The Lamb (Revelation 5:6-10)

Series: Names of Wondrous Love

Maundy Thursday

March 28, 2013

Dear friends in Christ.

Why is it that little children are so attracted to little lambs?  Though many of them may not have every had the opportunity to see one in real life or stroke its soft fleece, yet in their beds, so many little children clutch a facsimile close to their hearts as they fall asleep.  Even after they have out grown their child’s bed, so often that lamb might still occupy an important position on their dressers, bookshelves, or even display shelves.  What is it that makes lambs so attractive to little children?  I don’t know for sure, but I do know exactly what makes The Lamb attractive to us who are God’s little ones, and children of our heavenly Father.  It is the wondrous love that the Lord reveals to us through his Son—the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the Word—that make Jesus, the Lamb so important for us.

This, in fact, is exactly what the Apostle John reveals to us in our lesson today.  For as he writes he describes Jesus as a Lamb, “looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. 7 He came and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. 8 And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. 10 You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.”" (Revelation 5:6–10, NIV84)

In the book of Revelation, the Apostle John calls Jesus “the Lamb” some 20 different times, and for John.  Here, John described Jesus as looking like a Lamb that had been slain, and for John, this was a term packed with meaning.  In fact, this was something that took him back nearly 70 years to the day when he was at the Jordan River with his teach, John the Baptist, and John had pointed to Jesus and proclaimed, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”  (John 1:29, NIV 84) 

The Apostle John knew what those words meant.  He knew how the angel of the Lord had swept through Egypt on the First Passover so many years before.  He knew how the angel had struck down the firstborn in every home but passed over these homes with the blood of the sacrificial lamb smeared on the doorposts.  John also knew the meaning of the blood of all those lambs, hundreds of them, thousands of them, sacrificed on all of the Passover celebrations since the first one in Egypt.  He knew how the blood of all those lambs pointed to the blood of the real Lamb, Jesus Christ—God’s own Lamb, sent from heaven.  His blood would be so precious that it would cancel all sin.  His blood would be so precious that those covered by the blood of God’s Lamb would be spared when God’s eternal judgment passed over.

This is what the Lamb of God meant to the Apostle John, but what does it mean to you that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world?  In answer we look especially at the blessed meal the Lord places before us today. In his Holy Supper, the Lamb himself is present to serve us. In it he offers the very body that he gave and the very blood that he poured out for our sins on Calvary’s cross. With his body and blood, he wants to assure us of the blessed truth that he was indeed slain for us. As we come to his altar, he puts his hand on our shoulders, looks into our eyes, and reassures us individually that he was slain for us. “Here,” he says, “my body, given for you. Here, my blood, shed for you. Your sins are forgiven.  Go home in peace.” In this blessed way, he reassures us of his forgiveness and strengthens our trust in him as our Lamb. Now we can look forward to the day when we have to appear before the judgment seat of a holy God. We can take that step with confidence and joy. Only because of the Lamb who was slain for us. The Father in his grace has washed our robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. The Father in his wondrous love has made us his little ones through faith in his Lamb. How we look forward to singing eternal praises to such a loving Father and to the Lamb slain for us!

In our lesson John describes those praises as golden bowls full of incense, as he writes, “they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. 10 You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.”" (Revelation 5:8–10, NIV84)

Tonight we join in praising the Lamb of God for his wondrous acts of love for us.  We praise him for the forgiveness of sins that he won for us through his death and resurrection.  We praise him that he made us a kingdom of priest who are able to share the message of salvation with all those around us.  We praise him by living our lives in such a way that our words and actions clearly reveal that we belong to the Lamb who was slain for us.  Though it is easy to sing God’s praise here, the Lord wants us to praise him in every aspect of our lives.  So let us do just that!  Let us carry the Lamb of God, our Savior, with us wherever we go, like a child carrying that cherished toy animal.  Let us carry the Lamb of God with us as we enter our workplaces, where unbelieving employees sneer at our words and scoff at our actions. Let us carrying him close to our hearts in the high school hallways and college classrooms, where so many try to scratch through the varnish of our protected childhood religion. Let us carry the Lamb with us on the hospital bed, where reality never takes a nap, in our families, where visually and verbally the love of God’s Lamb needs to be conveyed, in our congregations, where there’s always so much to be done and so few, it seems, to do it, and in our synodical fellowship, where we, as fellow priests in God’s kingdom, join hands to take the gospel to every nation and to train workers to go in our place.

In the same way that little children are so often attracted to little lambs, so also we, as God’s children are attracted to the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.  What great love he has revealed in our lives by making us his own through faith.  Not only have we been made his own, but we have the opportunity to carry the Lamb of God with us wherever we go.  God grant that we never leave him on the dresser top of our lives, but always hold him close to our hearts, ready to share him with everyone who needs to learn about this special Lamb of God, our Savior.  Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN

Remember the Lord your God (Deuteronomy 8:10-18)

 Thanksgiving Day

November 21, 2012

 

Dear friends in Christ.

Ever since Thanksgiving became a holiday, many families have had the practice of taking time to think about and remember things that happened during the past year—things for which they are truly thankful.  Sometimes the things they remember are recent events in their lives, while other times the things they remember are things that happened a lot earlier during the past year.  Well, in the same way that we often take time to remember the things for which we are thankful on Thanksgiving, as Christians there are often times that we look back over our lives and remember the things that the Lord our God has done for us.  Though there are times that the difficulties of life sometimes cause us to forget our God’s faithfulness, so often when we look back we remember how the Lord has led us through our lives and how he has delivered us from troubles.  So often we remember the blessings he has given, the victories he won for us and the encouragements he has bestowed upon us in our lives.  So often, when we take time to remember the Lord our God, we are reminded of the great things that he continues to do for us.

The same was true for Moses and the Israelites.  For as we meet them, Israel is camped on the East Side of the Jordan River preparing to enter the Promised Land of Canaan for a second time.  The first time they were here, preparing to enter the Land, they sent Joshua, Caleb and 10 other spies into the land to scout it out.  When they returned, they reported that the land did indeed flow with milk and honey, but the people who live there are powerful and their cities are fortified and very large.  When the Israelites heard this, they did what they normally did in a time of crisis.  Instead of remembering the Lord and trusting him to deliver them, they began to doubt the Lord’s promise and grumble and complain. Joshua and Caleb tried to encourage the people to, “go up and take possession of the land, which the Lord has given us.”  But the other ten spies went and stirred up the people so that they began to grumble against Moses and Aaron. They even elected a leader who would lead them back to the land of Egypt. Because the people turned away from the Lord and sinned by not following his will, he made them wander in the wilderness for forty years.  One year for every day the spies had spent exploring the land. 

Now that the forty years of wandering were over and a new generation of Israelites was getting ready to cross the Jordan and enter the land of Canaan.  But before they entered, Moses calls on them to remember the Lord their God, he says: When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. 11 Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. 12 Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, 13 and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, 14 then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery." (Deuteronomy 8:10–14, NIV84)

With these words, Moses was calling on the people to remember the Lord their God because of his many blessings.  He was calling on them to remember how the Lord had blessed them as they wandered through the wilderness with manna and quail.  They always had water when they needed it and their clothes did not wear out during all those forty years.  Now the Lord is about to bless them again by leading them into the Promised Land of Canaan.  This was a land that Moses described as: “a good land–a land with streams and pools of water, with springs flowing in the valleys and hills; a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills,” (Deuteronomy 8:7b-9).

This is why Moses exhorts them not to remember the Lord who blesses you, because when they settled down in this land of plenty and their flocks and riches increased, it would be easy for them to forget the Lord. The same is true for you and me, and that is why Moses is reminding us to remember the Lord our God today.  He is reminding us to remember the Lord our God who has blessed us in so many ways.  Here we are living in one of the greatest countries in the world.  We have some of the most fertile farming land in the world.  We have running water; electricity that is seldom interrupted and there hasn’t been a shortage of gas since the 1970’s. Our God has truly blessed us and our nation of plenty.  That is why we have gathered here today.  We have gathered to remember our Lord who has blessed us and thank him for all his blessings.  We thank him for our nation of plenty.  We thank him for our friends and family.  We thank him for blessing us through in the past and years to come.  But most important of all, we thank him for the blessing of our Savior who came to earth to free us from our sins. Jesus death was our death and his resurrection assures our resurrection.  He is the greatest blessing we have ever received.  Yes, our Lord has indeed blessed us and that is why we have gathered here, to remember our Lord.  But that is not the only reason we remember the Lord today, we also remember him because he keeps his promises.

When we take a look at our history, we are able to see just how true it is that God keeps his promises.  The same was true for Israel, for as they stood by the banks of the Jordan River preparing to cross over, Moses was reminded them how the Lord kept his promises to them.  He says, “[The Lord] led you through the vast and dreadful desert, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. 16 He gave you manna to eat in the desert, something your fathers had never known, to humble and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you. 17 You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” 18 But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today." (Deuteronomy 8:15–18, NIV84)

As Moses spoke these words, he was reminding them of how the Lord had kept all the promises that he had made to his people Israel.  Even now, as they stood on the border of Canaan, preparing to enter and take possession of the Promised Land Moses is calling on the people to remember the Lord their God.  He is calling on them to remember the Lord their God as they crossed the river and took possession of the land.  He is calling on them to remember the Lord their God as they built up their homes and cities and businesses.  He is calling on them to remember the Lord their God as they became a new nation, as their flocks increased, and as their wealth began to grow.  Even in all this, Moses was calling on the Israelites to remain humble in their faith, remembering that it was the Lord their God who had given them all that they had. 

Moses is saying the same thing to you and me today.  He is calling on us to remember the Lord our God who keeps his promises.  He is calling on us to remember the Lord our God who has blessed us with everything we have.  He is calling on us to remember all his grace and blessing that he bestowed upon us through the death and resurrection of his Son, through which we have received the forgiveness of sins, and the promise of eternal life. 

So, as you gather with friends and family to celebrate Thanksgiving this week, or simply celebrate quietly by yourselves, continue to remember all that the Lord your God has done for you.  Remember how the Lord has led you through your life and brought you to this point.  Remember how he has delivered you from countless troubles.  Remember the blessings the Lord has bestowed upon you, the encouragements he has given through numerous people, and the victories he has won for you.  Remember the joy that the Lord has planted in your hearts through the forgiveness of sins and grow in your faith and trust in the Lord you God, about whom it can be truly said, “Not one of his promises has ever failed.”

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN

Make the Most of Your Time of Grace! (Philippians 1;18-27)

Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost 

September 23, 2012

Dear friends in Christ.

For the past week, the book of Philippians has been on my mind.  On numerous occasions I was reminded of how the Apostle Paul so boldly declared, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." (Philippians 1:21, NIV84)  I was reminded of the joy that Paul conveyed to the Christians in the city of Philippi, even as he, himself, was locked away in a Roman cell, awaiting his trial before Caesar.  But out of all the things that came to my mind this week was how Paul was defiantly one who made the most of his time of grace while he lived on the earth.  These were the thoughts that kept permeating my heart and my mind even as I sought to study the lessons assigned for this day and compose a sermon to strengthen and uplift you with the Word of God.  But no matter how hard I worked, I kept thinking about Philippians and the lesson before us this morning from Philippians 1:18-27.  Though I didn’t understand it at first, I know now that this was the hand of the Lord guiding me and preparing me so that I would be ready to serve you with words of comfort and encouragement!  So, what I am doing today is something that I have done only on a couple of other occasions.  I’m bringing to you a sermon that I preached to you only a couple of years ago.  Though some of you may remember it or even portions of it, the more I thought about it, the more I realized I needed to preach this to you today, especially after the Lord, in his wisdom unexpectedly called Calissa home to his side.  I realized I needed to preach this sermon to you one more time, because in our lesson today, the Apostle Paul is calling on each and every one of us to make the most of the time of grace that the Lord gives us here in this world.

Now, if there was ever a man who made the most of his time of grace here on earth, I would say that it would have to be the Apostle Paul.  Even though he had started out as a Pharisee and a persecutor of the Church, when the Lord called him to faith, Paul made the most of his time of grace by investing everything he had into his life for Christ.  Wherever he went, he preached the gospel and told people about their Savior.  Whenever he we shipped, beaten, stoned, shipwrecked, arre3sted, imprisoned, and otherwise abused, he continued to tell others about Jesus, the Messiah, who had come into the world to free all people from their sins by his death and resurrection from the dead.  Even now, as Paul was preparing to stand before Caesar and his court, he was looking forward to giving glory and honor to Christ his Savior through his proclamation of the Gospel, even if that meant he would be found guilty and put to death.  In this way, Paul made the most of his time of grace, for as he invested his life in Jesus Christ his Savior, he was looking forward to the return on his investment, the reward, the profit, the gain of eternal life in heaven.  In fact, take a look at what Paul writes in our lesson today, in Philippians 1 beginning with verse 18:

But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, 19 for I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. 20 I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. 21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 22 If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! 23 I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; 24 but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. 25 Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, 26 so that through my being with you again your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me. 27 Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel" (Philippians 1:18–27, NIV84)

As Paul wrote from prison, he was both looking forward to the reward of eternal life with his Savior, and looking back at how he had spent his time of grace, investing his life in the service of preaching the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ his Savior.  Though he longed to cash in that investment and finally gain the return of eternal life, he knew that his time of grace had not yet come to an end.  He knew that the lord had more investments for him to make, more labor for him to perform, more time that needed to be spent in this life serving those brothers and sisters who had come to faith, as well as seeking out those who still did not know Jesus as their Savior.  Thus, as Paul calls on the Philippians to conduct themselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, he is essentially calling on them, and each and every one of us to follow his example and make the most of the time of grace that our Savior has given us.  Paul is calling on each one of us to put our faith into action and invest our lives in Christ our Savior as we share our faith with our friends, with our family, with acquaintances, and even strangers—people who already know Jesus as their Savior, as well as those who do not yet know that Jesus has freed them from their sins. 

But the question that naturally follows is, “How do we do that?”  “How do we make the most of our time of grace?”  “How do we invest our lives in Christ our Savior and live in a way that is worthy of the Gospel of Christ?”  Simple, we become managers, Christian Stewards of the Gospel which the Lord has given us.  We take the time, as so many of us have done, to read, to listen to, and to study our Bibles so that our faith can continue to grow stronger.  We commit ourselves to gathering regularly for worship so that as we give glory to our God we are also built up in our knowledge and understanding of the Lord.  We recognize the importance of bringing our children to Sunday School and using that as an opportunity for us to gather with other believers in studying the Bible together, so that we can build each other up and strengthen each other in our faith.  Then, when we have filled ourselves with the gospel, we take it with us into the world.  We take it with us as we open our mouths to tell others about the faith that we have.  We take it with us as we open our mouths to answer questions that others ask us about our faith and the hope of eternal life to which we constantly cling.  We take it with us and we bring glory go our God as we take time to bow our heads and give thanks for the food we are about to eat, even in the midst of a crowded restaurant.  WE take it with us and we show that we are God’s children by the words and the actions we use while working, playing, laughing or crying, and it this way we make the most of our time of grace here on earth even as we bring glory to Christ our Savior.

It is in this way that we serve as Christian stewards, investing our lives in Christ, looking forward to the eternal rewards of heaven, and making the most of our time of grace here in this world.  Yet, there are times in our lives when things simply do not go as well as we would like.  There are times when it seems that the economy of our lives changes from good to bad as troubles and hardships enter into the picture.  But even though there may be times when we seem to face a down-turn in our investments as sickness and sufferings enter into the picture, these are nothing less than blessings that the Lord our God uses to draw us closer to himself.  Though there may be times when we feel that we are receiving negative-returns, such as chronic illness, debilitating pain, or seemingly endless medical attention is needed, these are nothing less than the lenses that the Lord our God uses to refocus our faith on him so that we might bring glory and honor to him with our life and even, if he should require it, our death! 

This is why the Lord has allowed the most intelligent of his followers to succumb to Alzheimer’s.  This is why the Lord has allowed the strongest of his people to face Arthritis, Cancer, Dementia, and Parkinson’s.  This is why the Lord has suddenly and unexpectedly taken the lives of babies, young children, teens, and even young adults.  Though this is always terribly painful, and we are still reeling from the Lord’s decision to take Calissa home to himself, he is using even this as an opportunity to draw each and every one of us closer to himself.  He is using this as an opportunity to remind us just how precious our lives on this earth truly are.  He is using this as an opportunity to remind us of how important it is to make the most of the time of grace that the Lord has given us.  Though any hardship that the Lord gives us can feel like a struggle and even though the separation of death cuts us to the heart, the Lord allows us to endure these things for his glory and so that we might be a light to others, that they might see our faith and our trust in the Lord even in times like this, and they might be strengthened in their faith or moved to learn about the faith that we have and learn to love Jesus as their personal Savior as well.  In short, the Lord allows these things to come into our lives so that no matter what his name will be glorified by our life or by our death, just as Paul wrote, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." (Philippians 1:21, NIV84)

What greater comfort could there be for us today, than the comfort of knowing that if we should live, we have every opportunity to glorify the Lord our Savior with our lives!  But, if we should die, we would gain all the blessings of eternal life at our Savior’s side forever more!  How comforting it is to know that no matter what we should face, whether it be life or it be death, we are victorious through faith in Christ Jesus our Savior.

This is the comfort that the Lord our God has for us today!  Through faith in Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, we have been washed clean of every sin.  We are the Lord’s children, and heirs of eternal life.  We know that we are but a step way from our eternal homes and all times.  Even though we are separated from all our friends and loved ones who have been called home to heaven before us, today the Lord our God calls on us to make the most of our time of grace here in this world.  Make the most of the time of grace that the Lord has given us, because we do not know when he will call us home.  We do not know if it will be today, tomorrow, or many years from now. 

So, dear friends, as you go from here today, go with God’s richest blessings and make the most of the time of grace that he has given you.

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN

Behold the Savior of the World! (Mark 1:4-11)

August 7, 2011

Dear friends in Christ.

When you think of John the Baptist, how do you think of him?  Do you think of him as an impressive figure?  Or do you think of him as just a regular kind of guy?  Do you think of him as a rugged outdoors sort of fellow?  Or do you think of him as a man who’s been softened by city living?  Well, when I think of John the Baptist, I think of him as a man who would do well living out West in cattle country.  Though he never kept sheep or goats, though he never drove cattle, he was a hard man who had a hard life.  He was a hard man who lived out in the wilderness eating locust and wild honey.  He was a hard man who wore clothes made out of camel’s hair with a leather belt wrapped around his waist.  But even though John was a hard man, he was also a privileged man.  For he is the only man, besides Jesus, whose coming was prophesied in the pages of Scripture.  He was the man who was chosen by God to be the forerunner of his Son.  He was the one who was fortunate enough to proclaim the message:  Behold the Savior of the world! 

Behold the Savior of the world!  This was the very message that John proclaimed as he pointed the people to their Savior.  As the Bible tells us, “And so John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. 6 John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And this was his message: “After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” (Mark 1:4–8, NIV84)

In essence, John’s mission was simply to point people to the Savior of the world, and this is what he did.  For there, in the desert on the other side of the Jordan River, John preached a message of harsh law.  He did not shy away from condemning sins, rather, he proclaimed, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”  He did not falter when people made excuses for the wrongs they had done, instead, he applied the full weight of God’s Holy Law and crushed that sinner to pieces.  Not even when the Pharisees and religious leaders of the day came to investigate him did he back down.  For he went head to head with them condemning their sinfulness and their failure to see it.  Because of this, John’s fame spread and people from all over the region of Judea and Jerusalem came out to hear him.  Confessing their sins, they were baptized in the Jordan, assured of the forgiveness of sins, and pointed to Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world.

This is the same message we need to hear as well.  For even we Christians need to be reminded that our sins separate us from our God.  We need to be reminded that our sins are just like those round bails that we see on farm places throughout the countryside.  Though they may start out small as farmers begin to make their pass through the field, by the time that bail is ejected it has grown so enormous that no one could never hope to lift it.  It has grown so huge that if it rolled on top of you for any reason it would kill you.  The same is true for our sins.  Though they might start out as a few small sins of anger, jealousy, frustration, or even greed, they can grow larger and larger.  Before we know it, that small sin of anger has grown into a grudge you hold against another person.  That small sin of jealousy has lead to hatred.  That small sin of frustration has led to exasperation.  That small sin of greed has led to a desire for more and more, and before we know it, our sins have grown so huge and have wrapped so tightly around us that we are unable to move.  They have grown so enormous that we are crushed under their weight and can do nothing to be rid of them ourselves.

But that’s when John’s message of comfort comes to us as he points us to Jesus, the Savior of the world.  Take a look at what he has to tell us in verses 7 and 8, “7 And this was his message: “After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” (Mark 1:7–8, NIV84). 

With these beautiful words, John points us to our Savior and the forgiveness he offers.  With these words we are reminded how Jesus was baptized by John on the day he began his public ministry so many years ago, which was the very reason that Jesus came to the earth!  He came to be the Savior of the world, just as had been proclaiming ever since he started preaching.   Mark tells us: “At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” (Mark 1:9–11, NIV84)

Though it doesn’t tell us in this Gospel, we learn from Matthew that when Jesus came to John to be baptized, John didn’t understand why.  Rather, John tried to deter Jesus by telling him that he, John, needed to be baptized by Jesus.  But Jesus simply told him, “It is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.”  For the thing was, by being baptized, Jesus was showing his connection to sinners.  Though he himself was sinless, he was identifying himself with sinners by giving himself to the work of bearing our sins.  As Luther points out: Jesus was here rightly beginning to be the Christ, the Anointed One, and “was inaugurated into his entire Messianic office as our Prophet, Priest, and King.”  For through the voice of the Father from heaven and the Holy Spirit lighting on Jesus in the form of a dove, all three persons of the Trinity were proclaiming that this Jesus was the Savior of the world. 

Thus, the one true God, the Holy Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit revealed that they were launching the culmination of the plan of salvation through Jesus our Savior.  The long period of expectation and preparation was now over.  The most momentous days the world would ever know, the three years of Jesus’ public ministry, culminating in his crucifixion, resurrection and ascension were now beginning.  Satan’s power and dominion were doomed, because the world’s redemption was at hand.  This, in a nutshell, not only was John calling on us to behold the Savior of the world, but the Holy Trinity was proclaiming the very same thing on the day that Jesus was baptized.  The Almighty God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit were there calling on each and every onlooker as well as you and me to behold the fact that Jesus was the Promised Messiah, the Savior of the world.

What greater assurance could the Baptism of Jesus give us than the assurance that he is the Lord, our Savior!  For today, as we have heard the voice of the Father proclaiming that Jesus is indeed his Son whom he loves and with whom he is well pleased, we have been assured that Jesus truly is our Savior.  As we have witnessed the Holy Spirit descending upon him as a dove, we have witnessed the fulfillment of the promise that we would recognize the Christ by the decent of the Spirit upon him.  In short, as we have beheld the Lord Jesus, our Savior today, we have been assured that he is our only true Savior who has forgiven all our sins.

How incredible it is to know that as we behold our Savior today, we behold the very Son of God who freed us from the crushing weight of our sins.  Even though we were completely immobilized by the bails of our sins, Jesus came with the John Deer tractor of his grace and lifted those sins from us.  He loaded those sins onto the flat bed trailer of his forgiveness and hauled them away, never to be seen again.   Though we may have been trapped in the sins of anger and grudges, our Savior has freed us from them.  Though we may have been trapped by the sins of jealousy and hatred, our Savior has freed us from them.  Though we may have been trapped by the sins of frustration and exasperation, our Savior has freed us from them.  Though we may have been trapped in the sins of greed and an unholy desire for more and more stuff, our Savior has freed us from them.  Now since we have been freed from our own sins by our Savior Jesus Christ, how can we not follow his example and forgive our fellow Christians from the heart when they do us wrong?  How can we not remember that when we were baptized, each and every one of us was buried with Christ and rose again with him as new creations?  How can we not remember that when our Savior went to the cross, he went, carrying the weight of the sins of the world?  How can we not make the most of every opportunity to gather together as Christians in worship of the Lord our Savior?

Now that we have beheld the Lord our Savior, let us seek to live our lives in service to him.  Let us dedicate our lives to him so that we continue growing in his Word as we read and study the Bible both at home and in Bible Studies during the year.  Let us make the most of every opportunity we have been given to gather to worship the Lord our God and grow in our faith as we encourage our brothers and sisters in their faith.  Let us grow in our baptismal grace, fulfilling the promise that we all made on the day of our confirmation that we would face even death rather than forsake the Lord God our Savior.  Though we don’t know exactly what Jesus looked like while here on earth, today we have all beheld Jesus as the Lord our God and the Savior of the World.  We saw John point him out to us, we heard the Holy Trinity proclaim him, and we have been reminded of how he has freed us from our sins.  This is Jesus, our Savior, who was baptized at the beginning of his public ministry so that he might take on the all important work of redeeming us from our sins and winning us back to the Lord.  Behold him, he is your Savior.

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church -Le Sueur, MN

Marvel at the Lord's Deliverance (1 Samuel 17:1-58)

July 17, 2011

Dear friends in Christ.

Today we’re making a little bit of a change in the lineup when it comes to our windows.  Though the roster of our windows has been printed in such a dramatic way for us, it was only a few days ago that I realized that the next two windows in our series are out of place, at least according to the narrative of the Biblical account.  Though there is no problem with the window of Daniel in the Lion’s Den following after the window of Joseph, when it comes to the pattern of the Bible, it is the account of David and Goliath that takes place between these two.  So today, even though our roster suggested that we would marvel at the Lord’s deliverance as we studied the account of Daniel in the Lion’s Den, instead, we will marvel at the Lord’s deliverance through the account of David and Goliath.

Now, I don’t know about you, but of all the Bible history lessons I learned in Sunday School and Lutheran Elementary School, David and Goliath was one of my favorites.  Though you might think the whole reason I loved this lesson was because of the amazing similarity between my name and the main character’s name; the real reason I loved the account of David and Goliath is because even as a little child I was amazed and I marveled at how the Lord delivered a young boy from so many things.  I marveled at how the Lord had delivered David from both the lion and the bear, not when they had attacked David, but when he had gone after them, grabbing them by the hair and killing them in order to rescue the sheep they had stolen!  That always amazed me!  Yet the thing that caused me to marvel all the more was how the Lord delivered David from the hand of the Philistine with a single rock to the forehead. 

As it is, the story of David and Goliath is one with which we are all very familiar, because it is one of those Bible history lessons that has caused us to marvel at the Lord’s deliverance in one way or another.  In fact, I would be willing to bet that if I asked you to, each and every one of you could recount the majority of what happened when David took on Goliath.  But, instead of me asking you to take turns to recount different portions of our lesson today, I invite you to take a look at it with me in 1 Samuel 17.  If you haven’t done so already, I invite you to open your Bibles to 1 Samuel 17 and we will take a look at exactly how the Lord delivered David from the hand of his enemy.  As you are turning to 1 Samuel 17, let me give you a little history to get you up to speed with what is happening here.  It wasn’t all that long before chapter 17 that the Lord sent Samuel to the house of Jesse in Bethlehem to anoint one of his seven sons to be the next king. Though Samuel anointed David on that day, it seems that he never told David, his brothers, or even his Father of the anointing.  Shortly after that David was brought into the service of Saul to play for him when he was tormented by an evil spirit from the Lord.  Now, as Chapter 17 begins, Israel is at war with Philistia.  They had camped on opposite sides of the valley of Elah and had drawn up the battle lines to meet the Philistines.  But it was Goliath whom they had not expected.  Take a look at verse 4:  “A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. He was over nine feet tall. 5 He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armor of bronze weighing five thousand shekels; 6 on his legs he wore bronze greaves, and a bronze javelin was slung on his back. 7 His spear shaft was like a weaver’s rod, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels. His shield bearer went ahead of him. 8 Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose a man and have him come down to me. 9 If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us.” 10 Then the Philistine said, “This day I defy the ranks of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other.” 11 On hearing the Philistine’s words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.” (1 Samuel 17:4–11, NIV84)

What a sight it must have been to see a giant coming forward from the camp of the Philistines.  How terrifying it must have been for a man who was nearly twice the size of an average man, challenging just one man to step forward, to be the champion, and to meet him in single combat in order to decide the outcome of the entire war.  How would you have reacted?  Would you have stood up to fight without hesitation?  Or would you have cowered with the rest of the Israelites who were trembling in fear?  Though right here, right now, in the safety of this church it is easy to feel the passion of righteous anger coursing through our veins moving us to stand up against this unbelieving giant who is defying the Lord our God who saves us, watches over us, cares for us, and delivers us; once we actually pass through those doors to the outside, or sometimes even as stand up, fear begins to overtake us, and we run, trembling, to hide ourselves with the rest of Israel’s army.  Just think about the last spiritual battle you were in and the last time an unbelieving “giant” caused you to run and hide.  Was it the last time someone asked you about your faith or the church to which you belong?  Was it perhaps the last time someone complained to you about how strict your church is and how your church doesn’t allow you to do this or to do that?  Was it perhaps a time when a classmate, or a co-worker, or even a family member decided that it was time to argue with you about religion and you chose to go the other way?  What happened the last time that a Goliath entered your life and defied the Lord your God?  Did your faith prevail as you stood up for your faith?  Or did fear reign in your hearts like it did in the hearts of the Israelites?

Sadly, the reason that fear reigned in the hearts of the Israel was because their King did not fully trust that the Lord would deliver them.  Their King did not remind the Israelites of how the Lord had delivered them in the past, nor how the Lord delivered the Promised Land to them only a few generations earlier.  Instead, the King cowered in fear until after 40 days of Goliath’s defiance, the Lord sent David to deliver the Israelites.  Take a look at verse 17: “Now Jesse said to his son David, “Take this ephah of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp. 18 Take along these ten cheeses to the commander of their unit. See how your brothers are and bring back some assurance from them… 22 David left his things with the keeper of supplies, ran to the battle lines and greeted his brothers. 23 As he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, stepped out from his lines and shouted his usual defiance, and David heard it. 24 When the Israelites saw the man, they all ran from him in great fear. 25 Now the Israelites had been saying, “Do you see how this man keeps coming out? He comes out to defy Israel. The king will give great wealth to the man who kills him. He will also give him his daughter in marriage and will exempt his father’s family from taxes in Israel.” 26 David asked the men standing near him, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?” …31 What David said was overheard and reported to Saul, and Saul sent for him. 32 David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.” 33 Saul replied, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a boy, and he has been a fighting man from his youth.” 34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, 35 I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. 36 Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. 37 The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” Saul said to David, “Go, and the LORD be with you.” (1 Samuel 17:17-18, 22-26, 31-37, NIV84)

The fear in the camp of the Israelites was so palpable that when the Lord brought David in to step up and conquer Goliath even the King himself sought to stop him.  But David would not be stopped because he knew that the Lord would deliver him.  He knew that in the same way that the Lord had delivered him from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear, he knew and believed that the Lord would deliver him from this Philistine as well; and that is what the Lord did, he delivered David without sword or spear or javelin, because the battle was not David’s. The battle was not David’s because it belonged to the Lord.  (See 1 Samuel 17:45-52)

It is for this very reason that the Lord included the account of David and Goliath in his Word.  He included it in his word because it is through the account of David and Goliath that the Lord teaches us that no matter what battles we might face in this life those battles belong to the Lord and he is the one who delivers us from the hands of our enemy.  Let me say that again: it is through the account of David and Goliath that the Lord teaches us that no matter what battles we might face in this life those battles belong to the Lord and he is the one who delivers us from the hands of our enemy.  Though we have all cowered in our tents as the Israelites did, it is the Lord our God who has already delivered us from it by forgiving us all our sins.  It is the Lord our God who has assured us again and again that we are his dearly loved children through faith in Jesus Christ our Savior.  It is the Lord our God who has taught us that in the same way that the rains and the street sweepers have cleaned away from the streets all the debris from last week’s storms, so also has the blood of our Savior cleaned away even all the fear and the guilt from those times we have hidden.  But not only has the blood of our Savior cleaned our hearts, it has filled our hearts with the gift of the Holy Spirit who now lives in us and encourages and strengthens us through his Word.  It is the Holy Spirit who lives in our hearts, and uses accounts of the Lord’s great deliverance of David from Goliath to help us to recognize and understand how the Lord will also deliver us when we face our own Goliaths in this life.

In fact, just think about how the Lord has delivered you when a Goliath entered your life and defied the Lord your God.  How did if feel when someone asked you about your faith or about the church to which you belong, and you took the opportunity to confess your faith and to tell a little bit about your church?  How did you feel the last time you took a stand on God’s Word about what you believe when someone else came at you complaining or even blaming you because your church doesn’t allow this or that?  How did you feel the last time you stood your ground and confessed your faith even when a friend, a relative, or a co-worker decided that it was time to argue religion with you?  How did you feel the last time you stood up like David did and marveled at how the Lord delivered you just as he delivered David?  I know if felt good, because I’ve been through those same kinds of situation and found myself simply marveling at how the Lord has delivered me through a battle that never actually belonged to me. Rather, it was a battle that belonged to the Lord, in which he simply asked me to participate so that he could deliver me and so that I could marvel at that deliverance.

This is why the Lord has included the account of David and Goliath in our Bibles!  He has included it so that he might teach us that no matter what battle you might be fighting, the battle belongs to the Lord and he will deliver you so that you can continually marvel at him.  No matter what battle you might be fighting! Though you might be battling with health issues right now, and don’t see exactly how you are going to go through, remember, the Lord has promised to deliver you.  If you are battling with financial issues and you find that you are being standing at a fork in the road and neither option in front of you is a good option, remember, the Lord will bring you through even this; he will deliver you.  If your battle is with your family, with your friends, with your employer, with your vehicle, with _____________ (fill in the blank)  remember what the Lord is teaching us today.  He is teaching us that no matter what battles we might face, he will deliver us.  He has already proven that by delivering David from the hands of Goliath.  He has proven it by delivering us from our sin by the death and resurrection of his Son, and he will prove it again on the day he finally delivers us from this life to the life that is to come.

It truly is amazing how the Lord assures us again and again that he will deliver us from every trouble in this amazing account of David and Goliath.  Though I don’t remember specifically catching that truth when I was in Sunday School or even Lutheran Elementary School, it is a truth that cannot be missed when we study this lesson.  For today we have seen just how the Lord does deliver us so that we can praise him, thank him, and marvel at his amazing deliverance.

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

GraceEvangelical Lutheran Church -Le Sueur, MN