Jesus Reveals His Authority (Mark 1:29-39)

February 12, 2012

Dear friends in Christ.

Over the past number of years the TV series, Mythbusters has revealed the truth behind some very popular myths in our society.  Using scientific method, curiosity, and quite a bit of ingenuity they have revealed the truth behind some myths, the sheer implausibility behind others, and even revealed that some myths, as ridiculous as they might seem, are at least a possibility.  Well, in many ways, this is the very thing that Jesus is doing in our lesson today as he reveals himself as the Savior of the World who holds authority over all things!  For as we meet Jesus in our lesson today, we see him revealing his authority over sickness, over satan, and over all of our sins.  In fact, I invite you to open your Bibles to our lesson today and we’ll see just how Jesus is revealing his authority.

Now, as you are opening your Bibles to Mark 1:29, let me remind you of what was going on.  As we heard in our gospel lesson last week, it was the Sabbath day.  Jesus had been teaching in the synagogue, amazing the people because he was teaching with such authority, when suddenly a man with an evil spirit cried out, “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” (Mark 1:24, NIV84)  Immediately, Jesus had told the evil spirit to be quite and come out of the man, which amazed the people all the more.  Now, as our lesson begins in verse 29, we see what happened after Jesus and his disciples left the synagogue.  In fact, let’s start with verse 28:  “News about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee. 29 As soon as they left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew. 30 Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told Jesus about her. 31 So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them." (Mark 1:28–31, NIV84)

Though it had already been a busy day for Jesus, his day would soon be getting busier. Although Jesus was now heading to the home of Simon and Andrew, undoubtedly for a meal and some relaxation, he would soon be facing crowds of people who would come to see him. But now, as Jesus was in the home of Peter and Andrew, he had an opportunity to reveal his authority over sickness to the disciples who were present. For as our text told us, Simon’s Mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, yet, when Jesus took her hand and helped her up, the fever left her. Not only did the fever leave her, but Jesus healed her so completely that she got up and started to serve them the evening meal. That in itself was quite an amazing miracle. For if you think about it, you all know what it’s like to suffer with high fevers. You know how exhausted and how relived you feel when the fever finally breaks. You know how good it feels to curl up and sleep soundly knowing that you are on the road to recovery. But that’s not what happened with Peter’s Mother-in-law. When Jesus healed her, she was so completely healed and undoubtedly so completely thankful that she was immediately able to get up and work without the slightest bit of weariness.

This is how Jesus revealed his authority over sickness in our lesson today, and this is how Jesus reveals his authority over sickness in our lives as well. Though we have never had Jesus physically take our hands and help us out of bed when we’ve suffered with a fever, Jesus is the one who heals us. Though we are used to taking Aspirin or Tylenol, Advil or Aleve, or even Zicam for our cold symptoms, it is our Savior who makes them work. Though we are used to going to the doctor and getting some kind of prescription medicine to help us over come specific illnesses, it is our Savior who allowed us to discover them. For it is our Savior who has authority over our sicknesses and it is our Savior who sometimes allows our sicknesses to linger, but even if they should linger, even if head cold develops into Pneumonia, even if we should someday contract a terminal illness, it is still our Savior who heals us. It is still our Savior who demonstrates his authority over our sickness by taking it from us, or by taking us from it. For in his grace, when we are ill, Jesus either heals our sickness so that we can continue in our lives here on earth, or he heals them completely by taking us to his side in heaven. Either way our Savior’s authority reigns supreme.

But this is only one of the ways in which Jesus reveals his authority in our lives. For as our Savior, Jesus not only reveals his authority over sickness, but he also reveals his authority over our enemy the devil. In fact, this is what Mark is assuring us of as our lesson continues.  Take  a look at verses 32-34:  “That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. 33 The whole town gathered at the door, 34 and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was." (Mark 1:32–34, NIV84)

As we said, earlier that day, Jesus had been preaching in the synagogue, he had healed a man suffering from demon possession, and the news had spread like wild fire! Now, after the Sabbath had come to a close at sunset, the people from all over the area brought the sick and the demon possessed to Jesus. They brought them because they knew and believed that Jesus could heal them. They brought them so that Jesus could drive out the demons that were tormenting some of the people, and that is exactly what Jesus did. Jesus showed his authority over satan by driving out those demons. He showed his authority over satan by not allowing any of the demons to speak as they came out of the people. As he did this, Jesus showed in no uncertain terms, that satan’s power was no match for his own; Jesus showed that he was truly the Son of God who had authority even over our enemy, the devil.

Though the demon possession of people is something that we don’t hear about too often in our day and age, the things we do hear about are ghosts, ghost hunters, hauntings, and paranormal activity taking place all around the country. In fact, all you have to do is turn on the TV and you can see any number of shows talking about houses that attract seemingly benevolent spirits that seem to protect and care for the people living in those places. But at the same time we also hear about evil spirits who seem only to want to hurt or harm those around them. All you have to do is turn on your TV and you’ll find trailers for movies whose main focus is all about paranormal activity.  You’ll see adds for video games talking about the darkness that is used and “controlled” by some characters.  You’ll find any number of shows about psychics and other “ghost hunters” who go into houses to study, examine, try to explain, or finally attempt to drive those spirits away. Though many in the world hang on these shows and wonder about what is happening or find themselves becoming very spiritual because they are attracted to these things beyond their explanation, we as Christians see these things and know that satan and his evil angels are still at work in our world. When we see these things we know that satan is still working in these subtle ways to distract us away from the truth of God’s Word and even to make us wonder if our God really isn’t powerful enough to deal with satan.

But even though this is what our enemy is working to do, we can take comfort in the knowledge that Jesus not only has authority over satan, but when Jesus went to the cross, he defeated satan once and for all. For there on the cross, satan did indeed strike Jesus’ heal, but in turn, Jesus crushed Satan’s head. There on that cross, satan thought he was sure to win when Jesus died, but by his death, Jesus not only crushed statn’s head into the ground, he completely and utterly destroyed any power that satan ever held over us. Then, as his body lay in the grave, Jesus triumphantly marched through hell itself to proclaim his victory over the devil.  Because of this, we know that satan cannot touch us. Though he tempts us, we can resist him through the power of God’s Word. Though there will be times when he succeeds and lead us into sin, we know that we are forgiven through Jesus’ blood, and because we have been covered with Jesus’ blood, we know that nothing can harm us. Though there are evil spirits lose in the world causing hauntings, sightings, paranormal activity, and even masquerading as benevolent spirits, we know that these are nothing more than the panicked fallings of our defeated enemy who cannot touch us because we are protected by our Savior.  This is the authority that Jesus reveals to us as he demonstrates his power and authority over satan, his evil angels, and yes, even over our sins.

What greater revelation of authority could there be for us!  What greater comfort could there be for us as Christians than the knowledge that Jesus reveals as he reveals his authority over our sins.  For when Jesus went to the cross, he not only defeated satan once and for all, by his bloody sacrifice he finally and completely washed away each and every sin we had ever committed and every will commit.  This, in fact, was the message that Jesus was sent to proclaim, as Mark tells us in the last verses of our lesson today: “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. 36 Simon and his companions went to look for him, 37 and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!” 38 Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” 39 So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons." (Mark 1:35–39, NIV84)

While Jesus was in Capernaum, he preached the Gospel and called many to faith. He showed his power and authority as the Son of God by healing people and driving out demons. But now, when his disciples found him that morning, Jesus expressed the desire to continue on so that he might preach the Gospel in other places as well. He expressed the desire to move on so that he might teach others that he was the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

This is what Jesus is doing for you and me today! He is revealing his authority as our Savior who cleanses us from our sins. He is assuring us that he is the one who went to the cross to forgive our sins, to make us children of God, and to make us heirs of eternal life. He is assuring us that no matter what sins we might have committed, by his authority, he is able to wipe the slate clean. So, no matter what sins you might be dealing with, you can be assured that Jesus has forgiven them.  Though you might feel that your sins are like leaches that simply won’t let go, Jesus has sprinkled the salt of his blood upon them and made them release.  Though you may feel that your sins have covered your souls like the burned on grease and grime that covers the drip trays beneath your stove’s burners, Jesus has come with the grease bomb of his blood and completely cleaned us.  Though you may feel that your sins have completely over run and killed your souls like the salt spray from the roads kills off the grass on boulevards every year, Jesus has come with the True Green treatment of his blood, cleansed away the salt of our sins, revitalized us, and made us whole, strong, and healthy blades in the field of his kingdom!

What greater authority could Jesus reveal to us today!  What greater comfort could we receive from the pen of the Evangelist Mark!  For today, Jesus has gone head to head with some very popular myths about his power and revealed his authority over all things.  In such a clear way he has revealed his authority over our sicknesses, over our enemy satan, and even over our sins.  He is truly the Son of God our Savior who has taken care of all these things for us and continues to care for us each and every day.  What greater comfort could there be than the comfort that comes in knowing that Jesus is our Savior who has revealed his authority over all things.

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN

Learn from Jesus' Lessons on Avoiding Temptation (Matthew 4:1-11)

March 13, 2011

Dear friends in Christ.

I think it was about 10 years ago when I first heard of the Do It Yourself, the DIY, Network. I remember being intrigued by the different levels of projects that they displayed, and being especially impressed at how they laid it all out so simply for people so that they could do it themselves. Since then, DIY has grown. All you have to do is type DIY into an Internet search engine and you will have millions of results in about 1/10 of a second. So if you need to know how to do something, with just a few key strokes you can find instructions on any topic under the sun. Well, in some ways, you could say that our lesson today is a bit of a DIY project, because as we study this section of Matthew, we will see Jesus showing us exactly how to resist and avoid temptation. Now, understand, this is not Jesus teaching us how to be holy, perfect, or sinless! Rather, this is Jesus teaching us by his word and his example how to live in our faith and avoid temptation. In fact, I invite you to open your Bibles to our Gospel lesson, to Matthew 4:1-11 and we’ll take a look at the lessons that Jesus is teaching us on avoiding temptation.

Now, as you are turning to Matthew 4, let me remind you of the events that took place just prior to our lesson today. John the Baptist had been preaching and preparing the people for the coming of Jesus. Then suddenly, without warning, Jesus had appeared at the Jordan requesting Baptism by John. After Jesus was baptized God the Father spoke from heaven and the Holy Spirit descended on him as a dove, and immediately Jesus went out into the wilderness. This is where we begin with Jesus’ lessons on avoiding temptation. We begin with lesson 1: Listen to the Lord your God. Take a look at what Matthew records, “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, ‘If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.’ Jesus answered, ‘It is written: “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” ’ ” (Matthew 4:1-4). It was just after Jesus’ baptism when this event took place. For after the Holy Spirit had descended on Jesus he led Jesus out into the wilderness where he was to be tempted by the devil. As part of his preparation, Jesus had been fasting for the past forty days and forty nights. He had not eaten anything for over a month! He was undoubtedly being wracked by intense pangs of hunger, and was surely growing weak from lack of food. This was the opportune time the devil wanted, and this was when satan came to Jesus to tempt him!

But did you notice what satan did as I read the text for you? He appealed his temptation to Jesus’ hunger, but he disguised the temptation with religious talk. For he came to Jesus saying, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” With these words, satan was playing to Jesus’ human nature trying to get him to doubt that he truly was the Son of God, and trying to get him to doubt that the Lord God would take care of him. He was in effect trying to suggest that it was beneath the Son of God to go without food! After all, if Jesus really was the Son of God, he would have had the power to create food out of nothing and eat rather than wander around this wilderness starving himself simply because his Father in heaven had commanded him to. Basically, with this temptation, satan was trying to play to what he perceived as a weakness for Jesus.

