Remain faithful to the Lord (Daniel 6:10-12, 16-23)

October 28,2012

Dear friends in Christ.

I don’t know if you realized it when you came to church this morning, but today is a very special day.  Now, I admit, it may not be as special as Christmas or Easter, but it is still an important day.  It is still an important day, because today we are celebrating the festival of the Reformation.  We are celebrating how the Lord used a simple man named Martin Luther to preach the Light of the Gospel to a world that was darkened with false teaching and sin.  We are celebrating the fact that it was the Lord who enabled Martin Luther to remain faithful to the Lord even when it seemed that death was certainly coming down upon him.  And, as we celebrate this festival this morning, we will do so by taking a look at another man who also faithfully served the Lord, even under the penalty of death.  For this morning, we will remind ourselves of Daniels life, how he remained faithful to the Lord and how he trusted that the Lord God would, indeed, deliver him.  Just listen to the situation in which Daniel found himself in our lesson today, “Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before. 11 Then these men went as a group and found Daniel praying and asking God for help. 12 So they went to the king and spoke to him about his royal decree: “Did you not publish a decree that during the next thirty days anyone who prays to any god or man except to you, O king, would be thrown into the lions’ den?” The king answered, “The decree stands—in accordance with the laws of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be repealed.”" (Daniel 6:10–12, NIV84)

Now, as you undoubtedly remember from your Sunday school lessons, the decree Daniel mentions was the decree which some of the governors had persuaded the king to put into effect.  It was the decree that stated that anyone who prayed to any god other than the king for the next 30 days would be thrown into the lion’s den.  It was a decree that they had persuaded the king into making, because those specific governors were jealous of Daniel, who would soon be promoted as head of all the governors, and they simply couldn’t stomach the fact that this captive Israelite would now be their boss.  Yet even when Daniel heard the decree had been made, he remained faithful to the Lord.  Even though he knew it might cost him his life, he went home, opened the windows of his house that faced east, knelt down on the floor and began to pray, just as he always had.

But now comes the question:  “What would you have done if you were in Daniel’s shoes?  Would you have gone home, gone up to your upper room, opened the windows which faced Jerusalem, and prayed to the Lord as you always had?  Or, would you have gone home, closed all your shades and blinds, and timidly prayed to the Lord?”  It’s a tough question to answer, and I have to admit, I don’t know what I would have done.  I hope and pray that I would have had the courage and the faith to remain faithful to my Lord even when my life was on the line, and not hidden out. 

Thankfully, we are not living in a land that passes such laws.  Rather, we are living in a land where we are free to worship the Lord any way we wish to.  We are living in a land, where praying to the Lord does not constitute a danger to our lives.  However, we are living in a land where satan is continually setting subtle traps designed to lead us away from the Lord our God.  For example: how many times this week did a love scene on TV draw your attention that much closer to the program you were watching?  How many times did you laugh at a joke which had sexual connotations buried within it?  How many times did foul language echo from your lips?  How many times did you enjoy hearing and passing on the latest gossip you heard while down town?  How many times did the thought of reading your Bible completely fail to cross your minds?  These are but a few of the traps satan uses to lead us away from the Lord.  For he is truly a crafty advisory!  Rather than hitting us with an all out assault, which threatens our very lives, he comes to us in subtle, tricky ways.  Rather than trying to knock us off the path to heaven in one foul swoop, he patiently moves us away from the Lord.  Inch by grudging inch he works to move us from faithfulness to complacency and from complacency to rampant unbelief.

