Raise Your Hearts and Voices in Prayer! (2 Chronicles 7:11-16)

September 30, 2012

Dear friends in Christ.

For the past few weeks I’ve been providing you with information about the Pray31 campaign.  I’ve put announcements in the bulletin and I’ve explained it to you verbally in our closing announcements.  In doing this I’ve been extending to you the invitation to join me in raising your hearts and voices to the Lord in prayer on behalf of our nation, its leaders, and its churches.  I’ve been inviting you to be part of a movement whose goal is simply to rally one million Christians throughout our nation to raise their hearts and voices to the Lord in prayer, fervently and strategically praying to the Lord about the challenges that we face as a nation today.

But why would I take the time to invite you to join me in this during the next 31 days of October?  The simple reason is that God wants his people to pray, and throughout history he has provided prayer as our direct line of communication with our heavenly Father.  In fact, in our Scripture lessons today we have already seen the great importance of prayer as we witnessed Jesus, in our gospel lesson, teaching his disciples to pray by giving them the words of the Lord’s Prayer.  We saw how the disciples gathered together to pray to the Lord after Peter and John were released from prison, and we saw how the Lord so quickly answered their prayer by shaking the place where they were meeting and filling them with the Holy Spirit.  In fact, through the Old Testament lesson are reminded just how important it is for us to be regularly lifting our voices to the Lord in prayer as the Lord speaks to King Solomon and to us, saying: “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14, NIV84)

Now, when the Lord spoke these words to King Solomon, 13 years had passed since the temple had been completed and dedicated to the Lord.  Thirteen years had passed since Solomon had stood before the Lord at the temple dedication, praying to the Lord on behalf of the Israelites, asking that the Lord would bless his people by his presence dwelling among them from his temple.  Thirteen years had passed since Solomon had prayed to the Lord asking that the Lord would hear the prayers of his people when they turned their hearts toward the Lord and his temple and prayed to him in faith.  Thirteen years had passed since Solomon had prayed, asking the Lord to hear the prayers of his people when they turned to him after they had sinned; after the Lord had brought war on the land, famine on the land, or even plague or disaster upon the land and upon the people.  Thirteen years had passed since that day, and now, after Solomon had completed his palace the Lord appeared to him at night and said, “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14, NIV84)

Though it took thirteen years, when the Lord came to Solomon on that night, the Lord assured Solomon that he would answer Solomon’s prayer.  The Lord assured Solomon that he, the Lord, would indeed hear the prayers of his people.  The Lord assured Solomon that he would not only hear the prayers of his people, but he would also listen.  He would hear and listen and answer the prayers that his people brought to him in faith.  Though it is clear from the Lord’s appearing to Solomon that the Lord never promised that the answers to prayers would come instantaneously, it is also clear that the Lord will do what he promised—the Lord will hear the prayers of his people.  The Lord will forgive the sins of his people.  The Lord will heal the lands of his people.

This is why we, as Christians, are being called on to raise our voices to the Lord in prayer!  We are being called on to raise our voices to the Lord in prayer, because the Lord has promised to hear our prayers.  We are being called on to raise our voices to the Lord in prayer, because the Lord has promised to answer our prayers. We are being called on to raise our voices to the Lord in prayer, because the Lord has promised to forgive our sins. We are being called on to raise our voices to the Lord in prayer, because the Lord has promised to heal our land.  We are being called to raise our voices to the Lord in prayer because our nation is greatly in need of our prayers!

Just think about what we, as a nation have been facing lately.  We have been at war for the last 11 years.  Our economy has taken a down-turn, started to stabilize, and some experts say that it will soon get better while other experts are saying that an even greater down-turn is coming in the near future.  Unemployment rates and underemployment rates see to be continually on the rise.  Housing prices and housing markets that used to be so strong are now nowhere near where they once were.  Health care is facing a major change in the coming year, and as some have said, the election will determine what direction health care will go.  Federal and state budgets are facing deficits, while programs like welfare, social security and Medicare place an even greater strain on budgets as the baby-boomer generation begins to retire.  Our nation is facing a drought and because of that food prices will soon be going up.  Gas prices seem to be constantly on the rise!  Even when they come down for a while they don’t seem to stay down too long before they start going back up.  On top of all of this we, as Christians find that we are under more attacks and more scrutiny than ever before.  The very things that we hold dear are openly mocked and ridiculed on a daily basis.  Marriage itself is under attack as special interest groups seek to redefine God’s definition of marriage, change its parameters, and utterly destroy the foundation of society itself!

It is because of all of these things that I am inviting you to join with me in praying for our nation during the month of October.  Whether you choose to follow the pray31 prayer atlas or simply choose to keep the leaders of our nation, our states, and the churches of our country in your prayers is completely up to you.  But the reason I invite you to raise your hearts and voices to the Lord in prayer with me during the month of October is so that we might join together with hundreds of thousands if not a million other Christians who are raising their hearts and voices to the Lord in prayer on behalf of our nation. 

Now, just imagine with me what could happen if we did just this; if we raised our hearts and voices to the Lord in prayer for our nation during this next month.  Imagine what could happen if we raised our hearts and voices to the Lord in prayer during this next month, with Christians everywhere who have pledged to do this!  Imagine the sheer volume of prayers that the Lord will hear.  Imagine the sheer volume of prayers that the Lord will listen to and answer!  Imagine the changes that could be affected in our nation because we, as Christians, stormed the Lord’s throne of grace with prayers on a daily basis!  After all, it is the Lord who has commanded us to pray!  It is the Lord who has promised to hear our prayers!  It is the Lord who promises to answer our prayers! 

Thus, we can be assured that when we pray to the Lord our prayers will make a difference!  Can our prayers change our nation?  Absolutely!  They can defiantly change our nation!  But, will they change our nation?  That is up to the Lord!  When we pray to him, he hears our prayers!  When we pray to him, he answers our prayers!  However, he does not always answer them immediately.  Though he immediately answered the apostle’s prayer by shaking the place where they prayed and sending the Holy Spirit, it wasn’t until thirteen years had passed that the Lord appeared to Solomon and specifically answered his prayer by telling him, “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14, NIV84)

The same thing is true for us!  When we pray the Lord will hear us and answer us.  If he answers us immediately, we will praise his name.  If he holds off for a time, we will praise his name by continuing to raise our hearts and voices in prayer to the Lord our God.  So, dear friends, let us heed the Lord’s call!  Let us raise our hearts and voices to the Lord our God in prayer.  Let us storm the throne of his grace with prayers and requests for our nation, for our leaders, for our sates, for our churches, for our schools, for our educators, for our synod, her leaders, her teachers and her pastors.  Let us continually raise our hearts and voices to the Lord our God in prayer, knowing that the Lord will hear and answer.  Let us continually raise our hearts and voices to the Lord in prayer trusting the promise that he gave us in our lesson today when he said, “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14, NIV84)  Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN

Make the Most of Your Time of Grace! (Philippians 1;18-27)

Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost 

September 23, 2012

Dear friends in Christ.

For the past week, the book of Philippians has been on my mind.  On numerous occasions I was reminded of how the Apostle Paul so boldly declared, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." (Philippians 1:21, NIV84)  I was reminded of the joy that Paul conveyed to the Christians in the city of Philippi, even as he, himself, was locked away in a Roman cell, awaiting his trial before Caesar.  But out of all the things that came to my mind this week was how Paul was defiantly one who made the most of his time of grace while he lived on the earth.  These were the thoughts that kept permeating my heart and my mind even as I sought to study the lessons assigned for this day and compose a sermon to strengthen and uplift you with the Word of God.  But no matter how hard I worked, I kept thinking about Philippians and the lesson before us this morning from Philippians 1:18-27.  Though I didn’t understand it at first, I know now that this was the hand of the Lord guiding me and preparing me so that I would be ready to serve you with words of comfort and encouragement!  So, what I am doing today is something that I have done only on a couple of other occasions.  I’m bringing to you a sermon that I preached to you only a couple of years ago.  Though some of you may remember it or even portions of it, the more I thought about it, the more I realized I needed to preach this to you today, especially after the Lord, in his wisdom unexpectedly called Calissa home to his side.  I realized I needed to preach this sermon to you one more time, because in our lesson today, the Apostle Paul is calling on each and every one of us to make the most of the time of grace that the Lord gives us here in this world.

Now, if there was ever a man who made the most of his time of grace here on earth, I would say that it would have to be the Apostle Paul.  Even though he had started out as a Pharisee and a persecutor of the Church, when the Lord called him to faith, Paul made the most of his time of grace by investing everything he had into his life for Christ.  Wherever he went, he preached the gospel and told people about their Savior.  Whenever he we shipped, beaten, stoned, shipwrecked, arre3sted, imprisoned, and otherwise abused, he continued to tell others about Jesus, the Messiah, who had come into the world to free all people from their sins by his death and resurrection from the dead.  Even now, as Paul was preparing to stand before Caesar and his court, he was looking forward to giving glory and honor to Christ his Savior through his proclamation of the Gospel, even if that meant he would be found guilty and put to death.  In this way, Paul made the most of his time of grace, for as he invested his life in Jesus Christ his Savior, he was looking forward to the return on his investment, the reward, the profit, the gain of eternal life in heaven.  In fact, take a look at what Paul writes in our lesson today, in Philippians 1 beginning with verse 18:

But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, 19 for I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. 20 I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. 21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 22 If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! 23 I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; 24 but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. 25 Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, 26 so that through my being with you again your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me. 27 Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel" (Philippians 1:18–27, NIV84)

As Paul wrote from prison, he was both looking forward to the reward of eternal life with his Savior, and looking back at how he had spent his time of grace, investing his life in the service of preaching the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ his Savior.  Though he longed to cash in that investment and finally gain the return of eternal life, he knew that his time of grace had not yet come to an end.  He knew that the lord had more investments for him to make, more labor for him to perform, more time that needed to be spent in this life serving those brothers and sisters who had come to faith, as well as seeking out those who still did not know Jesus as their Savior.  Thus, as Paul calls on the Philippians to conduct themselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, he is essentially calling on them, and each and every one of us to follow his example and make the most of the time of grace that our Savior has given us.  Paul is calling on each one of us to put our faith into action and invest our lives in Christ our Savior as we share our faith with our friends, with our family, with acquaintances, and even strangers—people who already know Jesus as their Savior, as well as those who do not yet know that Jesus has freed them from their sins. 

But the question that naturally follows is, “How do we do that?”  “How do we make the most of our time of grace?”  “How do we invest our lives in Christ our Savior and live in a way that is worthy of the Gospel of Christ?”  Simple, we become managers, Christian Stewards of the Gospel which the Lord has given us.  We take the time, as so many of us have done, to read, to listen to, and to study our Bibles so that our faith can continue to grow stronger.  We commit ourselves to gathering regularly for worship so that as we give glory to our God we are also built up in our knowledge and understanding of the Lord.  We recognize the importance of bringing our children to Sunday School and using that as an opportunity for us to gather with other believers in studying the Bible together, so that we can build each other up and strengthen each other in our faith.  Then, when we have filled ourselves with the gospel, we take it with us into the world.  We take it with us as we open our mouths to tell others about the faith that we have.  We take it with us as we open our mouths to answer questions that others ask us about our faith and the hope of eternal life to which we constantly cling.  We take it with us and we bring glory go our God as we take time to bow our heads and give thanks for the food we are about to eat, even in the midst of a crowded restaurant.  WE take it with us and we show that we are God’s children by the words and the actions we use while working, playing, laughing or crying, and it this way we make the most of our time of grace here on earth even as we bring glory to Christ our Savior.

It is in this way that we serve as Christian stewards, investing our lives in Christ, looking forward to the eternal rewards of heaven, and making the most of our time of grace here in this world.  Yet, there are times in our lives when things simply do not go as well as we would like.  There are times when it seems that the economy of our lives changes from good to bad as troubles and hardships enter into the picture.  But even though there may be times when we seem to face a down-turn in our investments as sickness and sufferings enter into the picture, these are nothing less than blessings that the Lord our God uses to draw us closer to himself.  Though there may be times when we feel that we are receiving negative-returns, such as chronic illness, debilitating pain, or seemingly endless medical attention is needed, these are nothing less than the lenses that the Lord our God uses to refocus our faith on him so that we might bring glory and honor to him with our life and even, if he should require it, our death! 

This is why the Lord has allowed the most intelligent of his followers to succumb to Alzheimer’s.  This is why the Lord has allowed the strongest of his people to face Arthritis, Cancer, Dementia, and Parkinson’s.  This is why the Lord has suddenly and unexpectedly taken the lives of babies, young children, teens, and even young adults.  Though this is always terribly painful, and we are still reeling from the Lord’s decision to take Calissa home to himself, he is using even this as an opportunity to draw each and every one of us closer to himself.  He is using this as an opportunity to remind us just how precious our lives on this earth truly are.  He is using this as an opportunity to remind us of how important it is to make the most of the time of grace that the Lord has given us.  Though any hardship that the Lord gives us can feel like a struggle and even though the separation of death cuts us to the heart, the Lord allows us to endure these things for his glory and so that we might be a light to others, that they might see our faith and our trust in the Lord even in times like this, and they might be strengthened in their faith or moved to learn about the faith that we have and learn to love Jesus as their personal Savior as well.  In short, the Lord allows these things to come into our lives so that no matter what his name will be glorified by our life or by our death, just as Paul wrote, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." (Philippians 1:21, NIV84)

What greater comfort could there be for us today, than the comfort of knowing that if we should live, we have every opportunity to glorify the Lord our Savior with our lives!  But, if we should die, we would gain all the blessings of eternal life at our Savior’s side forever more!  How comforting it is to know that no matter what we should face, whether it be life or it be death, we are victorious through faith in Christ Jesus our Savior.

This is the comfort that the Lord our God has for us today!  Through faith in Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, we have been washed clean of every sin.  We are the Lord’s children, and heirs of eternal life.  We know that we are but a step way from our eternal homes and all times.  Even though we are separated from all our friends and loved ones who have been called home to heaven before us, today the Lord our God calls on us to make the most of our time of grace here in this world.  Make the most of the time of grace that the Lord has given us, because we do not know when he will call us home.  We do not know if it will be today, tomorrow, or many years from now. 

So, dear friends, as you go from here today, go with God’s richest blessings and make the most of the time of grace that he has given you.

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN

Build Yourselves up in the Lord (2 Peter 1:1-4)

September 16, 2012

Dear friends in Christ.

How much did it cost for you to come to church today?  How much did it cost you to start your car, and drive to worship this morning?  How much did it cost you to prepare your offering envelope which you will give in just a few short moments?  How much did it cost you to get out of bed, get showered, dressed, and eat breakfast before coming to worship?  In some ways these are difficult questions to answer, because when it comes to worshiping the Lord or living as his disciple, these are things that we don’t often think about.  But now comes a more difficult question:  What costs did you incur this week while you were away from worship?  What attacks did you come under?  What affect did these attacks have on your faith?  Though we don’t always realize it, if we are not continually building ourselves up in the Lord our faith can be worn down by our enemy’s attacks between Sunday worship.  Our faith can be burdened by the weight of this sinful world in which we live.  In short, the longer we keep ourselves away from the Lord and his word, the weaker our faith can become.  This is why Peter is calling on us to build up ourselves in the Lord our God as he reminds us just how precious our faith is in the opening verse of our lesson today.  He writes, “Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours:” (1 Peter 1:1, NIV84). 

Now, as Peter writes these words, he is telling us just how precious our faith is; for the faith that we have received through the righteousness of our God and Savior is the very same faith that he and the other Apostles had been given and were proclaiming through the Word of God.  In fact, the faith we have today is the very same that Abraham and all the patriarchs clung to.  It is the very same faith that Adam and Eve received in the Garden of Eden after they had fallen into sin.  The only difference is that of tense.  For while all the Old Testament believers were looking forward to a Savior who would come, we look to a Savior who has come and will come again!

This is how precious our faith truly is!  Not only is it the same faith that has sustained believers throughout the centuries, our faith is the very thing that connects us to Jesus Christ.  For the truth is our faith is very much like the great heavy chains that connect ships to their anchors; it is our faith that connects us to Jesus Christ who is our anchor amidst life’s troubles, tribulations, and temptations.  In the same way that a great tanker ship will let down its anchors to keep it from freely drifting about in the ocean, in the same way that, that anchor will settle itself on the bottom of the ocean, digging in to keep the ship from moving, in the same way that the chain that connects to the anchor will keep the ship from drifting away, is our faith.  For it is Jesus, our Savior, who has dug himself into the ocean floor of our lives, and it is the chain of our faith that keeps us from drifting away from him.

This is why Peter is calling on us to build ourselves up in the Lord.  For if we do not continually maintain our faith with God’s Word, the salt water spray of false teaching could easily begin to rust through it.  If we do not continually strengthen our faith by regularly gathering for worship and taking time each day for personal devotions with the Lord, that thick and heavy chain of our faith could easily be reduced to the size of a slender bach chain that so beautifully adorns a woman’s neck.  But even though a chain like this might be beautiful, it is of no use to keep a ship connected to its anchor, and a slight gust of false teachings could easily break us away from our Savior.  This is how precious our faith truly is.  For it is the faith that was created in our hearts by the Holy Spirit that trusts in Jesus Christ our Savior.  It is that faith, which connects us to the promises that Jesus has given: the promises of sins forgiven, eternal life with him forever in heaven, and the resurrection of the dead on the Last Day.  So dear friends, continue to build yourselves up in the Lord knowing that your faith is truly a precious thing, and as you do, as you build yourselves up in the Lord, do so remembering that it is the Lord who has given you all things!

What an amazing truth this is!  For not only has our Savior given us the faith which connects us to himself, he has also given us all that we need for this life and the life to come.  This is exactly what Peter is telling us as he continues in our text: “Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises,” (2 Peter 1:2-4a, NIV84).

Now, when Peter first wrote these words, he was writing to Christians who were plagued with false teachers that were doing everything they could to confuse them and pull them away from the true teaching of God’s Word. Well, the same thing is happening to us today.  We too face false prophets who are daily seeking to rob us of everything the Lord has given us.  That is why Peter is urging us to build ourselves up in the Lord and not to forget that it is the Lord who has given us all that we need for this life and the life to come.  For even though we may not see false prophets preaching on the street corners, we have them visiting our houses regularly enough.  We have had them sneaking into our homes without our even realizing it and influencing our very thoughts. 

For all we have to do is turn on our television sets, our radios, or even go on line, and we are confronted by messages that try to convince us that we can’t possibly be happy until we have purchased the latest new gismo for our homes.  We are confronted by television shows that use as much foul language as they are legally able to in a thirty minute show, and craftily do it so we find ourselves wanting to hear more.  We see other shows that reveal more and more skin each year, and regularly cast scenes in bedroom settings before or after couples have engaged in intercourse, regardless of their marital status.  But on top of that, every show on television has an evolutionary mindset.  Some are very subtle and nearly undetectable, while others unashamedly proclaim it as fact. In this way, our enemies are trying to make us believe that the Lord is holding out on us.  They are hoping that we will grow dissatisfied with what we have, and turn our backs on the Lord as we begin to think that he hasn’t given us enough.  They are hoping that we will treat the Lord’s great promises as if they are nothing more than rubbish.

This is why Peter is building us up in the Lord by reminding us that the Lord has given us all things, and all we have to do is look around us to know that this is true.  For here we are, worshiping in a beautiful church building that none of or at least, very few of us, had a hand in building.  We all traveled here in one of the vehicles that we own.  We all came from our own homes that have refrigerators and freezers filled with food, that have closets filled with clothes, and rooms filled with furniture, books, magazines, and so many other things that we are constantly cleaning and organizing them.  But most importantly, we have our Saviors greatest and most precious promises.  For we have the promise of sins forgiven.  We have the promise of eternal life in heaven.  We have the promise that Jesus Christ is personally preparing a place for us.  We have the promise that death is nothing more than a sleep from which we will awake in heaven.  We have the promise that on the Last Day Christ will come to raise our bodies from the dead and take us to be with him forever.  But most incredibly, we have the promise that Jesus our Savior now dwells within us.

This in itself is a great comfort to us, because it assures us that not only has our Savior given us all things for this life and the life to come, he loves us so much that because we are his own, he himself dwells within us.  Peter declares this very truth as he writes: “Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” (1 Peter 1:4, NIV84)

Now, because our Savior lives in us, we are truly participants in the divine nature, and by that we are being built up in the Lord.  For now that our Savior lives in us, we are able to live in him and for him.  We are able to go out and serve him with our lives.  We are able to let our love for Christ reflect in all that we say and do.  We are able to join together in the worship of the Lord and eating and drinking of our Savior’s body and blood so that we might be built up together.  And through these things we are able to escape the corruption of this evil world. Though we will never fully escape its corruption until the day we are safely home in heaven, with our Savior living within us we are able to live for him.  With our Savior living within us we are able to curb our own evil thoughts and desires.  And now, because our Savior lives within us, we have been given the weapons we need to fight against our enemy, the devil and all his temptations.

Though there will be times when we fail, though there will be times when we fall in to sin, our sins and our failures will not drive our Savior from us.  For when we are unfaithful to him, he is faithful to us, calling us to repentance and building us up in himself so that we might continue our lives in service to him.  So live for the Lord and build yourself up in him.  Serve him with your lives!  Give to him the first fruits of your offerings!  Build yourself up by reading and studying his Word, and give thanks to your Savior that he loved you so much that he now lives within you.

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN

Stand firm in the Lord (Ephesians 6:10-18)

September 9, 2012

  

Dear friends in Christ.

How amazing it is that school is back in session, the days have grown a little shorter and a little cooler, the leaves are beginning to fall, Confirmation classes have begun, and now, today, we have returned to our Fall Schedule, bringing about the start of this year’s Sunday school and Bible Study classes!  How amazing it is that we still live in a country that we are free to worship the Lord and study his word personally each and every day, as well as on a weekly basis here at church.  What a blessing it is that we the opportunity to gather with each other to learn God’s Word and be strengthened in our faith so that we might continue to stand firm in the Lord our God.  What a blessing the Lord has given us that we have these weekly opportunities to grow in his word and to stand together in our faith, especially when we think back to the plans of our enemy that the Lord revealed to us in our sermon just a few weeks ago.  For the truth is, satan’s ultimate goal is to do anything he can to separate us from our faith in the Lord so that we are no longer standing firm in him; so that we are easy prey for our enemy and can be easily snatched away from the Lord.  But even while that is our enemy’s goal, today we have come to the Lord’s spiritual boot camp, so to speak.  We have gathered in worship to be built up in our faith, strengthened in our Savior’s love, and be enabled to stand firm in the Lord our God, which is the very thing that Paul is calling on us to do as he writes in our lesson, “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." (Ephesians 6:10–12, NIV84)

Now, when Paul wrote these words to the Christians in Ephesus, they weren’t undergoing persecutions from the Roman Government.  They weren’t being forced from their homes and thrown to the lions because they believed in Jesus Christ as their Savior.  Instead, they were facing perhaps an even greater test to their faith.  For these Christians were living in the city whose chief goddess whose Greek name was Artemis and whose Latin name was Diana.  She was the goddess whose image was supposed to have fallen to Ephesus from the heavens in a spectacular show of power.  Thus, by this action, the people believed that she had dedicated the city to herself, so they did what seemed to be the logical thing and built a temple to Dianna or Artemis of the Ephesians.  They built the most prominent temple of the ancient world, making Ephesus the center for the worship of the goddess Diana and making the people of Ephesus fanatical followers of her.  You might remember the riot that broke out because quite a number of Ephesians had come to faith in the Savior that Paul was preaching.  You might remember how Demetrius, the Silversmith, and a whole crowd of people shouted for two hours, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians.”  It was because of all of this that Paul was urging the Ephesians to arm themselves against the forces of evil so that they might stand firm in the Lord, for Paul knew that their fight was against satan and all his evil angels.  Their fight was against satan and his attempts to lead the believers away from the Lord and back into the worship of the goddess Diana.  Their struggle was against all those who sought to discredit the Christians faith, oppress its message, and nullify the power of the Savior. 

Well, things are no different two thousand years later.  For we are still struggling against the very things the Ephesians struggled with when Paul was writing to them.  Though we may not have a temple to the goddess Diana in our back yards, our enemy, the devil, is constantly looking for any opportunity that he might use to lead us away from our Savior.  That is why Paul is calling on us to stand firm in the Lord and arm ourselves against the forces of evil, because as Christians our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against a spiritual enemy that we cannot see.  We need to stand firm in the Lord because our battle is against satan and all his evil angels who are constantly looking to lead us into sin.  Though they might not sit on our shoulders as depicted in cartoons, they are constantly whispering in our ears.  They are continuously looking to make us doubt what the Lord says in his word.  They are regularly making us feel that we are too busy to bother reading the Bible, and then they assure us that we don’t really need to because we already know it.  

We need to stand firm in the Lord because our battle is against our sin filled world, which is constantly flaunting its evil ways in front of our eyes.  Though we may not even realize it, we are being bombarded with heathen ideas and opinions whenever we watch TV.  Even if our favorite shows come to us TV’s yesteryear, we cannot escape those convictions.  For through television programs and commercials we are being convinced that we need more and more things in order to be happy.  Through television programs, commercials, and even the news we are being told, assured, and even manipulated into believing that living an alternate lifestyle is ok.  We are being assured that you don’t really have to be married before you can enjoy God’s gift of sex.  We are being shown that living together before marriage has absolutely no consequences.  We are becoming convinced that divorce is something so common that it no longer has detrimental effects on children or families.  And on top of all that, we are being led to believe that same sex marriages need to be okayed in the country because there is no reason to keep two people who love each other separated from each other. 

We need to stand firm in the Lord because our battle is against our own sinful nature, which seeks to lead us back into our most favorite sins.  This is the part of us that wants nothing to do with the Lord our God but everything to do with the world.  This is the part of us that longs to believe that there is no hell and no punishment for sins.  This is the part of us that eagerly listens whenever one of satan’s evil angels whispers in our ears. This is the part that sits up and takes notice when a hint of flesh, or a pair of breasts, or even a full blown sex scene are revealed at the movie house, or even across our own TV sets.  Yes, it is our own sinful nature that is constantly working to make us waiver in our faith, fall away from the Lord, and be lost to him forever.  And this is why Paul is calling on us to stand firm in the Lord by arming ourselves against the forces of evil.  This is why he is calling on us to stand firm in the Lord wielding the weapons of our God.

What a comfort it is to know that even as our Lord is calling on us to stand firm in him against an enemy that we cannot see, our God does not leave us defenseless in the fight against our enemies.  Rather he provides every weapon we could ever need so that we might stand firm in the Lord our God.  This, in fact, is what Paul is describing when he writes: “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints." (Ephesians 6:10–18, NIV84)

These are the weapons the Lord has issued us so that we might stand firm in him, and these are the weapons he gives us in his word. For it is in his Word that we learn about our Savior and all that he has done for us.  It is in his Word that we are reminded how Jesus stormed the fortress of the evil one in an apparent suicide mission.  In his Word we are reminded how it seemed that satan had won when he impaled Jesus’ hands and feet to the wood of the cross.  In his Word we are reminded of the agony that Jesus faced as he cried out, “My God! My God!  Why have you forsaken me?”  But at the same time we are reminded of the victory that Jesus won as he cried out, “It is finished!”  We are reminded of Jesus’ victory march through the heart of hell!  We are reminded of his triumphant resurrection from the dead, which now assures us that all of our sins have been forgiven.  Yes, every sin we have ever committed was forgiven by Jesus who died and rose again.  Every sin that our sinful nature has ever led us into as been washed clean!  Every sin that satan’s angels have ever enticed us into has been washed away!  Every sin that the world as encouraged us in has been removed from our records, and now that we have been made clean by Jesus blood, we have the ability to take up the weapons our Lord had given us so that we might stand firm in him.

For now that we are redeemed children of God, it is our Lord himself who has buckled around us the belt of truth and attached the breastplate of righteousness.  It is the Lord who has fitted our feet with the readiness of the gospel and given us the shield of faith.  It is the Lord who has placed on our heads the helmet of salvation and placed in our hands the sword of the spirit.  He is the one who has given us the battle cry of prayer and the armor of his word.  Now, as his children, we stand firm in him wielding the weapons the Lord has given us.  For it is through these weapons found only in his word that we have the power to defend ourselves against the attacks of our enemies.  Through these weapons we have the ability to shield ourselves against the temptations the devil, the world, and even our own sinful nature hurl at us.  With these weapons we have the power to defeat satan on his own ground so that we might continue to stand firm in the Lord. 

So take your position in the Lord’s army and stand firm in him wielding the weapons he has given you.  Stand beside your fellow Christians in the strength that the Lord has given you.  Stand confidently knowing that even if your enemy should ever get the better of you and lead you back into sin, you still have the lifeline of forgiveness that Jesus has provided for you.  For it is through this forgiveness that we are raised back to our feet when we fall, we are rearmed for the Lord, and we are able to stand firm in him our Lord and our God.

This is what Christian education is all about, and this is why we offer Sunday school, Catechism class, and Bible Study.  We do it so that we can all grow in the Word of God, and learn to stand firm in the Lord our God against satan, our enemy.  So, as we close here today, let us heed Paul’s words to us to, “Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints." (Ephesians 6:10–18, NIV84)

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN

As for Me and My Household, we will serve the Lord. (Joshua 24:14-15)

Series: What I'd Like to Know Is… (6/6)

September 2, 2012

Dear friends in Christ.

On October 11, 1987, my Grandfather, Edwin Breiling, died.  Only a few days before he had been working in his yard, hanging storm windows in preparation for the coming winter, when he collapsed.  He collapsed because an aortal aneurism had ruptured while he was doing his work.  I remember when we got the news that Grandpa had collapsed and that he had been moved to the Hospital in La Crosse.  I remember my parents traveling to La Crosse to help Grandma, and I remember them coming back on Sunday afternoon and giving us the news that Grandpa had gone home to be with the Lord.  I was 15 that day.  I was a freshman in high school and even though I had been to a number of funerals in my young life, this was the first time I had felt the sharp sting of death so personally.  I can still remember the trip to Wisconsin, gathering in the funeral home with the family, sitting and listening to the words of comfort that the Pastor gave before everyone came to pay their respects. 

But out of all of these things, the clearest memory I have is sitting in church and hearing the very words of our lesson today being used as my Grandfather’s funeral sermon.  You see, Edwin Breiling was a Pastor who had served the Lord faithfully for over 40 years, and his final words to his congregation were the very words of our lesson today, “Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. 15 But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”" (Joshua 24:14–15, NIV84)  Through the pastor who conducted his funeral service, Pastor Edwin Breiling stood before his congregation one last time.  He stood before his congregation as Joshua stood before the Israelites in Shechem.  Grandpa stood before his congregation and told them, “As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

“As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”  As Christians, these words are very important to us.  Many of us have them prominently displayed in our homes in one form or another.  My son has these words on a sticker which he has attached to the inside of one of his school folders, and I have a framed copy of these words hanging on the wall in my office. These words are very important to us as Christians because they so clearly convey our desire to be like Joshua.  They clearly convey our desire to stand firm in the teachings of the Lord.  They clearly convey our desire to stand against idolatry and unbelief, and to choose to serve the Lord with our lives.  Even if everybody around us should forsake the Lord, as Christians we long to cry out with Joshua, “As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

Now, the interesting thing about these words is the situation in which they were given.  You see, when Joshua spoke the words of our lesson today, he was very near the end of his life.  He had led the Israelites for many years, and under his leadership the Lord had subdued the nations before them, and they had conquered the majority of the Promised Land.  Though there were still areas of Canaan to be conquered, by the time that Joshua spoke these words, the land had already been divided among the tribes.  The people were living in cities and homes that they had not built.  They were eating the fruit of vineyards that they had not planted.  They were enjoying the blessings of the good land that the Lord had given them, and they and the land were at rest.

So, Joshua gathered all the people of Israel at Shechem, which was the perfect place to cast out idolatry and renew the Lord’s Covenant.  It was the perfect place because Shechem was the place where Abraham essentially got rid of all the gods his forefathers had served and served the Lord.  It was there at Shechem that Abraham built an altar to the Lord, which was the first altar to the Lord in the heathen land of Canaan, and worshiped the Lord who had chosen him by grace and promised him that his descendants would one day possess the Land of Canaan.  (Genesis 12:1-9).  It was there at Shechem, where all the Israelites had gathered, that each Israelite could look around and they could see the reality of that promise come to fruition.  Not only that, but Shechem was the place where Jacob settled after returning from his 20 years of service to his Uncle Laban (Genesis 33:18-20).  It was at Shechem that he bought the plot of ground where he pitched his tent.  It was at Shechem that Jacob called on all his family to get rid of any foreign gods and idols that they had with them, and they buried them under an Oak tree. (Genesis 35:1-5)  It was also from Shechem where Joseph had been sold into slavery by his brothers, thus beginning the movement of Israel to Egypt and ultimately their own years of slavery.  So, as Joshua gathered the people at Shechem, in many ways it marked for them a home coming.  It marked for them the ending of the chapters of slavery and wandering in the desert, as well as the beginning of a new nation under the blessing of the Lord.  So, there at Shechem, a place filled with so much history for the Israelites, that Joshua reminded them of the Lord’s great blessings to them and then challenged them, saying: “Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. 15 But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”" (Joshua 24:14–15, NIV84)

“As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”  For Joshua it was very clear what his choice was.  No matter what any other Israelite would choose, Joshua’s choice for himself and for his family was that they would serve the Lord.  This was the same choice that my Grandfather made!  As for him and for his household, they would serve the Lord!  But this was not a choice made hastily or declared as an ultimatum at his funeral.  No, this was something that he displayed with his life.  Because he was the spiritual leader of his house, he taught his three daughters the truths of God’s Word, and to this day his daughters serve the Lord with their lives.  Those three daughters sought for themselves men who loved the Lord and men who served the Lord with every aspect of their lives, and together, with these men, they each started families that serve the Lord.  In each of these families the children were taught the precious truths of God’s Word.  Each family grew together in faith by gathering in church and worshiping the Lord on a weekly basis.  Each family lived their faith in word and actions.  Whether it was stated or not, each one of those families adopted Joshua’s declaration as their own, demonstrating by their words and actions that regardless of what others did, they would serve the Lord.  From those three daughters came eight grandchildren, and I know for sure that seven of the eight of those grandchildren live to serve the Lord. And even though I’ve personally lost contact with one of them I believe that she too lives her life in service to the Lord.  From those eight grandchildren, four are married and have brought five great-grandchildren into the world so far.  These five great-grandchildren are already being taught the faith of their great-grandfather.  They are already being taught the faith-walk of a Christian’s life, the importance of growing in the Word of God, and the strengthening of faith that comes from gathering for worship on a weekly basis.  All because a man named Edwin Breiling faithfully served the Lord and taught his household to do the same, nearly 25 years after the Lord called him home to heaven, it can still be said that he and his household are serving the Lord.

“As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”  Can these words be said about you?  Absolutely!  It doesn’t matter what your family history might be.  It doesn’t matter if you are the first in your family to come to faith in the Lord or you are one in a longer line than I have displayed today.  It doesn’t matter because today, as we have gathered in worship, we have gathered before the Lord at Shechem with Joshua and the Israelites.  Today, we have Joshua calling on each and every one of us to throw away the false gods that our forefathers worshiped, and that we too have worshiped, and serve the Lord.  Today, the Lord is calling on each and every one of us to cast out whatever false gods and idols we’ve been carrying around in our hearts; false gods that have sought to replace the true god and who have, at times, succeeded at replacing him.  But what gods are you still carrying with you today?  Has greed become a god that rules your life?  Have you sat at the altar of selfishness and worshiped there for long periods of time?  Has pleasure filled your heat with the joys of this world and crowded out the joy of the True God.  Has obstinacy become your god as you refuse to heed the Word of the Lord that you learned as little children?  Have you given over to sexual indulgence, worldly wisdom, secularism, hedonism, consumerism, instant gratification, addiction, anger, frustration, or any other gods to claim your heart?  Have you allowed anyone or anything to take over God’s place in your heart?  We all have, this is why Joshua is calling each and every one of us to, “Fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD.” (Joshua 24:14, NIV84)

So, dear friends, let us all throw away these gods which seek to claim our heats by confessing them to the Lord in our hearts.  Take time during the offering to confess them to the Lord.  Take time during the silent prayer to confess them.  Take time after worship when you are at home and alone to write them down and confess them to the Lord. Then, when you have confessed them crumble up the sheet of paper, send it through the paper shredder, burn it on the grill before cooking your favorite meal, and live in the Lord’s forgiveness, and serve the Lord with your lives.  For you know that it is Jesus, your Savior who forgives all your sins.  You know it is Jesus, your Savior, who purifies your hearts so that you can grow in your faith and so that you can serve the Lord with your lives.  It is Jesus, your Savior, who moves your heart to action so that you begin to live your faith in the things you say and the things that you do. 

So, today, heed the words of Joshua and fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness.  No matter what age you might be, no matter what your family situation might be, no matter how well you might have served the Lord to this point, serve the Lord by growing in your faith.  Make the Lord and his Word the highest priority of your life.  Grow in your faith through worship and Bible study, and as you do, you will be seen as someone who does indeed serve the Lord with your life.  Your children will see your example, and no matter what age they might be, they will see the importance of serving the Lord with their lives as you are serving the Lord with your life.  It may happen quickly, and it may happen slowly.  It may even happen so slowly that you cannot perceive it, and in some cases it might take your funeral until your children understand the importance of serving the Lord with their lives.  But regardless of the time it takes, today is the day for you to make the choice to continue serving the Lord with your lives, and making that choice you can say with Joshua, “As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

“As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”  Since 1987 these words have resonated with me in a way that I never expected.  I can only thank God for the faithfulness of a man named Edwin Breiling who faithfully lived for the Lord and taught his family to do the say.  I pray that the Lord would continue to allow me to do the same so that my family might continue to learn as his family did.  I pray also that the Lord would bless you through his Word that each of you might live faithfully for the Lord as well, teaching your families to do the same, so that we might all grow in God’s Grace declaring with Joshua, “As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN