What Is a Good Work in God's Sight?

June 9, 2013

Dear friends in Christ.

Did you know that if you examine every religious teaching in the world, each and every teaching and each and every religious group will fall into one of two categories?  It’s true.  Either they will teach that you have to do something, no matter how great or how small, you have to do something to aid in or to earn your salvation; or they will teach that your salvation is given to you as a gift.  Now I know that this is something that I’ve told you before and I know that every time I make this statement there is always someone who doesn’t quite agree with me.  But it really is true.  Either you were taught that you had to do something in order to aid in or earn your salvation, or you were taught that your salvation was given to you as a gift by Jesus who died on the cross, rose again from the dead, and lovingly instilled the very faith in your hearts through his word; the very faith through which you receive his gift of salvation.

Now, because of that type of thinking, there are also two ways that people think about good works.  Because there are so many religious teachings and philosophies that fall into the category of the need to do something to earn salvation, there are millions, of not billions of people in the world who believe that if they can be good and do enough good in this life, God will welcome them into heaven as a good person.  However, the other side of that type of thinking is the biblical teaching that good works are something that the Lord has prepared us to do.  They are something that he would have us do, not because we have to and certainly not because they are contingent on us earning our salvation; rather, according to God’s Word, good works are things that Christians do, simply because good works naturally flow out of our hearts in thankfulness to the Lord for all that he has done in freeing us from our sins and blessing us with his salvation.  In fact, this is the very thing that we will be seeking to understand as we study the Word of God before us this morning.  For as we examine the passages set before us, we will seek to answer the age-old question, “What is a good work in God’s sight?”

To fully understand what, in God’s sight, constitutes a good work we must first take a look at the attitude of our hearts.  This is something that the writer to the Hebrews brings out very clearly chapter 11 as he speaks about Enoch as one who pleased God. The writer tells us, “By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." (Hebrews 11:5–6, NIV84)

In simplest terms, the Lord makes it clear that the only way that we can possibly please him and can be pleasing to him is through faith.  It is only through the very faith that he, himself, created in our hearts by sending the Holy Spirit into our hearts through the Means of Grace (which we discussed a few weeks ago is the Gospel in the Word and Sacraments) that we have been called to faith in Jesus Christ our Savior, and now through that faith are commended as people who please our God.  Through that very faith, we are able to do works that are pleasing to God—good works that naturally flow out of our faith and our lives in thankfulness to the Lord our God who called us to faith in him.  This is something that the Apostle Paul emphasizes as he writes his beautiful letter to the Ephesians.  As he writes in chapter 2: “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." (Ephesians 2:1–10, NIV84)

In God’s sight, this is exactly what good works are: they are acts of faith that he has prepared for us to do.  They are acts of faith that please him because they spring out of our faith and our love for him.  They are acts of faith that are motivated and flow out of a heart that believes in the one who has called us to faith.  They can be as simple as giving a drink of water to a thirsty person, as important as helping another person through a difficult crisis, even as complex as planning, organizing and building a structure for God’s glory such as our church and fellowship hall!  But the most amazing thing about the good works that we do for the Lord is that most often we don’t even realize that we are doing them.  This is the point that Jesus brings out in his parable of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25, where Jesus tells us, “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ 40 “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’” (Matthew 25:34–40, NIV84)

As we know from the context, this parable gives us a picture of the judgment on the Last Day.  It shows us how easy it will be for Jesus to separate the believers from the unbelievers, because, as we talked about last week, the Lord knows our hearts and the Lord knows who believes in him.  But the most amazing statement of this beautiful section is the believer’s reaction to all that Jesus has just said to them in verses 37-39, “‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?”  Even though there are times when we recognize the good works that the Lord has prepared for us to do, and even though there are times when we might plan to do a specific good work for the Lord, so often the good works that flow out of our hearts and lives are things that we don’t even realize that we are doing.  They are things that we simply don’t keep track of because keeping track of them would only be a detriment to us as our sinful human nature would naturally begin to feel pride in all that we are doing for the Lord and would begin to focus on our good deeds rather than on Jesus and how he freed us from our sins by his life, death, and resurrection.

Now, as simple as it can be for us to understand that a good work in  God’s sight is a work that flows out of our faith, the reason we sometimes have difficulty with this concept is that there are many things that people can do in this life that are thought of as good works.  For example, Oscar Schindler was hailed and remembered as a righteous person because he worked so hard to save so many Jews from Nazi death camps.  Bill and Melinda Gates are often thought of as good people because they been able to do so much good through the foundation that bears their name.  Oprah Winfrey is often thought of as such a good person because she has been able to help so many people through her Angel Network and other networks that she has organized.  And the truth is, based on the good things that they have done and are continuing to do, we would call them good people who are doing good things for the people of the world.  However, even though these are works being done for the good of the people of the world, they may not necessarily be good works in the eyes of the Lord.  I cannot say one way or the other simply because I do not know if Oscar Shindlar was, or if Oprah Winfrey or if Bill and Melinda gates are believers in the Lord Jesus as their Savior.  If they do not believe in Jesus as their Lord and Savior, then even though the works they are doing are good works in the eyes of the world, anything done outside of the context of faith in Jesus Christ is not a good work in the eyes of the Lord.  Just as Isaiah told us when he prayed, “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away." (Isaiah 64:6, NIV84)  And as the writer to the Hebrews tells us, “without faith it is impossible to please God.” (Hebrew 11:6, NIV 84)

Though there are times when this concept can be difficult to understand, when we see it from the eyes of faith it becomes all the more clear.  When we light our path according to God’s Word and when the faith to which the Holy Spirit has called us transforms our hearts and our minds, we are able to test and approve what God’s good and pleasing will truly is.  We are able to judge our actions and our works as good according to God’s standard just like manufactures products must pass certain tests before they are put on the market.  Rope has to meet a strength test.  Automobiles must pass power and braking tests.  Baby cribs must pass safety tests.  Similarly, in order to know whether what we do is a good work or not, we must test it according to God’s Word.  We can’t just follow a popular opinion poll.  Popular opinion might say that because God is love I can live however I want, or it might say that it is perfectly acceptable to cheat if you don’t get caught.  But if God’s Word says that God forbids something, then we will know that even if we are living in faith, doing that thing that runs contrary to God’s Word is not only not a good work but it is a sin. 

So what is a good work in God’s sight?  Quite simply it is something that God has prepared in advance for us to do.  It is something that we have done out of faith and love for the Lord our God.  It is something that is pleasing to the Lord our God because it is something done according to his Word and his will.  May the Lord continue to bless you as you live in and grow in your faith in Jesus Christ who died and rose again from the dead!  May he continue to bless you in your life of good works that naturally flow out of your hearts because of the faith that he, himself has instilled in them, through the work of the Holy Spirit in connection with the means of grace.

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

GraceEvangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN

Learn from God's Lessons (1 Samuel 3:1-10)

January 22, 2012

Dear friends in Christ.

In my short time on this planet, I’ve learned quite a few lessons.  “I've learned that you cannot make someone love you. All you can do is be someone who can be loved. The rest is up to them.  I've learned that no matter how much I care, some people just don't care back. I've learned that it takes years to build up trust, and only seconds to destroy it… I've learned that you can do something in an instant that will give you heartache for life.  I've learned that no matter how thin you slice it, there are always two sides.  I've learned that it's taking me a long time to become the person I want to be…I've learned that you can keep going long after you think you can't.  I've learned that we are responsible for what we do, no matter how we feel.  I've learned that either you control your attitude or it controls you.”[1]   These are but a few of the lessons that I’ve learned in my short time in this world, and truthfully, this is a list that could go on and on.  But if it did, we would never have the opportunity to learn from the lessons that our God wants to teach us this morning.  For as we take a look at our text from 1 Samuel 3, we begin to see clearly the lessons that our God is teaching us today.  So, as we begin our lesson, so to speak, we take a look at God’s lesson for us from Israel’s history as we read 1 Samuel 3:1, “The boy Samuel ministered before the LORD under Eli. In those days the word of the LORD was rare; there were not many visions,” (1 Samuel 3:1, NIV84). 

Though it is an amazing thing to read about Samuel as a young boy serving in the Lord’s temple under Eli in fulfillment of the very promise that Samuel’s mother had made before Samuel was even born, it is very sad to hear the religious state of affairs that was common in that day.  “The word of the Lord was rare, there were not many visions.”  Though Israel had closely followed the Word of the Lord under the leadership of Joshua, and though they had faithfully promised him and the Lord that they would follow the Lord their God with all their hearts rather than turn away from the Lord, roughly 350 years had passed since the days of Joshua.  Nearly 350 years had passed and the nation of Israel had grown lax in their following of the Lord. They had grown lax in their following of the Lord because they had failed to listen to the Lord 350 years earlier and had not completely destroyed the nations the Lord told them to destroy.  They had fallen away from the Lord, worshiping the false gods of the nations around them, and one of the results was that the Lord was withholding his Word from them by neither sending prophets nor visions to his people.  This was the situation when Samuel entered into the service of the tabernacle under Eli, the priest.

But what about us?  Are we any different than the Israelites of old?  As you know, we live in a nation that is drifting farther and farther away from the true God each day.  We live in a nation where false gods abound.  We may not see idols to Baal and Dagon on every street corner.  But we see the false god of evolution everywhere we look.  We’ve seen how the worship of this false god and the belief in this false religion can worm its way even into the heart of a Christian, grow in his heart and finally supplant belief in the true God.  We see people who do not look to the truth of God’s Word for comfort and answers in this life, but rather look for those answers by consulting horoscopes, tarot cards, or calling up for a free psychic reading.  Cults and Eastern religions, such as Buddhism are growing in popularity and Americans are flocking to them to fill their spiritual voids.  Even many churches, which claim to be Christian, have turned away from teaching what the Bible says and have begun to preach a message, which minimizes sin to nothing more than a bad choice.  In so many ways our world is no different than the world of Samuel.  We have just as many, if not more influences, seeking to lead us astray from the Word of our God.

This is the lesson that the Lord our God is teaching us from the Israelites history.  He is teaching us that if we surround ourselves with the false ideas and false gods of our society and neglect the Word of God, we could very easily fall away from our God like many of the Israelites did; like a young boy named Andy did.  You see, when Andy was in 7th grade, he began playing with a Ouija board.  At first, he did it just for fun thinking that no harm could come of it.  But by the time he was in 8th grade, he was using it every week or so.  He also became interested in reading tarot cards and casting runes for reading fortunes.  By the time he was a freshman in high school; Andy had surrounded himself with these things and found himself trusting in them to give him the answers for life. Now, Andy knew better than to get involved with these things in the first place.  After all, he went to a Christian Day School.  He heard about his savior every day.  He had been learning and studying God’s Word since he was in kindergarten.  But, by the time he was in high school, he had fallen away from the Lord because he stopped studying God’s Word and surrounded himself with other things, which took God’s place. 

Though I realize that this is an extreme example, the lesson is still the same.  If we give up meeting together in worship, if we neglect partaking the sacrament, if we grow too lazy to read the Word of God for ourselves, all the false ideas of our world could easily surround us and overtake us.  We, too, could begin to fall away from the Lord our God as the Israelites did.  This is the Lesson that the Lord wants us to learn from the Israelites today.  Yet, even as the Lord is teaching us this lesson from the lives of the Israelites he is also teaching us a lesson from the life of Samuel his servant.  Take a look back at our text for today.  As we heard, “In Samuel’s day, revelations from the Lord were quite rare.”  This is why Samuel ran to Eli when the Lord called him. As our text tells us, “One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place. The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was. Then the LORD called Samuel.   Samuel answered, ‘Here I am.’ And he ran to Eli and said, ‘Here I am; you called me.’   But Eli said, ‘I did not call; go back and lie down.’ So he went and lay down. Again the LORD called, ‘Samuel!’ And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, ‘Here I am; you called me.’   ‘My son,’ Eli said, ‘I did not call; go back and lie down.’  Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD: The word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him.  The LORD called Samuel a third time, and Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, ‘Here I am; you called me.’  Then Eli realized that the LORD was calling the boy. So Eli told Samuel, ‘Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, “Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.”’ So Samuel went and lay down in his place. The LORD came and stood there, calling as at the other times, ‘Samuel! Samuel!’ Then Samuel said, ‘Speak, for your servant is listening,’” (1 Samuel 3:2-10, NIV84). 

It wasn’t that Samuel had not learned who the Lord was.  Samuel’s parents and Eli had undoubtedly taught him about the Lord.  However, because visions and revelations from the Lord were so rare at this time, Samuel had not come to know the Lord through visions, nor did he expect to receive a vision from the Lord.  That is why when the Lord called to Samuel, he immediately ran to Eli.  Samuel was probably used to being called by Eli at any time, and when called he undoubtedly ran to Eli in the same way a son will run to his father.  But this time, when he got to Eli, Eli had not called him and he sent Samuel back to bed.  This happened two more times, and each time the Lord called Samuel’s name, he obediently ran to Eli.  But the fourth time the Lord called Samuel, Samuel listened to the Lord.

Now here’s the lesson the Lord wants us to contemplate.  Do you hear the Lord calling you?  Or have you forgotten the sound of his voice?  Do you hear the Lord speaking to your heart through his Word?  Or are you doing everything you can to ignore it and muffle his voice?  Though we live in a world where we are surrounded by the constant clamor of sin and false teachings, it is the still, small voice of our God that speaks to our hearts through his Word.  Though the Lord may not wake us up out of a sound sleep and stand before us to reveal his Word to us as he did with Samuel, he does stand before us and speak to us each time we sit down to read and study his Word.  He does speak to us and convict our hearts with his law whenever we sin against him, and he lovingly comforts us with his gospel whenever we repent.  This is the lesson our God is teaching us from Samuel’s life.  He is teaching us to treasure his Word and not let his message fall on deaf ears.  He is teaching us to cherish his Word and do not take it for granted.  He is teaching us just how important it is for us to remain connected to his Word, because it is only through the Bible that we find healing for our souls in the forgiveness of sins.

These are the lessons the Lord our God is teaching us this morning through Israel’s history and this brief account in the life of Samuel.  Though it may come to us in the same way that life experience comes, these lessons are far more important.  These lessons are far more important, because these are God’s lessons of life and salvation through faith in him and his Word.  Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN

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[1] Janice T Hill of Kansas City Mo: Copied from http://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/l/learning.htm

Marvel as the Word of the Lord Grows! (Acts 1:8)

Series: The Stained Glass Series 

October 9, 2011

Dear friends in Christ.

I don’t know about you, but I have to confess that I was a little surprised when I realized that we are on the 2nd to last window in our Stained Glass Window Series.  Though it was back on June 19th when we began this series, it seems like it was just yesterday that we were talking about creation, Adam and Eve, Noah, David and Goliath, and even Daniel.  But now, suddenly, we are taking a look at the window designed to remind us of how the Word of the Lord grew as the disciples carried it with them as they traveled to the ends of the earth!  It was the very message of the three previous windows that they carried with them wherever they went; the message of Jesus Christ who had died on the cross to pay for the sins of the world; the message of Jesus Christ, who though he had died was raised to life for our justification—declaring us not guilty before our Father in heaven; the message of Jesus Christ who had ascended to his Father’s side in heaven and who would one day return again.  This was the message that they carried with them wherever they went, and now, as we turn our attention to our second last window, we cannot help but marvel at how the word of the Lord grew and how it continues to grow according to the plan our Savior laid down in our lesson today in Acts 1:8.  “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”(Acts 1:8, NIV84)

Now, you might remember hearing these same words last week as Acts 1:8 was part of the account of Jesus’ Ascension.  You might remember how Jesus was standing with his disciples on the Mount of Olives giving them his last instructions before he would ascend to his Father’s throne in heaven.  As he speaks with them one last time, in one short sentence Jesus reiterates the very truth he had spent the last three years teaching them.  In one short sentence he lays out the plan of action for which he had prepared them.  Just moments before they would see Jesus return to his Father, he reminds them of the game plan that they would be following, “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”(Acts 1:8, NIV84)

Well, that very mission which Jesus bestowed upon them, was the very mission they took up only 10 days later, on the day of Pentecost.  For on that day, when the Lord sent the Holy Spirit to his disciples, not only did he establish the first Christian Church among his people, Israel, he also laid the foundation for the spreading of the gospel to the ends of the earth.  On that day, when the Lord sent the Holy Spirit, he gathered a huge crowd of Israelites with the sound of a rushing wind.  He marked his disciples with a tongue of flame on their heads, and he allowed them to speak in all sorts of different languages as Luke records for us later on in chapter 2:  “How is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? 9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!”(Acts 2:8–11, NIV84)

Though the Apostles were mocked for having too much wine, it was Peter who stood up in front of the whole crowd and preached to them God’s harshest law and God’s sweetest gospel.  He condemned the people of Israel for their rejection of Jesus as their Savior and how they acted as accomplices in his death.  He cut them to the heart with the sharp scalpel of God’s Law in preparation for the healing salve of the gospel—the message of the salvation that was theirs through faith in that same Jesus whom God had raised from the dead.  Peter preached that message while the other disciples undoubtedly translated, and the Word of the Lord grew as about 3,000 were added to their number that day!  Then, from that time on Luke tells us, “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:42–47, NIV84)

Thus, what the Lord Jesus had told them on the Mount of Olives had come to pass.  They were, indeed, his witnesses in Jerusalem.  So many were added to their numbers in fact, that the apostles appointed 7 men to help with the daily distribution of food; two of these men were Stephen and Philip.  Stephen, we remember, was the one who was stoned to death because the Sanhedrin didn’t like what he had to say.  He was the one for whose stoning Saul was present—a young man watching over the cloaks of those who were murdering Stephen.  Saul was there giving approval to Stephen’s death, and Saul was the one who began the persecution, going from town to town, arresting Christians, and throwing them in prison.  Thus, the Christians did the only sane thing they could.  They ran for it.  They ran for it and they took the Gospel with them, preaching it wherever they went!

Though a great persecution had broken out against the Christians in Jerusalem, the Word of the Lord continued to grow!  Just as the Lord had planted his church in the midst of the Jewish stronghold of Jerusalem, he continued to spread the message of salvation through the people who took the gospel with them as they scattered into Judea and Samaria.  Next thing we know, Philip, (not the Apostle but the helper the Apostles had chosen along with Stephen) he was traveling in Samaria and preaching the gospel wherever he went.  He was the one whom the Lord sent down toward Gaza to meet an Ethiopian Eunuch on his way home after spending time in Jerusalem.  He is the one whom the Spirit of the Lord took from that road to Azotus where he preached the Word until he reached Caesarea.  Because of this, the Apostles began to leave Jerusalem and go out as the Lord’s witnesses in Judea and Samaria.  Because of the work that the Lord sent Philip to do in Samaria, Peter and John traveled into the same region to proclaim the Word and the Word of the Lord continued to grow.  It continued to grow not only among the Jews who had been scattered, but it began to grow among the Gentiles as well as the Lord sent Peter to Caesarea to the house of a man named Cornelius (Acts 10).  Now, suddenly the disciples begin to understand the Lord’s plan to spread his message to the ends of the earth among the Jews and the Gentiles.  Thus the Word of the Lord continued to grow and spread just as Jesus had told his disciples, “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”(Acts 1:8, NIV84)

For the disciples, Jesus plan of action really did happen in a linear way.  They pretty much followed his pattern: Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and then the rest of the World.  However, the Gospel did not follow this same pattern!  When Peter stood up on the day of Pentecost there were Israelites from every nation under the face of the earth.  “Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs”(Acts 2:9–11, NIV84)  They were there, Jews from all these different nations.  They were there and they heard Peter proclaim to them the message of salvation that was theirs through faith in Jesus Christ their Savior.  In that moment the message of salvation went global.  Though they weren’t able to record Pete’s message with their smart phones and immediately post it and their reactions to it on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites, in that moment the message of salvation had already reached the ends of the earth.  The people who had gathered there that day, who had heard what Peter had said, now took that message of salvation with them as they went back to their home countries.  In this way the Word of the Lord grew as they simply told others about what they had seen and heard.  As they traveled home, they took the gospel message with them and the prepared the way for the Apostles to come to them with the gospel!

All by the Lord’s design!  All according to the Lord’s plan!  The Apostles were indeed Jesus witnesses in Jerusalem and in all of Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.  Though we only know for sure where Paul and some of the other Apostles traveled, when we take a look at what some of the traditions tell us, it gives us a real sense of how they were the Lord’s witnesses to the ends of the earth.  Now, what I am about to share with you comes out of traditions and in some cases is not much better than conjecture or best guesses.  Take Paul for example.  We know where he went on his missionary journeys.  We know he wanted to go to Spain, and we assume he made it to Spain but we don’t know for sure.  In fact there is a tradition that Paul not only made it to Spain but even traveled into the British Isles.  Whether that is true or not, I cannot say, but we do know how Paul was a very well traveled missionary.   Take a look at Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother.  Some traditions say he worked in Scythia—a region north of the Black Sea in modern day Russia.  However there is also a tradition that Andrew worked in Achaia in Greece.  Nathanial, also known as Bartholomew, and Thomas are both thought to have worked in Phrygia in modern day Turkey, as well as in India.  James, Son of Alphaeus, is most often associated with Egypt.  Though it is very difficult to discern exactly what is truth in these traditions, they do show how the disciples were the fulfillment of Jesus words in our lesson today, “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”(Acts 1:8, NIV84)

They were our Savior’s witnesses who spread the message of salvation wherever they went.  They were the Savior’s witnesses through whom he caused his Word to grow.  Though we cannot prove exactly where most of the Apostles went, we can see the results of their work as the Word of the Lord continued to grow throughout the Roman Empire even during times of persecutions.  Because of their efforts and the blessings of the Lord that message of salvation spread in to countries like England and France, Germany and Russia, Ireland and Scandinavia.  Because the Word of the Lord grew and expanded as it did, those who came to this country brought the word with them and it continued to grow and spread.  Now, today, we are the Savior’s witnesses who are bringing the gospel message back to the countries where it once was.  We are now the Lord’s servants who are continuing to spread that message of salvation to the ends of the earth and beyond.

What a marvelous thing it is to see just how the Word of the Lord has continued to grow since the day of Pentecost nearly 2000 years ago.  Though there is so much more history that we could look at, and though there are so many examples of how the Word of the Lord had grown and traveled around the world again and again.  We have seen more than enough to make us marvel at how the Lord has caused his Word to grow.  He has preserved it from generation to generation.  He has caused the message of Christ crucified, Christ risen and Christ ascended to be continually preached for the blessing of his people  everywhere.  What an amazing blessing the Lord has given us to be able to look back at how his word has spread, to be able to see how he has continued to spread his word today, and to look forward into the future and wonder how he will continue to cause his Word to grow among the nations.

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN