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)

Exodus 7:14-24 Sermon

the second sunday after the epiphany

Shepherd of the Hills Ev. Lutheran Church (WELS)

 

You Will Know

Exodus 7:14-24

1 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is unyielding; he refuses to let the people go. 15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning as he goes out to the river. Confront him on the bank of the Nile, and take in your hand the staff that was changed into a snake. 16 Then say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to say to you: Let my people go, so that they may worship me in the wilderness. But until now you have not listened. 17 This is what the Lord says: By this you will know that I am the Lord: With the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water of the Nile, and it will be changed into blood. 18 The fish in the Nile will die, and the river will stink; the Egyptians will not be able to drink its water.’”

19 The Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt—over the streams and canals, over the ponds and all the reservoirs—and they will turn to blood.’ Blood will be everywhere in Egypt, even in vessels of wood and stone.” 20 Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded. He raised his staff in the presence of Pharaoh and his officials and struck the water of the Nile, and all the water was changed into blood. 21 The fish in the Nile died, and the river smelled so bad that the Egyptians could not drink its water. Blood was everywhere in Egypt.

22 But the Egyptian magicians did the same things by their secret arts, and Pharaoh’s heart became hard; he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said. 23 Instead, he turned and went into his palace, and did not take even this to heart. 24 And all the Egyptians dug along the Nile to get drinking water, because they could not drink the water of the river. (NIV)

It certainly is easier to plead ignorance than to be held accountable.  But, while it might be easier, that doesn’t always mean it works.  The officer pulling out his pad of paper to write your speeding ticket may not even care that you didn’t know what the speed limit was; he’s only concerned that you broke it.  It’s your responsibility as a driver to know how fast you should be going.  Ignorance is no excuse.  Your project manager will not excuse your unfinished task simply because you didn’t know how you were supposed to complete it, especially if you never bothered to ask him.  Ignorance is no excuse. 

Yet there is a matter far more serious than a speeding ticket or unfinished task in which ignorance will most definitely be no excuse.  The most serious situation in which the words, “I didn’t know” will not fly is the time when each and every individual will be found in the presence of God himself, and asked to give an accounting of his life and his relationship with God.  When that happens, the response, “Wow, so you really do exist” will not be met with a chuckle or a wink.  At that point, there will be no room for excuses.  There will be no place for avoiding accountability for sin by pleading ignorance.  

Why?  Because men are without excuse.  God has revealed himself in many ways and at many times to mankind throughout history.  He did it in spectacular fashion to a skeptic in Egypt about 3,500 years ago. 

Pharaoh had been making slave life for the Israelites even more and more unbearable.  Conditions were beyond miserable and they were at their breaking point.  The LORD saw fit to take action and step in, so he sent Moses and Aaron to Pharaoh.  After Pharaoh was unimpressed with the changing of a staff into a snake, a feat which his own sorcerers successfully imitated, God gave Moses his next instructions: “Go to Pharaoh in the morning as he goes out to the water. Wait on the bank of the Nile to meet him” (v.15).

First off, let us consider the purpose behind Pharaoh’s daily Nile River visit.  Did his morning routine include time at the Nile River to do a little fishing early in the morning while they were still biting?  Or did Pharaoh enjoy water sports so much that he kept his boat and a couple of jet-skis docked on the Nile, ready and waiting for him each morning?  Maybe that was where he went to start off the day with a bath, soaking in the refreshing waters of the Nile River. 

More than likely, the reason God directed Moses to meet Pharaoh at the Nile River in the morning was because that was where Pharaoh would be for church.  That’s right, the Nile River was more than just a water source; it was viewed as divine.  The Egyptians deified the Nile by associating a number of gods with it.  The Nile was, after all, their source of life, their lifeblood.  It provided their drinking water, irrigation for agriculture, and fish to eat.  So Pharaoh would go through certain religious ceremonies on a daily basis in an effort to keep all of the Nile gods appeased. 

So imagine his shock at seeing what happened when Moses and Aaron met him and they followed through with God’s command.  “[Moses] raised his staff in the presence of Pharaoh and his officials and struck the water of the Nile, and all the water was changed into blood” (v.20).  Their source of life had suddenly been changed into something absolutely detestable to them: blood.  With this plague God was making a statement to Pharaoh and the Egyptians, as if to say, “See, just as you find blood to be a detestable thing, so I find your vain idolatry detestable as well.  See this: your god is no god at all, and I am clearly making myself known to you as the only true God.” 

And to those who would seek to write this miracle off by concluding that the red tint in the Nile was a natural occurrence (the waters do appear reddish during flooding as the silt is carried along by the rising waters), there are more than enough details to make that claim foolishness.  For we are told, “The fish in the Nile died, and the river smelled so bad that the Egyptians could not drink its water. Blood was everywhere in Egypt” (v.21).  Dead fish.  A putrid stench.  Undrinkable water.  Even buckets and jars of water turned to blood.  And, surely if this were something less than a miracle, Pharaoh and his magicians would have simply pointed it out as a natural occurrence. 

Instead, using the devil’s power, they imitated it.  Yet that in no way trivializes the miracle that God first performed.  In fact, it shouldn’t surprise us that the devil is always close behind the Lord, aping his miraculous signs and wonders.  He wants to make the Lord’s outstanding works not stand out, assuming that if they are imitated, then they lose their luster.  But even the devil is unable to demonstrate any power other than that which God permits.  For if Satan really sought to undermine God, then he would have enabled the Egyptian sorcerers to do something really extraordinary, and change the blood back into water.  But that they could not do.  The Lord wouldn’t allow it.  His purpose had already been achieved in that everything had happened just as Moses explained it would.  The Lord God made himself known.  And he did it by making a mockery of the Egyptian Nile gods at the same time.

Doesn’t God have a way of doing that same thing today?  Something – anything – overtakes him as the number one priority in our lives, and he has a way of reminding us that nothing else is worthy of top billing in our lives.  The career is really going well, it’s stable, it’s bringing in good money, and it still looks as if the best is yet to come.  Then, when it becomes clear that life has begun to revolve around that job, then – boom – the water turns to blood and a bad business move leads to huge cutbacks, meaning there’s no more job to go to tomorrow morning.  The future looks bright, not because God promises he’ll provide for every need, but because the investment portfolio is stacked, then – boom – the water turns to blood and your retirement sinks to almost nothing when the market tanks drastically.  The new car went from zero to sixty into your heart in no time flat, then – boom – the water turns to blood and it’s totaled when you’re smacked by a reckless driver with no insurance.

Yes, when God is replaced by something else in our lives, he is not beyond reminding us how worthless it truly is.  What’s more, we should be thankful that he does, otherwise we might so easily be inclined to treasure all kinds of vanity and worthlessness in this world more than God.  And woe to anyone – especially Christians – who think that danger is such a far-fetched reality.  The case of Pharaoh may not terrify the unbelieving world, but it ought to terrify us, for look what resulted in his case even after God went to such extreme lengths to make his name and his power known: “Pharaoh’s heart became hard” (v.22). 

Dear friends, heed God’s warning.  Don’t be so naïve to think it could not happen to you.  Do not test the Lord by ignoring the Word by which he makes himself known.  Do not think even the finest Christian cannot fall.  Do not believe the lie that something else is more valuable in this life than God, for if you believe it long enough, you won’t be able to tell the truth from the lie.  A highly decorated cyclist found that out the hard way as he lied and lied and lied about taking performance enhancing drugs, convinced that the truth was irrelevant in his particular case.  But the stakes are much higher as far as our relationship with God is concerned.  Refuse to fear, love, and trust in him above all other things in life, and eventually it may be that your hardened heart no longer has a place for him.

But that certainly isn’t God’s desire in revealing himself to us.  No, God’s purpose for turning water into blood and Jesus’ purpose for turning water into wine were not to turn people against him, but rather to make himself known so that people would turn toward him. 

Think of the childless couple.  It became clear that they were unable to have children of their own.  When the tears dried, they began the long and laborious process of adoption.  They wanted a child to hold and to love and to raise together as their own.  The process was painful.  It was expensive.  It was heart-wrenching to be yanked back and forth with a yes, then a no, then another hopeful yes.  But when that father finally held a son – now his son – in his arms, there was not the slightest doubt in his mind that it was worth it, and that he’d easily do it all over again in a heart beat.

Painful as that process might be, it doesn’t come close to comparing to process God has gone through so that he could call all people his sons and daughters.  His tears, though, came from having to give up his only Son Jesus to die.  Painful as it must have been to see a child born into this world only to serve as a sacrifice, God endured it.  He exchanged his own perfect Son for you and me and all people.  He did it so that when he makes himself known to us, a relationship can be formed, one based on the holiness and righteousness of Jesus. 

The necessary work for the salvation of all people has been carried out and completed.  We know him our Savior God, who he is and what he has done. Now what remains is for God to be known by others.  We cannot wait for the waters of the bay to be turned to blood for people to know.  We cannot wait for bottled water to be transformed into bottled wine.  And in our day and age, one wonders if it would even make a difference anyway, or if people would respond like the philosopher Voltaire, who said, “Even if a miracle should be wrought in the open marketplace before a thousand sober witnesses, I would rather mistrust my senses than admit a miracle.”  I suspect millions today would feel the same way.  All the more reason not to wait on miraculous signs and wonders, like those shown to Pharaoh, who rejected them outright anyway, but rather to rely on something even more powerful: the Word of God and the good news about Jesus, our Savior from sin.  One day everyone will know him, some for better, but many for worse.   Let us make him known before that day, that others might know him on the Last Day not in terror, but in eternal joy, just as you and I know him.  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)

1 Samuel 16:1-13 Sermon

the first sunday after the epiphany

Shepherd of the Hills Ev. Lutheran Church (WELS)

The Beauty of Your Baptism

1 Samuel 16:1-13

¹ The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king.” ² But Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears about it, he will kill me.” The Lord said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ ³ Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what to do. You are to anoint for me the one I indicate.”

⁴ Samuel did what the Lord said. When he arrived at Bethlehem, the elders of the town trembled when they met him. They asked, “Do you come in peace?” ⁵ Samuel replied, “Yes, in peace; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Consecrate yourselves and come to the sacrifice with me.” Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. ⁶ When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed stands here before the Lord.” ⁷ But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” ⁸ Then Jesse called Abinadab and had him pass in front of Samuel. But Samuel said, “The Lord has not chosen this one either.” ⁹ Jesse then had Shammah pass by, but Samuel said, “Nor has the Lord chosen this one.” ¹⁰ Jesse had seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said to him, “The Lord has not chosen these.”

¹¹ So he asked Jesse, “Are these all the sons you have?” “There is still the youngest,” Jesse answered. “He is tending the sheep.”

Samuel said, “Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives.” ¹² So he sent for him and had him brought in. He was glowing with health and had a fine appearance and handsome features. Then the Lord said, “Rise and anoint him; this is the one.” ¹³ So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David. Samuel then went to Ramah. (NIV)

It wasn’t as if Samuel had no attachment to Saul.  Saul undoubtedly stood out when the two first met, after Saul’s search and rescue mission for his father’s lost donkeys.  Visibly, Saul had the stature of a king, being a head taller than other men, there was no one else like him (1 Samuel 9).  After the people clamored for a king, the Lord had revealed to Samuel that he had chosen Saul to ascend to the throne as Israel’s first king.  The oil drizzled over Saul’s head at his anointing came from a horn held in the hand of Samuel himself. 

But Samuel also knew Saul’s days as king were numbered.  He had firsthand knowledge of Saul’s shortcomings, how he had a tendency to consider God’s instructions merely as suggestions instead of non-negotiable commands.  The Lord could not tolerate such a casual approach to his will from one of his own representatives.  “The LORD was grieved that he had made Saul king over Israel” (1 Samuel 15:35), so he had chosen another to replace him. “The Lord said to Samuel, ‘How long will you mourn for Soul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king’” (v.1).

Samuel was hesitant to run out and anoint another king.  He shared with God his concern: “Saul will hear about it and kill me” (v.2).  Saul had made it clear he was willing to kill his own son because of a foolish oath he himself had made, so Samuel very well may have had a right to be concerned about how Saul might treat him if he anointed another king to replace him.  Samuel’s reluctance may also have been partially due to a lack of confidence in how another king would do, given that the first one hadn’t panned out as well.

Which is really to say that Samuel’s lack of confidence, or his doubt, was really in the Lord God.  For it was God who had revealed to him that the choice for Israel’s next king had already been made.  Whether Samuel’s slowness to respond was due solely to his fear of death by the hand of Saul, or other additional concerns, it was essentially a lack of trust in God.  To fail to heed God’s instruction to anoint a new king was to imitate Saul’s disobedience.  When God had revealed to Samuel where he was to go to anoint Israel’s next king, he should have flashed his “Bethlehem or Bust” sign and been on his way.  Instead, he doubted.

Though we are no longer ruled by kings, to whom prophets were sent with instructions to anoint with oil, we nonetheless are sent with instructions to anoint with the water of baptism.  Jesus commanded it when through the Great Commission he instructed believers to go and make disciples by baptizing and teaching (Mt. 28).  But at times the doubt is there, as it was for Samuel.  Sometimes the doubt arises over baptism in general, as if anything is actually accomplished through something so simple as water.  Many doubt that water could have any such power.  Others, even those with a biblical and proper understanding of baptism, knowing that it works not because of the water, but because of the Word, doubt that baptism is really the way to go to grow a church.  “Sure, it works, but if we really want to grow our churches, baptism isn’t the best way to do it.  We’ve got to start thinking outside of the box and getting with the times.”   

God has a way of straightening out those who doubt him.  After Samuel had expressed his reservations to the Lord about baptizing another king, look how God responded.  He didn’t try to explain himself further.  He didn’t take the time to patiently sell Samuel on the notion that following through with his command and anointing the next king might be a good idea.  No, he simply reiterated his command with more details about how to carry it out. 

Then Samuel had it all figured out.  He arrived at the house of Jesse, took one look at his sons, and had a pretty good idea that he knew the one he’d be anointing to serve as the next king.  “Samuel saw Eliab and thought, ‘Surely the LORD’s anointed stands here before the LORD’” (v.6).  After all, Samuel had done this before, remember?  He knew what a king should look like; how he should carry himself.  So Samuel was pretty sure he was looking at Israel’s next king.  “But the LORD said to Samuel, ‘Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him.  The LORD does not look at the things man looks at.  Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart’” (v.7). 

People do the same thing with baptism today when they assume they know exactly who fits the criteria to be baptized.  “Must be a certain age.  Must be repentant.  Must be committed to Jesus… well that rules out infants, the mentally challenged, and the unsanctified sinners who can’t clean up their lives, to name a few.”  Then God comes along and scolds us with the reminder that there are no limitations laid out in Scripture that would exclude anyone, barring those who reject what baptism offers.  He reminds us that even in baptism the Lord doesn’t look at the things man looks at; outward appearance is inconsequential.

Remember that when our Savior came into the world, it rejected him as well, based on his outward appearance.  He didn’t come from royalty – what king is relegated to being born in a shack and laid down to rest in a feedbox?  He didn’t dress like royalty.  His followers were rough around the edges.  The last thing anyone would have considered him to be after he had been battered and beaten was a king.  Finally, what king dies the death of a criminal on a cross?

Yet there was no denying that Jesus was the Messiah, the Anointed One.  He was chosen by God and appointed to carry out all the work necessary for our salvation.  God chose to make that clear at Jesus’ baptism.  The account we heard from Luke’s Gospel this morning is brief, but telling.  “When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too.  And as he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: ‘You are my son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased’” (3:21,22).  God knows how to make an impression.  When he wants something to stand out, he simply speaks and that about does the trick.  At Jesus’ baptism and again at the Transfiguration, God did just that, and in so doing asserted that in spite of what outward appearances may or may not have indicated, Jesus, God’s Son, was the Savior.

God further demonstrated this by anointing Jesus with the Holy Spirit at his baptism.  It was yet another visible indicator that Jesus was the chosen One.  But it was more than that.  The Holy Spirit also empowered Jesus to carry out his ministry, meeting every requirement.  Not only was Jesus conceived by the Holy Spirit, but he lived and breathed with the power of the Holy Spirit on him as well.  His miracles were proof, as was his perfect life.  The Gospels record the presence of the Holy Spirit in Jesus’ ministry repeatedly.

Though he wasn’t Samuel’s first choice, David was God’s first choice, and when he set him apart as king, he was anointed with the Holy Spirit as well.  “So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the LORD came upon David in power” (v.13).  Those little words “in power” remind us that the Holy Spirit is not without effect in the lives of men.  How else would we explain David’s success as Israel’s finest king, if not for the Holy Spirit?  What else would explain why David had such a heart for the Lord, but that the Holy Spirit guided him?  Could David have penned such beautiful psalms apart from the Holy Spirit?  To be sure, the Holy Spirit made a difference in David’s life.

The Holy Spirit has, and continues to make a difference in your life as well.  Isn’t that why we so treasure our baptism, because that is where the Holy Spirit was just getting started in our lives?  Just as at Jesus’ baptism, the voice of God was present at yours as the words of Jesus were spoken in connection with the water being applied.  And in such simple, yet miraculous fashion, the Holy Spirit came upon us.  The reality of our sin, which had previously condemned us and alienated us from God, was suddenly overshadowed by the reality of grace, by which the Holy Spirit applied Christ’s forgiveness to us and implanted in our hearts the faith to believe it.  What a difference the Holy Spirit makes!

We were truly dead in sin, but made alive by the Holy Spirit.  We were lost and wandering aimlessly without plan or purpose, but the Holy Spirit rescued us and provided direction for our lives. We were poor and penniless, but the Holy Spirit has given us riches and wealth unmatched in the world.  We had no family, but the Holy Spirit has brought us into the family of saints, to be sons and daughters of our all-gracious Father in heaven. 

We were living for self, but now the Holy Spirit compels us to live for our Savior, and he not only compels us, but equips us. He keeps us close to God through Word and Sacrament, by which he amplifies our faith.  He gives us the gifts and ability to carry out all that he calls us to do.  Indeed, those who will be installed this morning to direct and lead this congregation as we continue to seek the lost and serve the found would be ill-equipped to do so apart from the Holy Spirit.  Our new members, whom we’ll be welcoming after the service with a barbecue, would not be able to contribute anything meaningful to God or to this congregation, were it not for the Holy Spirit.  Surely none of us would, were it not for the Holy Spirit.

David was anointed with the Holy Spirit, as was Jesus, and as were we at our baptism.  With the Holy Spirit continuing to enlighten and sanctify us, the sky is the limit, so long as we keep in mind that it – heaven – is also the goal.  The reason God has poured out the Holy Spirit on us is so that he might guide us to heaven and usher us into an eternal dwelling with him.  Let us throw off anything that would hinder that, and cling to the Holy Spirit, who through the blood of Christ will take us there.  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)

1 Kings 10:1-9 sermon

the epiphany of our lord

Shepherd of the Hills Ev. Lutheran Church (WELS)

Visiting the King

1 Kings 10:1-9

¹ When the queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon and his relationship to the Lord, she came to test Solomon with hard questions. ² Arriving at Jerusalem with a very great caravan—with camels carrying spices, large quantities of gold, and precious stones—she came to Solomon and talked with him about all that she had on her mind. ³ Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was too hard for the king to explain to her. ⁴ When the queen of Sheba saw all the wisdom of Solomon and the palace he had built, ⁵ the food on his table, the seating of his officials, the attending servants in their robes, his cupbearers, and the burnt offerings he made at the temple of the Lord, she was overwhelmed.

⁶ She said to the king, “The report I heard in my own country about your achievements and your wisdom is true. ⁷ But I did not believe these things until I came and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, not even half was told me; in wisdom and wealth you have far exceeded the report I heard. ⁸ How happy your people must be! How happy your officials, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom! ⁹ Praise be to the Lord your God, who has delighted in you and placed you on the throne of Israel. Because of the Lord’s eternal love for Israel, he has made you king to maintain justice and righteousness.”

Dear friends,

According to Oriental accounts, the Queen of Sheba sent ambassadors with a letter to Solomon before she went herself. With them she sent five hundred youths dressed like maidens, and the same number of maidens like young men. She sent also a closed casket, containing an unperforated pearl, a diamond intricately pierced, and a goblet of crystal. The letter thus referred to these things: “As a true prophet, thou wilt no doubt be able to distinguish the youths from the maidens; to divide the contents of the enclosed casket: to perforate the pearl; to thread the diamond; and to fill the goblet with water that hath not dropped from the clouds, nor gushed forth from the earth.” When they reached Jerusalem, Solomon told them the contents of the letter before they presented it, and made light of their mighty problems. He caused the slaves to wash themselves, and from the manner in which they applied the water detected their sex. He directed a young and fiery horse to be ridden through the camp at the top of its speed, and on its return caused its copious perspiration to be collected in the goblet. The pearl he perforated by a stone occultly known to him. The threading of the diamond puzzled him for a moment, but at length he inserted a small worm, which wound its way through, leaving a silken thread behind it. Having done this, he dismissed the ambassadors without accepting their presents. This and the reports her emissaries brought determined the queen to visit Jerusalem in person. When she came, Solomon, who had heard a piece of scandal about her, - no less than that she had cloven feet, - first of all demonstrated his sagacity by the mode in which he tested this report. He caused her to be conducted over a crystal floor, below which was real water, with a quantity of fish swimming about. Balkis, who had never seen a crystal floor, supposed there was water to be passed through, and therefore slightly lifted her robe, enabling the king to satisfy himself that she had a very neat foot, not at all cloven (Gray & Adams Bible Commentary, p.871).

Perhaps those things happened; perhaps they did not.  It is known that puzzles and riddles were quite common to her culture at that time, so it may be that the Queen of Sheba was fascinated by the accounts she had heard of Solomon’s great wisdom.  While his famed wisdom was a part of the driving force behind her desire to travel so many miles to see Solomon, it wasn’t the only draw.  The Bible tells us, “When the queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon and his relationship to the LORD, she came to test Solomon with hard questions” (v.1).  His wisdom impressed her, but his relationship to the Lord also intrigued her. 

What were the “hard questions” she came to ask?  It might help to ask what the hard questions are today.  “What happens to me when I die?”  “Does it really matter how I live my life?”  “Is there a God?”  Those are hard questions.  Or, did the Queen come to ask another sort of hard question, to merely to recite riddles and brain-teasers – attempts at stumping the wise Solomon?   It would seem doubtful, especially given that once she arrived, she “talked with him about all that she had on her mind” (v.2).  Certainly some of her questions must have spilled into the realm of religion and spirituality, given that she was already familiar with Solomon’s reputation of having some sort of connection with the Lord.  Finally, the purpose of her visit with King Solomon was not nearly as important as God’s purpose for it.

Even if – and it would certainly appear to be a big if – the Queen hadn’t sought out Solomon to pursue religion at all, we can hardly imagine Solomon failing to make the most of the opportunity to take the time to speak to the Queen of his faith and his relationship with the God of free and full grace.  When we read through Proverbs it is clear that Solomon knew very well what true wisdom was, that it began with fearing the Lord (Proverbs 9:10).  Could such an individual, one so richly blessed by God both physically and spiritually, have helped but gush about God and intentionally steer the direction of their discussion toward the divine?  It would be difficult to imagine.

Her visit with the King had left quite an impression on her.  Recall that nothing was off limits; that she had asked about anything and everything on her mind, and “Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was too hard for the king to explain to her” (v.3).  And it wasn’t just what Solomon said that impressed her, but everything about her visit.  “When the queen of Sheba saw all the wisdom of Solomon and the palace he had built, the food on his table, the seating of his officials. The attending servants in their robes, his cupbearers, and the burnt offerings he made at the temple of the Lord, she was overwhelmed” (v.4,5).  She saw his wisdom in action in the details of how he carried himself and how he did things throughout his kingdom.  You can imagine the exchanges they must have shared.  She asked him why he did this that way or why he didn’t to it another way, and every explanation he gave made absolutely perfect sense, as if to lead her to think to herself, “Why don’t we do it that way; why doesn’t everyone do it that way?”  Also leaving her extremely impressed was what she witnessed in seeing worship carried out at the temple.  What a sight to behold the sacrifices being offered up in such a magnificent setting!  The experience she had visiting with Solomon finally led her to acknowledge the greatness of the Lord, saying, ^“praise be to the Lord your God, who has delighted in you and placed you on the throne of Israel. Because of the Lord’s eternal love for Israel, he has made you king to maintain justice and righteousness” (v.9).

One naturally wants to know the result of the Queen’s visit with King Solomon and the significance of her praise of the Lord.  Was she just paying lip service to another god to cover her bases, or did she become a believer as a result?  Was she converted as a result of Solomon’s witness to the LORD?  Or, was her visit nothing more than an attempt to satisfy her curiosity?  Did she see the LORD as just another of many gods that might be worth her time investing in, since he certainly seemed to bless Solomon? 

We’re privileged to have some insight from the Savior himself on the matter.  In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus was condemning the Pharisees for their refusal to heed his call to repentance.  He pointed back to the example of how even the Ninevites came to repentance as a result of the prophet Jonah’s preaching, and that the Ninevites would in turn stand to condemn the Pharisees for their failure to repent.  In his continued rebuke of the Pharisees, Jesus stressed the same point using another example.  He said, “The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and now one greater than Solomon is here” (Mt. 12:42).  Though possible, it would seem unlikely that Jesus would have referred to the Queen of Sheba, if she had been an unbeliever, to stand up in condemnation of other unbelievers.  A more convincing case could be made to conclude that the Queen did in fact become a believer in the one true God.  Jesus’ point would then have been to shame the Pharisees, for if Sheba came to faith simply by meeting Solomon, how terrible that they refuse to repent and believe when One greater than Solomon – the promised Savior himself – was in their midst!

Yet even if she did not come to faith, she would have been without excuse.  She had an audience with a believer, knowing full well his connection with the LORD, the gracious, slow-to-anger, abounding-in-love God.  IF she had somehow come away from her time with Solomon without having come to faith, at the very least her visit resulted in her having received a clear testimony of God and his goodness toward his people.  If for no other reason than that, her visit to Solomon was a blessing. A witness to the true God was given.

That essentially sums up what Epiphany is all about.  It is the revealing, the showing, the witnessing of the true God in the flesh of Christ.  The Queen of Sheba’s visit to Solomon wasn’t the only visit with a King by which a witness of God was given.  The magi who traveled to see the Christ child and adorn him with gifts also enjoyed a visit with the King.  They experienced the miraculous star that led them to the King.  They were in the presence of divine royalty.  They saw the Savior with their eyes and another witness to the true God was given.

The Queen of Sheba and the magi were blessed to have visited a King.  Both experiences resulted in a clearer revelation of God.  We have been blessed by Christ the King.  His salvation and gift of grace have been freely given to us and gratefully received.  We know freedom from sin.  We know peace in a way the world cannot offer.  We know what it means to be unafraid of death.  We know joy that cannot be matched by the world.  We know these things because of the time  we’ve spent hearing of God’s goodness in his Word.

So how unfortunate if, rather than maintaining this relationship with God on an ongoing basis, we only visit him once in awhile.  God is interested in an eternal relationship with us, not an on-again-off-again roller coaster ride.  As I saw it stated recently, God isn’t content with just getting us for weekend visitation rights; he wants full custody.  Why only visit him once in a while when he gives us direct access to be in touch with him all day, every day?  Think of all the missed opportunities we’ve wasted.  We’re happy just to visit him once in a while, yet we miss the fact that he’s standing right outside our front door waiting to be let into our homes and our hearts to set up a permanent residence.  It’s a new year.  Don’t be content to see him during visiting hours only; let him have a key to your home.

Then, as he strengthens your faith through the additional time he has with you, he’ll also open your eyes not only to recognize a sad reality, but to start caring about it even more.  That reality?  Solomon’s wisdom and Bethlehem’s star are not present today to lead people to visit the King.  The lost are not flocking to seek God or his wisdom.  I haven’t heard any stories recently about the doors of any church coming off the hinges because so many people are trying to force their way in.  The King’s appointment book is wide open, and the number of visitors he’s got scheduled these days is pretty slim.

So for the Epiphany to really be much of an epiphany at all to people today, someone’s going to have to go to them; someone who’s not only visited the King, but enjoys a close, ongoing relationship with him.  Will it be you?  Will you be instrumental in 2013 in helping someone else come to know the King?  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)

The Wonder of It All

When the theme for our Children’s Christmas service this year was chosen several months ago, I appreciated the simple reminder it promised to provide for us as we look ahead to the celebration of the Savior’s birth yet again.  The theme, “The Wonder of It All,” seemed to be very appropriate for Christmas.  Every year, it seems, it becomes more and more of a challenge to keep our eyes transfixed on the manger.  The birth of the Babe in Bethlehem is so dangerously close to being the part of Christmas that is so familiar, so routine, so easily overlooked… that we can completely miss out on the wonder of it all.  Even the “Jesus is the reason for the season” and “Keep Christ in Christmas” car magnets and stickers can become more about outspoken opposition to anti-Christmas sentiments and less about sorely-needed personal reminders.  We can become so busy defending the attacks against Christmas that we fail to deeply ponder the meaning of Christmas.  So I was excited about this theme.

But then, since the tragic events of last week, I can’t help but see the theme from another angle, from the perspective of those who simply have no answers for how or why a young man could thoughtlessly murder innocent children and teachers at an elementary school.  For many, the wonder of it all is who could possibly do this, or why?  For others, perhaps both believers and unbelievers alike, the wonder of it all might be how could a loving God allow this to happen?  The lives of innocent children are over and gone.  But the wonder remains.  Presents had already been purchased by parents, but won’t be opened by the children for whom they were intended.  Our minds are numb and reeling with the kind of wonder that wants answers.

There have been attempts at explaining it, most of which have missed the point.  This tragedy didn’t strike because gun laws aren’t strict enough.  It didn’t happen because God has been taken out of schools.  It happened because the shooter was a sinner.  And what’s even scarier than that?  So are you and I.  Yes, the sin that Satan sequestered in that vile and cowardly killer to serve his wicked purpose is the very sin that God’s law reveals in each of our hearts as well.  Cold-blooded killers we may not be, but heaven’s “no vacancy” sign stays lit for liars, cheats, gossips, haters, pharisees, drunkards, and all other sinners as well.  You and I are destined to be right there with the gunman, standing on the outside of heaven looking in, unable to remove from ourselves the refuse of sin that clings to us and disqualifies us from entrance into heaven.

That would have been our lot, if not for the wonder of it all, the birth of the Son of Mary, the Son of God, Jesus Christ.  The wonder of it all could perhaps be summed up with these words from 1 John 3:8: “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.”  The sinful, shameful acts of last week are not unlike many despicable crimes that have happened in the past.  And sadly, they will happen again… as will the equally shameful sins in our own lives.  But the wonder of it all is that in a helpless, defenseless infant, we see the conquering hero, the Savior God in the flesh, who came to overcome.  He came to destroy and decimate the most wretched and rotten works the devil could ever conceive and carry out.  And because Jesus did just that by virtue of his life and death in our place, he has pronounced us forgiven.  His resurrection guarantees it.  The Babe in Bethlehem was born to become the crucified criminal for us, so that the devil’s work would be undone and we would be welcomed into heaven not as the sinners we are, but as the sons God has made us through Christ Jesus.  Mind-boggling.  Beyond human understanding.  Incomprehensible.  But every bit the reality because of Christmas.  May you marvel at the wonder of it all this Christmas and always.  

Malachi 3:1-4 Sermon

second sunday in advent

Shepherd of the Hills Ev. Lutheran Church (WELS)

 

Refined

Malachi 3:1-4

“I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty. ² But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. ³ He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, ⁴ and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the Lord, as in days gone by, as in former years. (NIV)

Stroll around inside a jewelry store for a bit, and you’ll appreciate how stunning gold and silver can be.  Of course you know that it didn’t always look that way.  That ring wasn’t plucked out of a mine in a perfect circle which just happened to be sized for your finger.  Obviously it was formed into that shape somewhere along the line.  Even before it was ever shaped into anything however, the metal had to be refined.  Refining is the process by which a metal or some other substance is purified.  While this process today may very well be carried out using chemicals, it is also still done the way it was done in biblical times: with heat.  In the case of gold or silver, the temperatures must reach extreme heat, nearing 2000 degrees Fahrenheit.  As the metals reach such temperatures, they begin to melt, and eventually all the impurities burn off and what remains is the precious metal in its purest form.

But you know that in referring to the process of refining in his message through the prophet Malachi, God was not in the least interested in gold or silver, or any precious metal for that matter. No, he was interested in something much more valuable to him: souls.  And while precious metals can still retain a level of worth even if they aren’t 100% pure, that isn’t the case when it comes to souls.  No, the only soul that is acceptable to God is a pure soul, a soul without any impurities at all.  Only perfection will do; anything less does not pass the test.

This of course presents a big problem for you and me, as it did for Malachi’s audience.  You see, perfection’s not really our thing.  We’re kind of unqualified to achieve the whole “purity” thing.  It’s not that we don’t want to; it’s that we can’t.  And we know it.

So what does that mean?  Well, for people like you and me, who have been so firmly convinced by the Scriptures that we cannot achieve God’s standard of perfection by anything that we do, that can often result in our favoring one of two options.  One option is to believe that because we know full well that we cannot achieve perfection, that we don’t even bother to try.  In some way we may actually believe that we might offend God if we try to live a holy life, if we try to strive for the perfection that he demands.  We are further convinced that this off-the-wall idea finds additional support in the Bible’s teaching about justification, that is, that a person is forgiven, is declared “not guilty” on the basis of faith, not works.  Because we’re saved by faith alone, we want to keep obedience and righteousness completely out of the equation, as if we’re afraid that God might not know the difference between a person’s worthless attempts at self-righteousness and believing fruits of faith.  God wants us to know that we’re saved by faith alone, so we are content to leave many a good deed undone, as if to say to God, “see, my lack of good works serves as more proof that I know I’m saved by faith and not saved by works.”

The other choice we may be inclined to opt for is not so much an intentional avoidance of doing anything good, but a decreased concern about doing what’s wrong.  The reasoning – if you can call it that – takes the previous thought a step further.  In addition to the “I can’t be perfect, so why bother trying,” we take the gospel too far and it becomes a safety net for a life that is less concerned with the more frequent occurrences of sin and evil.   In other words, not only is trying to be perfect a waste of time, sin becomes less troubling and more welcome because “we’re forgiven.”  “I’m not accountable for my actions – I’m forgiven.”  “Telling the truth isn’t a requirement for heaven – I’m forgiven.”  “Let’s celebrate with yet another drink too many – we’re forgiven.”

Both approaches, “Since I’m saved by grace, I don’t have to do good works to strive for perfection,” and “I’m forgiven anyway, so what’s a little ‘whoopsie’ here or there” are both extremely dangerous from a spiritual standpoint.  Neither of them stems from faith.  Neither of those philosophies come from the new man in us, but from the Old Adam, still clinging for dear life, even trying to take the good that God does in our lives and twist and tangle it up.

God wants souls that are free from impurities.  Souls that buy into either of those two approaches demonstrate that they are anything but pure.  So what does God want?  What would he prefer instead?  Malachi spoke of a messenger God would send, one who “will prepare the way” (v.1).  During this season of Advent, one name comes to mind when speaking of a messenger sent to prepare the way: John the Baptist.  As we heard in this morning’s Gospel, which quoted another OT prophet, Isaiah, John the Baptist was the fulfillment of those prophesies.

It was really John the Baptist’s message that revealed God’s method for seeing to it that souls meet his standard of quality.  He spoke of preparing and straightening paths and crooked roads.  Those pictures of road repair are another way to depict the actions  referred to by Malachi, who said, “He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver” (v.3).  There it is, God’s preferred plan for purifying souls: seeing to it that they are refined. 

But what does that mean?  God isn’t literally going to put us through a fire in order to melt away the impurities; that much we know.  But it might feel that way as we endure the painful process that God is referring to: the process of repentance.  Only through the refining fires of repentance are souls made pure and right and presentable before God.

So why don’t we just go this route first?  Why instead to we sometimes default back to the previous to options we spoke of?  Because the process of repentance is painful.  It isn’t just a general awareness or acknowledgment of sin; that we “know we’re sinners already so let’s move on” type of things.  The refining fires of repentance are the coming face-to-face with the impurities of my sin – owning up to them and confessing them before God, admitting that we know how dangerously damning each sin is.  Repentance finds us open and exposed before God, with nowhere to hide and no one to blame but ourselves for our sin.  And that hurts.

But when we keep the end result in mind, we endure the pain so that we can be renewed entirely through the refining fires of repentance.  This process removes the impurities.  It cleanses.  It purifies.  It alone makes us acceptable in God’s sight, because it is an admittance that we wouldn’t be acceptable in God’s sight apart from Christ, who paid the ultimate price to remove the impurities of our sin.  He gave his life. 

The picture of being refined offers additional comfort if we carry it a bit further.  Malachi wrote, “He will sit as a refiner…” (v.3).  When the fire finally got hot enough for the metal to melt, the refiner had to pay close attention.  It wasn’t the type of job in which he attempts to multi-task.  No, just as the picture on the front of your worship folder depicts, he had to keep a close eye on things.  He needed to remain by the fireside throughout the process to ensure that the metal got hot enough to burn off the impurities, but also so that it wouldn’t be allowed to overheat, which could end up making the precious metal dull and lose its luster.

God, as we go through this process of refining, never leaves us or forsakes us.  He remains by our side.  As repentance forces us to come face to face with the harsh, ugly reality of our sin, it’s possible it might be too much for the Christian.  The devil may step in and attempt to convince us that our sin is too great, too serious, too unforgivable to bring before God and cause us to despair.  But God will remain by our side throughout as we are refined, that he might shoo the devil as needed by forcing him to recall the cross and the tomb.  God will continue to keep his eye on us, not about to lose one of his children through repentance, when it is that very method by which he seeks to purify his children in the first place.

Not only does he remain by our side throughout, never leaving us, but he also knows just how long we need to be in the fires of refinement.  You know how the refiner could tell when the impurities had burned away and it was time to remove the metal from the fire?  It was when he could see his shiny reflection in the gold or silver.  That was when he knew it was ready.  That is when it was pure.

So too, God is constantly observing us.  As he steadies and strengthens our faith through his Word and his sacrament, his reflection becomes more and more clear.  When he looks and sees his reflection with perfect clarity – when he sees Christ – dear friends, that is when the process of refinement has served its purpose.  And that is really what repentance does.  It leads us to look at ourselves and admit that we’re full of impurities, and to recognize that the only way that will ever change is through Christ and his forgiveness.  While here on earth, that process is ongoing, because the dross of our sin is always present.  But when the final Advent takes place, when Jesus returns to bring us home, the refining process will have served its purpose.  At that point the soul – your soul – so treasured by God, will be completely free of any impurities.  In Christ it will have been perfectly refined in the fires of repentance.  In Christ you are and you will on that day, be pure.  Come, Lord Jesus, come. 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)