew 26:36-46). God’s Word proves to be packed with wisdom as Jesus follows it to death for you. He sheds his innocent blood to unlock the gates of heaven. He hands over his life so that you can wear his perfection. He enters heaven in your sight so that you can know for sure: heaven holds your real inheritance! This truth does not come naturally. You must learn it. You must hear it. So, Jesus gives you his Word, the Bible. My friends, Humbly Recognize Life’s Truest Treasure, by starting at the Source of wisdom and then, you will discern true joy in God’s blessings. That’s what Solomon finds. He starts at the foundation of all the decisions that needed to be made in life. He did not construct an upside-down-pyramid. He did not start building a house roof-first. He asks God for the wisdom to start with the Word of God first, and then make a decision. God gave him a wise and discerning heart. “To discern” means to “pay attention to” or “listen with interest.” Solomon understood his real joy would not be found in money because you can never have enough money and because money always leaves you. He knows real joy is not found in long life because life ends and then you meet your Maker. He knows real joy is not found in the death of his enemies because that does not prevent danger forever. True joy is found in a life lived with God. When God is at the head of your heart, everything else falls into line. Do you wish to be a more trusting person? Where do you look to start the change? Well, do you notice where many look for comfort? Politicians. The media. The military. Group A protests that Group B lay aside their strongly-held-belief and embrace Group A’s strongly-held-belief. Yes, politicians and military are beneficial and necessary, but they are not the source of your joy. Neither will they fill your heart with gladness. They will fail you and let you down because they are sinners like you and me— imperfect and frustrating. True joy comes from knowing that whatever the future holds, God holds you tight forever. You may worry how long you will wait for a new Pastor (or if you receive a new Pastor). I cannot peer into the future and bring back an answer. I will tell you this: God has put his Word in your life. Your former Pastor did not retire and take all whispers of the Word with him. God has not closed down your building so that you can no longer hear the Word interpreted correctly and Jesus proclaimed clearly. You still have these things! Even if your surroundings change, you still possess the peace which comes from having eternal life. How do you become a better parent and grandparent? Not by looking at outward things to change about yourself. Like trying to become more patient or more caring or more flexible. Start at the Source. See how God has been a perfect Father to you. See his unconditional love poured out in your life and imitate it! When you Humbly Recognize Life’s Truest Treasure as the Word of God, you will discern true joy in God’s blessings. Solomon didn’t have all the answers as king—but he knew where to turn. The Word of God gave him guidance and wisdom for much of his life. You may search for guidance so that you can avoid unpleasant pitfalls and frustrations, failure and disappointment. Problems come when we start looking for wisdom in the wrong place. So, God starts you at the Source of wisdom: The Word of God. As you grow in the Word, you begin discerning true joy in God’s blessings. Then you Humbly Recognize Life’s Truest Treasure.
Can you do what you say? Probably.
That’s right: probably. Not: ‘Yes;’ not: ‘No,’ but: ‘Probably.’ You know milk is in the grocery store. Your mind remembers how to find the store. Your healthy body is capable of traveling to the store. You have resources (like a car or bike or county bus) to reach the store. Chances are highly likely that you will accomplish the desire of your words. You will enter the store and buy milk. But, just how effective are your words? You may intend leaving, but your car’s dead battery prevents you from leaving the driveway. Your brain understands the necessity of your trip, but it cannot convince a sick body to get up and run your errand. You may have one foot out the door, but then your child grabs your attention. Your words reveal your intentions, but your intentions do not always come true. You do not have the power to fulfill everything you say or want to do. It reveals an eye-opening truth: your words have limits. That is why our Old Testament reading does not center on the power of your words. Instead, the prophet Isaiah focuses your attention on the fact that God’s Word Works Results. It belongs to God Almighty. It works for God Almighty. Listen again to our reading. [T]he rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater[.]Don’t rush through these words; God is not teaching another science lesson. Our eyes may be tempted to look only at the results. (1) The earth bud[s] and flourish[es]. (2) Thousands of seeds burst out for next year’s planting. (3) Fields of grain produce bread for the eater. But the results are not the main point. Rather, the chief point is this: What makes the results? What causes the earth to bud and flourish? What produces thousands of seeds for the sower? What brings bread to the eater? The rain! One little seed cannot spontaneously sprout. The soil lacks the power to crack the plant out of its little shell. A farmer does not pry open the seed, take out little roots and stretch out a stem, leaves, and flowers. Plants thrive and flourish from the powerful effect of the rain. The rain produces results! Here’s the comparison:[S]o is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. What produces results in your life? The Word— and not just any “Word.” Look at the pronoun attached to “the Word.” “My Word.” That “My” does not refer to you or to me or to the President of the United States or to the Supreme Court of the United States. That “My” refers to God Almighty. The Almighty God who spoke: “Let there be”— and heaven and earth and land and waters and animals and people instantly come into existence (Genesis 1). The Almighty God who stood in a boat and commanded brilliant flashes of lightning and booming thunder and heaving seas: “Be still!”—and immediately the waters become like glass, the winds gently blow, and the skies unlock the sun (Matthew 8:23-27). The Almighty God who seizes the hand of a dead child and whispers: “Get up”—and she opens her eyes, sits up, and begins walking! (Mark 5:21-43) God’s Word Works Results because It belongs to God Almighty. That means you have a source to silence every fear! When money gets tight and gas prices rise, grab onto the assurance that God daily provides for you. When you are frightened about the future, remember that your Almighty God governs the future. When death takes a loved one and you hurt inside, believe Jesus has welcomed them into heaven. You can live without fear because God’s Word Works Results! Is that how you live… fear-less? Maybe you wake up each day wishing to carry less worry in life. Yet, you feel like marriage cannot and will never offer you the security, the happiness, and the love you truly want. Your mind is consumed with questions about North Korea and their nuclear capabilities. You can even leave worship fretting over the future of your church. Every day we battle fear. Any worry you carry does not come because God somehow did not help you enough. God’s Word Works Results because it comes from the mouth of the Almighty. The reason we feel alarmed is that we think our word can work results. It happens when you push aside the Bible’s blueprint for marriage and listen to your own thoughts— feeling as though your answers are going to make marriage happier and better. Fear creeps up when you doubt God is really in control— that God makes a promise to certain people in the Bible, but those promises are not meant for you. You may treat God’s Word like it is powerless— that you expect God to provide food, but you don’t expect him to pay bills. You trust God can heal your cut, but you don’t know if he’s going to heal your stomach. You see God miraculously control winds and waves, but doubt he does those anymore. That sinful nature inside of each of us strives to push God’s Word off to the side. That sinful nature tries to convince you that God cannot be trusted. If you cannot trust God, then you will look for another object to trust—even if that means you take the place of God. My friends, remember this truth in our reading: God’s Word Works Results. It works because only God has the power to do everything he intends. The instant sin enters the world, God gives his Word: You will have a Savior (Genesis 3:15). He keeps adding Words to this promise. He will be born in a little town called Bethlehem (Micah 5:2). His mother will be a virgin (Isaiah 7:14). People will marvel at his message (Deuteronomy 18:15). He will bring comfort to the world (Isaiah 40) because the weight of the world will be draped across his back (Psalm 22; Isaiah 53). How effective are God’s words? He fulfills them all—including the words that have changed your life forever: “It is finished” (John 19:30). At your baptism, God’s powerful Word brought you into a relationship with him. It is by his command you are made his child. It is by his promise that the consequences of self-trust are washed off from you. It is by his Word you are made his child. God’s Word Works Results. It belongs to God Almighty and It works for God Almighty. Look again at verse 11. [S]o is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty[.] Let me ask you: When it rains, where does the water go? Into the ground. For what purpose? For plants to take in the water, use it, and grow. In the same way, God’s Word always works a result. Some hardened hearts reject the Word. Others listen, but cave into the pressure to deny their faith. Still others hear, but love for worldly wealth chokes the Word out of life. For you, every time you hear the Word, you are growing in your faith (Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23). God’s Word works for God Almighty. [It] accomplish[es] what [he]I desire and achieve[s] the purpose for which [he] sent it. If you have ever cared for a plant, you know there is one thing that plant above all else: water. When you water a plant, sometimes you see results. You see new vines, new leaves, new flowers, new tomatoes and peppers and beans. In the same way, God’s Word Works Results. Yes, you can marvel at the many ways in which God has led the most confused soul to faith. You can stand amazed at the comfort it gives to the brokenhearted. You might delight in hearing testimonials how changed a person’s life entirely. Yes, many times we look for the Word to leave spectacular results that we can see! Yet, sometimes when you water a plant, you do not see the results. The plant is still alive, but you don’t know if anything about it has changed. Yet, God’s Word still Works Results--even when we cannot see the results. Those results may not always be what you expect. You may have in mind the perfect marriage with your spouse having perfect conversations and your every need being met in the perfect way. You feel your spouse is the one who needs to pay close attention to God. In reality, it just might be you who needs the Word to refocus your attitude. It is the Word that teaches you to put the needs of your spouse ahead of your own—even if it feels inconvenient. Those results may not always be seen now. You have worshipped here for weeks, months, years, decades— and it might feel like you get little out of worship. But then, one day someone close to you tragically dies. All of your friends and family mourn; grief rips into them. They have no idea where to find comfort. They reveal they have no idea what brings the greatest fulfillment to life. But you know. Because of all your years hearing and studying and learning about a Savior, you can share God’s love. You did not look like you grew, but in reality, you had been growing all along. Those results may not always look successful. God does not promise your congregation will always grow. He does not promise that your world will grow more godly. He does not promise that you will have lots of money and perfect health. It can feel like either (1) God did not keep his Word or (2) something is missing from the Word. Remember this: God sends out his Word to strengthen you. Faith grabs hold of God’s promises—even when you do not see the outcome of those promises. Even if money leaves you, trust God still cares for you more than the birds of the air or the grass in your yard. Even if health fails, understand God the Great Physician holds your wellbeing under his careful eye. Even if it looks as though Satan’s godless agenda is succeeding in this world, remember that Jesus won the war on Calvary. What happens is that your trust, your reliance on Jesus increases. The results may not be something the world praises, but you do not need the world’s praise. The result of the Word is to strengthen your trust in Jesus. Plants are living things; they either grow or they shrivel. To make a plant shrivel up, keep the water away. To make the plant grow, water daily. A plant cannot live without water. Christians cannot live without the water of God’s Word. To make a Christian rely more on himself, stay away from the Word. To make a Christian grow in faith, daily remain in the Word because God’s Word Works Results. So, just how effective are your words? Do you have the power to fulfill everything you say or want to do? No—but you don’t need to have that power. God’s Word has the real power to change hearts and to instill comfort. God’s Word equips you for whatever lies ahead this week. God’s Word tells you that the Almighty is in control. God’s Word tells you that God is powerful enough to make his Word bear results. That is why our Old Testament reading does not center on the power of your words. Instead, the prophet Isaiah focuses your attention on the fact that God’s Word Works Results. It belongs to God Almighty. It works for God Almighty.
teenager asking questions and answering questions, or you were the adult who investigated the Bible more and pieced together everything God has done and still does for you. You continue grasping God’s Word as you study in Bible class or read your home devotions or read through chapters of the Bible. Some of you even hunched into little Sunday School chairs and discovered just how much God loves you. So, you are here— gathered in a house of God, gathered to hear the Word of God, gathered for the sole purpose of growing closer to God because you are a Christian— someone whose life follows the teaching, example, and love of Christ.
But you’re not perfect, are you? You may know the lives of Abraham and king David, the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah. You may worship every opportunity you have. You may try your hardest to take one key truth and put it into practice. But you still struggle with temptations and still tumble into sin. A Christian and sinner! Those two don’t seem to go together! And you do not want to “sinner.” So, what’s the problem? Why can’t you be one instead of the other? What’s wrong with you? Maybe you woke up looking into the bathroom mirror, asking yourself that very question. So often you feel pulled in two different directions. Verse 18 reveals the first tug: (1) For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. You know what is ‘good;’ you remember God’s Ten Commandments, your mind recalls how just lovingly patient Jesus is with you and others. Your heart yearns to imitate your Savior’s life. So, it doesn’t take long for you to realize that your group conversation has just crossed the line. Everyone else no longer shares heartfelt care and concern. No, you now hear big, fat, juicy gossip meant to attack the character of your politicians, meant to make your friend look stupid, meant to elevate you as the wisest sage of all. And yes, you do not chime in because you know these words are not God-pleasing. The ‘good’ is to defend the reputation of others— but you just stand there, quietly silent, doing nothing because you do not want your reputation attacked. Or, you are well aware God calls your body his temple (1 Corinthians 6:19). A temple not to be filled up with drugs. A temple not to be abused with liquor. A holy temple with mind and body acting in decency. But then, you’re home alone and the struggle for self-control fires up again. The ‘good’ is to honor God with your body— but how difficult to grab the upper hand over your body and its desires! You know the good to do, but fail to actually do it! Then, there’s the pull in the other direction. Verse 19 says: (2) [W]hat I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do— this I keep on doing. Your wife spent hours pouring out her heart for you in dinner. She chars that steak to medium-rare perfection and places it right next to a baked potato loaded with sour cream, bacon, and butter. She beams with glee because she wants to make you happy. Yet, you had a bad day and you’re going to let her know about your bad day. In fact, you are going to make sure her day is not and cannot be any better than yours. So, you gripe the steak is too rare, the baked potato could use chives; you question the use of her time at home and grunt out some gloomy news you heard earlier in the day in the hopes of stifling her joy. Or, you recognize what words you should say. After all, when a four-letter bomb comes out near a church building, you quickly apologize. Yet, as soon as the building is out of sight, you can resume using God’s gift of words to express anger or excitement or astonishment or for so-called fun. It can be so easy to reflect on everything you said, thought, or did last week and see the evil stick out so plainly. It gets frustrating, doesn’t it? You are a Christian. Inside of you is this burning desire to become more Christ-like. You crave the willpower to say “No” to addiction and to say “Yes” to stable relationships. You want to grow more patient and to better control your temper. You want to watch the words that come out of your mouth. Try as you might, you still say things you cannot take back, you still act in ways you later regret, you still struggle to control your thoughts. It may leave you staring into the mirror, asking the reflection looking back at you: “What’s wrong with me?!” What’s wrong with me? [Pastor] What’s wrong with you? What’s “wrong” is trying to find spiritual rest in yourself. No matter how hard you may try to be nicer, kinder, and gentler, it takes only one action to plunge you right back into despair. It takes one sin to remind you: “God is not happy.” It is that guilt which can wrack your soul with terrifying fear: What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Well, it is the one who has the word “rescue” built into his name (and it’s not your name). Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! Let those words sink in. Thanks be to God! Don’t those words just jump out at you? Do you see what’s missing? The Bible doesn’t give a list of ways to earn this forgiveness! No: “Thanks be to God! Now I must be better or else.” No: “Thanks be to God! Now I must commit my life to Christianity more.” You do nothing; you simply sigh: “Thanks be to God!” because through Jesus Christ [y]our Lord you receive true rest. Jesus is the way God’s forgiveness reaches to you. It means when you are crushed by your tirade, look to the cross. When guilt torments you, look to the cross. When you feel absolutely terrible that you [again] failed to control your body, look to the cross. Ask yourself: “What happened there?” Jesus died, right? “Why did Jesus die?” Because he stood before God instead of you. And God sees your (and mine) lack of self-control on him. And Jesus is dealt the death you (and I) deserve. So, what does this mean? Jesus removed any reason for God to damn you to hell! He removes any reason for God to be angry with you! It means you are forgiven! You have peace with God! You can live without fear; you can run to the cross and dump your guilt off there because Jesus has done it all! Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! This is the answer! When you look into the mirror, shaking your head and sighing: “What’s wrong with me?”—understand, rest is not found in you. You (and I) are wretched without Jesus, but you (and I) are blessed with Jesus! So, when the mind stirs up guilt, run to Jesus. And keep running to him. The truth is, you and I will never reach a point when we no longer sin. Our reading makes that clear: So I find this law at work… A better way of saying it: I find this pattern constantly happening. (1) When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law. That’s true. You learned in youth and adult catechism classes that you have a New Man (or a New Adam). The moment you came to faith, your heart had the desire to obey God, to listen to his commands, and to follow him. So, you delight in being the best parent. You want to serve him with your hands, your offerings, and your time. You do not want to gripe and complain; you want to encourage and build others up. Why? Because Jesus never complains about you. He never stops filling your life with money and possessions. He never stops forgiving you. He selflessly loves you, so you selflessly love him (1 John 4:19). (2) [B]ut the same time, I see another [principle] at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. You have this New-man-desire to please God, but the Bible teaches: you still have a sinful nature. Remember Adam and Eve— the first people on earth. The moment they sinned, their hearts filled up with ways to put their needs ahead of God’s wants. Since we all can trace our family tree back to them, it means we inherit their self-centeredness (Romans 5:12-19). So, a part of our hearts still want instant gratification. That’s why babies cry; they want you to stop what you are doing to meet their needs. That’s why toddlers fight over toys— because those are “Mine!” That’s why children spit out food— because it isn’t their liking. That’s why adults argue— because someone else is telling them “No.” You and I will always have this tug-of-war raging inside. On the one hand you crave to serve God; on the other hand, you want to block his Word from your mind. The struggle against temptation will always be present in your life— but never despair. Run to Jesus and collapse into the rest he gives you. Find rest in his Word, in the Bible. See Jesus and how he lives. See how Jesus lives for you. That means, he does not live to be only an example to follow (as though imitating him leads to a perfect life). He lives to be perfect in your place. When you continue grasping the fact he lives for you, your love and appreciation for him grows. So, if you recognize your language is a little too colorful, look to the language of Jesus. He uses his words to encourage and build up— even strengthening disciples who constantly let him down! He uses his words to forgive you. Touched by this love, touched by his words, you imitate him. The struggle will be constant. It will continue until you reach your home in heaven. So, if you ever wonder what’s wrong with you, look immediately to Jesus. See who you truly are— just as our reading does. Tucked in between all the “dos” and “nots” is the word: “I.” That little pronoun stands out apart from the sinful nature. You have been bought and made a possession of God. You are no longer controlled by sin. Your real self—the way God sees you— is a perfect child of God. Perfect— because Jesus puts his life over yours. Child— because God looks at you and smiles. Friends, nothing is wrong with you because you are connected to Jesus. The struggle comes because you love him most of all. Find your rest in Jesus. Then go, Struggle against Sin with Jesus.
on May 9, 1865, President Andrew Johnson reaffirmed that the North and South still remained one United States of America. So then, what is the importance of Juneteenth Day? Well, on June 19, 1865, those bound in slavery finally heard that they were set free.
Now, if you remember your American history, you realize that something about statement sounds odd. Yes, it is true that slave-labor continued an extra two months and two weeks after the war had officially ended. However, on January 1, 1863, Abraham Lincoln announced slavery’s end with his Emancipation Proclamation. Even though the nation was divided, Lincoln’s presidential words still applied to both the United States and the Confederacy. Yet, no one shared the joyful news with the slaves. In fact, no one told them until June 19, 1865 (Juneteenth Day) that they were set free— and that in reality, they had already been set free for 2 ½ years. Can you imagine waking up each day stuck in slavery simply because no one told you that you were actually free? You slave away each day, wishing for relief from aches and pains, longing for the long hours to end, craving a life without fear— even though, in reality, you already have those things! The news of freedom would transform life! That is why Jesus Sends You Out. The good news of freedom from hell has reached your ears, but that good news has not reached everyone. Many still remain slaves to guilt, pride, and uncertainty, living life as though Jesus accomplished nothing. So, Jesus Sends You Out with the message you freely received and with an opportunity to freely give. When you look at our reading, just imagine what Jesus witnessed. [He sees] the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. God had appointed priests to share his love with the nation. Instead, those priest strut down city streets with Bible pages tied to their heads and their noses held high with pride. They added over 400 rules to God’s original Ten Commandments— rules that almost no one but a priest could fulfill. It left every worshipper uncertain of their standing with God! Repentant prostitutes and cheating tax collectors are shunned simply because a priest felt they were too bad to be forgiven. The needs of the crippled and deformed, sick and diseased, orphaned and widowed are ignored because they look so lowly. Still others carry such low respect for worship, they quit caring about their standing with God altogether! No one heard about forgiveness from a Savior! Massive crowds lived unaware of the freedom Jesus brings! Freely [they] have received! Priests do not carry the Scriptures because they are not prostitutes. They do not preach because their children love them. They do not study Old Testament prophecies simply because they do not have deformities. Jesus chooses to put the free promise of forgiveness into their hands. Freely [they] have received, freely give! This is the reason why you share your faith. Jesus points out a fact: Freely you have received and then concludes with a command: freely give. Parents, you have received the good news of a Savior from sin. You trust this message; you believe it. God has blessed you with children. He has even instructed you: “Fathers [and mothers] bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4). Do you? Or are you tempted to let them find God’s freedom on their own— at a later age, at another church, whenever they want— if they want it? Friends, you are a friend— a person God has placed into the life of someone else so that you can be a blessing to them. You build memories. You share interests. You complement their abilities. Yet, when your friend wonders why their mom has terminal cancer, do you give an answer… for the hope that you have? (1 Peter 3:15). Or does it feel like life after death is not as serious as it sounds? Christian, when you sit at a group event and a member wonders why someone shoots congressmen, do you point out the brokenness of the world, but a brokenness healed by relying on Jesus? Two thousand years ago Jesus signed the proclamation of freedom from sin— and the devil still fights with all his strength to silence his cross and keep the world locked in spiritual slavery. His most loved ploy in covering up the message is to get you to ask: “Why me? Why not someone else?” He knows if you consider the good news of forgiveness as something only you get to enjoy, then no one else will hear it. He knows if you think someone else will share Jesus with a friend, then that friend might never believe. He knows if you try to treat the joys of earth equal to the joys of heaven, then you will never offer spiritual comfort in a decaying world. If only he can convince you that you somehow deserve God’s forgiveness, then you can start placing restrictions on who you share it with. You can keep it to yourself. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). Thousands of years ago, Jesus saw you, here, living in a world fighting to fix itself. He saw you—and the times you would doubt his presence when sick. He watched you reeling from your harsh words, dealing with the aftermath of your actions. He saw the long, weary, anxious face as friends break another promise, as your hope for government to make things better wisp away, as you search for meaning. He has compassion on you. He is born for no other reason than to set you free from fear of death, from the eternal consequences of sin, and from the devil’s crushing accusations. In plain sight hangs a Savior who suffers unfairly, but does not accuse his Father of wronging him. You have a Savior who does not curse his accusers, but begs for their forgiveness. You have a Savior who does not restore a government, but rather establishes a kingdom in heaven. He opens the doors to paradise with his blood. He rises to life to enter and reign in this kingdom. He sends out the good news that you are free to join him! This message transforms life! This message is free; you have freely received it. The reason why Jesus Sends You Out is two-fold: (1) You received forgiveness by God’s grace alone and (2) You know this message of forgiveness. So, Jesus Sends You Out with an opportunity to freely give. Jesus gives two ways how you can put these words into action. (1) First, As you go, preach this message: “The kingdom of heaven is near.” Maybe you have asked yourself: “What do I say to my friend about God? There’s so much: baptism, Christmas, forgiveness, prayer, law, gospel… what do I say?” Chances are, you don’t have 24 hours to instruct someone in the Christian faith. So what do you say? Show them Jesus. Show them Jesus because only he brings spiritual freedom. Tell of a Savior who snaps the chains dragging you to hell and places you in his kingdom forever! Give your confidence and your joy that the kingdom is near. Jesus has already suffered, died, and risen again. The very moment he enters heaven, the countdown clock starts; he can return at any moment. Eternity gets closer each day—and you eagerly wait to stand in the presence of Jesus forever. So, preach this message. Do all of those in your circle of friends or family rely on Jesus? Look at this FRAN-card (friends-relatives-acquaintances-neighbors). Think about those who are searching for answers in this world. Befriend those who were wrongly hurt by their old church. Show them the free, forgiving love of Jesus—a love without any conditions or rules attached to it. You can do that because, well, you have already shared Jesus. You bring your children and your grandchildren to worship. You are freely filling them up with the love of Jesus. You follow God’s command as you raise your children in the Lord. Continue doing so! Be the one to share the message of freedom with them! Or you share Jesus with your spouse. That’s why you invite them to worship. That’s why you share home devotions. That’s why you encourage them to explore the Bible’s teachings. God has chosen to use you to lead a soul from death to life. Sharing your faith grows into something more automatic. It does not need to be this conscious effort— where you set aside two hours a week for faith-sharing time. Make it a part of your life. Tell people plainly that you spend Sunday mornings here and they are welcome to join you. Share your faith on particular subjects. If someone asks: “Where do you go when you die?” tell them. (2) Second, Jesus urges you: Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. How much easier can it get? Ask him in prayer to raise up young men who are willing to serve in the pastoral ministry. Ask him for opportunities in your community where you can openly express your faith. Ask him for the personal courage and boldness to take the step and invite the one person on your mind to worship. Ask him to bless our offerings as we work together as a synod, where we join with other like-minded congregations to carry out mission work all around the world. Ask him to bless our efforts to reach the lost. Pray that you might be the one to share Jesus. Ask God to give you the “right” opportunity to speak. Ask God to give you the words to strike the heart. God has placed you and me in a mission field—with so many souls waiting to be gathered to the Savior’s side. And, by God’s grace, he chooses to use you and me to gather. Invite friends to learn about Jesus. You know these people. You know their interests, their backgrounds, their jobs, their family-life, their worship-life. You know what they believe and don’t believe. You are the answers to the prayer: “Send out workers.” Continue praying. After all, if Jesus is serious about making such a request, would we not want to make use of this encouragement daily? Jesus Sends You Out with an opportunity to freely give. No one really knows why it took so long for the news to reach those in captivity. Some think the messenger might have been murdered. Others wonder if the slave-owners knowingly withheld the information in order to continue receiving free labor. Still others suggest that federal troops withheld the news just long enough for plantation owners to finish harvesting (http://www.juneteenth.com/history.htm). Regardless of the reason for the delay, multitudes lived life under slavery even though they were truly free. The good news of freedom from hell has reached your ears, but that good news has not reached everyone. You freely received a message. This message is for your benefit—and for the benefit of others. And God graciously works through you and me to lead others to comforting freedom of his love. That’s why Jesus Sends You Out with the message you freely received and with an opportunity to freely give.
hammer your fingers? Probably not. You recognized how you placed your thumb in danger and so you took the necessary steps to avoid repeating your painful experience. You learned from history.
Or, look at your kids. If your [grand]son successfully grabbed a bee (and got stung), he probably runs away from bees now. If your [grand]daughter slammed her fingers in the car door, she probably watches her fingers a little more closely. Kids avoid future danger by learning from past experiences. So, what happens if you do not learn from history? …if you do not change your hammer-swinging-habits? … if your [grand]son grabs another bee? …if your [grand]daughter holds the car-doorframe while slamming the door shut? Well, life will be less than pleasant. Life will hurt. Life will be painful because those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. That is why God makes sure you get to hear these very words. He echoes Israel’s history so that you may avoid stumbling into their same suffering. Practice Real Wisdom as you Remember the past so that you can Watch the present and Teach the future. Moses cannot stress that point enough. He stands before two million Israelites who are on the brink of change. They will enter a new land with a lush, fertile landscape, a new government with a new economy, a new way of life with entirely new opportunities for their children. And Moses… well, Moses will not live to join them. In his final address to the nation, he Remembers the past. He points back to Mount Sinai (or as you heard it called in verse 10, Mount Horeb). There, God gave Israel Ten Commandments— ten perfect demands to guide their life. He also gives a ceremonial law, instructing them how to worship, when to worship, what offerings to bring, and who will lead worship. He even hands down a civil law, teaching people how to live with each other, how to pay back debts, how to obtain justice, and treat personal property with respect. Moses commands— not suggests, not gives an opinion, but commands: “Follow them.” From this point forward the nation must live life within the boundaries of God’s commands. If they remembered the past, then they would remember why. You saw with your own eyes what the Lord did at Baal Peor. Now, Baal is the name of a pagan god. Nations believed Baal could send rain and sun to make crops grow, and could multiply the size of their herds. The way to activate Baal (or have him work) is to have sex. So, decades earlier at a place called “Peor,” godless women seduced 24,000 Israelites to worship Baal (Numbers 25:1-9). Even though God first commanded: You shall have no other gods (Exodus 20:3), 24,000 Israelites handed their bodies over to this cow-god in broad daylight. And God witnessed this! He did not ignore their godlessness. The Lord [their] God destroyed […] everyone who followed the Baal of Peor. How does a nation which has God speak to them, lead them, and live with them fall into such deep unbelief? Well, is it really much of a wonder? Twenty-four thousand added a new command: You can have a new god! Twenty-four thousand stripped away an old command: You shall have only one God. Twenty-four thousand listened the devilish whisper: “Did God really say?” and they believed the lie. My friends, that devilish hiss still echoes today. Yes, Moabite women will probably not seduce you to worship Baal. You live in a world that preaches: “Do what makes you feel good!” Love others only when they love you!” Yes, you probably will not worship a cow. Yet, your world challenges: “This is your parent’s church! You surely do not believe everything they believe! You are stronger, wiser, smarter! Believe your own thing!” Yes, you will probably will never erase God’s Word from your mind. Yet, your heart will beat: “You don’t need to listen to him! You don’t need to be in worship as often as possible. You don’t need to let his Word guide your choices. You can live life on your own!” The heart within our very own chest beats, throbs, and pounds for you to stand on top of the Bible, slam down a throne, and render judgments like a judge. God commands: Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the Lord. Yet, you will be tempted to believe every excuse, lie, and reason to change it. So, here’s the real question: if you add and subtract from God’s commands, then whose word are you really listening to? does not say it, then who is? If God commands love and obedience you ignore it, then who are you following? You are listening to the rules of a faulty human heart that has absolutely no power to make life better. Failing to remember the past can throw you into the same eternal pain as those 24,000. So, remember the past. Remember a God who guarantees he is near you. Remember a God who wraps himself in the flesh of an infant. Remember a God who grows up in his very own commands. Remember a God who delights in listening to every Word— even when those Words lead to death on the cross. There, your God, your Jesus remembers you. He remembers to remove every time you stood defiant in the face of God and declared your independence from him. He remembers that his life will cover you so that your sins will be remembered no more. This is who you are now: God’s child. He has called you to be different. To be different means that you no longer live according to the ways the world considers wise. Instead, you Practice Real Wisdom. Remember the past so that you can Watch the present. What do you see? Do you feel a heart which pounds for the voice of Jesus to lead you through every decision, question, and challenge? It can be struggle to do so, right? That is why Moses reminds you: See, I have taught you decrees and laws as the Lord my God commanded me… Observe them carefully. This is where our English language loses a little of the Hebrew flavor. To “observe” means you pay close attention to something like when you drive through a dangerous city, but still pay close attention to your surroundings and safety. You protect your life as you avoid danger. Observe, that is, pay close attention to the Word of your God. You know the commandments; you learned them in catechism class (or if you no longer remember, you can read through them in Exodus 20:1-17). Watch how you use the Word in your everyday life. When you have financial or health or schooling decisions to make, ask: “What advice does Scripture give me?” When you wrestle with temptation, run to the Bible because it is your weapon to end attack (Ephesians 6:10-16). When you feel empty and seek guidance for the future, rely and remember God’s promise that he is always with you (Matthew 28:20). These commands are to be a part of life because this is your understanding and wisdom. Humanity might be wise in its governing and its decisions. While many benefit from this wisdom, it will never translate into eternal joys. Only God’s Word brings true wisdom. Only God’s teaching gives the clear, definitive answer as to how (1) you stand right with God, (2) how you enter eternal life, and (3) how you live confident of entering eternal life. A heart placed on any other wisdom will never, ever grant such security. Watch what your heart loves, believes, and trusts. Watch your actions and behaviors. Watch your present spiritual life and safeguard your faith so that will never forsake your eternal treasure. This is how you Practice Real Wisdom. Yet, wisdom does not stop with the here and now. You are truly wise as you Teach the future. This is how: Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely. Now, Moses is not talking about looking in a mirror and checking over your appearance. Instead, he wants you to watch what enters you spiritually. Why? Because you can forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart. Do you remember everything you ate for supper on Friday? Do you remember everything you learned in gradeschool? (... half of everything?... a quarter?) Do you feel confident enough to step back into your first job and be just as effective and knowledgeable as you were then? We forget things over time. That includes what you learned in Sunday School and Bible Class and Catechism class and even in sermons or personal Bible readings. You can forget how long it took Noah to build the ark, or how many commandments God gave (and what they are), what makes King David an important Bible figure, or what makes an apostle different from a disciple. Forgetting can leave gaps in knowledge, meaning: (1) you don’t have an answer—or worse yet, (2) you make one up. Like why we celebrate the Lord’s Supper so often. How God answers prayer. What is the only way people enter heaven. Because we forget things we must continue relearning and refreshing our knowledge. If you feel you don’t know where to start, then start with your catechism. It teaches you the Bible’s teachings. It is laid out in little sections where you can study a few pages each day. You can even quiz yourself by reading the question and then studying the answer. Relearn what you believe and why you do. Reconsider your time and effort that you may attend Bible study. Ask me if there is something you would like to study on a certain day. Even as we pause some of our education classes and entering the summer, remain in worship. This is possibly the longest amount of time you spend each week in the Word of God. And it’s not just a habit or ritual; God speaks to you so that you may trust him more. As you rely on his promises more, your fears will decrease. Teach [these commands] to your children and to their children after them. Do you notice that God gives you a responsibility? This is not an option. Once again, this is a command, an expectation of you. If you have children, God expects you, the parent, to share him with them. How else are they going to learn about a Savior who will bring them to heaven? If you have friends or family who have wandered into unbelief, you can teach them about the Savior. How else will young adults, retirees, the elderly avoid eternal danger unless someone approaches them? Teaching means revealing something unknown. Not everyone knows what will happen on the other side of the grave. Not everyone knows the only way to stand right with God. Not everyone knows what God expects of life here on earth. Therefore they must be taught. What joy and what a privilege you hold that God should use you to share a message that will bring eternal life! Out of everything you will ever do in life, out of all the things you will learn in life, only one knowledge will give you eternal life. That, my friends, is a Savior who lived and died for you. This is true wisdom. Practice This Wisdom as you Teach the future. Not just the future you— how you will implement this study, but also to the literal future of your family. God has seen fit to preserve these very words for you. He echoes Israel’s history so that you may avoid stumbling into their same suffering. Practice Real Wisdom as you Remember the past so that you can Watch the present and Teach the future.
Of course it would be Tiger, right?! He is the golf professional with almost 40 years of experience! He knows every rule of the game. He understands the technique of swinging a club and knows how to get your knees, hips, and wrists to coordinate together. Even if you do not hit the ball well you would probably be more open to receiving correction from Tiger than from me. Yes, even if you struggle you would listen to his comments. Why? Because he has had success in golf. If you have never played golf, you will gain confidence through from his knowledge, experience, and demonstration through both easy and difficult lessons.
Have you ever considered that before? When life gets difficult and frustrating, many usually search for an easy way to dodge suffering. Even if the only way to victory is through suffering, it is tempting to surrender victory if it means you can avoid suffering. Yet, when you have a leader in life, you follow his encouragement to (1) overcome suffering and (2) grow in spite of it. That’s an easy truth to forget. So your God reminds you just what it means to Follow in the Footsteps of Your Good Shepherd. He heals you. He guides you. He protects you. Did you catch what jumps out in those three parts? (He heals you. He guides you. He protects you.) “You” are not the subject. “You” are not doing the action. “You” are the object. And “He” is Jesus and Jesus is doing the action. Listen again to verse 25: For you were like sheep going astray. This is how you once lived; you were like sheep going astray. Pay attention to the verb. “Were” describes a past action. At one time you behaved a certain way, but this behavior no longer happens today. You see, when Peter says: You were like sheep going astray, he is not describing your constant battle against sin. So, he is not referring to last week, when your attention drifted from the Word of God and followed the self-centered “word of me” or when you put more trust in your efforts than in God’s promises. Peter is pointing out how one time you lived like a sheep who followed no shepherd. Life was aimless. Maybe you searched for happiness in wealth. Perhaps you felt drinking could solve problems. Self-centered-serving felt good. No matter if you came to faith at an older age or through your baptism just a few days after your birth, you once lived like a wandering sheep searching for some lasting satisfaction, but you were unsure of what that satisfaction was. But something changed. Your life goals, your sense of purpose, your direction has all changed. You have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. This translation may be a little misleading because “you” still did not do the action. A more literal reading is: You were returned, meaning, “you” are still the object and someone else returns you. And Peter says that Jesus himself returned you. Like a Good Shepherd, he looked for you (John 10:16). He opens his mouth; his Word goes out. His message is clear: He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree. Life without Jesus would result in hell. Money could never buy lasting happiness. Alcohol cannot numb guilt before God. Selfishness could never move God to let you into heaven. It is Jesus who sheds his blood to bring you into heaven’s eternal pastures. It is Jesus who suffers your punishment and removes your guilt. Jesus died for your sins on the cross in order to mark you as his sheep. [B]y his wounds you have been healed. You now live in this flock of Jesus, brought into this fenced-in-pasture. How does this appear in your life? Well, you have died to sin. No longer do you search for happiness in the bottle or online or in money. You live to righteousness. Your behavior and choices, words and actions, are shaped by what God, in the Bible, says is pleasing. Put another way, you Follow in the Footsteps of Your Good Shepherd. Jesus is “Good” because He heals you from the death of sin. Jesus is a “Shepherd” because He guides you. The picture of a Shepherd leading his flock through life is so near and dear to our hearts. That soothing image reveals the fact you are loved— that Jesus uses his time, his power, and his ability to pluck worries and dangers from life. Yes, even if life feels more complex than it once did, you can live anxiety-free because Jesus guides you. Yes, even if life feels more complex than it once did, you can live anxiety-free because Jesus guides you. It may not feel like that is true. Just look at the verses that come before verse 25. Peter talks about everything that robs comfort from life! You can endure pain of unjust suffering and you suffer for doing good. That happens, right? You shape your life around what God calls “right” and “wrong.” You worship a God serious about punishing sin and forgiving sin (Exodus 34:6-7), but the world labels you “bigoted” and “hateful” and calls your God a “tyrant.” You may reach out to a child straying away Jesus, but are told to “back off.” You may stand up for what is right, but realize you stand in the minority. Suffering can happen even when you do the good God wants you to do. Sometimes suffering may just not feel fair. You suffer in life. Cancer comes back; it might never go away. You prayed to God for deliverance, but then it comes back— and you wonder: “Is my Shepherd listening?” You pour yourself into making relationships better, but the other party just does not seem to be returning love. Your heart grieves as you watch your cousins and siblings, children and grandchildren get sucked into the decaying morality of society. You get hurt. You know you will heal— but you are away from a normal routine, your wages are decreased, your body aches, and you wonder if you will ever feel the same. Laws are passed that you do not like; taxes increase; FoxNews and CNN and MSNBC only seem to churn out doom and gloom. You are in this flock of Jesus, but it feels like the Shepherd leaves you. You feel forgotten, abandoned, forsaken— almost as though life is this monotonous routine that offers nothing more than pain and misery until you finally reach heaven. Suffering is not pleasant or enjoyable or as our reading calls: a gracious thing. No, suffering hurts. It hurts your emotions. It hurts your pride. It hurts your sense of joy. To end the hurt, you may search for what is not helping remove the hurt. And that one thing is—well… it may appear as though God is doing nothing to guide you. Suffering can push you to blame the Good Shepherd of hurting you. Yet, do you find it interesting that Peter brings up the Good Shepherd here? Peter mentions that suffering will be present in life. He knows the devil will use suffering to pry you away from the Shepherd’s fold. So, Peter reminds you: Follow in the Footsteps of Your Good Shepherd because Christ [also] suffered for you. He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth. Not only is Jesus innocent, but he never shakes an angry fist at God accusing him of sending him to the slaughter. When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate, even though Jesus could have damned the world to hell or cursed God. [W]hen he suffered, he made no threats. Instead Jesus suffers unjustly— and this is why: The only way to save you eternally is for him to suffer death for your sins. No suffering, no forgiveness and no heaven for you. If he suffers, then you gain heaven. Not only does your Good Shepherd suffer for your eternal benefit, but you may suffer because you are connected to your Good Shepherd. Why? Because your suffering does not come because people do not like you. Suffering comes because an unbelieving world cannot stand the teachings of your Jesus. So, it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because your suffering comes as result of you following Jesus ahead of society. Your Good Shepherd will continue guiding you through every challenge because he is leading you to the pastures of heaven. Be sure, until you reach those eternal pastures, your Good Shepherd protects you. He l[eft] you an example, that you should follow in his steps. Imagine you, the parent, trudging through deep snow. Behind you is your child following in those impressions. In the same way, Jesus also suffered but now lives in eternal glory. Imitate him through joys and challenges, knowing that you also are walking to heaven. You can follow his steps by removing false ideas. Sometimes you may be tempted to have God meet your terms. You may expect God to fill you with happiness by healing you the way you want. You want God to fill you with peace by enforcing the laws you know should be passed. You expect God to give you health and wealth. Yet, where does he promise these things? God does not promise you a life full of joys and bliss. Instead, he makes it so clear that you can expect suffering. Or, as our beloved Psalm 23 says: Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death… Even this psalm tells you that you will walk through some challenging moments in life. The joy is not found in a pain-free life. The join is found in the fact Jesus is with you; his rod and staff comfort you (Psalm 23:4). Jesus the Good Shepherd is your overseer. An overseer is someone who protects you. You could picture sitting in the middle of an Army humvee caravan driving down enemy streets. Danger surrounds you on every side, yet the humvee, the weapons, and surrounding troops protect you. Your Good Shepherd, recognizes the suffering you face in life. Yet, he leads you not around them, he does not abandon you to them; he leads you through them because he has conquered every suffering. Jesus protects you from death in hell because he (1) died, but (2) rose again (reversing death forever). Jesus can promise you eternal life in heaven because when his earthly ministry was over, he entered heaven. Jesus can protect you because he still possesses the power to return and bring you to heaven. Until you reach your heavenly home, your Good Shepherd is protecting you on the way. He is your leader. Just like if you have never played golf, you will learn from a professional’s knowledge, experience, and demonstration. Even if you do not hit the ball well you would probably be more open to receiving correction from a professional than from me. You rely and follow someone who (1) has won success and who (2) offers you success. Life may have suffering. You may suffer from someone ridiculing your beliefs or you are pressured from within to give up on your beliefs. Yet, press on. Your Good Shepherd walked through suffering and now lives in heavenly glory. When you have a leader in life, you follow his encouragement to (1) overcome suffering and (2) grow in spite of it. Your God reminds you of this truth. Follow in the Footsteps of Your Good Shepherd. He heals you. He guides you. He protects you.
Now what? After all, Easter Sunday was last week. Last week you heard heart-pounding testimonies that Jesus is alive, but you will not hear this testimony repeated today. Last week you sang beloved Easter hymns and responded with heartwarming Bible verses, but some of those hymns you will not sing today. Last week your heart fluttered with the joy of knowing peace with God. Yet, that was all last week and six days stand between last Sunday and this Sunday. Six days that trumpeted cancer treatments and doctor appointments and school deadlines and global anxiety and stress from family and fears of nuclear war and— anything but that peace you experienced on Easter. It can leaving you feeling that Easter lasts only one day. That Easter Sunday gives you joy and peace and a reason to sing, but when Sunday ends, you pack Easter’s joy away in boxes for another year.
Treating Easter like a one-day event can rob you of its lasting joy for today (and tomorrow and the day after). In fact, if you ever read through the entire New Testament, you will realize that every Bible writer treats Easter as more than just a one-day event. You see that today. The events of that first Easter fill every part of life, Making Every Day Easter Day! You carry joy in every situation because You are born into a living hope. Look again at our reading from 1 Peter. Blessed (or Praise) be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy, has caused us to be born again. See the life you live now. At one time, you lived in the darkness of uncertainty— not sure how you stand before God, not sure if you will enter heaven, not sure if you are living a truly fulfilling life as God would have it. But you have clarity now. Your way of life has changed. Not because you chose to have life with God, but because [as Peter says] God, in his mercy, chose to give you new life! He uses baptism to create faith in your heart and he strengthens you in faith through his Word and sacrament. So, even though the first Easter Sunday happened thousands of years ago, God’s Word continues whisking you and me back to the empty tomb. There you see a lifeless body regain life. Jesus lives again to declare the wages owed to God for sin paid in full. If a debt is fully repaid, then there is no more debt. If sin’s consequences are fully repaid, then there is no more consequence of death. That is why, in verse 6, Peter says: In this you rejoice… You rejoice that Jesus makes God at peace with you. When Peter says “rejoice,” he does not mean singing hymns, but rather jumping up and down and fist-pumping as though your favorite team just won a championship. You “rejoice”— not just for one day, but for every day, every moment, all the time! Yes, you can rejoice even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials. Is that what you do? Look over last week. Did you wake up every day knowing that a risen Jesus means eternity in heaven and a risen Jesus means God-for-you? Did this deep, lasting, satisfying joy trump every trouble that entered life? It is not easy to jump and shout for joy when you endure various trials, is it? Your sibling gets sick— and she is a Christian. To you, it seems she did nothing to deserve this struggle. She is not a drunk or argumentative. She is kind, loving, and supportive. You wonder if she struggles because God is angry with her. Cancer enters your life. You don’t know why. You ate healthy, exercised, and watched what kind of stuff you inhaled. You even go through months of exhausting treatments. Yet, you wonder if God really cares about you enough to heal your body. You obey God’s command and you worship here, but you don’t feel any different. You still mourn the death of your spouse. Yes, you know she lives in heaven, but you still hurt inside. You still have no God-sent answer as to whether you should move or you should stay. You daily deal with the increase of evil in the world, the increase of people avoiding worship, the insults you absorb because of what you believe, the pressure to compromise your beliefs and tolerate false teaching, the battle inside between the lifestyle you want to live versus what Scripture so clearly and plainly teaches, and the thought of approaching death. All these troubles and trials suffocate any whimper of joy. What is it that makes it difficult to rejoice even when you are going through a challenge? Could it be that you doubt God is with you? Could it be that your focus is attached to fixing a problem yourself? Could it be that you are looking away from Easter? The more our attention drifts away from the empty tomb, the more you will doubt if God really loves you at all. Peter knows this can happen. He knows that you can experience grief and a debilitating illness and that you can hurt sometimes. If you notice, he never says: “Ignore your problems and put on a brave face.” No. Peter does not leave “Rejoice!” hanging by itself. Rather, he reveals the reason you and I can rejoice— even if we encounter trials. Listen again to our words: In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Go home and search the internet for “raw gold” and you will be amazed by what you see. Gold just mined up from the earth looks like a dull, jagged, gray rock. It is not the glistening, shiny-yellow, smooth material with which we are familiar. Someone heats a fire to 1,100 degrees, throws the chunk of gold into a pot, and everything melts. The dirt covering the gold melts off and floats on top of the golden puddle. Any bugs, twigs, or grass stuck in the gold incinerate. After burning away all the impurities, you are left with pure gold; you are left with a better, more valuable product. The troubles you face in life refine faith. The greater the intensity, the more you despair of yourself. By that I mean, instead of looking to your mind for deliverance, turn to the risen Lord who brings you peace. Let any fear that God has abandoned you melt away when you see Jesus return to his disciples (and return to you through his Word). He would have every right to leave us for questioning the sincerity of his love, but he remains to forgive you and me. Let the thoughts that God is angry with you disintegrate when you hear Jesus say: “Peace be with you. If you are forgiven, you are forgiven indeed!” Let worries about the future or griefs in the present find comfort in a Savior who says: “I am alive.” Jesus lives to prove that he is the Savior who comes to take away the sins of the world! Your life will go through this world and into eternity! The fact that Jesus lives now means you can Make Every Day Easter Day! Why? Because you run to the cross of Jesus again and again. There you discover a Savior who loves you so much that he removes every sinful impurity so that you can be his priceless treasure. You carry this joy in every situation. You can be confident of this because you are born into a living hope. Already, in this life, God promises in six different ways that you can be sure you are his child. He calls eternal life an inheritance. At your baptism, God etched your name into the book of eternal life. The sign of the cross made on your head and heart marks you as his child—not an orphan or a stranger, but his! In case you are still uncertain about that, then listen to him call this inheritance imperishable, undefiled, and unfading. God’s promise does not decay or rot over time. His guarantee is not untrustworthy. God is not a lawyer who changes terminology. God never forgets what he promises you. Your confidence that Jesus always stands beside you is living. It will never change, never fade, never expire. Even if your life-situations change, God’s guarantee to be with you never changes. Then this inheritance is kept in heaven for you. If a business owner puts money in his safe and leaves, he expects to return and find the money still there. God secures your guarantee of life in heaven. If God is protecting it, then you can be sure it remains there for you. Yet, you not only look forward to life with God. Rather, if God loves you so much that he prepares eternity for you, then you can be sure he stands beside you in every trouble. You, by God’s power, are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Imagine military men forming a circle to keep an official safe. God constantly guards you against all danger, delivers you from trouble, and strengthens your faith through his Word. At just the right time, heaven will be revealed (either on the Last Day or at the moment you leave this worldly life). Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. Persevere through every struggle because you are not alone. By faith you trust God is with you always, even to the end of the age. So, the more trouble presses into you, the more you look up to God who helps you. Run to him in prayer, constantly pleading and trusting. He lives to put your heart and mind at peace. This is your living hope. Make Every Day Easter Day even if last week was Easter. The days and months might change, but the new life Jesus wins for you never changes. Your life situations might pose new challenges, but God constantly stands beside you. New fears and doubts may creep up. Yet, run to the Word, be assured of God’s love in baptism and communion, flee to him in prayer. Light and momentary trials stretch you to trust and rely on your God in ways you might never have done before. All this makes the testing of your faith far more valuable than the gold our world cherishes. Easter is more than just a one-day event. Jesus is not still dead and in his tomb. He has not re-entered his tomb a second time. He lives—and he lives now! He lives for you to Make Every Day Easter Day! You carry joy in every situation because You are born into a living hope. (from our mid-week Lenten series)
No one’s there. Noisy Main Street doesn’t cut through the mountain. There are no mountaintop subdivisions jam-packed with homes. This is not like a high school cafeteria, where there’s groups of people walking past you talking and chattering— and you’re off to the side in your little group. No one is here— only Peter, James, John, and Jesus. It’s quiet, peaceful, serene. Can you picture it?
A few weeks ago I asked: “What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of your church?”
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