How Can We Know who our God really Is?

Series: Growing Together in God's Grace 

December 2, 2012

Dear friends in Christ.

I know for a fact that not one of us here today ever had the pleasure of meeting George Washington.  Though it was only a little more than 200 years ago when George Washington lived, we have been completely separated from ever having the pleasure of knowing him personally by those 200 years.  And yet, even though none of us has ever met him, we do know quite a lot about him because of all of the things that have been revealed to us through books, encyclopedias, magazines, television shows, movies, and yes through all the information posted today on the internet.  Even though we have never met him personally we can still know who he was and what he was like.  Well, the same thing can be said about the Lord our God.  Even though we have never met the Lord face to face, like we meet each other every day, we can still know exactly who the Lord our God really is.  We can know exactly who the Lord our God really is from the ways in which he has revealed himself to us.  For example, in the Bible, in Psalm 19 we learn, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. 3 There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. 4 Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world." (Psalm 19:1–4a, NIV84)

Now this is truly an amazing thing!  The Lord our God reveals himself to us as the master creator by revealing himself through the very things he created!  For in the same way that we can look at things like: the Pyramids in Egypt, Skyscrapers throughout the world, even the International Space Station, and know that these things had to be conceived, planned, and built by someone, so also, when we look at the beauties of our God’s creation, we come to realize that there must have been someone who made all that we see around us.  There must have been someone who had great power and might to create such a beautiful place for us to live.  In fact, as we scan the pages of God’s book of creation, we begin to recognize that this great and powerful someone who created all these things must, at the very least be filled with divine powers, because there is no human being on earth who could make anything like the world we see around us.  This divine being must be at the very least, long lived, if not eternal, because in order for him to create the universe and everything in it, he would have had to have been around long before creation took place.  In fact, in the book of Romans, Paul reminds us, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse." (Romans 1:20, NIV)

In such a simple way, Paul reminds us of our Lord’s amazing wisdom in revealing himself as he does!  For in the same way the wisdom of the builders is clear from the ways they built the Pyramids, Skyscrapers and the International Space Station, so also our God reveals his wisdom, his strength, his eternal power and his divine nature through the very things he has created for us!

Yet, these are not the only things that the Lord has revealed about himself, nor is this the only way the Lord our God reveals himself to us so that we can know him.  For the truth is, the Lord has also revealed himself by writing his will, his law upon our very hearts, which is something that Paul also reminds us of in chapter two of his letter to the Romans.  “There is no favoritism with God. 12 All those who sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all those who sinned under the law will be judged by the law. 13 For the hearers of the law are not righteous before God, but the doers of the law will be declared righteous. 14 So, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, instinctively do what the law demands, they are a law to themselves even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts. Their consciences confirm this. Their competing thoughts will either accuse or excuse them 16 on the day when God judges what people have kept secret, according to my gospel through Christ Jesus." (Romans 2:11–16, HCSB)

In short, Paul is telling us what we already know.  It doesn’t matter if we’ve been taught the Law of God or not.  The Lord our God has revealed himself to each and every person, by writing, branding if you will, his Law upon our hearts.  He has given each and every one of us a conscience—a conscience, which gives us a moral compass; a moral compass that helps us to know the difference between right and wrong.  For in the same way that the gauges in the cockpit of an airplane monitor the status of the flight and alert the pilot of something has gone wrong, so also our conscience monitors or watches over our conduct and alerts us when something is wrong.  It’s that little voice inside of us that condemns us for our sinful actions.  It’s that little voice that accuses us of doing wrong when we do not follow or live up to God’s commands.  It’s that feeling of shame that floods over us when we know we haven’t acted honorably.  It is that knowledge that just as our parents punished us when we were naughty, so also our righteous God will punish us for breaking his Law.

Yet, even as our conscience reveals our God to be a righteous God who punishes sins, it also assures us and comforts us when we do the right thing.  It is also that little voice of congratulations when we follow the will of our God.  It is that feeling of pride when we know we did the right thing.  The problem, however, is that even our conscience can become clouded and confused.  They can be taught to believe that innocent things like card playing and dancing are absolutely sinful.  (How many of your parents or even grand-parents were conscience bound by ideas like this?)  Not only that, but our consciences can even come to terms with sinful actions, accepting them as good things, and even going so far as to approve of and encourage those who practice the same things, if we continue to ignore our conscience or fill them with the idea that what we’re doing isn’t all that bad anyway.  This is exactly what Paul is talking about when he writes in another place in his letter to the Romans, “Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them." (Romans 1:32, NIV84)

These are but two of the ways that the Lord our God has revealed himself to us so that we might know who he is.  But if truth be told, if these two ways, through nature and through our conscience, if these two revelations had been all that we knew about the Lord our God, then we would be very miserable indeed!  Even though we would know about his eternal power, his divine nature, and his glorious wisdom from the very things he had created; from the Law that the Lord had written on our hearts, we would also know that we did not measure up to his standards.  Even though we might be able to cloud our consciences and sooth them into believing that our sinful actions were actually God pleasing, deep down we would still know that we deserved nothing but God’s punishment.  We would never be able to know if we had done enough to please him or if he even loved us, or if he even remotely cared about us.  If all we knew about our God came to us from his creation and our consciences, then the guilt we felt over all the things we had done wrong would continue to fester and bubble in our hearts until it finally boiled over and filled our hearts and our lives with despair.  Despair from which there could be no escape except for us to completely turn away from the Lord and seek salvation from ourselves and from the world around us.  For in the same way that a dashboard light can only tell you that something is wrong with your car and not how to fix it, so also our conscience can only tell us that something is wrong with us.  Neither our knowledge of creation nor the pangs of our conscience can ever tell us how we can fix it.

But thanks be to God that he has not only revealed himself through the dashboard lights of creation and conscience, but he has also revealed himself to us through the instruction manual of his Word.  For in the same way that instruction manuals help mechanics find and fix the problem when a dashboard light comes on, so also it is through the instruction manual of his Word that our God has reveals himself to us and shows us exactly how he fixes our problems with sin.  Just as we sang this morning, “These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name." (John 20:31, NIV84)

Though we can truly learn a great deal about our God from the things he reveals to us through his creation and our conscience, neither of these can ever teach us about Jesus Christ our Savior.  For it is only through the work the Holy Spirit accomplishes in our hearts Holy Scriptures, that we come to faith in Jesus.  It is only through the Holy Scriptures, which many of us have known since we were infants that we have been made wise for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ our Savior! (see 2 Timothy 3:15)  It is only through the Holy Scriptures that we know how the Lord our God revealed his plan to save the human race already back in creation when he promised Adam and Eve, “And I will put enmity (hostility) between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” (Genesis 3:15, NIV84)  It is only through the Scriptures that God revealed how and where the Savior would be born when he promised, “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel." (Isaiah 7:14, NIV84)  and “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” (Micah 5:2, NIV84)

It is only in the pages of the Scriptures that we have the account of Jesus’ birth, announced in Luke 1 and completely revealed in Luke 2.  It is only in the pages of the Scriptures where we have the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John telling us all about Jesus, how he was born and how he lived a perfect and holy life, how he preached and taught the message of salvation wherever he went, and how he willingly gave up his life in our place and rose again from the dead, just as the Prophets of old that foretold.  It is in the Bible where we have the records of the Apostles going out and preaching and teaching the saving truth of salvation to all people.  We have the records of those who taught the word to assure us that when Jesus went to his death he went in our place.  When Jesus went to the cross he took every one of our sins with him and paid the price that God demanded.  Now, because of what the Lord our God has revealed to us in the pages of the Holy Scriptures, we have the assurance that through faith in Jesus all our sins and wrongdoings have been forgiven.  We have the assurance that eternal life is waiting for us in heaven.  In short, it is through the Bible that the Lord our God completely reveals himself to us through his Son, our Savior, in whom we believe because the Holy Spirit has worked through that word and created faith in our hearts; faith which knows exactly who the Lord our God truly is.

Now, because of this, we know who our God truly is.  We know that he is the all powerful Lord who created all that exists by his eternal power and divine nature.  We know that he is our glorious Savior because “We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:14, NIV84) We know that we are in a right relationship with him because through faith in his Son our Savior, we now know the Lord who “blots out our transgressions for his own sake and remembers our sins no more.” (Isaiah 43:25, NIV84) 

We know all these things about the Lord our God, and even more than that, because these are the things that the Lord our God has revealed about himself in the pages of the Scriptures.  He has revealed them to us so that we might know him, even as he knows us and loves us.  Though we have not yet met the Lord our God face to face, we know him just as well as we know each other, if not better than that, because through faith in Jesus—faith created in our hearts by the Holy Spirit—we have a personal relationship with the Lord our God.  We have a personal relationship with the Lord our God, and we know exactly who our God is because he has completely revealed himself to us so that we can know him.

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN

The Lord Has Blessed You! (Numbers 6:22-27)

March 6, 2011

Dear friends in Christ.

How have you been enjoying exploring God’s Islands of Adventure? Personally I have loved this Bible reading challenge, because so many of you are reading and studying the Scriptures for yourselves on a regular basis. Though only a few people have added their names to ships that have been anchored on the different Islands, so many of our members have told me that they are reading on a regular basis. More and more people are coming to Bible Study to study the Word of God together and discuss different things they have learned, and I have enjoyed preaching on different lessons from the Chronological schedule of readings that so many of you are following. I have enjoyed it, because I have seen just how the Lord has begun blessing us as a congregation through this Bible Reading challenge, for that is what the Lord does as we grow in our faith through his Word.

In fact, this is the very thing we want to study as we take a look at the Aaronic blessing recorded for us in Numbers 6:22-27. I invite you then to open your Bibles to our first lesson, to Numbers 6:22-27. Now, as you are turning to Numbers six, let me give you a little bit of background. The Nation of Israel had been camped at Mt. Sinai for roughly 10 months now, and during their time there they had seen amazing things, been unfaithful to the Lord, forgiven by the Lord, blessed by the Lord and accomplished great things for the Lord. They had seen the Lord appear to them in a fiery cloud on the top of Mt. Sinai. They watched as Moses climb the mountain and disappeared into that cloud of fire and smoke. They grew impatient for Moses return and persuaded Aaron to fashion them a new god, a golden calf. They felt the sword of the Lord’s judgment when Moses returned from the Mountain. They repented and were forgiven. They watched as Moses again returned to the top of the Mountain for another 40 days. But this time, when he came down, there was no golden calf. Rather, whIen Moses returned to them with his radiant face glowing with the glory of the Lord, they set to work constructing the Tabernacle. Now, as the Lord speaks to Moses in our lesson for today, the Lord bestows upon his people, both Israel and all of his followers, what we have come to know as the Aaronic Blessing: Take a look at verse 22: “The LORD said to Moses, 23 “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them: 24 “ ‘ “The LORD bless you and keep you; 25 the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; 26 the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.” ’ 27 “So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.” (Numbers 6:22–27, NIV84)

In such a simple way, with such well chosen words, the Lord our God bestows the gift of his blessing upon his people Israel; both physical descendants of Israel as well as spiritual Israel, people like you and me who are now Israelites through faith in Jesus. What a comfort it is to know that whenever we hear these words of blessing spoken to us, it is as if the Lord himself is speaking to us, placing his name on us and blessing us! Though it could be said that this is a blessing that we take for granted because we hear these words spoken so often, they are still filled with great comfort. Though it could be said that we have emptied the word bless of all its meaning by constantly using it after people sneeze, when we take a close look at the word bless, we find that it is an amazing word filled with layers if meaning.

For example, if you turn to the Dictionary, you will find that the word bless means, “to invoke divine favor upon someone”; to convey well-being or prosperity on someone”; or “to endow, as with a talent.” This pretty much describes how we view blessings in our lives, yet, if you dig a little deeper and take a look at the Hebrew word in our passage, you would find that the Hebrew word for bless is barek or barak depending upon how you pronounce it. Hearing that, many of you are probably thinking that our President’s name must mean “bless”. Interestingly that is exactly what it means, in Swahili, which I understand is the language either his Father or Grandfather spoke. However, based on what I could find, when it comes to Hebrew it seems that his name means lightning. This is all based on the length of the vowels and which Hebrew letter is used for the K sound. Anyway, as I was saying, the Hebrew word for bless is barek or barak, depending on how you pronounce it and it is a word that carries the idea of conveying favor upon a person. But it also carries the idea of kneeling down on the knees, either with a straight back, or bent over with your face toward the ground as in a position of worship or humility. This paints the picture that the person who is blessing you is greater than you and you are showing appreciation to that person by humbly accepting his gift of favor upon you. But the thing that is even more interesting is what you discover when you take a look at the etymology or the Word History of our English word bless. When we do this we find that it is a word that comes to us from the Old English which conveys the meaning of wishing happiness upon someone or consecrating someone. If we look back even farther we discover that the word can be shown to derive from a Germanic root that literally means “to consecrate with blood”

Though the Hebrew word itself may not convey the idea of consecrating with blood, when we take a look at how the Lord our God has blessed us, we quickly realize that it is the Lord who blesses us with his favor through the forgiveness of sins that Jesus won for us by washing us clean with his blood and setting us apart as his brothers and sisters, children of God through faith in him. Thus, when we hear those words, “The Lord bless you and keep you” we are assured that it is the Lord our God who is not only continually bestowing his favor upon us, but he is also the one who is keeping us, and guarding us because we belong to him. Just as he assures us in Psalm 91:11, “He will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways;” (Psalm 91:11, NIV84)

How often hasn’t the Lord done this for us? How often hasn’t the Lord blessed us when we least expected it or simply needed it the most? How often hasn’t the Lord provided for you exactly what you needed in the very moment you needed? How often hasn’t the Lord protected you from harm? How many situations can you point to in your life that you can see the Lord’s protecting hand keeping you safe from trouble and danger? This is how the Lord our God has blessed us in the past and will continue to bless us into the future as he promises when we hear those beautiful words, “ ‘ “The LORD bless you and keep you; 25 the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you;” (Numbers 6:24–25, NIV84)

What is the first thing that you do when you walk into a dark room? You flip the light switch and turn on the lights so that you can see where you are, where you are going, and what is in the room! This is something that is so ingrained into our nature that we do it without thinking about it. We often do it when we walk into a room on a sunny day. We even do it when the power is out. Though we know the power is out, we naturally reach out and flip the switch to illuminate the room, only to stand there, befuddled for a moment or two, until we realize that the power is out and there can be no light. The Lord our God works in much the same way, each time we hear that the Lord is causing his face to shine upon us, we understand just how greatly he is blessing us. For throughout the Scriptures, whenever the Lord hides his face from his people they face suffering, hardship, destruction and even death. However, when he shines his face upon them he graciously blesses them with his loving presence.

The Lord has done the same thing for us! In fact, each week as we hear this blessing, we are assured that the Lord our God will continue to cause his face to shine upon us and be gracious to us! Each week we are reminded of how the Lord our God did that for us through his Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior. For Jesus, our Savior is the shining light of the Lord’s grace to us. As the Scriptures tell us, “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being,” (Hebrews 1:3, NIV84) Jesus is the one who came to us, revealing his gracious love for us in all that he did. Though we had done nothing to earn it or deserve it, Jesus willingly carried the concrete slabs of our sins to the execution chamber of the cross. As the crowds gathered expecting to hear his final confession or pleas that he was innocent, they only heard him whisper, Father forgive them. As they taunted him, expecting him to reply, they heard only silence. Though they expected only to hear the strangled gurgle of suffocation when Jesus died, they heard him cry out in a loud voice, they felt the earth quake, and the rocks split. This is how the Lord our God has blessed us, how he has caused his face to shine upon us and been gracious to us! Though we had been lost in the dark midnight of sin, the dawn of the Lord’s grace rose upon us and the Light of Christ our Savior was shown in our hearts. Though we had done nothing to deserve it, it was Christ our Savior who: “redeemed me, a lost and condemned creature, purchased and won me from all sins, from death and from the power of the devil, not with gold or silver, but with his holy precious blood, and innocent suffering and death. All this he did that I should be his own and live under him in his kingdom and serve him with everlasting righteousness, innocence and blessedness, just as he has risen from death, and lives and rules eternally. This is most certainly true.”

How greatly the Lord has blessed us that he should make his face shine upon us and be gracious to us, or that he should even turn his face toward us and give us peace. (Numbers 6:25–26, NIV84) Yet this is exactly what the Lord our God has done for us. He has blessed us not only by causing his face to shine on us but by turning his face toward us and giving us peace. Now I realize that the final clause of the Lord’s blessing sounds very similar to the second clause. Interestingly the same Hebrew word is used in both verses when speaking of the Lord’s face. Yet while verse 25 speaks about the Lord causing the light of his face to shine upon us, verse 26 speaks about the Lord fixing his loving gaze upon us; not only fixing his loving gaze upon us, but giving us his undivided attention. In such a simple way the Lord is assuring us that he is intensely interested in each and every one of us, and he will give us the individualized attention that each and every one of us needs!

What a comfort it is to know that the Lord our God cherishes us so much that he blesses us with his peace, which is the peace that goes beyond all understanding, the peace of the forgiveness of sins! This is the uplifting peace that the Holy Spirit pours out in our hearts as he assures us of the forgiveness of sins won for us by our dear Savior Jesus. This is the peace that builds us up when we are weak and sustains us when we cannot stand. This is the peace through which the Lord our God assures us that we have been completely forgiven of all our sins, that our slates have not only been washed clean but have been completely replaced without any chalk to keep a record of wrong, and that continues to assure us that we are, once again, in a right relationship with the Lord our God.

What greater blessing could there be than this blessing that the Lord our God bestows upon us each and every week! For it is through this very blessing that the Lord our God places his Name on us and blesses us as his people. It is through this blessing we are assured that he is watching over us, guarding us, and protecting us. It is through this blessing that we are assured of his peace and that we are in a right relationship with him through the forgiveness of sins. Though there are times when we take this blessing for granted, as you hear it one more time, let it wash over your heart and mind as you hear it one more time: “ ‘ “The LORD bless you and keep you; 25 the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; 26 the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.” ’ (Numbers 6:24–26, NIV84)

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling
Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church --Le Sueur, MN

Praise Your Savior for His Appearing (Job 19:23-27; Isaiah 42:1-7; Matthew 3:13-17)

January 16, 2011

Dear friends in Christ.

So how have you enjoyed this first week of Exploring God’s Islands of Adventure? Have you jumped right in and read or listened to the Word of God as you planned? Did you face any time thieves this week and find that you hadn’t accomplished all the reading you planned on? Or are you still undecided as to which plan you are going to follow? Well, if you are still undecided as to which plan to follow, I hope I’ve made it easier by including in the bulletin the chronological schedule that I’m using for our weekly Bible Study and worship. If you’ve faced time thieves this week, you’re not alone, the same thing happened to me on Tuesday! Suddenly it was Wednesday and I realized I had not read my Bible the day before. If you’ve accomplished your reading exactly as you planed this week, then good for you! In fact, my congratulations to all of you who read or listened to even the slightest little bit this week, and my encouragement to those of you who haven’t yet begun! I say this because the truth is whenever you make a decision to change and grow in any way; you suddenly have a struggle on your hands—especially when you make the decision to read the word and grow in your faith.

Yet, as I said last week, I so badly want each and every one of you to be reading or listening to the Bible this year, because when you do, you will grow in your faith and your knowledge of Jesus Christ as your Savior. As you grow in your faith and your knowledge we will grow together as an even more closely knit family of believers. In fact, just think about how your faith would grow if you were in the word for an entire week. Just think about how your life would change for the better, how your faith would grow, and how you would walk with confidence in your salvation if you were in the word of God for an entire month. Just think about how your live would change for the better, how your faith would grow and be as strong as steel, how you would walk with absolute confidence in the knowledge of your salvation through faith in Jesus, and how you would be constantly, passionately ready to share the comfort of God’s Word with those who were hurting, and share your faith with those who do not yet know the Lord Jesus as their Savior if you just spent the next year reading or listening to God’s Word for yourselves.

This is the growth that I long for, for you. As I said last week, I’ve spent the last six months reading this schedule so that I could stay ahead of you and share with you the beautiful truths I’ve found. Yet, while I keep reading to stay ahead of you, I’m also starting over at the beginning so that I can read with you and share with you the beautiful truths and amazing connections that I’ve discovered, while at the same time learning from you through the insights you will be placing on the navigation board in this next year. In fact, today, I want to share with you an amazing connection that I discovered. It is a connection between some of the words that Job speaks in chapter 19, which is part of the scheduled reading for today, and two of the lessons that I’ve already read as part of our worship today. It is a connection that will lead us to Praise the Lord our Savior as we celebrate his appearing at his baptism today.

I invite you to open your Bibles to Job 19:23-27. As you are turning to Job 19, let me give you a little background. Though we’re not exactly certain when Job lived, our best guess is that he lived around the time of the Patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob). This is why we read only the first 11 chapters of Genesis and then jumped right into Job. Now, the book of Job is an interesting book. In fact, it has been said that without the first two chapters none of the book would make sense, and yet, as we read through it, we see a believer dealing with some of the most horrendous hardships, frustration, sickness, and accusations that friends could bring against him. As we read through the book of Job, we see Job proclaiming the same frustration and anger that we all have directed at God or others when we’ve faced difficulties, hospital stays, life threatening illnesses, financial ruin or any other hardship. Though there are times that Job blames God for all his troubles and God confronts him at the end of the book, Job never lost his faith and the Lord always counted Job as his child. Even in the midst of his pain and anguish the Lord allowed Job to praise the Lord his Savior because Job knew that one day his Savior would appear. Take a look at Job 19:23: “Oh, that my words were recorded, that they were written on a scroll, 24 that they were inscribed with an iron tool on lead, or engraved in rock forever! 25 I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. 26 And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; 27 I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me! (Job 19:23–27, NIV84)

In the midst of struggle and hardship, pain and anguish, Job utters such beautiful words of praise for the Lord his Savior whom he knows will one day appear. He utters words of praise that Christians have sung since they were written in hymn form by Samuel Medley in 1775. He utters words of praise that I have used as the closing of my grave side service since the day I heard the pastor under whom I served as a bishop speak them as the close of his grave side service. Thus, we these words, Job reminds us and assures us that no matter what we face in this life, no matter what struggles or hardships we might have, even if we should lose our health or our ability to work, even if gas should make it to $4.00 a gallon as is being predicted; no matter what might come our way, we can still give praise and thanks to the Lord Jesus, our Savior, as we celebrate his appearing today. We can praise our Lord and Savior because we know that when he appeared here on earth, he came as the Lord’s servant, just as Isaiah told us in our first lesson today.

Turn with me now, if you would, to Isaiah 42 and we’ll see how verses 1-7 connect with what we just heard from Job. Now, as you are turning to Isaiah 42, let me give you the setting. At least 2000 years have passed since the days of Job. Israel has been living in the Promised Land for roughly 700 years and there were roughly 700 years remaining before the Savior would be born. Now, as Isaiah speaks the words in chapter 42, the complete destruction of the Northern Kingdom of Israel is close at hand. Yet, even in the midst of pending destruction on the Northern Kingdom and rampant unbelief that Isaiah faced in the Southern Kingdom, the Lord gave Isaiah a beautiful message for those who still believed. The Lord gave Isaiah a message that would lead believers to praise the Lord their Savior for the promise of his appearing. Take a look at what Isaiah writes in chapter 42 beginning with verse 1: “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations. 2 He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. 3 A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; 4 he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth. In his law the islands will put their hope.” 5 This is what God the LORD says— he who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and all that comes out of it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it: 6 “I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, 7 to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness. (Isaiah 42:1–7, NIV84)

As Isaiah speaks these words, he gives us, and the faithful Israelites of his day every reason to praise the Lord Jesus at his appearing, because from these words we learn exactly what our Savior will do and has done for us. As Isaiah said in verse 3-4: “A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; 4 he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth. In his law the islands will put their hope.” (Isaiah 42:3-4, NIV84) In other words, when the Savior appears, if someone is dealing with the bruises of doubt in their faith, or if someone is so weak that the flame of their faith is but a smoldering wick, Jesus will build them up and strengthen that faith through his comforting word. As he preaches he will proclaim the truth of salvation to his people and through that message he will establish his justice and his forgiveness. In fact, it will be in that message of salvation that the Islands—the gentiles like you and me—will put our hope.

Well, just as Isaiah prophesied, Jesus appeared and did all these things and even more. Jesus appeared to proclaim the message of salvation to us. Jesus appeared to be our Savior and free us from the curse of our sins. Jesus appeared to give his life in our place so that we might live eternally with him in his heavenly kingdom. Jesus appeared just as was promised throughout the ages and that is why we have gathered to give praise to the Lord our Savior as we celebrate his appearing today. We have gathered to give praise to our Savior because he appeared just as Job hoped and just as Isaiah prophesied. He appeared as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, just as Matthew records for us in our gospel lesson for today.

Turn with me, if you would, to our final lesson for today. Turn to Matthew 3:13-17, and we’ll take a look at how our lesson from Job and Isaiah connect to our Savior’s appearing at his baptism today. Now, as you are turning to Matthew 3 the stage has already been set for Jesus appearing at the beginning of his earthly ministry. In fact, if you take a look at the first three chapters of Matthew you can see just how he set the stage for us. He told us about the genealogy of Christ, showing that he was a descendant of David as the Lord promised. He told us about Jesus birth in Bethlehem and the visit of the Magi. He told us how Jesus escaped to Egypt and then returned to Nazareth in fulfillment of the Lord’s promise that he would call his Son out of Egypt, and now at the beginning of Chapter 3, Matthew tells us about John and how John was preparing the way for the Savior, proclaiming the Word of God and baptizing people in the Jordan River. Now, on one day while John was baptizing, Jesus appeared there at the river, coming to be baptized. Take a look at Matthew 3:13: 13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. 14 But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15 Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented. 16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:13–17, NIV84)

As hoped for by Job, as prophesied by Isaiah, Jesus appeared to his people Israel when the time was right. He appeared at the Jordan river and was baptized by John to mark him, anoint him, if you will, as one of us. Thus, his baptism was the beginning of his earthly ministry and the time when Jesus actively began his work of living a perfect life in our place even as he preached God’s Word. It was on that day that the Father gave approval to his Son so that all present would know that this Jesus who had suddenly appeared among them was the Lord and Savior for whom they had waited. He was the one whom John had spoken about, whom Isaiah prophesied, and for whom Job had hoped.

This is our Lord and Savior whom we praise today! We praise him that he appeared for us just as he promised. We praise him because he freed us from our sins by his death and resurrection. We praise him because we know that through faith in him eternal life is ours. We praise him because we know that one day he will return again. Just as Job said, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. 26 And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; 27 I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me! (Job 19:25–27, NIV84)

What an amazing reason for us to praise the Lord our Savior as we celebrate his appearing today! What an amazing connection between the words of Job, Isaiah, and Matthew! What an amazing thing that we have discovered them simply because we are exploring God’s Islands of Adventure together! May the Lord bless you in the coming week as you continue your reading of his Word for the strengthening of your faith and our growth together as a family of believers.


Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling
Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church --Le Sueur, MN

Come, Worship the God of our Salvation (Genesis 1 - 3; Matthew 2:1-12)

Sunday January 9, 2011

Dear friends in Christ.

Here we are! We’ve finally arrived! We’ve come to the day that I’ve been talking about for the past few months! Today, we are beginning our Exploration of God’s Islands of Adventure! Now you all should have received a letter from me this past week detailing exactly how things are going to be working. If you didn’t receive a letter, then it is most likely that I have the wrong address for you and you will need to double check the address info that I placed in your boxes this morning. Also, please be sure to put the corrected sheets in my box before you leave today. Now, back to the letter; as I wrote it I knew it was too long and most of you would not read much more than the first paragraph. Thus, I planned to explain our challenge more clearly today.

During the next year, we will be reading or listening through the Bible so that we might grow together in our faith and knowledge of God’s Word. I have prepared a schedule that will take you through the entire Bible between today and December 31. I have placed these on the back table for you to pick up and take home. The cool thing about this schedule is that we are reading the Bible Chronologically. This means that we will read sections from 1 & 2 Samuel together with Sections from 1 & 2 Chronicles and avoid being bogged down in those books. We will also read psalms in connection with the events during which they were written. This is the schedule that I will follow for preaching and Bible Study, however, if you prefer a more relaxed schedule, such as a schedule that you have followed in the past, or the listing of readings that are printed in the bulletin each week, feel free to use whatever works for you. As I said in the letter, I want each and every one of our members to be in the Word on a regular basis during this next year. Now, that does not mean that I want you to become a slave to a schedule or feel guilty if you fall behind. No! What I want you to be doing is reading or listening to the Word of God on a regular basis as it fits in your life. For me, that means I take time in the mornings Monday – Friday to read or listen to God’s Word. I don’t read on Saturday or Sunday because my schedule on those days is too unpredictable.

Now, as you are reading I have set aside different ways to record your progress. When you find something that strikes you, you, a Navigation Notes sheet, write it down, and we will post it on the Navigation Notes bulletin board so that we can learn from each other. As you complete each book you will take a ship, add your name and the book and it will be anchored at the Island of God’s Word. Finally, as you complete certain books, you will also discover that treasure chests will be posted next to your name on our treasure wall. So, as I said before, this is something that I want each and every one of you to participate in during the next year. It doesn’t matter to me if you read or listen to the entire Bible in the next year or just part of it. I simply want you to be in the Word of God on a regular basis so that we can grow together in our faith as we worship the God of our Salvation.

So, with that explanation, let’s jump right into it. Open you Bibles to Genesis 1:1 and well take a closer look at why we have come together to worship the God of our salvation. As you’re opening to Genesis 1:1, let me give you some interesting statistics. When it comes to learning, we retain only about 5 % of what we hear, 10% of what we read, 20% of Audiovisual, 30% of Demonstrations, 50% of discussions, 75% of things we practice doing and 90% of what we teach others. So, if you think about it, being taught to sit still and listen to the Pastor during the sermon has really set us up for failure because we will only retain about 5% of what we hear. But, if we open our Bibles, read along, answer the personal study questions, even take notes, we will retain quite a bit more!

Genesis as you know is the first book of the Bible. The Word Genesis comes to us from the Latin language and simply means beginning, or origin. Interestingly the very first word of Genesis in the Hebrew is Biresheet, which also means, beginning. Take a look at verses 1-5: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. 3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.” (Genesis 1:1–5, NIV)

Here are some things to take note of; on day 1 our Triune God was busy. He called the heavens and the earth into existence out of nothing, and when he created them they were formless, empty, and dark. The Holy Spirit was hovering over the waters and the Son was present in the Words that God the Father spoke. The only reason we know this is because John tells us in the first 3 verses of chapter 1: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. (John 1:1–3, NIV) But not only did the Lord create the heavens and the earth on that day, he also created light. This is my favorite part of the whole creation account, on day 1 before he even created the source of light, God created light. This is why scientists believe that the earth is billions of years old. Light takes a certain amount of time to travel through space, so they calculate the time it takes light to travel from the farthest stars to the earth and that is one of the ways they figure out how old the earth is. However, God takes care of that problem by creating light before he creates the source of light. Thus, by the time he is finished creating, everything is working the way it should, the brand new earth is created with age, and Adam and Eve are ready to go about with the jobs assigned to them by the Lord. Thus on day 1 God created 4 things: the heavens, the earth, light, and time. As he says in Genesis 5: “And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.”

From there Moses goes on to tell us how the Lord built on the foundation of the formless, empty world that he had created on day one. On Day 2 (Genesis 1:6-8) he created the expanse of the sky separating waters from water. On day 3 (Genesis 1:9-13) He gathered the water to one place so that dry ground appeared and he caused all sorts of plants and vegetation to grow. On day 4 (Genesis 1:14-19) God created the lights in the sky: the sun, moon, and stars. Three days after light was created God created the source of light. That just blows my mind! I love it! On day 5 (Genesis 1:20-23) God created the fish and the fowl—all the creatures of the waters—the birds to rule the waters of the sky and the fish to rule the waters of the sea. On day 6 (Genesis 1:24-2:1, Genesis 2:4-25) God created all the living creatures of the land, he formed Adam out of the dust of the ground, he had Adam name all the animals so that he might discover that he, Adam, did not have the same companionship that the animals had, God said that it was not good for Adam to be alone, he put Adam into a deep sleep, took a rib from his body, formed a woman from that rib, brought Eve to Adam and the two of them were married by God at the beginning of time establishing God’s blessing of marriage for his people.

Not only did God establish Adam and Eve as husband and wife, he also blessed them, telling them to be fruitful and increase on the earth. He made them rulers over the earth and caretakers of his world. He blessed them by giving them every seed-bearing plant for food and every tree that bears fruit with seed for food. The only two trees that they could not eat from were the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, which were in the center of the garden. Then, at the end of day 6 (Genesis 1:31-2:2) God declared that everything he had made was very good and then he rested or ceased his creating work.

Now, one of the questions that naturally follow is: “When were the angels created?” To which I can only say that they must have been created at some point during the first six days of creation. Other than that we simply cannot say because the Bible does not tell us. The other question that follows is when did satan rebel against God and lose his position in heaven? Again the only answer I can give is that it must have been at some point after day 6 when God declared that everything was very good and sometime before satan tempted Adam and Eve to sin, which is what happened in chapter 3. Take a look at Chapter 3:1, “Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1, NIV)

If you think about it, the fact that the serpent spoke to Eve should have been Adam’s first clue that this was no ordinary snake. It should have been his cue to grab Eve and walk away rather than stand there and listen. But rather than fight for his wife and fight for the truth, Adam stood there and caved, and we know that Adam was standing right there because the last part of verse 6 tells us, “She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. (Genesis 3:6, NIV) We know how it happened, they stood there and listened to satan and they gave into temptation. They booth ate the fruit and instantly realized what they had lost by sinning. We know how the Lord came to them and spoke the consequences of their actions. The serpent was cursed to crawl on its belly (Genesis 3:14) Eve’s pain in childbearing was greatly increased (Genesis 3:16), and Adam, because he had not stood up for what was right, because he had listened to his wife, creation itself was cursed. (Genesis 3:17-19 and Romans 8:20-22). The ground would now produce thorns and thistles making plowing, reaping and every other aspect of life difficult. Yet, in the mists of all this bad news, the Lord gave an incredible promise of his grace. Take a look at Genesis 3:15: As the Lord concludes his judgment upon the snake he turns to satan who had undoubtedly, recently tried to take over heaven and tells him, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” (Genesis 3:15, NIV)

With such beautiful words, the Lord God revealed himself as the God of our Salvation by promising to send a Savior who would free his people from their sins. With such beautiful words the Lord put into motion the events that led to Jesus’ birth, which we celebrated only a couple of weeks ago. With such beautiful words, the Lord set the stage for the events of Matthew 2. Turn with me, if you would to Matthew 2:1 and we’ll take a look at how the appearing of the Wise Men also assures us of God’s salvation for us. Now, as you are turning to Matthew, let me just remind you that today we are celebrating the Epiphany, which has also been called Christmas of the Gentiles. It has been called this because with the arrival of and the worship by the Gentile Magi from the east, we are certain that the Savior promised by the God of our salvation is the Savior of all people; Jew and Gentile alike. Take a look at Matthew 2:1, “After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.” 3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: 6 “ ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.’” 7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.” 9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route. (Matthew 2:1–12, NIV)

Though the prophecy within this reading from Matthew tells of how the Savior would be the shepherd of Israel, as Simeon said at the temple, Jesus would be the light to enlighten the gentiles. Today, as we hear about the gentile kings who came from such a distance to worship the God of their Salvation, we are assured that this Jesus, who was born in fulfillment of God’s promise to Adam and Eve, is our Savior as well. He is our Savior who came to free us from our sins by his death and resurrection from the dead. So, with all this in mind, let us worship the God of our Salvation who has called us to faith in him and freed us from our sins. Let us begin, together, our Exploration of God’s Islands of Adventure so that through this coming year we might grow together in our faith and as brothers and sisters in the Lord God who saved us.


Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling
Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church --Le Sueur, MN

Live as Children of the Light (Ephesians 5:8-20)

October 17, 2010

Dear friends in Christ.

How many of you have heard of Xeroderma Pigmentosum? It wouldn’t surprise me if very few of you had ever heard of it, because it is not a well known disorder. In fact, the only reason I know about it is because during my South Dakota days, when I was driving nearly 1500 miles each month, I listened to a lot of books on tape. One of the Authors I enjoyed listening to was Dean Koontz, who, at that time, had written two books in which the main character, Christopher Snow, lived with xeroderma pigmentosum. Now to explain to you what xeroderma pigmentosum is, I give you Christopher Snow from Dean Koontz’s Fear Nothing. © 1998 pp 22-23:

I have xeroderma pigmentosum—XP for short—a rare and frequently fatal genetic disorder. XP victims are acutely vulnerable to cancers of the skin and eyes. Even brief exposure to sun—indeed, to any ultraviolet rays, including those from incandescent and fluorescent lights—could be disastrous for me. All human beings incur sunlight damage to the DNA—the genetic material—in their cells, inviting melanoma and other malignancies. Healthy people possess a natural repair system: enzymes that strip out the damaged segments of the nucleotide strands and replace them with undamaged DNA. In those with XP, however, the enzymes don’t function; the repair is not made. Ultraviolet-induced cancers develop easily, quickly—and metastasize unchecked. The United States, with a population exceeding two hundred and seventy million is home to more than eighty thousand dwarfs. Ninety thousand of our countrymen stand over seven feet tall. Our nation boasts four million millionaires, and ten thousand more will achieve that happy status during the current year. In any twelve months, perhaps a thousand of our citizens will be struck by lightning. Fewer than a thousand Americans have XP, and fewer than a hundred are born with it each year. The number is small in part because the affliction is so rare. The size of this XP population is also limited by the fact that many of us do not live long. (Koontz, Dean. Fear Nothing. New York: Bantam Books. © 1998 pp. 22-23).

Though XP is indeed a rare disorder, in some ways, it is an accurate illustration of what we were according to our sinful nature. Don’t misunderstand me. I am not saying that XP is the result of some type of sin or anything like that. However, what I am saying is that in the same way that those with XP find themselves friends of darkness, and in some ways, enemies of light, according to our original sinful nature, that is what we once were. We were once friends of the darkness of sin and unbelief and enemies of the Light. There was a time when we would hide ourselves away from the Light of Jesus Christ and the Gospel of Salvation because we did not want our evil deeds and desires exposed by that light. We were comfortable in our sins, in our unbelief, and our separation from the Lord our God. But then came the day when everything changed. Then came the day when the Holy Spirit entered our hearts and struck the match of the Gospel. On that day, when the Holy Spirit struck the match of the Gospel in our hearts, he produced the spark of faith that lit the candle of hope and trust, illuminating our hearts with the flame of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ our Savior.

For most of us, our time loving darkness and hating the light is something that we cannot remember, simply because the majority of us in this congregation came to faith in Jesus Christ, early in life. The majority of us came to faith on the day that we were baptized either as infants or as young children, when the Holy Spirit came into our hearts through the water and the Word, creating faith in Jesus as our Savior. However, for others, this change came later in life, perhaps as a child, a teenager, a young adult, or even farther into your adult years, after you heard the Word of God for the first time or maybe even the fiftieth and at that time the Holy Spirit did his work calling you from the darkness of sin and unbelief into the Light of the Gospel and the Salvation that is now yours through faith in Jesus Christ, your Savior. But whenever it was that the Holy Spirit struck that match of the Gospel and lit the illuminating flame of faith in your heart, calling you form the darkness of sin and unbelief, through the faith that was created in your heart, you are now a child of God; a child of the light in Jesus Christ your Savior!

This is the life that the Apostle Paul is now calling on us to live in our lesson today. If you haven’t done so already, I invite you to open your Bibles to Ephesians 5 beginning with verse 8. Now, while you are turning to Ephesians 5:8 let me give you a little background on what we are reading. When Paul wrote this letter to the Ephesians, he broke it into two parts. The first three chapters talk about how God’s amazing grace forms us together as a body of believers, while the last three chapters show us how we, as God’s people demonstrate that grace in our lives by what we do. This is what Paul is telling us today as he calls on us to live as Children of the Light! Take a look at Chapter 5 beginning with verse 8: “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) 10 and find out what pleases the Lord. 11 Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. 13 But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, 14 for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said: “Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” (Ephesians 5:8–14, NIV)

Though there was a time we lived in darkness as darkness, since the Holy Spirit called us to faith in Jesus Christ we are now Children of the Light. We are children of the light who have been called, gathered, enlightened, and sanctified by the Holy Spirit. We are Children of the light who have been taught what God’s good and pleasing will is! This is the will of God that we learn right here in worship, in Sunday school, in Bible Study, and in Confirmation class. Since we were little children we have learned just how important it is for us to grow in the grace of God and our knowledge of our Savior. Since we were little children our parents have sought to lead us down the path of righteousness, away from the fruitful deeds of darkness. Since we were little children, our parents, our Sunday school teachers, even our Pastors have exposed the fruitless deeds of darkness by shining the light of God’s Word upon them. In the same way that the morning sun dispels the darkenss of the night, so also the Son of God, through the light of his Word enables us to discern between that which pleases the Lord and that which is a fruit of darkness. Thus, as Paul calls us to live as Children of the Light, he calls us to turn our backs on the fruitless deeds of darkness. The problem, however, is that in this life we will never be completely free from the darkness that once held us. We will always be enticed by that darkness. We will always be tempted to walk down the dark ally of sin convinced that our own candle light of faith will be enough to keep us from succumbing to temptation, instead of trusting the Lord our Savior, avoiding that darkness completely and living as his children in his light.

Thus the Apostle Paul continues in verse 15 of our lesson: “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. 18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. 19 Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 5:8–20, NIV)

Right here, in verse 15 and 16 we come to the very heart and core; the very reason for this Stewardship emphasis of time! Right here, the Apostle Paul is calling on us to make the most of very opportunity we have been given to live as children of the light. Right here the Apostle Paul is calling on each and every one of us to make the most of every opportunity we are given to grown in our faith and our knowledge of Jesus Christ, our Savior. But how do we do that? Of course by attending worship every week so that we might here God’s Word proclaimed to us and grow in our faith. But what about Bible Study? How often haven’t we simply been too busy to gather with other Christians as we dive deeper into the Bible together? What about our own personal Bible Readings? How often haven’t we been too tired or too busy after a long day of work that we can’t be bothered to read the Word for ourselves, but we have plenty of time to catch up with the news paper, read another chapter in our favorite book, or simply veg out in front of the TV for hours? How often doesn’t it happen that we simply can’t find the time to pray, unless we are running from one place to another, or lying in our bed, trying to say our prayers even as we drift off to sleep? How often haven’t we failed to make the most of every opportunity to grow in our faith as Children of the Light?

We all have, and I’m no different! For the truth is, I am guilty of every one of these things that I mentioned. Yet it is the Lord who forgives us. It is the Lord who reminds us that we are his, and it is the Lord who gives us the strength and the courage to change ourselves to be better stewards of our time! With the Lord’s help we can become better stewards of our time and live as Children of the Light by changing 1 simple habit. Maybe that means you get up a little earlier on a Sunday and gather for Bible Study, or you set aside just 15 minutes each day to read a little from the Bible and pray. Maybe it means you purchase a good audio Bible and put it on in the background while you are doing other things. Or maybe it means something else. You have to decide how you are going to make the most of every opportunity the Lord gives you to grow in his Word as a child of the Light.

Now, just imagine how your life would change if you did that! Imagine how your life would change if, in your lives as children of the light, you started gathering for Bible Study and delved into the Scriptures with fellow members of our congregation. Imagine how your life would change if you spent just 15 minutes each day reading the Bible for yourself and praying about it. Imagine how your life would change if you listened to an audio Bible on your commute to work rather than all the bad news that streams over the air waves today. Imagine how you would grow in your faith and your knowledge of Jesus Christ your Savior. Imagine how your confidence in your salvation would grow because it was no longer something that the preacher was telling you but it was something that you read yourself. Imagine the comfort that you would be able to give to others from the very things you had read for yourself through the Word. Imagine how others would recognize you as a Child of Light and by your actions they would see your faith in Jesus Christ your Savior. Now, imagine what it would be like if our entire church did this. I don’t have time to get into it, but I’m sure you can imagine ways in which this congregation would grow and change for the better!

How amazing it is to realize that it was the Lord Jesus who called us out of the darkness of sin and unbelief to his glorious light of salvation. How amazing it is to think that it was the Lord Jesus who chose us to be his own and called us to live as his Children; as children of the Light. Though we were once enemies of the light, through faith in Jesus we are now enemies of the darkness. We are children of the light, purchased by Christ our Savior who called us from the darkness of sin to the wonderful light of his salvation.

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling
Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN

Come and sit at your Savior's feet (Luke 10:38-42)

Dear friends in Christ.

“If you are a dreamer, come in, If you are a dreamer, a wisher, a liar, A hope-er, a pray-er, a magic bean buyer…If you're a pretender, come sit by my fire For we have some flax-golden tales to spin. Come in! Come in!” (Silverstein, Shel. Where the Sidewalk Ends,(9) New York: Harper and Row. 1974.)

When Shel Silverstein published his first collection of poems in the book entitled, Where the Sidewalk Ends, he began with the poem I just read to you. He began with an invitation designed to connect to his audience and invite people into his world. He began with an invitation to simply sit by his fire and join him in spinning some flax -golden tails; and his invitation worked! For since 1974, more than 4.5 million copies of Where the Sidewalk Ends have been sold, making it the bestselling children’s poetry book ever. Since 1974 millions, maybe even billions of people have accepted his invitation to come in, to sit by his fire, and to join him in spinning some flax-golden tales. Well, in the same way that Shel Silverstein came to his readers with an invitation, so also our Savior is coming to us with an invitation today. Though Jesus may not be inviting us to sit by his fire and spin some flax-golden tales, he is inviting each and every one of us to come and sit at his feet so that we might be built up in our faith through the better thing, the one thing needful, the word of God.

But even though Jesus is essentially standing before us this morning and inviting us to come and sit at his feet so that we might learn the precious truths of salvation, how often do we actually accept that invitation? Though we have gathered this morning to sit at our Savior’s feet, will we take time to sit at his feet tomorrow and read through his Word for ourselves? Will we take time to sit down at his feet at regular intervals this week and listen to Jesus speak the precious truths of salvation through the Bibles we keep so securely stored on our bookshelves and coffee tables? Will we take time out of our schedules again next Sunday to gather in this place to sit at our Savior’s feet, or will the busyness of Giant Days distract us from time together with our Savior?

Why is it, do you think, that so many Christians are so distracted by so many things that they simply cannot find the time to sit at their Savior’s feet in worship, or in their personal Bible reading at home? Why is it that we can find all the time in the world to watch TV, or get lost in a good book, read the newspaper without distractions, catch up on our blogging, search Youtube, connect on Facebook, and yet we can’t find 5 minutes during the week to pick up the Bible and read it? Why is it that when Sunday morning rolls around 9 AM is too early to gather for worship in the Summer and 10 AM is too late to gather for worship in the Fall? Why is it that we find it so important to send our children to Sunday School, but we can’t be bothered to take time for Bible Study ourselves, or to stay for worship after we’ve picked our kids up from Family Education Hour? Why is it that when we actually make a plan to sit down at our Savior’s feet with Bible in hand, we find ourselves distracted by so many of life’s worries? Why is it that we start off with a good Bible reading plan and yet find it difficult to follow through? Why is it that when we actually begin to make headway in reading the Word for ourselves we get bogged down in books like Deuteronomy, or Chronicles, or Kings, and before we know it we simply stop sitting at our Savior’s feet because we got frustrated with what we were reading in his word?

Why is it? Because the very last thing that satan, our enemy, wants us to be doing, is sitting at the feet of our Savior and learning the precious truths of salvation. He doesn’t want us in church because then we might be strengthened in our faith not only through the word but by all the other believers who have gathered and who are struggling with similar problems. He doesn’t want us reading the Scriptures for ourselves, because we might read something that makes us all the more committed to sitting at our Savior’s feet every chance we get. So he distracts us and does everything he can to keep us from our Savior, just as he did with Martha in our Gospel lesson this morning. Now, if you haven’t already done so, I invite you to open your Bibles to our Gospel Lesson, Luke 10:38 on page 1028. There, in Luke 10 we’ll take a look at how satan worked to distract Mary and Martha from sitting at our Savior’s feet and listening to the precious truths of salvation. As always, a little bit of back ground as you are opening to Luke 10:38. We’re not exactly sure when this event took place other than it was sometime after Jesus sent out the 72 and they returned. It has been thought that this event took place when Jesus came down to Jerusalem for the Feast of Dedication, which took place in late November or early December. But all we really know for certain is what Luke tells us in chapter 10 beginning with verse 38: “As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made.” She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” 41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:38–42, NIV)

Though these words are so very familiar to us, they still pack a huge punch today, because they so clearly show how satan seeks to drive us to distraction even as Jesus invites us to sit at his feet and listen. Just think about how satan was at work in the background through this whole account. Luke tells us in verse 38 “As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him.” (Luke 10:38, NIV)

Now, there really isn’t anything unusual about this. Jesus came to Mary and Martha’s home in Bethany and Martha opened her house to him. Yet, there are some commentators who suggest that this visit by Jesus and his disciples may not have been a scheduled visit. There are some commentators who suggest that the reason for Martha’s distraction was because Jesus had not called ahead to tell them that he and 12 others, at least, were planning to stay at her house this night. They suggest that Martha was so distracted because she had so many things to get ready now that Jesus had dropped in on them. While this may be the case, all we know for certain is that satan used this as an opportunity to keep Martha from sitting at Jesus’ feet as Mary was, and he used it as an opportunity to try to distract Mary who was so quietly sitting at Jesus’ feet. Just imagine the scene, Jesus and his disciples were welcomed into the home. Martha and Mary were probably quite busy making the preparations. Then Jesus sat down in a way that indicated he was going to do some teaching. Mary stopped what she was doing and sat down at Jesus’ feet to listen to what he had to say. However, as verse 40 tells us, “But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made.” She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” (Luke 10:40, NIV)

Martha was becoming worried about setting a meal on the table that would be good enough for her beloved Master. Undoubtedly, out of love for her Lord, she wanted to put on the best feast for him and serve him the very best that she could possibly offer, yet doing this meant that she would be giving up the privilege of sitting at the Lord’s feet as her sister was. Can’t you just hear satan whispering in her ear, telling her how she was doing the right thing by forgoing her opportunity to sit at the Savior’s feet? Can’t you just hear satan planting seeds of jealousy and frustration against her sister who was just sitting there? Can’t you just see her going to Jesus, expecting that Jesus will agree with her and tell Mary to stop sitting there and get up and help her? Yet, as verse 41 and 42 tell us, something completely different happened. Jesus answered, “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:41–42, NIV)

In such a simply and loving way, Jesus thanks Martha for all the work of preparation that she had been doing, out of love for him. He chides her, even rebukes her for her sinful thoughts and attempt at trying to pull Mary away from sitting at his feet. He assures her that she is his dearly loved child who has been forgiven of all her sins, even this one of keeping Mary form sitting at his feet, and he even invites her to come and join them; to come sit at his feet and listen to the precious truths of salvation.

This is what the Lord Jesus is doing to each and every one of us today. He is chiding us, even rebuking us for being so distracted by all the things in life that we just simply cannot find time to sit at his feet in worship or in personal Bible readings. He rebukes us for our own attempts at keeping others from sitting down at the Savior’s feet by encouraging them not to come to church or read their Bibles as well as for those times when we have simply allowed friends, family members, even children to remain behind as we went to sit at the Lord’s feet. Yet, at the same time he is assuring us that we are his dearly loved children, who have been forgiven of all our sins, even our failure of sitting at his feet. And once again our Lord invites us to come and join him; to sit at his feet here in worship and at home in Bible reading as we listen to the precious truths of salvation that he has to teach us today.

But how do we do that? How do we answer his invitation to come and sit at his feet? The answer to that question is simple. First and foremost, we make the most of every opportunity to gather for worship on a Sunday morning, be it here at Grace, or at one of the congregations in our fellowship while we are on vacation. We make the most of every opportunity to encourage our children to seek out and find a congregation in our fellowship when they are away at school, or work, or have simply left the house. We make the most of every opportunity to sit at our Savior’s feet each day through worship and personal Bible reading each week. Maybe that means we take a paper copy of the sermon home with us, or we re-read it off our sermon site online. Maybe that means we schedule personal time each week when we can sit down and read the Bible for ourselves, or simply listen to it as we are commuting to and from work. Maybe it means that we set up a personal check list for the day including Bible Reading, and make sure that we are spending 15 minutes in the Bible each day, or simply reading through it a chapter at a time.

Now, understand that when you make a commitment to sit at your Savior’s feet, satan will do everything he can to distract you. There will be some days that you face quite a few struggles designed to keep you from sitting down and reading or listening to the word. There may be days when you wake up in the morning and realize that you missed the past day or the past few days, and satan has succeeded in keeping you from sitting at your Savior’s feet. When that happens, forgive yourselves immediately and pick up where you left off and continue on from that day forward. Continue on from that day forward because the more you are in the Word, the more your faith will grow. The more time you spend sitting at your Savior’s feet, the better you will understand the gift of salvation that your Savior has given. The more time you spend reading or listening to the Word, the more enjoyable worship will be each week, because you will begin to see connections you never saw before, like the connections that branch out from this lesson. In just a few months Lazarus will die, and both Mary and Martha’s faith will be intently tested. Yet through all that testing, they will confess their faith in Jesus as their Lord and Savior because they spent time on this day sitting at their Savior’s feet.

So, do just that. Make the most of every opportunity you have to sit at your Savior’s feet. If you haven’t been in the habit of reading the word for yourselves, use the 90 New Testament reading plan printed in your bulletins as a starting point for your own personal feet time with Jesus. For this is his invitation to us today. Though it may not be to sit by his fire and spin flax-golden tales, it is an invitation to sit at his feet as Mary did and learn from him. I pray that you would take hold of this invitation and make use of every opportunity you have to sit at the Lord’s feet and learn from him.

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church Le Sueur, MN