Remain faithful to the Lord (Daniel 6:10-12, 16-23)

October 28,2012

Dear friends in Christ.

I don’t know if you realized it when you came to church this morning, but today is a very special day.  Now, I admit, it may not be as special as Christmas or Easter, but it is still an important day.  It is still an important day, because today we are celebrating the festival of the Reformation.  We are celebrating how the Lord used a simple man named Martin Luther to preach the Light of the Gospel to a world that was darkened with false teaching and sin.  We are celebrating the fact that it was the Lord who enabled Martin Luther to remain faithful to the Lord even when it seemed that death was certainly coming down upon him.  And, as we celebrate this festival this morning, we will do so by taking a look at another man who also faithfully served the Lord, even under the penalty of death.  For this morning, we will remind ourselves of Daniels life, how he remained faithful to the Lord and how he trusted that the Lord God would, indeed, deliver him.  Just listen to the situation in which Daniel found himself in our lesson today, “Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before. 11 Then these men went as a group and found Daniel praying and asking God for help. 12 So they went to the king and spoke to him about his royal decree: “Did you not publish a decree that during the next thirty days anyone who prays to any god or man except to you, O king, would be thrown into the lions’ den?” The king answered, “The decree stands—in accordance with the laws of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be repealed.”" (Daniel 6:10–12, NIV84)

Now, as you undoubtedly remember from your Sunday school lessons, the decree Daniel mentions was the decree which some of the governors had persuaded the king to put into effect.  It was the decree that stated that anyone who prayed to any god other than the king for the next 30 days would be thrown into the lion’s den.  It was a decree that they had persuaded the king into making, because those specific governors were jealous of Daniel, who would soon be promoted as head of all the governors, and they simply couldn’t stomach the fact that this captive Israelite would now be their boss.  Yet even when Daniel heard the decree had been made, he remained faithful to the Lord.  Even though he knew it might cost him his life, he went home, opened the windows of his house that faced east, knelt down on the floor and began to pray, just as he always had.

But now comes the question:  “What would you have done if you were in Daniel’s shoes?  Would you have gone home, gone up to your upper room, opened the windows which faced Jerusalem, and prayed to the Lord as you always had?  Or, would you have gone home, closed all your shades and blinds, and timidly prayed to the Lord?”  It’s a tough question to answer, and I have to admit, I don’t know what I would have done.  I hope and pray that I would have had the courage and the faith to remain faithful to my Lord even when my life was on the line, and not hidden out. 

Thankfully, we are not living in a land that passes such laws.  Rather, we are living in a land where we are free to worship the Lord any way we wish to.  We are living in a land, where praying to the Lord does not constitute a danger to our lives.  However, we are living in a land where satan is continually setting subtle traps designed to lead us away from the Lord our God.  For example: how many times this week did a love scene on TV draw your attention that much closer to the program you were watching?  How many times did you laugh at a joke which had sexual connotations buried within it?  How many times did foul language echo from your lips?  How many times did you enjoy hearing and passing on the latest gossip you heard while down town?  How many times did the thought of reading your Bible completely fail to cross your minds?  These are but a few of the traps satan uses to lead us away from the Lord.  For he is truly a crafty advisory!  Rather than hitting us with an all out assault, which threatens our very lives, he comes to us in subtle, tricky ways.  Rather than trying to knock us off the path to heaven in one foul swoop, he patiently moves us away from the Lord.  Inch by grudging inch he works to move us from faithfulness to complacency and from complacency to rampant unbelief.

This is why our God is calling on us today to remain faithful to him, because even though our physical lives are not being threatened, our spiritual lives are on the line.  If we should fall to our enemy’s temptations, we could easily be led into unbelief.  If we should be led into unbelief, we would miss out on the forgiveness which Jesus alone can offer.  If we miss out on the forgiveness which Jesus offers, we will miss out on eternal life all together.  This is why our Lord calls us to remain faithful to him, because the only way to fight against temptations like these are to remain rooted in the Word of God.  The only way to avoid the traps that satan continually places before us is to make regular use of the opportunities we have to worship the Lord our God here in church and to partake of the Sacrament of Holy Communion.  When we do these things, we will be growing in our faith and knowledge of God.  We will be better prepared and equipped to fight against the assaults of satan.  We will even find that through the working of the Holy Spirit in the Word of God, our desire will be to remain faithful to the Lord whatever the cost.  For even if we should lose our physical lives in faithful service to him, we know eternal live awaits, because as we know, he alone is our Salvation.  This is why the Lord is calling on us to remain faithful to him even though it might cost us our lives here on earth.  Remain faithful to him, trusting that the Lord our God will indeed deliver us.

This is exactly what Daniel did!  Even though he knew his faith might cost him his life, Daniel remained faithful to the Lord and trusted that the Lord would indeed deliver him.  He trusted that the Lord would either deliver him from the hand of the king and the paw of the lion, or the Lord would simply deliver him to eternal life where he would never have to face the troubles of this world ever again.  For Daniel, the outcome didn’t matter, he remained faithful to the Lord and the Lord delivered him from the paw of the lion, as we learn in our lesson today: “At the first light of dawn, the king got up and hurried to the lions’ den. 20 When he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?” 21 Daniel answered, “O king, live forever! 22 My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, O king.” 23 The king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den. And when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God." (Daniel 6:19–23, NIV84)

Well, in the same way that Daniel remained faithful to the Lord, the Lord wants us to remain faithful to him in how we live our lives.  He wants us to remain faithful to him all the days of our lives, trusting that he will deliver us from whatever calamity befalls us.  But how do we do this?  How do we remain faithful to the Lord in any and every situation trusting that he will deliver us just as he promised?  We dive headlong into the Word of our God!  Though our faith is strengthened by regularly gathering together for worship, when we realize that we are awake for an average of 120 hours each week, spending only one hour with God means that there are 119 hours each week that you are being bombarded with worldly ideas and philosophies.  That’s 119 hours each week that satan is working to confuse us and cause us to doubt the Lord’s promises to deliver us from every circumstance.  That means that during those 119 hours each week, satan is doing everything he can to keep us from remaining faithful to the Lord.

Sadly, this is the type of faith-life that the average Christian has.  1 hour with God a week, and then the rest of the week is spent without even thinking about him.  Would you even think about feeding your family only once each week?  Yet this is what many Christians do and struggle all the harder to remain faithful to the Lord because of it.  This is why we need to be in the Word of God each and every day.  For it is in the Word of God where we receive the soothing balm of the Lord’s comfort; the comfort that we receive through the gospel message of salvation.  For it is in the Gospel that we are reminded of Jesus Christ our Savior. It is in the Gospel that we are reminded how God took us from our dry, dusty and dirty existence as sinners and led us into the cool refreshing showers of Jesus blood which washed away every spot and stain of our sins.  It is in the Gospel that we are reminded how Jesus has already delivered us from the curse of our sins and the punishment of eternal death by bringing us into a right relationship with our God.  This is the comfort we find in the Gospel, and this is the comfort, which moves us to remain faithful to the Lord, trusting that he will indeed deliver us.  Though we may not be facing the threat of death at the paws of hungry lions, though we may not be facing a room crowded with people who are calling on us to renounce our Savior, we do face many things which satan uses to lead us away from the Lord.  Knowing this, continue to stand fast in our Savior’s teaching!  Continue to remain faithful to the lord trusting that when he does deliver you, it will either be from harm while in this life, or it will be to his side in the life to come.

This is how Daniel was able to remain faithful to the Lord.  He remained faithful to the Lord in all things because he was rooted in the Word.  This is how Luther was able to do it.  Though there were many people who wanted to take his life and many temptations to turn from the Lord, because he was constantly in God’s Word, he, through the power of the Holy Spirit was able to remain faithful as well.  So then, heed the examples the Lord has given you.  Dive into the Scriptures so that you might continually strengthen your faith, and remain faithful to the Lord in all things.  Remain faithful to the Lord even if it should one day cost you your life.  Remain faithful to the Lord trusting that he will indeed deliver you from harm.

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN

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

Remember God's grace in troubled times (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)

July 22, 2012

Dear friends in Christ.

Memory is a funny thing!  It never seems to be nearly as reliable as we think it should be.  For example, two hours from now, what I remember about what happened in church may be completely different than what you remember.  In fact, if you and your husband, or your wife, or your children should decide to discuss the sermon as you are eating lunch today, I guarantee that each and every one of you would remember the sermon differently.  You would remember it differently because each one of you would remember the things that specifically spoke to you, or moved you in one way or another.  You may even find that while you remember a specific sentence, your husband, your wife, or even your children may not remember that sentence, but will remember the sentence spoken immediately before it or after it, while you, yourself will have no memory of either of those sentences!  What is it about our memory that makes it so easy for us to remember some things and not others?  What is it about our memory that allows us to forget almost all of the bad things that happened in our lives when we are enjoying good times, but at the same time does not allow us to remember many of the good times when we are living in troubled times?   Though I could easily spend a whole sermon simply trying to answer those questions, you have not come here to learn about your memory!  Rather, you have gathered here today to be reminded of God’s grace and how he lavishes it on you, especially in troubled times.

Now, if there was one person who was intimately familiar with God’s grace, it was the Apostle Paul.  After all, through the pages of the Scriptures, we have been privileged to see exactly how the hand of the Lord was at work in Paul’s life.  Though we met him as Saul, the man who stood watching over the cloaks of the men who were murdering Stephen, and giving approval to their actions, not much later, we saw the Lord Jesus at work in Saul’s life, granting him grace, calling him to faith, and sending him out into the world to preach the Gospel to all nations.  Though there were many times and many ways that Paul saw the Lord at work revealing his grace even in times of trouble, Paul relates a very unexpected way in which he was reminded of the Lord’s grace as the Lord’s hand was at work in Paul’s life.  Paul writes, “To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Corinthians 12:7–10, NIV84)

To keep Paul from becoming conceited because of the incredible visions the Lord had given him, the Lord’s hand was at work in Paul’s life, sending Paul a messenger of satan to torment him.  Though Paul prayed to the Lord and pleaded with the Lord that the Lord would remove this thorn from his side, the Lord’s answer was simple, “My grace is sufficient for you.”  Though it may seem strange that the Lord our God would work in this manner, by giving this thorn, the Lord was causing Paul to continue looking to the Lord for help so that the Lord might continue to remind Paul of the grace he lavishes on his people, especially in times of trouble like we are facing today!

After all, what hardships aren’t we facing today?  Well, we are living in a world where sin has become the accepted norm.  Christian values have been set aside as old fashioned and out dated, just like Amos faced when no one wanted to hear the message of God’s judgment upon Israel.  Sadly, like it was in the days of Amos the prophet, God’s Word has become an inconvenient truth that must be changed into a message of soft platitudes that will serve as salve to many an itching ear.  Not only that, but it is becoming acceptable and even expected that children as young as fourth and fifth grade will begin to explore their own sexuality, and begin to discover if their attractions lie with the similar or the opposite sex.  It has become expected that teens and college students will have multiple partners until they finally settle down by moving in with someone, bring children into the relationship, and then maybe after a long, drawn out trial period, they might finally decide that they should get married.  Even though, in many cases they, have taught that this is not pleasing to the Lord.

We are living in a nation where over 38 million unborn children were legally murdered in our country between 1973 and 2005 , not to mention the millions that were legally murdered in countries all around the world.  Add to that the children whose lives are being terminated because pre-natal screening has determined that there is a good chance that they will be born with Down’s syndrome or some other birth defect.  Not only is that, but assisted suicide, which has been accepted in many other nations around the world, beginning to be accepted here in America, as both Washington State and Oregon have laws allowing assisted suicide.  From this it is easy to wonder how long it will be until assisted suicide becomes mandatory for those with certain injuries, diseases, defects, or even for those who have reached a certain age.  All the while God’s Word goes unheeded and those who speak out against these things are simply disregarded.

Not only that, but we are facing a global recession that some say is shortly coming to an end, others say has a way to go before it is over, and still others are predicting will become a world wide depression in the next year or two.  We are living in a country that is no longer united like it used to be, but is divided over so many issues—the war, the economy, governmental spending, political ideology, even religion and sexuality—as God and same sex rights have been the subject of many court battles.  Add to that the politically charged topic of same sex marriage, which is on the ballot this November, and all the advertisement seeking to make Christians feel that they cannot and should not stand up for the truth of God’s Word.

Yet, besides all this, what other thorn do you have poking in your side?  Do you have a difficult time controlling your temper?  Do you struggle to control your alcohol intake?  Do you suffer from depression?  Are you dealing with a medical condition?  Do you feel alienated from all your friends or your family?  Are you unemployed?  Are you struggling financially?  Are you experiencing a major change in your life right now?  Are you enduring something else, something unusual, something unexpected, something out of the ordinary?  Then listen again to what Paul has to tell you, “To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Corinthians 12:7–10, NIV84)

Though dealing with a thorn in the flesh is never a fun experience, it is something which the Lord places in our lives to remind us of his all sufficient grace.  It is something that the Lord does to force us to take our eyes off ourselves, point them heaven ward, fall to our knees and open our mouths in prayer.  It is in this way that the Lord seeks to draw us closer to himself even as he reminds us of the grace that he has lavished upon us.  For the grace our Lord has lavished upon us is the full measure of grace in Christ Jesus our Savior!  It is the grace that has been made perfect even in our weaknesses!  For, before we were even weak, when we were nothing more than road kill on the highway to hell, it was our Savior who found us and enlivened us with his love.  It was our Savior who healed us with his grace.  It was our Savior who restored us with the salve of his forgiveness and then led us of the highway of destruction to the path of eternal life.  It was our Savior who continues to remind us of his grace and his love for us as he walks beside us on the path to heaven.  It is our Savior who even assures us that no matter what we face in this life, though we may feel weak, though we may even be weak, his power is made perfect in our weakness, because his grace is sufficient for us!

So, even though we are living in a world that has accepted sin as normal, disregarded Christian values, seeks to ignore God’s Word, and simply refuses to listen to those who proclaim the truth, we will continue to live in the grace of Christ our Savior.  Though we are living in a world where we seem weak when our children and others fail to heed parental and pastoral admonition against sexual sins and living together before marriage, our strength to continue proclaiming God’s truth comes to us from the grace he bestows upon us by faith.  Though very few people heed what we have to say make known what the Lord has to say about abortion, and suicide, God’s strength is made complete in our weakness as we follow his will and speak his judgment against those who refuse to listen and his forgiveness to those who turn to him in repentance.  Though there are many who are trying as hard as they can to eliminate God from every aspect of our lives and even seeking to do away with those who clearly speak God’s Word, we are still strong.  We are strong in the grace that our Savior has lavished upon us, the grace of the forgiveness of sins; the grace, which assures us that our Savior will never leave us nor forsake us; the grace that assures us that no matter what we face, we belong to the Lord our God.

What greater reminder could the Lord give us today than the reminder of his grace and his love for us!  Though our memories might be selective at times and our personal memories may not always agree with our husband’s memory, our wife’s memory, or even our children’s, today we have been reminded and assured of the Lord’s grace.  For it is through his grace that we are strong through faith in our Lord Jesus.

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN

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

February 5, 2012

Dear friends in Christ.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN

Focus Your Faith on Christ (Matthew 14:22-33)

August 21, 2011

Dear friends in Christ.

If you’ve ever taken a picture, then you know just how important focus is.  Whether you use a high-end camera with all the attachable lenses, a simple digital camera, or even a one-time use camera that can be purchased at just about any drug store, you know that if you do not pay attention to the subjects upon which you are focusing, your picture won’t come out clearly.  Instead it may turn out fuzzy, grainy, with streaks, or maybe even as something that resembles, but is not completely unlike, a Picasso painting.  Well the same is true for our faith.  When our faith is not focused on Jesus Christ our Savior, we find that our faith is fuzzy, grainy, and streaky, but when we are focused on Jesus, the object and provider of our faith, we easily find the courage to deal with all the distractions, hardships, and frustrations that life brings our way. In fact, as we focus our attention on the next window in our Stained Glass Window Series, we see a very familiar picture.  We see the miracle of Jesus walking on the water.  Yet, if we take a step back, so to speak, and examine the events that took place on either side of Jesus walking on the water, we see a number of other miracles that are designed to help us focus our attention and our faith on Christ. 

In fact, as we take a look at our lesson today, let me remind you of some of those events.  Just before the events of our lesson in Matthew 14, Jesus had feed about 5,000 men with two small fish, which were somewhere between the size of sardines and small perch, and five loaves of bread that were not much bigger than dinner rolls.  Jesus had taken the bread and the fish, given thanks for it and then began dividing it among the 5,000 + people who were there.  Though this miracle was designed to help the people focus their faith on Jesus as their Savior, their focus was blurry for they saw Jesus as some sort of bread king who would provide them with everything they ever wanted if they could just force him to be their king.  Thus, Matthew records for us in chapter 14 beginning with verse 22: “Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24 but the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it. 25 During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear. 27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”(Matthew 14:22–27, NIV84)

Rather than allow his disciples to catch the frenzy of the crowd and encourage Jesus to become a bread king for the people, Jesus instructed his disciples to get into the boat and head back across to the other side of the Sea of Galilee.  He did this because he knew that they would be safer on the lake, dealing with the storm, than they would with the crowd having their faith blurred by false ideas.  He also did this so that he could dismiss the crowd and send them away, so that he could spend time with his Father in prayer.  For the truth is, this temptation by the crowd to become a king without suffering was no different than satan’s temptation to Jesus to bow down and worship him to inherit the kingdoms without suffering.  Yet, Jesus defeated these temptations and went off by himself to be with his Father in prayer.  He went off to pray to his Father, possibly for strength for himself, very likely for the people whose focus was blurred so that through the Word their faith would be sharpened and they would learn to focus their faith on Jesus, and very likely for his disciples as they were out on the Sea of Galilee struggling against the wind and the waves of a storm that was buffeting their boat.

Now, if this were a TV show, this is where the commercial would be.  We would see a picture of the disciples struggling against the wind and the waves, the screen would fade to black, and the commercial would begin.  Well, this morning, our commercial focuses on the Sea of Galilee.  If you don’t know that much about the Sea of Galilee, I’m here to tell you a little bit about it.  The Sea of Galilee was actually a small lake, located in the northern part of Israel, which was actually about 700 feet below sea level.  It was roughly 13 miles long at the longest point and about 7 miles wide at the widest point.  It was a lake that was surrounded by high hills on either side, so when the wind started blowing over the hills, violent storms could come up without warning, which is what had happened to the disciples.  Though the water was undoubtedly calm when they started off, one of those very storms came up, and the disciples began struggling to keep the boat from capsizing.  Even though they were experienced fishermen who knew well those very waters, they found themselves struggling with the storm for hours.  Though they had left shore in the evening, probably while it was still light, by the time Jesus approached them, walking on the water, it was somewhere between 3 and 6 in the morning.  They had probably been on the water for something like 9 hours battling the wind and the waves, and they had only made it about 1/3 of the way across the lake.  They were tired from the stress of fighting the storm.  They were exhausted from battling the wind and the waves.  So when they saw Jesus, walking to them on the lake, their minds gave way to alarm, alarm gave way to superstition, and they cried out in fear.

Now, as we sit here this morning, it could be easy for us to think poorly of the disciples for letting their fears get the best of them, but how often doesn’t the same thing happen to us?  How often don’t we allow our fears to get the better of us and blur our focus on Jesus Christ our Savior?  If we are honest with ourselves, I think we’d all have to admit that it happens more often that we like?  In fact, how often hasn’t it happened that you’ve scarred yourself silly while walking down a dark hallway, in a dark room, or down a dark street?  How often haven’t you scarred yourself by almost superstitiously thinking that someone or something is going to jump out and get you?  How often haven’t we given way to fear and lost focus on our Savior, if just for an instant, when we see the darkening sky, the flashes of lightning, the peals of thunder, and hear the tornado sirens calling for us to take immediate shelter.  How often haven’t we lost our focus on Christ as we’ve been distracted by the waves of bills and other financial responsibilities crashing all around us?  How often don’t other fears take hold, strip us of our courage, and change the focus of our faith away from Christ our Savior?  How often don’t we find ourselves unable to relax as financial worries overtake us?  How often don’t we find it difficult to sleep as worries about job security, or worries about things we’ve said, our countless other fears take hold, bring fear to the forefront and move our focus from our Savior to ourselves?  How often doesn’t the guilt of things we’ve done or things we’ve left undone weigh heavy on our hearts until our eyes are no longer focused on our Savior, but are bowed down to the earth beneath?  How often don’t our fears even cause us to doubt the Lord’s forgiveness or even his gift of eternal life?

If we are honest with ourselves, then we must admit that too often our fears get the better of us.  Too often our fears cause us to lose focus on the source of our strength and our Salvation.  Too often our fears lead us to doubt, despair, and even depression over the state of our forgiveness.  But that is when our Lord Jesus calls to us and says, “Take courage!  It is I.  Don’t be afraid.”  This is when we hear the voice of our Savior, calling to us, and helping us to refocus our faith in him.  We hear our Savior reassuring us that we are his and there is nothing that can snatch us out of his hand.  We hear him assuring us that all our sins have been completely washed away.  We hear him calling to us in the midst of our hardships and struggles and fears, helping us to readjust the focus of our faith so that it points to him, rather than all those other things.

This is exactly what Jesus’ words did for his disciples, for when he called out to them and told them, “Take courage! It is I.  Don’t be afraid.” (Matthew 14:27, NIV84)  For as soon as Jesus spoke these words, Peter’s faith was refocused, as Matthew tells us in verse 28: “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” 29 “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” 31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”(Matthew 14:28–31, NIV84)

When Peter stepped out of that boat, he was focused on his Lord.  He had no fear and he had no doubts.  He knew the water would hold him up, because Jesus allowed him to walk to walk to him on the water.  While he focused on Christ, he was able to walk on the stormy seas and the waves didn’t crash over him or threaten to knock him off his feet.  But when he took his eyes off his Savior and focused on the waves, they threatened to wash over him and sink him, and he began doubting that Jesus would protect him.  When he allowed the distractions of the wind and the waves to become his focus and lost focus on his Savior.  That was when he started to sink.  His fears and his doubts got the better of him and he began to sing.  But in the very next moment his focus cleared, he was fixed on his Savior, and he immediately called for Jesus’ help.

Well, just like Peter began to sink when he lost focus on Christ, so also we begin to sink when we take our eyes off of our Savior.  When we take our eyes off our Savior and are distracted by the world around us, troubles and hardships loom over us like ten-foot high waves, which threaten to crash down upon us.  We are hit by wave after wave of trouble, hardship and grief, which spin us around and we too start to sink and must cry out with Peter, “Lord save me!”  That is when our Lord reaches out his hand and catches us.  He pulls us back to him, re-focuses our faith on him, and helps us to fight the distractions around us!  We are able to deal with troubles and hardships that come, because they are not able to wash over us or knock us off our feet.  We are able walk a straight path through life. 

So dear friends, my prayer for you today is that the focus of your faith has been made that much sharper today.  I pray that in the same way photographers will carefully dial the focus on their cameras to get the best pictures, so also through Jesus’ word and his miracles your faith has been made that much sharper as your faith and your trust reside in the your Savior who has freed you from your sins and given you the gift of eternal life.  Though the Lord has never promised that it everything would work out perfectly when we are focused on him, when our focus is on our Savior, our walk is a straight path through troubles and hardships.  Continue to focus your faith on Christ so that your faith life does not resemble something like one of Picasso’s paintings, but rather clearly resembles and reflects your Savior, Jesus.

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

GraceEvangelical Lutheran Church -Le Sueur, MN