This is why our God is calling on us today to remain faithful to him, because even though our physical lives are not being threatened, our spiritual lives are on the line.  If we should fall to our enemy’s temptations, we could easily be led into unbelief.  If we should be led into unbelief, we would miss out on the forgiveness which Jesus alone can offer.  If we miss out on the forgiveness which Jesus offers, we will miss out on eternal life all together.  This is why our Lord calls us to remain faithful to him, because the only way to fight against temptations like these are to remain rooted in the Word of God.  The only way to avoid the traps that satan continually places before us is to make regular use of the opportunities we have to worship the Lord our God here in church and to partake of the Sacrament of Holy Communion.  When we do these things, we will be growing in our faith and knowledge of God.  We will be better prepared and equipped to fight against the assaults of satan.  We will even find that through the working of the Holy Spirit in the Word of God, our desire will be to remain faithful to the Lord whatever the cost.  For even if we should lose our physical lives in faithful service to him, we know eternal live awaits, because as we know, he alone is our Salvation.  This is why the Lord is calling on us to remain faithful to him even though it might cost us our lives here on earth.  Remain faithful to him, trusting that the Lord our God will indeed deliver us.

This is exactly what Daniel did!  Even though he knew his faith might cost him his life, Daniel remained faithful to the Lord and trusted that the Lord would indeed deliver him.  He trusted that the Lord would either deliver him from the hand of the king and the paw of the lion, or the Lord would simply deliver him to eternal life where he would never have to face the troubles of this world ever again.  For Daniel, the outcome didn’t matter, he remained faithful to the Lord and the Lord delivered him from the paw of the lion, as we learn in our lesson today: “At the first light of dawn, the king got up and hurried to the lions’ den. 20 When he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?” 21 Daniel answered, “O king, live forever! 22 My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, O king.” 23 The king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den. And when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God." (Daniel 6:19–23, NIV84)

Well, in the same way that Daniel remained faithful to the Lord, the Lord wants us to remain faithful to him in how we live our lives.  He wants us to remain faithful to him all the days of our lives, trusting that he will deliver us from whatever calamity befalls us.  But how do we do this?  How do we remain faithful to the Lord in any and every situation trusting that he will deliver us just as he promised?  We dive headlong into the Word of our God!  Though our faith is strengthened by regularly gathering together for worship, when we realize that we are awake for an average of 120 hours each week, spending only one hour with God means that there are 119 hours each week that you are being bombarded with worldly ideas and philosophies.  That’s 119 hours each week that satan is working to confuse us and cause us to doubt the Lord’s promises to deliver us from every circumstance.  That means that during those 119 hours each week, satan is doing everything he can to keep us from remaining faithful to the Lord.

Sadly, this is the type of faith-life that the average Christian has.  1 hour with God a week, and then the rest of the week is spent without even thinking about him.  Would you even think about feeding your family only once each week?  Yet this is what many Christians do and struggle all the harder to remain faithful to the Lord because of it.  This is why we need to be in the Word of God each and every day.  For it is in the Word of God where we receive the soothing balm of the Lord’s comfort; the comfort that we receive through the gospel message of salvation.  For it is in the Gospel that we are reminded of Jesus Christ our Savior. It is in the Gospel that we are reminded how God took us from our dry, dusty and dirty existence as sinners and led us into the cool refreshing showers of Jesus blood which washed away every spot and stain of our sins.  It is in the Gospel that we are reminded how Jesus has already delivered us from the curse of our sins and the punishment of eternal death by bringing us into a right relationship with our God.  This is the comfort we find in the Gospel, and this is the comfort, which moves us to remain faithful to the Lord, trusting that he will indeed deliver us.  Though we may not be facing the threat of death at the paws of hungry lions, though we may not be facing a room crowded with people who are calling on us to renounce our Savior, we do face many things which satan uses to lead us away from the Lord.  Knowing this, continue to stand fast in our Savior’s teaching!  Continue to remain faithful to the lord trusting that when he does deliver you, it will either be from harm while in this life, or it will be to his side in the life to come.

This is how Daniel was able to remain faithful to the Lord.  He remained faithful to the Lord in all things because he was rooted in the Word.  This is how Luther was able to do it.  Though there were many people who wanted to take his life and many temptations to turn from the Lord, because he was constantly in God’s Word, he, through the power of the Holy Spirit was able to remain faithful as well.  So then, heed the examples the Lord has given you.  Dive into the Scriptures so that you might continually strengthen your faith, and remain faithful to the Lord in all things.  Remain faithful to the Lord even if it should one day cost you your life.  Remain faithful to the Lord trusting that he will indeed deliver you from harm.

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN

To Whom Are We Responsible? (Matthew 22:15-21)

October 21, 2012

Dear friends in Christ.

So, what is my responsibility in all this?  How often doesn’t this question or one like it, pop up in your favorite TV shows?  How often doesn’t this question, or one like it, pop up in the work place as employees seek to learn exactly what their responsibilities are in their position?  How often doesn’t the idea of responsibility weigh heavily on the minds of employers, employees, families friends, relatives, parents, and children.  Though one could argue that responsibility is not all that it was once cracked up to be, as it seems that more and more people in our world today are seeking to dodge responsibility in one way or another, the truth is, responsibility is something that is constantly demanded of us in one way or another in just about every facet of our lives.  As children, we are to be responsible to our parents.  As citizens we are responsible to our nation.  As Christians, not only are we responsible to the Lord, but we are responsible to each other as well as all those who do not yet know Jesus.  As Christians, responsibility is both a great weight that weighs on us and a joy that leads us to serve the Lord.  That is why, as we study the lesson before us, we will seek to answer the question, “To whom am I responsible?”

To find the answer to our question, we want to turn to Matthew 22:15-21 where the Pharisees are laying down a question of responsibility in order to trap Jesus with his own words.  “Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. 16 They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are. 17 Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” 18 But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? 19 Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, 20 and he asked them, “Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription?” 21 “Caesar’s,” they replied. Then he said to them, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”" (Matthew 22:15–21, NIV84)

On the surface, the Pharisee’s plan must have seemed like a good plan.  Rather than go to Jesus themselves they would send in some of their own disciples whom Jesus would not know.  These disciples would come to Jesus and flatter him, hoping that their flattery would cause him to drop his guard.  Then, when he had dropped his guard they would ask his opinion on paying taxes to Caesar.  By doing this, they were sure that they would be able to express the opinion that paying taxes to a pagan government was completely wrong, which was an opinion held by quite a few of the Jews of the day.  This was why the Pharisees sent the Herodians along with their disciples that day.  They sent the Herodians because the Herodians were a political party of the Jews who favored the Roman government.  Thus, if Jesus answered as they expected, the Herodians would be there and would instantly be able to accuse Jesus of conspiring against the government and the Pharisees would finally be able to get rid of Jesus, once and for all.

However, things didn’t go as planned that day, for as Matthew tells us, “But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? 19 Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, 20 and he asked them, “Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription?” 21 “Caesar’s,” they replied. Then he said to them, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”" (Matthew 22:18–21, NIV84)

In such a simple way, Jesus easily avoided the trap the Pharisees had intended for him and in doing so he also reminded them of their responsibility to the government that he, their Lord and Savior, had placed over them.  This is the very thing our Savior is reminding us of today.  For with these words Jesus himself is teaching us that we, as Christians, have the same responsibilities to the government, which the Lord has placed over us.  Be that government city, county, state, or federal, we are responsible to it as the Pharisees and all Israel was responsible to Rome.  Even though we may not always agree with our government’s decisions, as Christians our responsibility is to submit to the laws of the land, unless those laws would force us to do something that is contrary to the Word of our God.  Though we may be frustrated by the seemingly never ending increase in taxes, as Christians tax monies are simply what we owe to Caesar, as Jesus said.  Though we may not always like some of our elected officials or even respect the lives they choose to live, as Christians, it is our responsibility to recognize that the Lord has placed them over us as his representatives who deserve the respect their offices hold. Yet, while all this is true, as Americans we have also been given the responsibility to take part in the election of those representatives. We are allowed to choose which candidates we feel would best serve our cities, our counties, our sates and our nation.  We are even allowed to express our political views and campaign for our chosen candidates in whatever ways we see fit.  But if it should happen that the particular candidate that we wanted was not elected to a particular position, we as Christians are still responsible to them, because they are the servants of the government that the Lord, our God, has placed over us.

These are but a few examples of our responsibility, as Christians, to the government that the Lord has placed over us, and I’m sure that you could think of many, many more.  For the truth is, as Christians, when we recognize our responsibility to our government and live responsible lives under that government, not only are we being responsible to our leaders; we are also being responsible to the Lord himself.  This is why Jesus so clearly tells us in verse 21, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” (Matthew 22:21, NIV84)

 

For the Pharisees, this was something that they knew.  Yet, it was something that they seldom carried out.  Even though they thought that they were giving God what he deserved by their zeal to keep God’s law perfectly, they were actually failing to put him first.  For rather than striving to keep God’s law out of love for the Lord, they got so wrapped up in trying to keep it, that they actually added law upon law that not even they were able to keep.  Though they went above and beyond what the Lord required of them in fasting, praying and even tithing, sadly their attitude again was not love for the Lord, but a desire to demonstrate to others how righteous they were because they were working harder than anyone at keeping God’s law.  This is why those disciples were so amazed by Jesus answer when they asked his opinion on paying taxes.  When Jesus told them so simply, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s” they could do nothing more than walk away.  In that simple sentence, the Lord Jesus had not only answered the question perfectly, but he made them recognize that they had failed to give to the Lord all he deserved.

Jesus is teaching us the same thing today.  For with those simple words, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s” he is causing us to realize that the Lord our God must be our first and foremost responsibility.  Yet, how often don’t we shortchange the Lord our God?  How often doesn’t the Lord simply get the scraps of our worship rather than the full meal that it should be!  How often don’t we feel that family time, hunting, fishing, or sports in general are more important than gathering for worship?  How often don’t we feel that 10:00 is just too early or too late for worship and we don’t come?  How often doesn’t it happen that parents make sure to get their children to Sunday School, but don’t bother to bring their children into church for worship after it is all done? 

Though we as Christians know that the Lord should be the first priority in our lives, how often doesn’t it happen that the Lord is the last priority in our financial lives?  Though it is the Lord who has given us all that we have, how often don’t we feel that we deserve more?  How often don’t we find ourselves pulling out the one credit card that isn’t maxed out so that we can purchase that trinket that we feel we cannot live without?  Or how often doesn’t it happen that we are robbing Peter to pay Paul, or in other cases, robbing the Lord to pay our bills?

Sadly, these are but a couple of the ways that we as Christians fail to live up to our responsibility to the Lord.  Yet even though we do not deserve it, it is the Lord who has forgiven us!  It is the Lord who sent his one and only Son to the earth so that he might die in our place.  The Lord our God willingly gave his one and only Son to death so that we might live.  Not only did he do that, but he also turned his back on his dying Son, causing him to suffer all the pain and torment of hell and damnation so that we would never have to.  This is how much the Lord our God loves us!  He forgave our sins through the death of his Son Jesus Christ.  He called us to faith through the working of the Holy Spirit.  He assures us that just like Jesus rose from the dead we too will rise, and he has promised us that through faith in Jesus Christ our Savior we have eternal life to look forward to. 

Now refreshed by that knowledge, go out and be responsible to the Lord in all that you do.  Go home today and take time to think about all the blessings he has given you and then close your eyes speak a prayer of thanks to him.  Schedule even just five minutes each day so that you can read even just a chapter from the Bible for the strengthening of your faith.  Take time to walk through your houses this week and take note of all the appliances you’ve acquired.  Look in your closets and count how many pairs of shoes you have.  Look in your dresser drawers and see if you don’t have enough socks and underwear to get you through at least a week without having to wash.  Take time to walk through your garages and see how many tools you have in your toolbox or hanging on your workbench.  Count the number of cars and trucks and other vehicles you have there and parked in your yards.  Then when you have done all this take time to evaluate how often you make the effort to be at church to worship the Lord and the amount you are currently giving to the Lord out of thanks for all that he has given for you.

When you do this, you will be showing that the Lord truly is your first and foremost responsibility.  When you do this you will be letting your love and thankfulness for the Lord be your motivation for worshiping the Lord and giving to him of the first fruits of your income.  For when you sit down and realize just how greatly the Lord has blessed you, your love for the Lord will long to give back to him.  In fact, if each and every one of us went home today, contemplating how the Lord has blessed us, and then decided in our hearts to give first to the Lord and then to everything else, I guarantee you that our congregation and our childcare would never want for money again.  If each and every one of us acted on our decision to give first to the Lord and then pay our bills, I guarantee you that you would suddenly have more than you needed to pay your bills and you would even have plenty to save up for a rainy day.  I guarantee you this, because the Lord has promised us that when we are responsible to him, he blesses us beyond our wildest expectations.  Though we may never get rich by putting the Lord first, we know we will have everything that we could ever need.

These are but a few of the blessings that come to us as Christians when we recognize to whom we are responsible.  For just like the world, we also long to know what our responsibilities are.  Today we have answered that question.  For today we have once again been reminded that as Christians, we are truly responsible to our government, but we are responsible first and foremost to the Lord our God.  Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN

Produce fruits of faith for the Lord (Isaiah 5:1-7)

October 14, 2012

Dear friends in Christ.

A couple of weeks ago, as I was driving up to the cities, I saw a sign for Minnesota Harvesters, and my mind was immediately filled with memories.  It was when I was in grade school, 7th or 8th grade that our class took a trip up to Minnesota Harvesters.  We had the opportunity to ride horses and walk through the apple orchard.  I still remember it because when we took that trip we were in one of the last years of the drought of the 1980’s.  It hadn’t rained much if at all that summer, yet, when we arrived I was amazed to see rows and rows of trees with branches bowing low due to the weight of their fruit. It seemed that no matter which direction I would look, all I could see was tree after tree producing an excellent crop of ripe red apples.  All I could see was trees doing exactly what they were grown to do—producing fruit for the orchards owners.

Well, in many ways, this orchard is a picture of the very thing that the Lord wants to find when he looks at the lives of his faithful children here on earth!  For when the Lord looks at our lives he hopes to see tree after tree, or to use the illustration from our lesson today, vine after vine producing fruits of faith our of love for the Lord our God.  In fact, as we study the lesson before us this is the very thing that the Lord our God will be calling on us to do!  As we hear the Lord speaking to us through the prophet Isaiah, we will hear him calling on us to produce fruits of faith for the Lord!  He will be calling on each and every one of us to produce fruits.  Let’s take a look at what the Lord tells us in our lesson today: “I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard: My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside. 2 He dug it up and cleared it of stones and planted it with the choicest vines. He built a watchtower in it and cut out a winepress as well. Then he looked for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only bad fruit. 3 “Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. 4 What more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it? When I looked for good grapes, why did it yield only bad? 5 Now I will tell you what I am going to do to my vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it will be destroyed; I will break down its wall, and it will be trampled. 6 I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and briers and thorns will grow there. I will command the clouds not to rain on it.” 7 The vineyard of the LORD Almighty is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are the garden of his delight. And he looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard cries of distress." (Isaiah 5:1–7, NIV84)

Fruits of faith are the very thing that the Lord wanted his people to produce.  He wanted to see their faith showing itself in love and action as they lived in the vineyard that the Lord himself had prepared for them.  The problem, however, was that Israel was not producing the fruits of faith for which the Lord was looking!  Though the Lord himself had prepared Israel as his vineyard and planted them as the garden of his delight, they did not produce the fruit that the Lord expected.  But when we think of Israel’s history, this truth becomes extremely sad, because it was the Lord who gave his people every possible advantage.  As we just reviewed in Bible Study, it was the Lord who freed the people of Israel from their slavery in Egypt, leading them safely through The Red Sea to Mt. Sinai in Arabia.  It was the Lord who blessed them, even as he led them through the wilderness for forty years, so that their clothes and their shoes did not wear out, nor did their feet even swell during that time.  It was the Lord who fought for his people sending the hornet ahead of them and driving out the inhabitants of the land for them.  It was the Lord who gave them cities that they had not built and fields that they had not planted.  It was the Lord who built up the watchtower of the priesthood and the temple worship which was designed to draw the people ever closer to himself.  He even surrounded them with the hedge of the Law to keep them safe from the ungodly ways of the nations around them.

However, even though the Lord did all this and more for his people, they did not produce the fruits of faith for which he was looking, because in so many cases they were led away from the Lord by the allure of false gods.  For in the same way that the jewelry counter will stop most women, and even some men in their tracks, drawing them in for a closer look the charm of false gods drew the Israelites in.  In the same way that most women will lose their husbands to the mesmerizing glow of the TV during football season, so also the Lord lost so many of the Israelites to their fascination with idols.  Though they had been planted like grapevines in the rich dark earth of God’s Word and regularly received the abundant waters of God’s grace, the Israelites willfully sent their roots out into the gumbo of idolatry and the dry streams of false religion.  Because of this, even though Israel continued to live in the Lord’s vineyard, they were no longer producing fruits of faith for the Lord.  Rather, as Isaiah tells us, “they yielded only bad fruit.” (Isaiah 5:2, NIV84).

While it is true that Isaiah delivered this message to the Israelites nearly three thousand years ago, these words still apply to us today.  Though this section of Scripture clearly speaks of Israel as the Lord’s vineyard, we know that through faith in Jesus, we are living in the Lord’s vineyards even today.  We know that the Lord is looking to us to produce fruits of faith for him.  We know that he is regularly checking our branches to see what kinds of fruit we are producing. But the question is, “What kind of fruit are we producing?”  From this vantage point it’s hard to say, because only the Lord truly knows what kinds of fruit we are producing.

However, there is something we can say: we have been given just as many advantages as the Israelites.  For we are living in a land where we have the freedom to worship the Lord in whatever way we see fit.  We are living in a land where we have the freedom to speak to anyone and everyone about our Savior whenever we want to.  We are living in a time when God’s Word has been recorded for us in the pages of Scripture.  On top of that, we are living in an area where most of us could walk to church if we so desired, but even if you don’t live that close to church, there are very few of us who have to drive more than ten miles to get here.  Yet, the question is, are we taking advantage of those benefits?  Or are we becoming lax in our own spiritual lives and following the Israelites pattern of producing less and less fruit for the Lord?  Are we making sure that our roots are growing in the rich soil of God’s Word?  Or, are we beginning to send them over into the gumbo of idolatry and the dry deserts of false religion.  It kind of makes me wonder what the Lord would say if he spoke to us right now.  Would he praise us and encourage us?  Or would he say to us, “Now you dwellers in Le Sueur and people of this tri-county area, judge between me and my vineyard. What more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it? When I looked for good grapes, why did it yield only bad?” (See Isaiah 5:3-4). 

What would the Lord say to us today?  Would he encourage us in our fruit producing?  Or would he say that we were beginning to follow the road the Israelites followed.  Sadly, for the Israelites, as they traveled the road of their lives they were producing fewer and fewer fruits for the Lord until the Lord had it in mind, finally, to destroy his vineyard.  Which is exactly what the Lord reveals when he says, “Now I will tell you what I am going to do to my vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it will be destroyed; I will break down its wall, and it will be trampled. 6 I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and briers and thorns will grow there. I will command the clouds not to rain on it.”" (Isaiah 5:5–6, NIV84) 

Because the Israelites had turned away from their God and went off to follow idols, the Lord planned to destroy his vineyard, and that’s exactly what he did less than 150 years later.  He sent the Babylonians who came and destroyed Jerusalem and Judea.  They came and killed anyone who resisted.  They came and led whoever was left off into captivity.  This was the punishment the Lord had decided for Israel because they were no longer producing fruits of faith for him.  This was the punishment that they received because they continued to walk down the road of destruction even after countless warnings from the Lord.  But the scariest part about this is that this could well be the punishment, which the Lord has in store for us for the exact same reason.

For the truth is, even though you and I are part of the Lord’s vineyard, the majority of our country is not.  Though we are part of the Lord’s kingdom through faith, the majority of our world is producing nothing but bloodshed and cries of distress.  And if we should fail in our production of fruits for the Lord, the only thing left would be our own destruction.  But even though our nation and the rest of the world have begun traveling this path, you and I are still able to turn from the road of destruction.  We are able to turn from that road by turning to the Lord in repentance.  We can turn to the Lord knowing that the blood of our Savior has covered those times when we have neglected his Word.  We can turn to the Lord knowing that our Savior’s blood covers those times when we have failed to worship him.  In fact, we can turn to the Lord knowing that every sin we’ve ever committed has been removed by Jesus’ blood.  There is no sin too large and no sin to small, for Jesus blood covers all.

This is the message that shows our God’s great love for us, and this is the message that moves us to respond with our love.  For when we are reminded of how Jesus’ love for us led him to the cross to pay for our sins, our hearts are moved to give him thanks.  When we are reminded of how Jesus died for us even while we were still his enemies, we are moved to serve him with our lives.  In fact, this is the message that moves us to call our roots back from the gumbo and dry streams and drive them deep into the black earth of God’s Word.  This is the message that moves us to dust off at least one of our Bibles and begin reading again on a regular basis.  This is the message, which moves us to make time to read those short Meditation devotions after mealtime or at bedtime.  This is the message, the message of Christ’s love for us that moves us to meet together at the Lord’s house each week.  For here, in the Lord’s house, we have the opportunity to hear the Lord speaking to us in the liturgy, in the lessons, and even in the sermon; and here in the Lord’s house, we have the opportunity to speak to him through our prayers and our hymns.  These are fruits of faith, which are pleasing to the Lord.  These are the fruits of faith produced out of love for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

What a blessing to know that it is the Lord who moves us and enables us to produce fruits of faith for him.  Let us live in our love for him so that our lives may ever produce fruit for him.  May the Lord bless our lives so that our lives are filled with fruit in the same way those trees at Minnesota Harvesters were filled. That our lives may be lives of joy and serves to the Lord, ever producing fruit for him.

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN

Faithfully follow your Savior! (Mark 9:30-37)

October 7, 2012

Dear friends in Christ.

I don’t know why it is, but little children love to play follow the leader.  They love to walk around a play ground following behind and doing everything exactly the same as the person in the lead.  If the leader takes big steps, those following take the same type of big steps.  If the leader steps up on a tree stump and them jumps off, everyone who is following steps up on that same tree stump before jumping off.  If the leader spins in a circle three times, shouting I’m the greatest while waving his hands above his head, then everyone who is following recognizes that it is now their turn to reflect everything the leader does as they faithfully follow him around the playground.  Well, in our lesson today, we are being urged to faithfully follow our Savior.  Though we are not being asked to play follow the leader with him, we are none the less being called on to recognize his great service for us and reflect that service in our lives as we faithfully follow after Jesus Christ our Savior.

Following their Savior was something that the disciples had become quite good at over the past two or so years.  They had grown used to following Jesus wherever he led them, and they had learned a great deal from him as their teacher.  The problem, however, was that they had still had not come to recognize that Jesus’ life was not a pursuit of greatness, but rather, it was a life of service that he performed for you and me.  Take a look at how Mark records this in our lesson today!  “They left that place and passed through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were, because he was teaching his disciples. He said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise.” But they did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it.” (Mark 9:30-32, NIV84)

Shortly before our lesson opens, Jesus had been in the region of Caesarea Philippi, about 50 miles to the Northeast from where he was now.  He had begun to plainly teach the disciples that it was necessary for him to suffer many things at the hands of the religious leaders, that he would die, and on the third day rise again.  On that occasion Peter had taken him aside and tried to convince Jesus that he didn’t really need to go through all that suffering, to which Jesus had responded, “Get behind me satan!”  As we meet Jesus and his disciples today, about 2 weeks has passed and Jesus again teaches his faithful followers that he would soon have to suffer, die, and rise again.  Though Jesus had quite likely taught the disciples this very thing over the past two weeks, take a look at the disciples response in vs. 32, “They did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it.” (Mark 9:32, NIV84)

Though Jesus had explained it quite clearly, the disciples simply didn’t recognize or perhaps they simply didn’t want to recognize that Jesus’ life was not leading to a glorious earthly kingdom, but that his life had been a great act of service which he had provided for the people of the world.  His life had been a great act of service, at the end of which, he would give his life on the cross to free all people from the curse of their sins. 

But even though this was something that the disciples didn’t recognize at this point in their lives, as Jesus followers, this was something that they would come to understand and take comfort in after Jesus rose from the dead, just as we recognize it today.  For today, as we seek to follow our Savior, we do take great comfort in the fact that our Savior served us by living a perfect life on our behalf.  We recognize how Jesus served us by living the perfect life that we who have been forever tainted with sin could not live.  As we follow him, we recognize how he served us by allowing his people to make fun of him, spit on him, beat him and abuse him, reject him, and finally crucify him.  We recognize how Christ served us by enduring the excruciating weight of the countless sins of every single person in creation that were heaped upon him in that moment.  We recognize how Jesus served us by bearing in our place the full punishment of God’s righteous anger over our sins.  We recognize how Jesus served us by willingly committing his spirit to his heavenly father and dying the death that we deserved to die.  But best of all, as his followers today, we recognize and take comfort in the fact that Jesus rose again from the dead to assure us that our sins had been forgiven!  It is because of this that we who are his followers are now willing to serve him with our lives.  It is because of this that we, his followers seek to reflect his love and his service in our own lives.  It is because of this that we who seek to faithfully follow our Savior do indeed seek to reflect his service in all that we say and all that we do.

For the disciples, who were still struggling to make peace with the fact that Jesus’ mission as the Messiah was not to seek glory and greatness for himself, or to seek to establish an earthly kingdom, the idea the idea of reflecting Christ’s service in their lives was still a foreign concept.  It was still a foreign concept because they were still convinced that by following Jesus they would become his right hand men in his earthly kingdom.  This is why, as Mark tells us, the disciples argued along the way about who was the greatest.  Take a look at Mark 9 starting at verse 33: “They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the road?” But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest. Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.” He took a little child and had him stand among them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.” (Mark 9:33-37, NIV84)

Though the disciples were willing to faithfully follow their Savior, at this point they did not yet understand that following him was not about who was the greatest, but about serving him with their lives.  Unfortunately, this is something that even we faithful followers of Jesus Christ still have trouble with today.  For even though we know that a Christian life is a life of service, so often we would rather seek our own glory and greatness, however, when we are reminded of all that Christ did for us, it becomes that much easier for us to live our lives in such a way that we reflect our Savior’s service in all that we do!

For the truth is, when we faithfully follow our Savior and remember all that he did for us, we are naturally moved to serve him in all that we say and all that we do.  We are moved to serve him by gathering regularly for worship.  We are moved to serve him by gathering together to study his Word with our fellow Christians.  We are moved to reflect his love for us as we care for the needs of friends, family, neighbors, and even strangers.  We are moved to serve him by fighting against the sinful desires that affect us on a daily basis.  So do just that!  Let your love for Christ reflect in all that you say and do.  Let your lives as followers of Jesus be a reflection of the life of service that he undertook to free you from your sins.  Serve the Lord by giving to him not only the first and best of what he has give to you, but also of yourselves.  Serve the Lord by getting involved in your own congregation.  Serve the Lord by participating in worship.  Serve the Lord by serving your neighbor.  Serve the Lord by telling others about Jesus their Savior.  Serve the Lord by giving to him of your time, of your talents, of your effort, and of your attention. 

These are but a few of the ways that we can reflect our Savior’s service in our own lives as we follow him.  For we who are his followers today do indeed seek to follow just like children follow each other as they play follow the leader.  Though our Savior does not take us on crazy circuitous routes through a playground, as we follow him we easily recognize the great service he accomplished for each and every one of us, and we, as his followers seek to reflect that service through every aspect of our lives.

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN