Look forward to the Day of the Lord's Appearing! (Daniel 12:1-3)

November 18, 2012

 

Dear friends in Christ.

For some reason it seems that it is about the third week in November when we start to look forward to Christmas.  I don’t know why it is, exactly.  Perhaps it is the fact that by this time many of the malls have at least started, if not finished decorating and putting out their Christmas inventory.  Perhaps it’s the fact that so many advertisers have been airing commercials that make us think more concretely about the coming Christmas holidays.  Or perhaps it simply comes down to the fact that by the third week of November, most of us have our Thanksgiving plans well in hand and we can actually start looking ahead to Christmas time.  But whatever the reason might be, our looking forward to celebrating holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas can serve as a lesson for us today in the way that we as Christians also look forward to the day of the Lord’s appearing.  For the truth is, in the same way that we look forward with excitement to upcoming holidays, we can look forward to the Lord’s appearing with confident expectation, excitement and joy.  We can look forward to the Lord’s appearing, because we know that on that day we will be revealed as the Lord’s triumphant saints who will live with the Lord in heaven, forever.

This, in fact, is the very message that the Lord conveyed to his servant Daniel, in our lesson today.  Through the angel that appeared to Daniel the Lord revealed the time of his appearing, when he said, “At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people—everyone whose name is found written in the book—will be delivered. 2 Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. 3 Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever." (Daniel 12:1–3, NIV84)

Now, when the Lord revealed these words to Daniel, Daniel was a captive in Babylon.  He was serving King Nebuchadnezzar as a governor of the Babylonian Empire.  He was looking forward to the end of the 70 years of captivity when the Lord would allow his people to return home to the Promised Land, and now, because of these words, he was looking forward to the day of the Lord’s appearing.  Well, as Christians who are looking forward to celebrating Thanksgiving in just a few days and Christmas a little more than a month later, we are also looking forward to the day of the Lord’s appearing, because we know that we belong to the Lord.  We know that on the day we came to faith in the Lord Jesus, he wrote our names in to his book of life.  In the same way that I have books in my office that have the names of previous owners written in above my own, so also our names have been written into the Lord’s book of life.  Whether it happened on the day that we were baptized and called to faith in Jesus through the Water and the Word, or it happened when we were called to faith later in life when we learned that Jesus is our personal savior from sin; on that day, when the Holy Spirit created faith in our hearts, Jesus took the quill of his love, dipped it in the inkwell of his blood, and tenderly inscribed our names in his book—marking us as his children through faith in him.

It is because our names are written in the Lamb’s book of life, that we, like Daniel, are looking forward to the day of our Lord’s appearing.  We are looking forward to the day when our Savior will appear in the sky in glory and judgment, because we know on that day, our Savior will publicly proclaim us to be his children, and he will deliver us to everlasting life, were we will live in his heavenly home by his side, forever more.

Yes, we are looking forward to the day of our Savior’s return with confident expectation because we know what our Savior did to make us his own.  We know how he sacrificed himself on the altar of the cross to pay for the sins of the world.  We know how he rose again from the dead to prove that he is our all powerful Savior.  Now, through Jesus’ triumph over death and hell we have been made heirs of eternal life through faith in him.  We have no reason to be afraid of anything, because Jesus has saved us.  We do not need to fear the day of our death, because we have been cleansed of our sins by Jesus’ blood.  We do not need to fear the Day of Judgment or worry that we will not be worthy enough to enter heaven, or worry that we have not done enough to gain God’s favor, because Jesus has made us worthy.  We know that Jesus himself has already delivered us from death to life, and when he returns on the last day, he will once again deliver us to eternal life.  This is exactly what the Lord is revealing to Daniel this morning when he says: “At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people—everyone whose name is found written in the book—will be delivered. 2 Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. 3 Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever." (Daniel 12:1–3, NIV84)

On the last day, when our Savior returns, all who sleep in the dust of the earth will be called forth by the Lord Jesus Christ.  Our souls will be reunited with our bodies.  We will stand before the Lord as he pronounces his judgment on all people.  But we do not need to fear that day.  We do not need to worry about what will happen, for when Jesus looks at us, he will say to them, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world,” (Matthew 25:34).  Then he will take us to live with him forever in his heavenly kingdom. Not because of anything we have done, but because Jesus himself has washed us clean with his blood. This is why we are looking forward to the Lord’s appearing, because we know that through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, we will be delivered to eternal life.  Though we are living in the last days, and we are beginning to feel the love of the world growing colder; though we are beginning to feel indifference toward God move to hatred of God; we do not need to fear.  Though we may be facing hardships on every side, financial burdens, business problems, health concerns, we are able to rejoice.  Though it seems that the only thing we hear on the news is sad and depressing news, we do not need to be troubled.  Though each day we deal with our own mortality as we grow older, we have nothing to be concerned about. We have nothing to be concerned about because Jesus has already delivered us to eternal life.  What a comfort it is to us that Jesus himself will deliver us to eternal life.  For heaven is our true home and there we will shine like the stars just as the Lord prophesied to Daniel: “Those who are wise  will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever,” (Daniel 12:3). 

What an amazing promise!  When the Lord calls us home, we will go to live with him forever and ever.  We will live with him in his heavenly kingdom and we will shine like the brightness of the heavens!  How amazing it will be on that day when the Lord returns, as he takes us to live with him forever in our new homes in heaven.  But what will it be like on that day when he calls us home?  Can you even begin to imagine the glory that we will see?  Can you even begin to conceive of what heaven will be like?  Though none of us can even begin to contemplate the glories of our true home, we are able to perceive a small part of that glory now, and picture what it will be like.  In fact, each and every one of us holds a different idea in our minds of what heaven will be like, just like Miss Kaltin’s kindergarten class.  One day for art class, Miss Kaltin asked her students to draw a picture of what they though heaven would be like.  Some of the children drew pictures of Jesus and angels living in the clouds, others drew big walls and golden gates, but Hannah drew a big golden castle with towers and spires and battlements, which she covered with diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires and many other precious stones.  That was her picture of heaven, a huge fortress where she would be safe with God forever.

So, what is your picture of heaven?  What do you see when you think about it?  What would you draw if I asked you to draw a picture of it?  We all have a different idea of what heaven will be like, and nobody knows exactly what the Lord has in store for us.  But I can tell you, heaven will not be a boring place.  It won’t be a place where we stand before St. Peter making excuses for each of our sins as he reads them out of a great book.  It won’t be hectic and frustrating like Wal-Mart, packed with panicky shoppers two days before Christmas.  It won’t even be a place where we are issued a pair of wings and a harp, escorted to our own personal cloud where we are expected to remain all day long singing praises to God every fifteen minutes. That’s nothing like heaven will be like.  For when we are called home we will be carried to our Lord’s side where he will greet us with open arms.  Jesus himself will place a crown on our heads and show us the place he has lovingly prepared for us.  We will be reunited with all our loved ones who have been called home to heaven before us, and indeed all believers.  We will see the river whose streams make glad the city of God.  We will see the tree of life, we will see the multitudes from every tribe, people, and language, and we will live with the Lord in the city of God, where He will spread his tent over us.  Never again will we hunger, never again will we thirst, the sun will not beat upon us nor any scorching heat.  For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be our shepherd.  He will lead us to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from our eyes.  This is what heaven is all about, and this is the reason we are rejoicing today, because when the Lord calls us home, we will shine like the brightness of the heaven in our glorified bodies.

Yes, one day soon, we will see our Savior returning in the clouds and all the angles with him.  But we do not fear that day.  Rather, we look forward to that day knowing that our names have been written in the Lamb’s book of life.  We look forward to that day knowing that our Savior will deliver us from this life to his side forever in heaven.  We look forward to that day knowing that when we are with the Lord we will shine like the brightness of the sun in our Father’s heavenly kingdom.  So, as you leave here today looking forward to both Thanksgiving and Christmas, continue also to look forward to the day of your Savior’s returning.

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN

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

The Lord Our Righteousness (Jeremiah 23:1-6)

Series: What I'd Like to Know Is… (1/6)

July 29, 2012

This series was created by requests from our congregation.  The six most requested topics were chosen and made into a six week sermon series.

Dear friends in Christ.

“Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasture!” declares the LORD. 2 Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says to the shepherds who tend my people: “Because you have scattered my flock and driven them away and have not bestowed care on them, I will bestow punishment on you for the evil you have done,” declares the LORD." (Jeremiah 23:1–2, NIV84)

We don’t know exactly when the Prophet Jeremiah spoke the words of our lesson today, because the book of Jeremiah was not written in a chronological order so much as it was laid down topically.  It was laid down topically according to the prophecies that the Lord gave to Jeremiah throughout the many years that he served as prophet proclaiming the truth of God’s Word to all those living in Jerusalem and the Southern Kingdom of Judah.  But even though we don’t know exactly when Jeremiah spoke these words, our best guess is that this all took place about 2,600 years ago, somewhere around 597 BC. 

This would mean that when Jeremiah spoke the words of our lesson today, roughly 125 years had passed since the Assyrian Empire had conquered the Northern Kingdom of Israel and taken them off into captivity—a captivity from which the nation never returned.  Roughly 80 years had passed since the Prophet Isaiah had been martyred, as tradition suggests, at the hand of evil King Manasseh.  Less than 25 years had passed since King Josiah, the grandson of evil king Manasseh found the book of God’s Law and begun a religious renewal in the Kingdom of Judah.  A renewal unlike any that had ever been seen before!  However, when Josiah died fighting against Pharaoh Neco at the battle of Megiddo, about 15 years before our lesson takes place, things began to go downhill quickly.  Things began to go downhill quickly because the next two kings that followed faithful Josiah did evil in the eyes of the Lord just as their predecessors had done.  Though Josiah turned to the Lord unlike any other king in the history of Judah, and though he worked very hard to bring about religious renewal and lead the people back to the Lord their God, the kings that served after him did the very opposite.  They did evil in the eyes of the Lord.  They worshiped false gods.  They bowed down to idols and by their example they led the people of Judah away from the worship of the true God.  Thus they were destroying and scattering the sheep of the Lord’s pasture.

So, by the time that Jeremiah spoke the words of our lesson today, it was the 11th hour.  King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had either sent, or would very soon be sending Babyloniah, Aramean, Moabite, and Ammonite raiders against the land of Judah to devastate the land and punish the nation because their king had tried to rebel against Nebuchadnezzar.  Then, as history shows us, not long after those raiders were sent, Nebuchadnezzar himself would advance on Jerusalem, lay siege to it, and carry its people off into 70 years captivity in Babylon.  So this was the political situation in Judah.  There were maybe 11 years left until King Nebuchadnezzar would march in and completely destroy Jerusalem and its temple before the captivity would begin. There was not much time left until the Righteous Lord would fulfill the words he had proclaimed to the people for centuries, the words that Jeremiah so recently spoke to them, saying: “Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasture!” declares the LORD. 2 Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says to the shepherds who tend my people: “Because you have scattered my flock and driven them away and have not bestowed care on them, I will bestow punishment on you for the evil you have done,” declares the LORD." (Jeremiah 23:1–2, NIV84)

This was the political situation in Judah during the days of Jeremiah!  But is the political situation in America all that different today?  Are our leaders leading us by example, and encouraging us as a nation to live in our faith?  If you look back in history it seems that some did and some did not.  Take a look at Mr. Jimmy Carter.  He is a man known for his faith and his trust in God.  No matter how you felt about him as president or what kind of job you believe that he did, it seems that he sought to lead this nation based on his faith in God.  The same thing seems true about the years that Mr. Ronald Reagan was president.  His words in speeches seem to convey a personal faith in God his creator, and it seems that he sought to rule our Nation from that perspective.  Again I’m merely bringing these men up as examples.  You may or may not have liked them as leaders or how they led, but their words and actions often show them as leaders who either sought to lead based on a faith in God or without a faith in God.  The same thing can be said about Mr. George Bush Sr. and Jr.  By their words and their actions they seemed to seek to lead the nation based on their faith.  However it seems that the exact opposite can be said about Mr. Bill Clinton and Mr. Barack Obama.  With their words and actions they demonstrated themselves to be men who do not hold to the same faith to which we hold.  They have demonstrated themselves to be men who have more of a secular attitude to the leadership of this country and by their examples, Americans have felt justified to emulate the actions and the beliefs of these presidents and turn away from the truth of God’s Word. 

Please understand what I am saying here.  Under every president countless people have come to trust in the Lord and countless others have fallen away from the Lord.  However, in the same way that the leaders of God’s people greatly influenced the faith of God’s people in Jeremiah’s, so also the leaders of America greatly influence the spirituality and the faith of Americans.  For example, in the last 20 years or so, Christians have grown more and more silent.  Christians are finding that they are facing much more mocking and ridicule than they once did.  Christian children are growing tired of following the faith of their parents because more and more of their friends do not see the need for worship or God’s word.  On top of this, the President of our nation stated in a number of different speeches, “Whatever we once were, we’re no longer a Christian nation. At least not just. We are also a Jewish nation, a Muslim nation, and a Buddhist nation, a Hindu nation and a nation of nonbelievers”[1]   Add to that the surge in faith that took place after September 11, 2001, which has since dissipated, and even though we have been struggling through an economic down turn for the past six or seven years, how many people in our world and in our Nation have stopped putting their faith in the Lord for help, but have turned their faith toward themselves, or the banks, or even the government to provide for them.  This is the political situation in which we find ourselves today!  This is the reason why Jeremiah’s words are so relevant for us today: “Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasture!” declares the LORD. 2 Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says to the shepherds who tend my people: “Because you have scattered my flock and driven them away and have not bestowed care on them, I will bestow punishment on you for the evil you have done,” declares the LORD." (Jeremiah 23:1–2, NIV84)

Perhaps the economic situation in our country is the beginning of God’s punishment against our Nation for turning away from him.  Perhaps the financial ruin, which is predicted to be worse than the Great Depression, is this generation’s Babylonian Captivity designed to destroy the power of the false gods of our society and world and lead people back to the Lord.  Perhaps just the idea of what is coming our way, according to many economists, will be just enough to turn many back to the Lord to trust in him as it was with the Israelites!  Though it is true that Jeremiah’s message to the people of Judah was indeed a message of harsh judgment, because there were still many who were faithful to the Lord, the Lord filled their hearts with comfort even as Jeremiah spoke.  In the midst of harsh judgment and woe, the Lord also gave great comfort, saying: “I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and will bring them back to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and increase in number. 4 I will place shepherds over them who will tend them, and they will no longer be afraid or terrified, nor will any be missing,” declares the LORD. 5 “The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness." (Jeremiah 23:3–6, NIV84)

Even in the midst of looming destruction and captivity, the Lord still comforted his faithful people with the promise of the Messiah.  Though the tree of Jesse would be cut down and left as a dead stump through the coming captivity, the Lord would cause a new branch to sprout when he sent Jesus as the Messiah.  He would be the king who preached the message of salvation to all his people.  He would be the king who would lead his people to the green pastures and quiet waters of his word.  He would be the king who would fight head to head with satan and his evil angels.  He would be the king who granted victory to his people through his death and resurrection.  He would be the king who led his people to the complete safety of his heavenly kingdom when their time on earth was done.  Though it was clear that all of Judah and Jerusalem would face some terrible times at the hands of the Babylonians, those who trusted in the Lord had his comfort and assurance.  They knew that the Lord was their Righteousness.  They knew that the Lord was their Savior.  They knew that no matter what evil they faced by trusting in the Lord they would be delivered to their kings side where they would live with their Righteous Savior.

The same thing is true for you and me today.  Even though we are living in a world that daily grows darker and more evil, we are looking forward to the day when we will be gathered with the remnant of the Lord’s believers.  Even though we are facing ridicule and persecution we know that through faith in the Lord our Righteousness, we will never be missing from his side.  We know that even though we may be facing some financial dark days in the next years, by trusting in the Lord he will provide for us all that we need.  We are looking forward to the day when we will see the Righteous Branch of Jesse, our King, the Lord our Righteousness, gathering us before his throne where we will live with him forever in safety and security.  No matter what we face in this life, we know that heaven is our home.  No matter what temptations come our way, we know that the Lord Jesus has forgiven us.  No matter hardships we face, we know that the Lord is with us, just as he was with his people even when Babylon destroyed Jerusalem. 

So now, as God’s children, continue to grow in your faith by reading and studying his Word.  Teach your children and your grandchildren the precious truths of salvation.  Bring them with you as you worship the Lord so that they learn the habit of taking time out for God.  Schedule extra time each Sunday for Sunday School and Bible study so that you and your family may grow in your faith and your love of the Lord.  Though the days are growing darker, the days are coming when the Lord our Righteousness will raise up the righteous Branch of Jesse.  This will be the day when our Savior returns in glory and judgment. This will be the day when we see the Lord our Righteousness face to face and he welcomes us into his heavenly kingdom forever.  Until that day, grow in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Encourage each other in the faith, and know that no matter what you might face in this life, we have the Lord’s promise:  “I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and will bring them back to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and increase in number. 4 I will place shepherds over them who will tend them, and they will no longer be afraid or terrified, nor will any be missing,” declares the LORD. 5 “The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness." (Jeremiah 23:3–6, NIV84)

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN

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[1] From a speech on June 7, 2007 referenced at: http://www.christianwebsite.com/obama-america-no-longer-a-christian-nation/  also from a speech on March 9, 2008 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmC3IevZiik  also a speech on April 9, 2009 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIVd7YT0oWA  All sites accessed July 28, 2012.

The Lord's judgments are just and righteous! (Jeremiah 17:5-8)

February 5, 2012

Dear friends in Christ.

If you were to find yourself on trial for one reason or another, I’m sure you would want to have the best legal defense team you could find.  You would want an attorney who would calmly, confidently, and persuasively argue your case before a jury of your peers.  You would want a jury that would carefully weigh all the testimony made in that courtroom and come to the verdict which the evidence clearly showed.  You would want a judge who would make just and right judgment based on the verdict rendered by the jury.  Well, as Christians, this is what we have.  For we have a just and righteous God in heaven who has never in his life made a snap judgment based on a whim or other emotional factor.  Rather, it is our God in heaven who has provided the world with the documentation of his law, and now judges the world on the basis of that law.  Because of this, we know that when the Lord makes his judgments they are both just and righteous.  This is something that we will see more clearly as we study the text before us today. For through this lesson recorded in Jeremiah 17 we will see that even though those who turn from the Lord are cursed, those who trust in him are blessed, because the Lord’s judgments are truly just and righteous!

Take a look at what Jeremiah has to tell us in the first two verse of our lesson today:  “This is what the LORD says: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the LORD. 6 He will be like a bush in the wastelands; he will not see prosperity when it comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives." (Jeremiah 17:5–6, NIV84)

Now, when Jeremiah first spoke these words to the Israelites living in the Southern kingdom of Judah, he spoke them as the Lord’s judgment against all who had turned their backs on him.  For in the days of Jeremiah, the people of Israel had all but forgotten about the Lord their God.  They had turned to the worship of idols made of wood and stone.  They had forsaken the Lord’s temple, and they had killed many of the Lord’s prophets rather than listening to them.  Though they were still one of the most prosperous nations at the time, they were not living under the Lord’s blessing, but under his curse.  Though to an outside observer they looked like a strong and healthy nation, spiritually they were nothing more than a dead and dried up old bush in the middle of a burning desert wasteland.  And because of this, all those who had turned their backs on the Lord had nothing to look forward to but the curse of eternal death and damnation forever in the fires of hell.

The same thing is true today!  We are living in a land that is quickly turning its back on the Lord.  So many of our leaders in every level of government are turning their backs on our Nation’s God fearing roots, and encouraging us as a people to do whatever they want and believe whatever they want to believe.  Though as a nation, we may be the wealthiest, most prosperous people on the face of the earth, spiritually our nation is quickly becoming a scorched and burning desert wasteland.  Though our country may have been founded on Christian morals back in the 1700’s, those morals are constantly be challenged, cut down, and tossed aside.  For example: 30 years ago, when the Rowe v. Wade decision made abortion legal, murder was suddenly made convenient, abstinence was no longer an issue, sexual immorality was given an open door, and human life was no longer regarded as sacred.  Now today, our nation is quickly sliding down the path, which leads only to the Lord’s righteous judgment and destruction.

How long will it be until we are overrun like the Israelites, who were overrun by the Babylonians?  How long will it be until the Lord says, “Enough!” and simply allows our nation to collapse from within?  I do not know. But I do know that if our nation continues on the course it is following now, turning its back on the Lord and relying on its own ingenuity, all that will be left for it will be the Lord’s curse and his righteous judgment of destruction. Though this might be a disturbing picture for us as Americans, this is the warning that the Lord is directing not only toward our great nation, but it is also the warning which he is directing toward you and me as Christians.

Yes, this is the warning which the Lord is directing even toward us as Christians!  For with these words our Lord is telling us that if we turn our backs on him we will face his fierce and righteous judgment.  If we grow weary of drinking the water of life found in his word, we will be surprised at how parched we will quickly become and how none of the world’s beverages will be able to slake that thirst.  If we find ourselves wandering away from him, growing lazy in worship, or simply giving up to embrace our sins, we know that we could be facing the double barreled curse of eternal death and damnation forever in the fires of hell. This is why the Lord is so fervently warning us with the consequences of turning our backs on him.  For if we, who know the truth of God’s salvation, turn our backs on that salvation there will be nothing left for us except eternal suffering in the burning wasteland of eternal damnation; burning under the scorching heat of the Lord’s justice and punishment for all who turn their backs on him.  Which is the heart of God’s Righteous Judgments!

But this is not the end of the story, for if it were, we would have nothing to look forward to.  We would find no joy in the service of the Lord our God because we would see him as nothing more than an angry and vengeful God.  But this is not the way we see him, and this is not the way we know him.  For we know the Lord as the God who has told us: “all who trust in him will be blessed.”  This is the other side of our Lord’s just and righteous judgments!  For though he will truly curse all those who forsake him, we know that he will indeed bless all who trust in him.

This was the message, which Jeremiah also carried to the people of Israel.  For even though nearly the entire nation of Israel had turned their backs on the Lord there were still those who had remained faithful to him, and it was to those people that Jeremiah said: “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. 8 He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” (Jeremiah 17:7–8, NIV84)

With these words, not only was the Lord assuring his faithful people that they would be blessed if they trusted in him, he is also assuring us that by trusting in him, we will truly be blessed no matter what we might face in this life.  For when we trust in the Lord we are those who listen to the Lord’s Prophet.  We are like trees planted by streams of water.  When our trust is in the Lord we are able to sink our roots down deep into water of his word.  We are able to grow tall and strong because we are constantly receiving all the nutrition that we could possibly need.  We are able to spread our branches high and wide so that we might provide shade and comfort to those who need it most.  Even though we might face the severe heat of trials and hardships in this life, though we often face the blistering sun of temptation, when we are rooted in the word, trusting in the Lord our God, our leaves will not wither or fall.  For when we place our trust in the Lord, it is the Lord who sees us through every trouble.  When we place our trust in the Lord we have the ability to let go of our worries and simply follow where he leads.  When we trust in the Lord, we are able to accept whatever challenges or hardships he might place on us, and wear them with joy, knowing that if he asks us to bear them he will also give us more than enough strength to stand up under them.  We will be able to stand up as his children under his just and righteous judgments.

This was the very privilege that the Lord gave to a family in my neighborhood while I was still in grade school.  For when I was in seventh grade, the smith family down the street lost their 18-year-old son in a car accident.  The son, who had been out deer hunting, was returning home when a deer jumped out in front of his car, it crashed through the windshield, broke the son’s neck, and he died that night even before he reached the hospital.  On top of that, a few short months after his funeral, his mother was diagnosed with cancer, and even though the doctors did everything they could to fight it, she died less than four years later.  Though I don’t remember much from the son’s funeral, I remember clearly the events of the wife’s.  I remember standing in the receiving line at the funeral home.  I remember countless friends talking with the husband and crying with him.  I remember even more people hugging him and offering their words of sympathy.  I remember wondering how someone could ever endure the death of his son and wife within a few short years of each other.  But the most amazing thing I remember is the solid rock of faith that this man was when it was our turn to talk to him.  I remember his unwavering trust in the Lord his God.  I remember how he accepted this new tragedy, confidently assured that the Lord had not forsaken him, and knowing that he would see both his wife and his son again when the Lord called him from this life to eternal life in heaven.

This is the justice and the righteousness of the Lord’s judgments.  These are the kinds of blessings that we also receive here on this earth when we trust in the Lord.  Though we may not have a stress free life, though we may not have all the money or possessions we might want, though our eyesight may not be the best, or our hearing might be failing, though our heart might not work the way we want or we find ourselves living away from family and friends, when we trust in the Lord we can still find joy and fulfillment in all these situations through faith in Jesus Christ our Savior!  When we trust in the Lord our God, we find his blessings in every aspect of our day to day lives.  When we trust in the Lord our God, our greatest blessing is the forgiveness of sins that his Son won for us through his death and resurrection.  This is the just and righteous judgment that the Lord has for you and me as his children, and this is the judgment with which he longs to bless the world.

Though our world may have turned its back on the Lord, sliding ever closer to the curse of damnation there is still hope for each and every person who trusts in the Lord.  For just as those in Israel who trusted in the Lord were saved when the Babylonians came, those in our world today who trust in the Lord will be saved by their faith.  This is the message that we as Christians now bring to the world at large.  Though we may not be able to lead all the people of the world to turn their trust to the Lord, through the working of the Lord, and the power of his word, we will be able to lead some to place their trust in him as their God.  Those who do will no longer face the Lord’s curse, but will look forward to the Lord’s righteous judgment, which will shower his blessings upon them. These are the Lord’s just and righteous judgments!  Though they are different than the judgments handed down in a courtroom, they are based on the law of the Lord our God.  May we never be found among those who turn their backs on him and look forward to nothing but his curse, but rather let us always be found among those who trust in him and live in his blessings.

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN