Marvel at the Lord's Work in your Life! (Gensis 37, 39-50)

July 10, 2011

Dear friends in Christ.

Have you ever just sat back and marveled at how the Lord works in the lives of his people?  Have you ever considered just how the Lord has orchestrates the events of history so that all things do, indeed, work out for the good of those who love the Lord their God?  Though we may not always see it or understand exactly how the Lord does these things, we know that he is the one who is constantly working in the lives of his people.  He is the one who led the Israelites to the Promised Land and carried them on Eagles wings as he brought them to himself. (Exodus 19:3)  He is the one who saw to it that at just the right time, while we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly so that we might be justified and declared not guilty by our God from whom we received reconciliation.  (Romans 5:6-11)  He is the one who provided the Apostles as his messengers and sent them out to proclaim the message of salvation (Matthew 10:1-8) Because they went preaching and teaching wherever Jesus sent them, that message of salvation was passed on from generation to generation until finally it came to you and you came to faith in the Lord your God who is constantly at work in your lives.

But the question still stands.  Have you ever just sat back and marveled at how the Lord works in your lives?  Though it is not always easy to see what the Lord is doing or what he is seeking to accomplish on a day to day basis, when we look back at our lives we can more easily see all that work that the Lord has done in our lives, and we can marvel at what he has done.  Take for example Joseph.  Though Joseph wasn’t able to see exactly how the Lord was working in his life until he hit certain milestones and looked back, from the Scriptures, we can see exactly how the Lord worked in Joseph’s life.  We can see just how the Lord orchestrated different events in his life that were designed to prepare him to be the second in command of all Egypt, the reigning super power of the day.  As Moses tells us in Genesis 41:44-44, “41 So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I hereby put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt.” 42 Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his finger and put it on Joseph’s finger. He dressed him in robes of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck. 43 He had him ride in a chariot as his second-in-command, and men shouted before him, “Make way!” Thus he put him in charge of the whole land of Egypt. 44 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, but without your word no one will lift hand or foot in all Egypt.” (Genesis 41:41–44, NIV84)  But before we get too far ahead of ourselves this morning, lets take a few steps back and start at the beginning of the story, so to speak, so that we might more fully marvel at how the Lord was at work in Joseph’s life.

Now, you may or may not remember Joseph’s birth, but he was the first born son of Jacob’s beloved wife Rachel. Of course he was born as the 11th of 12 sons.  Though Benjamin was born to Rachel as number 12 not long after Joseph, Joseph was his father’s favorite son, as Moses tells us in Genesis 37:3-4, “3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age; and he made a richly ornamented robe for him. 4 When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him. (Genesis 37:3–4, NIV84)

Not only did they hate him because he was the favorite son of their father, they hated him for his dreams.  They hated him for his dreams of sheaves of grain; even the sun, moon, and eleven stars bowing down to him.  They hated him for his dreams.  They hated him for his robe. They hated him because he was the favored son. They hated him so much that when Joseph was 17 years old his brothers were willing to kill him, just to be rid of him.  I’m sure you remember how it was.  The brothers had taken the sheep up to Shechem and then up to Dothan (roughly 60 miles from home) for grazing and during the time they were away Joseph’s father decided to send Josef to check on them.  But, as Moses tells us verse 18, “18 But they saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him. 19 “Here comes that dreamer!” they said to each other. 20 “Come now, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we’ll see what comes of his dreams.” 21 When Reuben heard this, he tried to rescue him from their hands. “Let’s not take his life,” he said. 22 “Don’t shed any blood. Throw him into this cistern here in the desert, but don’t lay a hand on him.” Reuben said this to rescue him from them and take him back to his father…25 As they sat down to eat their meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were loaded with spices, balm and myrrh, and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt. 26 Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? 27 Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood.” His brothers agreed. 28 So when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt. (Genesis 37:18-22, 25–28, NIV84)

Though the brothers intended to harm Joseph and take his life, the Lord worked in his life to spare him.  The Lord worked in his life through his brother Ruben and his brother Judah, to set in motion the events that would take place during the next 13 years; the events that would culminate in his becoming the second in command of all Egypt.  Jump with me to Genesis 39 where Moses tells us, “1 Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. Potiphar, an Egyptian who was one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there. 2 The LORD was with Joseph and he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. 3 When his master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD gave him success in everything he did, 4 Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned. 5 From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the LORD blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the LORD was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field. 6 So he left in Joseph’s care everything he had; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate.” (Genesis 39:1–6, NIV84)

Though the Lord had given Joseph success in everything that he did, sadly, his position in Potiphar’s house was not to last, for we all remember the accusation that Potiphar’s wife made against him.  We remember how Potiphar burned with anger when he heard the story his wife had told him of how Joseph was supposed to have tried to seduce her.  Yet, here again we marvel at how the Lord worked in Joseph’s life.  Though we know that Potiphar was angry, we are not told exactly why.  It is possible that he was angry because he suspected that his wife was not telling him the truth and her lie was going to cost him an amazingly gifted, competent and conscientious business manager.  A clue to this is the fact that in the ancient world for a slave to make such advances toward his master’s wife that slave would almost certainly find himself facing the death penalty.  Yet this is not where Joseph found himself.  It seems that because Potiphar could not publically humiliate his wife by ignoring her accusation, Potiphar led Joseph off to the King’s prison.  Not a cell where he would await death nor a dungeon where he would simply be forgotten.  Rather he was led off to the King’s prison—a prison where the king’s prisoners were confined; prisoners such as the chief baker and the chief cup bearer.  Yet even in prison, the Lord was working in Joseph’s life.  Take a look at the middle of verse 20: “But while Joseph was there in the prison, 21 the LORD was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. 22 So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there. 23 The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care, because the LORD was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did. (Genesis 39:20–23, NIV84)

Instead of being in solitary confinement, Joseph was put in charge of the other prisoners, he had access to all the prisoners, and when the time was right the Lord introduced Joseph to the prisoner who would change his life as the Lord allowed Joseph to correctly interpret the dreams of the chief baker and the chief cup bearer.  Though Joseph would have to wait in prison for two more years, when the time was right, the Lord brought Joseph before Pharaoh, the Lord allowed Joseph to correctly interpret Pharaoh’s dreams, and when Pharaoh heard Joseph’s solution to the coming famine, the Lord placed Joseph in charge of all Egypt as Pharaoh’s vizier; Pharaoh’s right hand man.  Though the brothers intended to harm Joseph when they sold him into slavery, “it was to save lives that God sent [Joseph] ahead of [his brothers]” (Genesis 45:5, NIV 84)

Now, just think about this for a moment.  Just think about how the Lord worked in the life of his servant Joseph.  For 13 years Joseph dealt with all sorts of situations that were designed to prepare him for what the Lord had in store for him to do.  But while Joseph was living it, he wasn’t able to see how the Lord was working in his life to prepare him for the future.  He wasn’t able to see it until after he had passed through it.  Only then was he able to look back and marvel at how the Lord had worked in his life.  Sound familiar?  How often hasn’t it happened that you have passed through some frustrating hardship, only to discover after it was over just how the Lord was at work in your life even in the midst of that hardship?  How often haven’t you looked back on your life and recognized just how the Lord was working in your life as he moved you through one struggle or another, helping you to grow and stretch, as he prepared you for the next phase of your life?  

Just think back to those days when you were teenagers.  Do you remember that feeling that your life would never start?  Do you remember that feeling that you would never get your shot?  Do you remember wondering what the future would hold for you and how the Lord would work in your life?  Though you really didn’t know exactly what the Lord had in store for you then, you can look back now and see just how the Lord was at work in your life.  Even if you are currently a teenager or a young child, the same thing is as true for you.  Though you may be wondering what the Lord has in store for your future, you can still look back and see just how the Lord has been at work in your life up to this very day.  You can see how the Lord has led you through your lives so that you arrived at this very point at this very time.  No matter what age you are at, you can do that very thing.  You can look backward and marvel at how the Lord has been at work in your life leading you to this very point.  Though you may even now be at a sort of cross roads in your life, or may find yourself facing struggles or hardships, you can take comfort in the fact that the Lord your God is at work in your life even now. 

Though we may find ourselves like Joseph did, unable to understand why all these things were happening to him, we know that through the Lord’s work in our lives he is drawing us closer to himself, he is strengthening our faith, and he is preparing us for what is next to come.  Just think about the work he has already accomplished in your life.  He is the one who called you to faith through the waters of baptism.  He is the one who taught you the precious truths of salvation through your parents, through your Pastor, through your Sunday School Teachers, and if you had the privilege, through your Lutheran Elementary School teachers.  He is the one who has sent the Holy Spirit into our hearts who constantly reminds us of all that Jesus did for us and how he freed us from our sins by his death and resurrection from the dead.  He is the one who shaped every single experience of our lives as he molded us and prepared us for the situation in which we find ourselves. Though we may not be able to see exactly how the Lord is using our present situation, be it the sluggish economy, the scarcity of the job market, the constantly changing gas prices, debts, payments, or whatever it is. Though we may not be able to see exactly how the Lord is using our present situation for our good, soon we will be able to sit back and marvel at what the Lord has accomplished in our lives, just as Joseph was able to do.

Though it is always difficult to see what the Lord is working to accomplish in our lives on a day to day basis, whenever we look backwards we are able to marvel at all that he has done.  After all, he is the one who led the Israelites from Egypt to the Promised Land carrying them on wings like an eagle.  He is the one who went to work while we were still powerless and brought us to faith in the one who saved us.  He is the one who prepared the Apostles and sent them out proclaiming the message of salvation.  He is the one who orchestrated the events of Joseph’s life, preparing him for his position of power, and he is the one who causes us to marvel every time we consider just how the Lord has been at work in our lives.

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church -Le Sueur, MN

Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing (Luke 4:14-21)

Dear friends in Christ.

I believe it was Bill Gates who said, “In the future there will be two types of businesses, those online and those out of business.” Though I don’t know exactly when this particular phrase was spoken, these very words are being fulfilled in our hearing today! Whether you like it or not, it is pretty clear that everything in our world today is clamoring to get online. Business, who less than ten years ago, had no idea what they would do with a website, are now seeking to drive as much web traffic to their online stores as possible. Just a few months ago I heard an ad for a new Wal-Mart that had recently opened in the cities. The ad told of the special area where people who had ordered items online could come in and pick up the purchases they had made. Each and every day more and more people are going online to find their news and information. Though Amazon and Barns and Noble are still selling books, there is a greater push by these two companies to sell electronic books to people like you and me. Even our own bulletin has 9 different websites to which you can go to learn more about what was printed for you this morning. There can be no doubt! Whether you like it or not, whether you are ready for it or not, whether you understand it or not, the future is here! The prediction / prophesy that Mr. Gates made a number of years ago is clearly coming to fulfillment right here right now in our very hearing.

Well, in the same way that I can stand in front of you today and tell you that something Mr. Gates said is being fulfilled in your hearing, Jesus, our Savior is standing before us and telling us that today the Scriptures are being fulfilled in our hearing. In fact, this was the very message that Jesus spoke as he sat before the crowds in that synagogue in Nazareth so many years ago. Today, this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing! That was the message that Jesus brought with him as he entered his home town for the first time in over a year. That was the message that Jesus brought with him as he returned to the town where he had lived since he was a very young child. That was the message he brought with him as he entered the town of Nazareth, the place where he was well known as the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James Joseph, Judas and Simon. It was in Nazareth where Jesus had lived and worked for so many years; where he had supported his family, as was his responsibility as the first born. It was there where Jesus had been until about a year earlier.

Though it hadn’t been much more than a year since Jesus had seen Nazareth, so much had happened in that short time. He had been baptized by John the Baptist, God the Father had spoken and the Holy Spirit had descended upon him in the form of a dove, and the news about him had spread. He had turned water into wine at the wedding of Cana, and the news about him had spread. He had traveled from Cana to Capernaum to spend a few days with his family and the news about him had spread. He had traveled with them down to the Passover in Jerusalem, where he drove the money changers out of the Temple, taught the people, healed the sick and drove out demons, and the news about him had spread. He spent the rest of that year working his way from Jerusalem, up through Samaria, and finally in to Galilee, preaching, teaching, gathering disciples, and performing many signs and wonders, and the news about him spread. Though a year earlier the people of Nazareth had seen him leave as nothing more than an ordinary man, now he sat before them as a respected rabbi with the fame of his deeds echoing throughout the land, and he simply says to them, “Today, this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

As Luke tells us, “Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him. He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.’ Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying to them, ‘Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.’” (Luke 4:14-21)

As Jesus spoke these words, he clearly revealed to his fellow town’s people that he was the Messiah who had come into the world. He was the one who had come to fulfill the prophecy that Isaiah had written so many years ago. He was the one who had spent the last year of his life preaching the good news of salvation to the spiritually poor of Israel. He was the one who was proclaiming the freedom of forgiveness to those who had long languished in satan’s dark prisons of self righteousness and unbelief. He was the one who was opening the eyes of those who were physically blind as well as the eyes of those whose spiritual blindness had kept them from the peace and the salvation that Jesus was so freely offering. He was the one who had been chosen by the Lord to be his own, who had been anointed by the Holy Spirit who descended upon him in the form of a dove. He was the one proclaiming the Jubilee of the Lord’s favor—the forgiveness of sins through faith in Jesus the Messiah. He was the one telling them, “Today, this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing!”

What greater comfort could there be for us today than those beautiful words that Jesus spoke some 2,000 years ago, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” Though we may not have Jesus sitting before us and telling us how he fulfilled Isaiah’s beautiful prophesy, as we hear about it, we are reminded that he is the one who healed the sick and raised the dead. He is the one who spoke the comforting words of the gospel to those burdened by a weight of sin. He is the one who comforted his people in all their troubles, and he is the one who is doing the same thing for us today!

Even though we are living in a world where everything is changing and technology is allowing business to work faster and cheaper with fewer and fewer people, the Lord Jesus is still caring for us. Even though we find ourselves mere miles from a nation that has all but been destroyed by an incredible earthquake, the Lord Jesus is still working in fulfillment of those words from Isaiah. Through the efforts of organizations like the WELS Committee on Relief, the Gospel is being proclaimed and Jesus is once again proclaim the freedom of the forgiveness of sins to those who had long languished in satan’s dark prison of unbelief. Through the preaching of the gospel in Haiti, Jesus is opening the eyes of those who had been spiritually blind for much if not all of their lives. Through the preaching of the gospel more and more people are learning about their Savior and the salvation that they have and those words of Isaiah are continuing to be fulfilled in our hearing.

Even today, through this message of the Gospel, Jesus is continuing to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor to you and me. He is continuing to bind up those whose hearts have been broken by the ravages of their own sins and the sinful state of this world. He is the one who is using even this recession to open our own eyes to our own personal apathy, blindness, even resistance to his word, and he is calling us out of the prisons of our own making. He is the one calling to us with his word, preaching and teaching us that he is the Messiah who through his death and resurrection has freed us from all our sins, so that no matter what we might have done in the past, it is forgiven. We have been released from our bondage to sin and death and are now free to live our live in service to the Lord Jesus, our Savior.

Because Jesus has fulfilled this Scripture in our hearing, we know that we can turn to him in any and every situation in our lives. He is the one who forgives our sins so completely that they are forgotten by the Lord our God. He is the one who loves us so intently that he gave up his life in our place. He is the one cherishes us so entirely that he provides us with his Word, with opportunities for worship, with encouragement from the body of believers here, with opportunities to speak to him in prayer, and with the absolute assurance that through faith in him we have eternal life waiting for us.

That is our comfort as we hear today how our Savior has fulfilled this Scripture in our hearing. It isn’t like the fulfillment that is taking place in our world today as companies and the economy itself moves toward the Internet. Rather it is the sure and certain gift of the Lord our Savior who has freed us from our sins, opened the eyes of our hearts, made us his own, and given us the gift of eternal life.

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church Le Sueur, MN

Rejoice, O Daughter of Zion (Zephaniah 3:14-17)

Of all the reformers and church leaders of history, we are most familiar with Martin Luther, simply because every year we are reminded of how the Lord used him to bring back the truth of the Gospel to churches in Germany. Yet, there is another church leader who his just as famous in England as Luther is in Germany. That man's name is John Wesley, the founder of the Wesleyan Church. When John Wesley was about 21 years of age he went to Oxford University. He came from a Christian home, and he was gifted with a keen mind and good looks. Yet in those days he was a bit snobbish and sarcastic. One night, however, something happened that set in motion a change in Wesley's heart. While speaking with a porter, he discovered that the poor fellow had only one coat and lived in such impoverished conditions that he didn't even have a bed. Yet he was an unusually happy person , filled with gratitude to God. Wesley, being immature, thoughtlessly joked about the man's misfortunes. "And what else do you thank God for?" he said with a touch of sarcasm. The porter smiled, and in the spirit of meekness replied with joy, "I thank Him that He has given me my life and being, a heart to love Him, and above all a constant desire to serve Him!" Deeply moved, Wesley recognized that this man knew the meaning of true thankfulness. Many years later, in 1791, John Wesley lay on his deathbed at the age of 88. Those who gathered around him realized how well he had learned the lesson of praising God and rejoicing in every circumstance. Despite Wesley's extreme weakness, he began singing the hymn, "I'll Praise My Maker While I've Breath." (Copied from http://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/p/praise.htm. Accessed 12/11/09 Adapted.)

In the same way that John Wesley was able to praise God and rejoice in him, even on his death bed, so also we can rejoice in the Lord, just as Zephaniah encourages us to do in our text today. He writes, “Sing, O Daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O Daughter of Jerusalem! The LORD has taken away your punishment.” (Zephaniah 3:14-15 NIV).

When God’s people heard these words, the believers must have shouted for joy right then and there, because when Zephaniah first delivered these words, those who had remained faithful to the Lord and who were eagerly looking forward to the coming Messiah were living in a nation that was falling apart spiritually. Many of the Israelites had been led away from the worship of the true God and had begun to make sacrifices to idols and false gods. Some of them had been led down this path simply because they had intermarried with the heathen nations around them. Others had been led down this path because many of their kings had turned away from the Lord, embraced the false gods of the nations around them, and encouraged the people to do the same. Because of this, the Lord had sent the prophets like Zephaniah, Jeremiah, Nahum, Habakkuk, and many others to proclaim his harshest law so that the people might see their sins and turn to him in repentance, but too many of the Israelites had not listened. Even when King Josiah was working to reform the religious life of the Israelites, it was not enough, as the majority of Israel continued to walk the path of the Lord’s punishment. Not merely the punishment that would bring the Babylonians in to conquer them, but also the punishment of eternal death and damnation for those who refused to listen to the Lord’s warning and turn to him in repentance. Yet even in the midst of a message of harshest law, the Lord also delivered a joyful message of forgiveness as Zephaniah called to the people and said, “Sing, O Daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O Daughter of Jerusalem! The LORD has taken away your punishment, he has turned back your enemy,” (Zephaniah 3:14-15 NIV).


Well, that same message of the Lord’s removal of our punishment is the message that causes us to rejoice today as well. Though we are living in a nation where so many people have turned away from the worship of the Almighty God to serve idols of greed, selfishness, and self-indulgence we are still able to rejoice in Lord. Though we are living at the beginnings of an economic recession the likes of which very few of us have ever experienced, we can still praise our Lord. Though we are living in a time when more and more churches are proclaiming a message that resembles, but is completely unlike the Word of God, we can still rejoice because we know that we are part of Zion. We can still rejoice because we know that we are members of God’s chosen people, we can still rejoice because we know that through faith in Jesus Christ our Savior, the Lord our God has removed our punishment from us and placed it upon his Son, our Savior. In his great love for us, the Lord our God sent his Son to the cross where he endured the flames of hell as he was rejected by his father in heaven. He watched as his Son, who is true God from all eternity, who as true God cannot die, he watched as his Son died to pay for our sins.

It is because of this that we rejoice today! We rejoice in the Lord who removed our punishment that we deserved and brought us into a right relationship with him. We rejoice in Jesus our Savior who willingly gave his life in our place so that he might free us from that punishment forever. We rejoice in the Holy Spirit who now lives in our hearts creating and sustaining the faith that we have in Jesus Christ our Savior, and we rejoice in our Savior who turned back our enemy by his resurrection from the dead so many years ago.

What greater reason could there be for us to rejoice today, even as we prepare ourselves to celebrate the birth of our Savior? What greater reason could there be for us to rejoice today than the knowledge that Jesus turned back our enemy by his willing death and his triumphant resurrection. For it is satan who has been our enemy from the beginning! Already back in the Garden of Eden he reared his ugly head and enticed Adam and Eve to sin against the Lord’s commands. It was satan who brought disaster on Job and inflicted his body with boils and sores hoping to make him to turn against God. It was the devil who tempted David to break the Sixth Commandment and commit adultery with Bathsheba. It was satan who tempted Jesus in the wilderness, hoping to cause Jesus to stumble and fall into sin so that he could no longer be our Savior. And it is the devil who tempts us still today. He is the one who whispers in your ear trying to convince you that what your doing really isn’t a sin if you don’t get caught. He’s the one who is sitting right next to you, trying with all his might to distract you from God’s Word. He is the one who constantly seeks to distract you by reminding you of all the things you could be accomplishing if you didn’t have to sit here in worship. He is the one who is constantly seeking a way to turn us away from the Lord, cause us to grow angry with him, curse him, and simply turn our backs on the Lord our God. He is the one whom Peter calls a roaring lion prowling around looking for someone to devour, and he would have devoured us years ago had it not been for Jesus.

Yet it is because of Jesus that we rejoice today since we know that Jesus is the one who has defeated the devil and turned back our enemy. Already back at the beginning, shortly after he had completed the creation of the world, it was Jesus who turned back satan, our enemy, when he tried to mutiny against the Lord and take over heaven. It was Jesus who cast satan out of heaven and watched him fall, like lightning, to the earth below. It was Jesus who sent satan running when satan tried to tempt Jesus in the wilderness. It was Jesus who endured all the pains and anguish satan threw at him as Jesus hung on the cross. It was Jesus who crushed satan’s power when he died. It was Jesus whose victory march through the heart of hell showed satan that he was done for, and it was Jesus’ resurrection which publicly declared to the world that he had turned back our enemy for good. Though satan tried to defeat the Lord Jesus in heaven and he lost. Though satan tried to defeat Jesus on earth, he lost. Though satan tried to take Jesus out even while he was on the cross, satan lost. Though he continues in his effort to defeat Jesus at every turn, we can still rejoice because we know that the Lord, our Savior, has not only turned back our enemy, but he is always with us, just as Zephaniah tells us: “Sing, O Daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O Daughter of Jerusalem! The LORD has taken away your punishment, he has turned back your enemy. The LORD, the King of Israel, is with you; never again will you fear any harm. On that day they will say to Jerusalem, "Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands hang limp. The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing,” (Zephaniah 3:14-17 NIV)”

What beautiful words these must have been for the people in that day. For with these words, the Lord was reminding his people that no matter what happened, he was with them. Even if the nation of Israel turned away from the Lord to worship idols, the Lord would remain with his faithful people. Even though they might face death and destruction at the hands of the Babylonians and other nations who attacked them, the Lord, the King of Israel was with them. Even if all the world turned against them, through faith in the Savior whom the Lord had promised to send, they had a promise from the Lord their God that he would stand beside them and be with them through all things.

The same is true for each and every one of us today! The Lord, our God, is with us! He is with us right now as we have gathered to praise his name. He will be with us as we gather in the narthex to talk with each other. He will be with us as we travel on our way home. He will be with us as we sit down to dinner, and he will be with us as we crawl into bed tonight and rest ourselves for our work tomorrow. No matter what happens the Lord is with us. Even if we should face an economic turn for the worse, the Lord will be with us. Even if we should feel the hardship, frustration, and worry of fishing for a job in a lake with no fish, the Lord is still with us. Even if we should be assailed by the swine fu this season, the Lord will continue to stand by us. No matter what we face in this life, we do not need to be afraid, we do not need to worry, because the Lord our God is with us today, tomorrow, and forever. Just as he promised his disciples that he would be with them to the end of the age, he has promised that he will be with us to the end of the age. Not only to the end of our age. Not only until the end of the world, but he will be with us until the end of eternity, because we are his chosen people. We are the daughter of Zion, and for that we rejoice today.

What a comfort to know that as Christians we can rejoice in any and every situation in life, because we belong to the Lord. We can rejoice, just as that porter did as he spoke with John Wesley. We can rejoice, just as John Wesley did on his death bed. We can rejoice, because we are the Daughter of Zion, from whom the Lord has removed punishment; for whom the Lord has turned back our enemy; and with whom the Lord continually dwells.

Amen

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