Monday, February 25, 2013

Philippians 3:17-4:1 Sermon


the second sunday in lent

Shepherd of the Hills Ev. Lutheran Church (WELS)

An Example Worth Following

Philippians 3:17-4:1

17 Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do. 18 For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. 20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. 4:1 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, dear friends! (NIV)

It seemed like a miracle that you even arrived in the first place, especially given that your GPS was essentially worthless and did more to get you lost and confused than it did to actually get you to where you were going.  Now, when the visit is over and it’s time to head back, you find yourself a little nervous, not very confident that you know how to get out of there, even after receiving a fresh set of directions.  Finally, noting your uneasiness, your host makes you a very gracious offer.  He is willing to jump in his car and show you the way, so that you don’t have to worry about the confusing street signs or which way to turn – you just have to follow him. 

“Follow me” is what Paul encouraged the Philippians to do in the Second Lesson this morning.  While he wasn’t offering to lead anyone through a confusing maze of side streets and unusual turns, his offer must have been every bit as comforting to a congregation of believers in Philippi who seemed to be struggling with the proper course of living for their Christian lives.  On the one hand they had to watch out for the Judaizers, who wanted to combine the grace of the gospel with the legalistic requirements that grandma and grandpa and their ancestors before them had lived by.  On the other hand, they had to be on guard against those who took their newfound gospel freedom in Christ too far and saw it as a license for licentious living.  What were they to do?  Where were they to turn?  Paul encouraged them to follow his example and navigate safely down the narrow middle road of both extremes, a road paved by grace alone.

Our first reaction to Paul’s invitation to follow his example might be to think, “Wow, Paul was really quite sure of himself, wasn’t he?  He certainly seems to think highly of himself.”  After all, wouldn’t that be our reaction if a fellow believer came up to us when we were struggling in some area of Christian living and said, “I know how hard it must be for you, but it might help if you follow my example and live the way that I do.”  We might be a little put off by such confidence.

Yet if we look at what Paul had written to the Philippians earlier in his letter, we see that even in inviting them to follow his example, he was by no means trying to focus the spotlight on himself, but rather on his Savior.  When addressing the issue of those among the Philippians who were placing their confidence in their own good works and righteousness, Paul made the point, “If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more; circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews, in regard to the law; a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless” (3:4-6).  In other words, if it was a matter of bragging rights, few had any more to brag about than Paul.

However, he then turned around and followed up his impressive piece of pedigree with an open and honest assessment of what he really thought about such things.  “But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ – the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith” (3:7-9).  It is clear then, that Paul, when inviting the Philippians to follow his example, was not seeking his own vain glory, but wanted them to imitate his complete trust and reliance in the merits of Christ alone.  Paul knew that his own righteousness was refuse before God, and so he considered it as such, that he might go “all in” on the righteousness of Christ alone, which comes only through faith.

We want to make sure we don’t confuse Paul’s example.  Though his life was surely full of fine examples, that which he would have us follow is his example of whole reliance on Christ and righteousness alone.  Otherwise, if we confuse the two, we would be making Paul out to be saying that salvation would be ours only if we follow his example of exemplary living.  In that case we’d make his words to read out a little bit differently: But whatever was to my profit by faith alone, I consider loss for the sake of my own merits.  What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of my own righteousness and good works – my spotless Bible class attendance, my weekly worship attendance, my generous giving, my time in service to others.  Yes, anything apart from my works I consider to be rubbish.  But quite plainly, those were not Paul’s words.  Such is not the example he invites us to emulate.

We do, however, know the type of example to which he’s referring, don’t we?  God has placed into our lives Christians who make a deep impression on us by how they so admirably live out their faith.  We see them and we wish to be like them.  Yet if ever praised for being such a fine example of Christian living for others, they would refuse any recognition whatsoever and would be the first to point out that they don’t lack for faults and weaknesses, but that God’s grace in Christ Jesus is their mainstay.  Dear friends, find those types of examples, just like Paul, and imitate them.  Imitate those who with genuinely humble hearts will always be quick to point not to their own lives of sanctification, but to their Savior.

In our day and age this may be as important as it has ever been.  Why?  Because we may be at a point in which any favorable impression people have of our Savior and his followers is at an all-time low in history.  And that isn’t at all because Christ or his message has changed, but it is rather because of exactly what Paul pointed out to the Philippians in verses 18 and 19: “For as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame.”  The distress that Paul felt from those who opposed his Savior was clearly evident through tear-stained cheeks.  He was crushed, not only by the fact that they stood against the Savior, but also because their final outcome was already determined, “their destiny [was] destruction.” 

For such people, “their god is their stomach.”  A hungry individual will quickly find something to eat in order to make the grumbling stomach stop.  In the same way, rather than stave off sinful satisfaction, such people prefer to surrender to it.  Every itch is scratched.  Even when that desire is at odds with the Scriptures, well, there are enough other places to turn so that one can still try to validate his sin. 

In old England, a gentleman had a small chapel attached to his house.  A visitor from London, upon viewing the quaint chapel, commented on what a fine kitchen it would make, were he to remodel it.  “When I make a god of my belly,” replied the gentlemen, “I will make a kitchen of my chapel.”  May we demonstrate such discipline to be able to say no to the wants and desires of sin and enticement, so that we don’t fall into the trap of making gods of our stomachs.

But it isn’t enough just to satisfy their stomach.  No, they must then glory in whatever shame they were involved.  Nowadays only the vilest will do.  If it isn’t jaw-droppingly shocking, then it isn’t even a part of the conversation.  If it isn’t sick-to-your-stomach offensive, it doesn’t get a first glance, let alone a second.  Shameful things that our grandparents wouldn’t even have conceived are just the starting point today, and they’re plastered plainly everywhere to see. 

All of them, these enemies of the cross, they all have something in common: “their mind is set on earthly things” (v. 19).  Their behavior shouldn’t  shock us, because it is right in line with the way we’d expect those of this world to live.  The here and now is what matters.  One-million hits on You-Tube are what matters.  Impressing people for this life matters.  Hoarding up storehouses of stuff in this life is what matters.  Success and achievement in this life is what matters.  When all of these things, worldly things, are where our attention is focused, it shouldn’t surprise us to find sin not only tolerated, but glorified.  That will be the case when the mind is set on earthly things.

But in order to help keep us from an unhealthy focus on such earthly things, and, again to remind us of the long term benefit of following an example like Paul’s, whose hope and security rest in Jesus and his righteousness alone, Paul provided us with excellent motivation:  “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body” (3:20-21).

Political leanings aside, Americans often proudly claim to come from the greatest country in the world.  Our quality of life, standard of living, freedoms, and so many other blessings, have made the United States of America special for a long time.  But you know, brothers and sisters, that as great as it may be, we’re just stopping by.  This isn’t home.  We’re not there yet.  We’re just visiting a temporary stop on the way to something much better, much bigger, much more grand than we could ever imagine.  And the greatest thing about our citizenship in heaven is not even the accommodations or the amenities, but rather the company we’ll be keeping.  We’ll know personally, intimately, perfectly, the Savior who made it all possible, Jesus Christ.  We’ll know the one who paid our prices of citizenship with his blood, forgiving our attempts at work righteousness and our shameful sins.  We’ll spend eternity with the one who not only made it possible for us to be there, but who did all that was necessary so we could live there in the glorious bodies he always longed for us to have, bodies truly becoming of perfectly sinless saints and citizens of heaven, our home.  We want nothing to stand in the way of our inheriting such a blessing, and so we follow Paul’s example and ride Christ’s coattails home to heaven.

Because – and only because – we completely count on Christ for our heavenly citizenship and our flawless glorified bodies, “therefore, my brothers and sisters, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, dear friends!” (4:1) Amen.

“For the freer confidence is from one’s own works, and the more exclusively it is directed toward Christ alone, so much better is the Christian it makes.” (Luther)

Monday, February 18, 2013

Hebrews 4:14-16 Sermon


the first sunday in lent

Shepherd of the Hills Ev. Lutheran Church (WELS)
 

Tested, Tried, and True

Hebrews 4:14-16

14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. 16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (NIV)

In the Old Testament, the pastor serving God’s people did not have nearly as clean a robe as I do.  He also smelled quite a bit different than I do.  Why?  Because the pastor – or “priest” at that time – served in a role that shared more similarities with a butcher than what we’ve come to know as a pastor.  The bulk of his time was spent slaughtering animals to be offered up as sacrifices for God’s people.  For that reason he was often a smelly, bloody mess.

The offering up of sacrifices on a daily basis was one of the ways the high priest served  to intercede between God and men.  He was also allowed to go into the special places in the temple, the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies, which were off limits to other all other people.  He was the representative of the people, approaching God on their behalf to offer up prayers for them.  This arrangement was intended by God to illustrate that sinful man on his own could not come before a holy, righteous God; he must have someone intercede.

Of course the office of high priest in the Old Testament was also established to serve as a shadow of what was to come.  The reality, the Great High Priest, is Jesus.  High priests in Old Testament times offered up repeated sacrifices to illustrate that blood was to be shed in order to atone for sin.  But Jesus, the Great High Priest, offered up himself as a one-time sacrifice for all, and by his blood the sins of the world were atoned for.  Even today he carries out the role of High Priest as he sits at the right hand of the Father, interceding for us.  The point the writer to the Hebrews is stressing is that Jesus is a superior High Priest to all of those who preceded him in the Old Testament, because he is the fulfillment of everything they foreshadowed.  Even more remarkable is the truth that he is our great high priest: “Therefore, since we have a great high priest…” (v.14).

Consider the following two scenarios.  A woman who really appreciates high end purses plunks down a considerable amount of money to buy a new name brand purse.  Shortly thereafter, after inspecting the new purse a little bit, a friend regretfully points out to her that the purse is a cheap knock-off of the name brand, hardly worth a fraction of what she paid for it.  In another case, a woman shares the same affinity for name brand purses, but knows she can’t afford the real thing, so she’s content to pay for a generic look-alike.  However, she soon discovers that the purse she thought was just a cheap knock-off is actually the real thing.  Do I need to ask which of the two ladies you’d prefer to be?

Brothers and sisters, in Christ Jesus, we don’t have a cheap knock-off or generic version, but the real, genuine thing.  We don’t have to settle for the Kirkland brand, because Jesus is top-of-the-line!  We have the High Priest!  We don’t have the shadow, but the reality.  Our faith is not waiting for something better to come along – we have the best!

“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess” (v.14).  Our High Priest is superior, which means our faith is not unfounded.  How can we know?  For one, our High Priest has “gone through the heavens.”  Every high priest in the Old Testament had in common that they were earthly.  As human beings, they were born and when they died, they stayed dead.  Not so with our High Priest, who is divine,.  He is without beginning and without end.  Though he was born, he had no beginning.  Though he died, he did not stay dead.  Earth was temporary; heaven is his temple, his home.

Second of all, one can’t help but notice that his name is superior to all other high priests.  Only One is called “Jesus the Son of God.”  Only One can call God his Father.  Only One can claim the name that means “Savior” or “helper.”   Our High Priest is superior, for he hails from heaven and his name alone saves.

But if he had not made good on his saving name, then his name would have no more power to save than yours or mine.  But he did make good.  He did deliver.  “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet was without sin” (v.15).  God’s only requirement to get into heaven is that no sin whatsoever would stain our pristine record of perfect obedience.  If that describes you, then you’re in.  Congratulations.  Job well done.  The only problem is that if we set out to find even one person who met that requirement, we’d be searching endlessly all over the world and we’d never find him.  He certainly isn’t sitting right next to you in the pew.  He isn’t preaching to you from the front of the church.  He’s nowhere to be found in this building or anywhere else. 

The result of that problem is this: if we cannot meet the requirement to get into heaven – and we cannot – then there is only one other place that awaits us.  It is a place called hell.

Here is where we must know how necessary it is that we not only have a Savior who paid for our countless sins, but also a Savior who was without sin himself.  We heard in the Gospel this morning how Satan tried to test and trip him up, but Jesus overcame.  His record remained spotless.  He didn’t stumble or falter in sin, which means we have a Great High Priest who has met God’s requirement to get into heaven.  He was tempted in every way – not to some lesser degree or some lower set of standards – but in every way, and was without sin. 

And what a comfort to have One who experienced the temptation that we do!  For those who consider an organization like Alcoholics Anonymous to be successful, it would be difficult to imagine similar success if it were set up differently.  For example, if instead of a group of people all struggling with alcoholism gathering together to support and encourage one another, AA consisted of a group of non-drinkers trying to convince alcoholics that it’s not that hard to go without drinking, because after all, they can do it, the organization probably wouldn’t have been around very long.  But what a powerful thing for a person to see that others have walked in his shoes, have shared the same struggles, and yet have been able to overcome.  The same holds true for those who’ve experienced losing loved ones to death.  It is comforting to share that experience with someone else who has gone through a similar experience and can relate to the aching emptiness.  So it is with our Great High Priest.  He quite literally knows what we go through when we’re faced with temptation, and as our High Priest, he is ready and willing to help us get through it.

So let us be unafraid to rush to his throne of grace with renewed confidence, for we have One who has navigated through the maze of temptation and come out unscathed.  Go to him for guidance and support and direction when the heat of battle is burning and temptation is luring with its tantalizing promises of gratification and satisfaction and self-serving feel-goodness.  Do not avoid the throne of grace out of shame or embarrassment in the moment of temptation, but hurry to it and plead for the aid of the One who has been where you are at that very moment and has passed through to the other side still sinless!

Dear friends, do not forget why your High Priest invites you to approach his throne of grace, for listen to what awaits all who do: “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (v.16).  There, at that throne, you have all you need when faced with temptation.  You have mercy, and O how we need that!  Mercy does not dish out the deserved punishment for sin.  It is unconventional and incomprehensible because it goes against everything we expect and fully deserve.  It casts our sin aside because of the payment already received through the sacrifice of our Great High Priest, Jesus Christ.  Mercy ignores that we should be guilty and damned, and does not treat us as our sins deserve.

But there is more!  There is grace, too!  For it is not called the “throne of grace” for nothing, but grace in abundance is exactly what one finds there!  And grace feeds the new creation in each of us that desperately wants to shun the devil and topple his towers of temptation like a helpless stack of blocks in the path of a teetering toddler.  Realize that anything good in you, anything good that you’ve become or ever done is because of God’s grace.  And the only hope you and I will ever have of overcoming temptation is directly related to God’s grace working in us.  So run – don’t walk – to the throne of grace and be filled to the brim. 

A convicted criminal sat in his cell the night before he was to be executed.  After giving it some thought, he made the request that a Christian missionary be sent to his cell.  When the missionary arrived, he was surprised that the criminal asked to be baptized into the Christian faith, since he knew the man to be a Buddhist monk for the duration of his adult life.  Convinced that the man knew what he was requesting, the missionary baptized him.  He then asked him why he now wished to be baptized all of a sudden.  The man responded by saying that he “wished to die in a faith by which he could come freely to God – unrestrained by personal unworthiness and confident that he could entreat forgiveness simply out of love and mercy.”  What a testament to faith, if even at the final moments of his life!

There is, though, no reason for us to wait, no reason to put it off, no reason to avoid that inviting throne of grace.  We have access to it right now and always.  Grace awaits!  Run to the High Priest, one who has been tested, tried, and is true.  Run to where you will find the mercy and grace needed to stand tall against temptation.  Amen.
“For the freer confidence is from one’s own works, and the more exclusively it is directed toward Christ alone, so much better is the Christian it makes.” (Luther)

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Exodus 34:29-35 Sermon


the transfiguration of our lord

Shepherd of the Hills Ev. Lutheran Church (WELS)

 

The Glorious Go-Between


Exodus 34:29-35

29 When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord. 30 When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him. 31 But Moses called to them; so Aaron and all the leaders of the community came back to him, and he spoke to them. 32 Afterward all the Israelites came near him, and he gave them all the commands the Lord had given him on Mount Sinai. 33 When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face. 34 But whenever he entered the Lord’s presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded,35 they saw that his face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the Lord. (NIV)

I’ve don’t believe I’ve ever met him personally.  I am quite sure he also has a real name.  But from what I gather, just based on advertisements, I am not supposed to have very fond feelings for the middleman.  When I hear companies telling me I can get their product for cheaper than elsewhere because they cut out the middleman, it makes it sound as if the middleman is just involved in the process to get his hands on some of my money.  Of course that doesn’t endear him to us, does it?  We don’t want to pay any more than we should have to for something, so of course we are interested in cutting this guy out of the equation if it means saving us a few bucks.  Oh, that no-good middleman!

But if you’ve ever heard of two individuals or companies going through a nasty World War III level dispute over fault, infringement, or some other matter, you might be aware of another middleman responsible for overseeing their arbitration who is much more appreciated.  This middleman overhears the case between the two companies, who would otherwise be at each other’s throats and unable to express even the slightest semblance of civility toward each other, toward coming to some sort of an agreement as to how best they can go their separate ways.  Without that middleman, the companies would go around and around in circles, only doing more damage and getting nowhere fast.  That middleman serves a noble purpose.

Moses was not the former, but the latter.  His role as the go-between – another name for middleman – between God and the people of Israel was not a self-serving one.  He was not in it to get his cut, to make a name for himself, or to impress the Lord.  In fact, if you recall, Moses at first wanted nothing to do with God’s call to represent the Israelites. 

No, Moses was the go-between in a good sense, and even that, not because God needed him, but because the people of Israel needed him.  In fact, it is difficult to consider the verses from Exodus 34 this morning without recalling why Moses had to make a return trip to Mt. Sinai and back.  The first time Moses had gone up the mountain to receive the Lord’s Law for his people.  Oh, and it might be worth mentioning that one of the laws that God stressed repeatedly was that idolatry – the worship of false gods – was a sin that really rubbed him the wrong way.  Why is that worth mentioning?  Because it just happened to be the very sin in which the Israelites were engaged as Moses descended from the mountain top back to the people.  So furious was Moses as he witnessed the idolatrous golden calf worship and the revelry that went along with it, that he smashed the stone tablets, with their divinely inscribed laws, to pieces.  And if you think that was an indicator of how infuriating Israel’s idolatry was, then listen to the Lord’s fuming response to it: “‘I have seen these people,’ the LORD said to Moses, ‘and they are a stiff-necked people. Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation’” (Ex. 32:9,10).  One gets the impression that God wasn’t very happy with Israel.  He threatened to wipe them out and start over again, and of course an historical event like the Flood provided plenty of evidence that it certainly wasn’t beyond God to follow through with such a threat.

But here is where middleman Moses, Israel’s illustrious intermediary and great go-between, stepped in to save their bacon.  Rather than allowing the Lord to stew in anger, to allow the match-size flicker of God’s fury to be fanned into the full blown flames of a raging wildfire of wrath, Moses boldly stepped in and pleaded for his people.  He showed his compassionate heart for his fellow Israelites and his complete confidence in God’s grace and mercy.  Moses interceded on behalf of the Israelites. 

And God relented, “and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened” (Ex. 32:14).  He withheld the destruction he seemed bent on bringing.  Why?  Because Moses had convinced him that the Israelites were generally good people who had done a bad thing just this once, sorta like one crummy episode in an otherwise fantastic television series?  Did Moses convince the Lord to spare the Israelites on the basis of their past performance or a promise of guaranteed future results?

No, the Lord changed his mind because Moses reminded him of his own gracious promises given to his chosen people.  It wasn’t Israel’s past history toward God, but rather God’s past history toward his people.  His promises, his plan, so lovingly communicated to his people for generations – those were what rescued Israel from the brink of extinction.  God had actually stooped down to Moses’ level, allowing Moses to demonstrate why God had designated him to serve as leader and middleman for Israel, and faithful Moses came through.  This was not the same Moses who lacked backbone by the burning bush, but a faith-filled man of God, so completely given to God that he had no hesitation when it came to throwing God’s gracious promises back under his own nose so that their pleasing aroma might fill his nostrils and appease his burning anger.

God’s favor was with Moses, and he had a special way of making it known: Moses’ face was radiant whenever he had been in conversation with God.  “When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablet of the Testimony in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the LORD” (v.29).  This wasn’t just an instance of a person’s face lighting up after visiting with an old friend or seeing a significant other; this was light literally emanating from his face.  It became the norm whenever Moses entered the Lord’s presence that his face afterward would be radiant and eventually need to be covered with a veil.     

Moses wasn’t the only one we’ve heard about this morning with a shiny face.  According to the account recorded by Luke in his Gospel, what Peter, James, and John saw on top of the mountain with Jesus was described this way: “the appearance of [Jesus’] face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning” (v.29).  Not only his face, but his clothes burst with brightness and majesty.  Just like Moses, Jesus’ face was radiant.


And, just like Moses, Jesus intercedes as well.  Jesus, too, serves as middleman, or go-between.  But he does so not for a select group of people, as Moses did, but, for all people.  As Paul wrote to Timothy, “there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 2:5).  You know why we need a mediator to step in on our behalf before God.  You know that sin builds an unbreachable barrier between God and men, and that without someone to step in on his behalf, man is doomed.  Let’s face it – golden calves?  Ha!  Many of our sins would make Israel’s sin look innocent by comparison.  We lament Israel’s constant waywardness and wandering away from God, but what is our excuse when we have, 1) their example to avoid, and 2) the enlightenment that Scripture provides, and still we slight God on a daily basis?  We, who should know better, fall further and more frequently!  We need the kind of middleman Jesus is to bring us near to God.

Just as Jesus’ role of middleman between God and all men was different from Moses’, so was his glory.  Moses’ glory was not his own, but came upon him only after being in the presence of God.  Soon after his time with God, the glory would fade.  That, in fact was the purpose of the veil – it wasn’t to cover up the light from his face, but rather to hide the light from being visible as it gradually faded away.  Why would it gradually fade away?  Because Moses represented a covenant which also faded away, one based on the law.  Oh it was glorious – perfect in every way; except that we couldn’t keep our end of that agreement with God, so the glory of that covenant faded away, just like the brilliant light from Moses’ face.

But its fading away was also a giving way to a better covenant, a promise based not on man’s ability to keep God’s law, but a promise based on God’s free and faithful love shown fully in Jesus Christ.  Jesus’ glory was his own.  Glory belongs to him because he is the giver of a better promise, one based not on the law, but on grace; based not on a pipe dream, but a guaranteed promise; based not on Moses, but on Christ.  Moses was loyal leader for the Lord.  His shepherd’s heart for his people was plain to see.  He was a great go-between.

But only Jesus can be described as a glorious go-between in every possible way.  He was willing not only to play the role of go-between, offering to make the necessary arrangements to pay the price needed for our ransom; he was also willing to pay the ransom price itself.  He paid with the price of his own life, living and breathing nothing but perfection, and suffering and dying in nothing but undeserved innocence.  And it means we’ve been set free.  Completely free.  Forever free.  Forgiven and free.

Now we are free to radiate his glory, to let his light shine through us as we reflect him to everyone.  Just like Danny did.

Danny was a 12-year-old paper boy.  He was delivering papers one day when the man at the door said, "I don't want a paper. I don't need a paper. My wife is dying of cancer." The man slammed the door in Danny's face as Danny said, "Would you like my pastor to call?" Danny told the pastor about what happened, and the pastor agreed to go visit the man.

When the pastor visited, he explained to the man, "Your paper boy, Danny, told me that your wife has cancer. I'm here to offer my help. I'm a Lutheran pastor." The man at the door looked angry. "I don't know what a Lutheran is and I don't know what a pastor is," he said. He started to slam the door, but before he could, the pastor put his calling card in the man's hand, saying "Call me if you need me."

Some weeks later the phone rang. "We'd like you to come to the home," the man said. "If you are a friend of Danny's, maybe you can help." The woman was dying of cancer. She was hooked up to an oxygen machine. The atmosphere in the house was bleak. "I've never seen the inside of a church," she said, "but I've got nowhere else to turn.  Can you help us?”

The pastor had the chance to share God’s Word with the couple, and eventually the woman was brought to faith.  It was said that the whole room was lit up by the smile on her face once she knew her Savior.  How did this all happen?  Because a little boy named Danny made the most of a simple opportunity to let his light shine.  Now, dear friends, what will God do through you, as you let the splendid light of our glorious go-between, Jesus, emanate for others to see?  Amen.

“For the freer confidence is from one’s own works, and the more exclusively it is directed toward Christ alone, so much better is the Christian it makes.” (Luther)

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

1 Kings 17:7-16 Sermon


the fourth sunday after the epiphany

Shepherd of the Hills Ev. Lutheran Church (WELS)
 

Serving, or Being Served?

1 Kings 17:7-16

7 Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. 8 Then the word of the Lord came to him: 9 “Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food.” 10 So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?” 11 As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.”
12 “As surely as the Lord your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die.”
13 Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. 14 For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.’”
15 She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. 16 For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah.

Moses was not interested.  Jonah clearly wanted no part in it.  The Lord God had come directly to both individuals with marching orders.  He had a task in mind for each to carry out; a special opportunity to serve him.

And both of them wanted absolutely nothing to do with it.  In the case of Moses, God had in mind to send him as his representative before the Pharaoh of Egypt so that the Lord could deliver his people from slavery and usher them into the Promised Land.  And even though Moses hid his face from God as he cowered near the burning bush, he could not hide his reluctance to fill the role God had in mind for him.  His reluctant responses to God’s call to service were filled with more “buts” than an ash tray in a smoking lounge.  “But this, but that, but, but, but… please send someone else, Lord!” (cf. Ex. 3 & 4).

Jonah most certainly did not fair any better.  At least in Moses’ case, he stuck around and tried to renegotiate things with God.  But Jonah wasn’t even interested in doing that.  When God commanded Jonah to go and serve the people of Ninevah by calling them to repent, Jonah flat out ignored his command!  Actually, what Jonah did was even worse – simply ignoring God’s command would have been one thing, but Jonah actually went out of his way not to listen to God and took off in an effort to get away from him, which of course is silliness to presume that a person can get away from or outrun God.

Moses and Jonah were two individuals who both thought they knew better than God did when it came to serving others.  Our names should probably be added to that list right under their names, or better yet, maybe our names should even be above theirs.  After all, we don’t have to think too hard about the times we’ve refused to serve God.  In fact, some of our efforts might even put Moses and Jonah to shame!  God calls us to serve, but we’re just not interested.  It just doesn’t seem like a good idea to us.  We’re just too busy.  Someone else can do it.  There are other things that are more important right now.

As parents – especially fathers, as the spiritual leaders of the family, more than anything else for our children, we’re called to serve them by raising them up under the cross of Christ. That means letting the Word of God dwell in our homes richly.  But our children go to Sunday school.  They’re enrolled in our elementary school.  Others are serving them with the Word of God.  As Christians, we’re all called to make disciples by spreading the gospel, but in true Moses-like fashion we have our pat list of “buts” that we think excuse us from the Great Commission.  As members of a congregation, we’re called to serve God through offerings, but others will do it.  There simply isn’t enough left over each week to give anything to God.  I’ll let others serve him in that way.  Yes, we are Moses.  We are Jonah.  God calls us to serve in so many ways, through so many opportunities.  Shame on us for thinking we know better than he does when and where we ought to serve.  How pretentious of us; how arrogant to presume that we have a better idea than God himself of when and where and how we ought to serve.  Adam and Eve thought they had a better idea of what to do with the fruit than God did.  Look where it got them: sentenced to hell.

That was, until God overturned their sentence with his head-crushing promise of a Son who would fully deliver, a Son who would serve the way he was called to, with holy perfection and blessed innocence and righteousness.  Jesus was no Moses.  He was no Jonah.  He was most certainly no you or me.  And God be praised that he was not, for his perfect service in life and death was the only thing that could be rendered as a ransom payment for our redemption.  Because Jesus’ payment was accepted, we are free.  Our selective serving has been forgiven and our hearts have been refreshed and renewed.  Our hearts now beat for our Savior in gratitude and thanks, and we now celebrate by serving.  So let us as God’s forgiven family see what is truly behind his call to serve, by looking at the account before us this morning.

As citizens of the United States, we have throughout our nation’s history not shied away from exercising our First Amendment rights by complaining about the President when we feel he’s doing a poor job.  But one look at King Ahab will make the worst of our Presidents look angelic by comparison.  Ahab “did more evil in the eyes of the LORD than any of those [kings] before him” (1 Kings 16:30).  He set new lows in committing the most heinous of sins against God, so that the worst wickedness of the kings who had gone him would have been considered mild by his standards.  It’s less shocking then, that it was Ahab who ignored God’s warning of a curse on anyone who would rebuild the city of Jericho, the city that God had destroyed with soldiers trampling and trumpets sounding (cf. Joshua 6:26).  Yes, Ahab “did more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than did all the kings of Israel before him” (1 Kings 16:33).

So God mocked Ahab and his gods, Baal and his Asherah, who were supposedly responsible for supplying rain and causing things to grow and reproduce.  He sent a severe famine for 3 ½ years.  Elijah, God’s prophet at the time, went to inform Ahab that this famine was the doing of the one true God.  Then, after spending time in a ravine near the Jordan being miraculously fed by ravens, God called on Elijah to carry out a special mission; he called him to serve. 

The Lord sent Elijah to a widow in a land which, ironically enough, happened to be the land from which Ahab’s wicked wife Jezebel hailed: Sidon.  God sent Elijah to the city of Zarephath, and even though God did not reveal all of the details to Elijah, he gave him clear enough direction, saying to him, “Go at once to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have commanded a widow in that place to supply you with food” (1 Kings 17:9).  Once there, Elijah bumped into the widow at the town gate and asked her for a drink.  Then, as she turned to fulfill his request, Elijah tacked on one more tiny request for a piece of bread.  The problem, of course, was that for the widow, there was nothing tiny about the request at all.  As it was, she had only enough for one more meal for herself and her son.  The cupboards were quite literally bare – not the way we use the phrase today, which usually just means we don’t see something we like.  No, there was nothing; not another scrap of food to sustain this poor widow and her son.  She fully expected that after this final meal she would die.  So, knowing how little she had left, how would she respond to Elijah’s insistence that before she follow through with her plans for her final meal, she first use what she has to make him some bread?

Surely to the widow Elijah’s request was too much, humanly speaking.  To put Elijah first when it meant the possibility that there wouldn’t even be enough left for herself and her son???  At this point we’re fully expecting the woman to tell Elijah to bug off and find his own food.  But then Elijah attached a promise from the Lord God himself to his request.  He said, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the LORD gives rain on the land’” (v.14).    

It’s been said that faith really becomes faith in God when human means fail.  It was not reason, logic, or good old common sense that prompted the widow to go against her natural inclination to care for herself and her son first, and then this demanding guest, provided there was enough left over.  No, faith in Elijah’s God – that he would deliver on his promise of providing for her – that was what prompted her selfless act of service for God’s prophet.

So with hearts of faith let us ask who was the one serving, and who was the one who was served?  Was the widow the one serving Elijah and he was the one served by the bite of bread, or was Elijah the one serving and the widow was the one served by the gracious, providential promise of God?  Ah… could it be both?  Could it be that in serving each other, they were equally being served as well?

Dear Christian, here is the truth of the matter: when God calls on you to serve, so often it isn’t just because he wants you to be the one serving, but also because he wants you to be the one served.  God doesn’t only bless those being served, but also the ones serving.  Recognize then that with all the opportunities for service that God unrolls before our eyes like red carpets in every direction, he calls us to walk down those paths not just to bless others, but also to be blessed in return. 

And surely you have experienced this.  You have gotten over yourself, your complaining, your bitterness, your pathetic pity party when asked to serve in some way, any way really, and you recognized after the fact that you – to your shame – found yourself much more on the receiving end than on the giving end.  And truth be told, you should feel guilty.  You should feel rotten about having made such a big deal out of a God-given opportunity to serve, when in the end you were really the one who benefited.  You should feel downright awful. 

Except that you know the Head-Crusher removed that guilt on the cross.  You know that he forgave your sins of reluctance and aversion to serving him when he has called you to.  You know that Christ’s perfect record of service is the only one that the Father sees on your account.  You know that his sacrifice has made you a saint.

As his saints, Christ’s sacrifice has shifted our attitudes from selfishness to service.  Yes, when we serve he is often serving us in the process, but it isn’t that guaranteed return of blessing on our investment of service that leads us to serve.  No, we serve because he first served us. Amen.
 
“For the freer confidence is from one’s own works, and the more exclusively it is directed toward Christ alone, so much better is the Christian it makes.” (Luther)

Friday, February 1, 2013

Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10


the third sunday after the epiphany

Shepherd of the Hills Ev. Lutheran Church (WELS)

Listen with Care

Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10

1 All the people came together as one in the square before the Water Gate. They told Ezra the teacher of the Law to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded for Israel.  2 So on the first day of the seventh month Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand. 3 He read it aloud from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate in the presence of the men, women and others who could understand. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law.

5 Ezra opened the book. All the people could see him because he was standing above them; and as he opened it, the people all stood up. 6 Ezra praised the Lord, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded, “Amen! Amen!” Then they bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. 8 They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people understood what was being read. 9 Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and teacher of the Law, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to them all, “This day is holy to the Lord your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law. 10 Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” (NIV)

A porcelain figurine.  A set of fine china.  An antique vase.  These are items that we’d certainly handle with care, as they are delicate and could easily be shattered, broken, or chipped.  Now why would that matter?  Because chances are, such items are more than likely quite valuable.  But even if they don’t have very significant monetary value, there’s probably a story or history behind each one that gives it a special personal value.  The figurine is a keepsake from grandma.  The china has been handed down in the family for generations.  The vase was a wedding gift to the great grandparents from a prominent person.  For one reason or another, the items have significant value, and when you come across something of value, you handle it with care.

This morning we want to see how important it is that we take the same approach with something that far surpasses family china or antiques in value: the Bible.  We want to handle it with care, not because we’re afraid we might drop it and shatter it into a million pieces, but because there simply is nothing more valuable or important in our lives.  And the best way to handle it with care, is to Listen with Care.  That was exactly what God’s people were doing when God’s Word was brought before them to be read. 

But God’s blessing had been upon them in a number of ways long before that happened.  Even though they had been pummeled by their enemies and taken away into captivity in a land not their own, God did not withhold his blessing from them.  Being displaced from their homes was a temporary arrangement.  God’s goodness on behalf of his people stretched out into the secular world as he used worldly leaders to carry out his bidding.  God used the Persian rulers to allow his people to return back to their homeland in phases.  The first phase of exiles returned to rebuild their homes and the temple.  After some time, a second phase returned, under the direction of Ezra.  Then, when word had been received that Jerusalem’s walls were in disrepair, God raised up Nehemiah who, after pleading with King Artaxerxes, was permitted to return to rebuild the walls in a third phase of exiles.  Not only did Artexerxes allow it, but he also provided the materials to do so.  Then, when enemies around Jerusalem recognized that the walls were being rebuilt, and they felt threatened, they tried to thwart the efforts of the Jews who had returned from exile.  But blessed by God with Nehemiah’s leadership, they were able to complete the task and rebuild the walls. 

Great as that rebuilding project was, there was an even greater rebuilding project that God carried out through Nehemiah.  It didn’t involve walls, but hearts.  And when it comes to rebuilding hearts, there is no need for hammer, saw, or chisel, for only one tool can effectively provide what is needed: the Word. “All the people came together as one in the square before the Water Gate. They told Ezra the teacher of the Law to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded for Israel.  So on the first day of the seventh month Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand.  He read it aloud from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate in the presence of the men, women and others who could understand. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law” (v.1-3).  Just the location itself would have been an emotional high – being home again, back in the place where their families before them had previously dwelled, rich with history and stories passed down.  The smell of a fresh coat of paint lingered in the air, serving as a reminder that the old, burned down and dilapidated gates and walls had been made brand new again.

But then to hear the words, to hear the words of the Torah – the Law – what we know as the first five books of the Bible written by Moses, must have transformed an already memorable moment into remarkable one.  The Torah was truly their identity, their purpose, their calling as God’s chosen people.  The foreign language and customs that were gradually becoming second-hand to them while living as exiles must have seemed to waft away into the air suddenly as their Jewish heritage leapt off the pages of the scroll and into their hearts, reminding them who they were and why they were.  They were God’s special people.  He promised to love them with an everlasting love.  He promised to be their refuge and their fortress.  He promised never to abandon them, even though they had done the very same to him.  And there, as they stood together, home again, being reminded of promise after promise as they listened intently to Ezra’s reading, the reality of those promises and God’s faithfulness to them were being experienced in a profound way.  Hearts that had been squeezed in discouragement during captivity and exile were suddenly beating vibrantly again, having received spiritual CPR through God’s Word.

Should it be any different for us today?  Doesn’t the very same Word of God, which first gave us life, continue to abundantly enrich our lives?  The same gracious God has told us we are his special people.  He has also promised to love us with an everlasting love.  He has promised to be our refuge and fortress.  He has promised never to abandon us.  Promise after promise has been made in Scripture, and promise after promise has been kept.  Wouldn’t we expect the Word of God to have the same profound impact on us today as it did while Ezra read it to the mass of God’s people gathered there?

Ah, but then how do we explain the crisp, clean pages, unbent and unfolded, that belong to a book in nearly mint condition, virtually unopened and unread?  How do we explain not even knowing at this very moment where an available Bible is in our home, or that we do know exactly where it is, only because we see it more often in its permanent place on the shelf instead of right under our nose while being read?  Why is it so much easier to blow twenty minutes on a game on my phone than it is to spend only five in my Bible?  Why is it always so much more challenging for us to actually study the Bible than it is to pull us away from it?  Why can I so easily come up with ten complaints about worship and what’s wrong with it, but struggle to come up with half as many benefits that result from it?  Now ask yourselves if such unflattering descriptions could likely have been applied to those listening to Ezra as he read the Torah.  It sure didn’t sound like it based on our First Lesson this morning, did it?

So how do we explain why these descriptions seem to describe us with such alarming accuracy?  Here is why: because, like those listening attentively to the Word of God as Ezra read it, we are God’s specially chosen people.  And you and I know that Satan takes issue with that.  And, since he knows exactly what the Lord God uses to keep his chosen people connected to him, Satan shows no shame in an all-out, no holds barred attack on the Bible.  See, he’s already convinced unbelievers it’s just a plain old book – nothing special about it and certainly not real high on the must-read list.  So the ones he needs to work on are you and me, and anything he can do to keep us as far from the Bible as possible, he considers gain.  And when he’s successful, it shows that we’re more convinced by his lies that minimize the Bible than we are about God’s truths that elevate it to the highest place of prominence.  At such times we do well to be warned that hell is full of souls who have gone before us who bought those lies one time too many.

Instead, let us return from the captivity of such deception and the exile of indifference toward the Word.  Let us, like God’s people who returned home and became reacquainted with the Word, renew our vows to Christ, to his Church, and to his Word.  After all, isn’t that when his Word, with its forgiveness and grace, truly hits the mark?  Isn’t it after we’ve wandered, we’ve ignored, we’ve disregarded and despised his Word – which is nothing short of a revelation of God himself – that forgiveness and grace truly sink in? 

Think of the husband who ends the affair with another women because he genuinely regrets it with all his heart.  He is convinced far beyond the shadow of a doubt that his marriage is over and that his wife will forever loathe and detest him.  Divorce, he believes, is imminent.  But then she speaks to him the words, “I love you, and I forgive you.”  Surely he’s heard those words from her lips before, many times, perhaps.  But never have they had meaning as they do at that moment.  Never had his own sin been so shameful as to make those words so sweet.

And that is why we return to the sweet words of forgiveness found in Scripture, words which mean so much both because of the magnitude of our Savior’s sacrifice, but also because of the seriousness of our sin.  In God’s Word we find over and over that we wandering, wayward sons are never turned away from the longing, loving Father.  Another pass through the pages of Scripture assures us that all guilt has been removed.  It takes us by the hand back to the manger, then passes the place of skulls on its way to the open tomb, stepping in where even our own feelings and emotions cannot convince, and guarantees to us that all is well with God.

Of that assurance we never tire.  It is why we treasure the Word.  It is why we begin to understand the many pictures painted in the Psalms about how lovely the law of the Lord is.  Because we love the Lord’s Word, we want to know how to read and hear it.

We note that as God’s people gathered to hear the Word, the Word was read “making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people understood what was being read” (v.8).  There is always value in reading the Word, but we also want to make sure we understand what we’re reading, or that those with whom we’re sharing it understand.  It is necessary to explain and clarify what is meant when the Word is read, so that the Holy Spirit might enlighten us as we understand it.

Then also, as we’re hearing the Word, we do so attentively, as the people listened to Ezra.  We know that Satan wants to distract us and shut our ears to the Word, so let us recognize that it takes work and effort to pay attention so that nothing would come between the Word being read and keeping it from being heard by our ears. 

We do all that we can when reading and hearing the Word, to ensure that hearts are truly touched by its message.  We do all that we can to see that we handle the Word with care.  More than anything else, that means that we Listen with Care.  For then we will hear the Savior speak, and there is no sweeter sound.  Amen. 

“For the freer confidence is from one’s own works, and the more exclusively it is directed toward Christ alone, so much better is the Christian it makes.” (Luther)