This is the same thing that the devil does to us. When he tempts us, he always plays to our weaknesses. He focuses on our pet sins, entices us, and makes us want to do something we know is absolutely wrong. Even when we are wise to his temptations, and feel that we are ready to contend with him, he disguises his real temptation, as he did with Jesus, and leads us right around the defenses we’ve set up until we are wallowing around in the pool of the sins which we had hoped to avoid. This is when we need to learn a lesson from Jesus’ examples and listen to the Lord our God as he did. For on our own, we will constantly fall into temptation, but when we follow Jesus’ examples, he will help us stand against our enemy. This is what Jesus did when he was tempted. He didn’t use his almighty power to send satan packing, rather, he used God’s Word. For when satan tempted him to turn those stones in to bread, Jesus simply replied: “Man does not live on bread alone, but every word that comes out of the mouth of God.” In effect, Jesus was saying, “I will listen to what the Lord my God commands, and not you.”

This is the example that Jesus gives for us to follow. For when we are tempted, we have the Word of our Lord to which we also can listen. We have his Word recorded for us in the pages of Scripture, and when we are daily reading our Bibles, we are that much better prepared to face temptations. For when satan comes to tempt us, we can listen to the Lord by simply reminding ourselves of what he tells us in his word. When satan tempts us to steal, we can remember that the Lord says no. When satan tempts us to lie, we can remember how the Lord tells us to let our yes be yes and our no, no. When satan tempts us to do anything, we can listen to the soft, still voice of the Lord our God as he speaks to us through the Bible. Then, as we listen to the Lord our God, we can avoid the temptation into which satan is trying to lead us. Though there will still be times when satan’s temptations get the better of us and we fall into sin, when we turn to the Lord in repentance he will forgive us. When he forgives us he also equips us to listen to him all the more carefully, as we use his word to avoid temptation.

However, the problem is that this is never a onetime battle! The problem is that satan and all his evil angels are crafty individual who are always looking for a way around our line of defense, and just as the Germans marched right around France’s Maginot Line during World War II, satan’s forces quickly find a way to flank our fortifications. This is exactly what satan was trying to do to Jesus after his first temptation failed, and it is this second temptation that leads us into Jesus’ second lesson on avoiding temptation. Let’s take a look at what Matthew tells us, “Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. ‘If you are the Son of God,’ he said, ‘throw yourself down. For it is written:’ “He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” ’ Jesus answered him, ‘It is also written: `Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” (Matthew 4:5-7).

As satan lead Jesus to the highest point of the temple he tried to lead Jesus in to a false trust in God. Though Jesus had brilliantly proven he was the Son of God by listening to what the Lord said and trusting that the Lord would sustain him, satan was now trying to maneuver around that defense by getting Jesus to prove his trust. Quite simply, satan was playing on Jesus’ trust in the Lord and trying to use that trust against him. But Jesus’ trust never once wavered, because Jesus, the Author of the Scriptures recognized that satan was setting one Scripture against another. Yet, even as satan did this, Jesus demonstrated his trust in the Lord by placing one Scripture along side of another when he answered satan for Jesus basically responded, “It is true that the Lord has charged his angels to take care of his children, but it is also written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test!’ ”

Well, just as satan used this ploy against Jesus in the wilderness, so he also uses it against us on a regular basis. In fact, it is because we have placed our faith squarely in the Lord that satan constantly seeks to make us doubt that decision, by seeking to make us doubt the Lord himself. Just think about how satan tries to chip away at our trust when bad things happen in our lives. He subtly begins to plant doubts in our minds about the goodness of our God. He makes us wonder, “Why is this happening to me?” “What have I done to deserve this?” He even goes so far as to remind us that the Bible assures us that God loves his children, but we must not be his children if all these things are happening to us. He is right there telling us that the Bible says that God watches over those he loves, but he must not love us, if we are going through such frustrating hardships. And in doing this, satan is seeking to drive a wedge between us and our Lord. He is seeking to weaken our trust in the Lord our God. He is hoping to make us doubt the Lord’s love and give into the temptation to trust ourselves and turn away from the Lord. Though there are times when he succeeds in weakening or even breaking our trust in the Lord, when we turn to the Lord in repentance, it is the Lord who forgives us. It is the Lord who renews us. It is the Lord who reestablishes our trust in him and gives us the ability to trust him all the more. In fact, it is the Lord who assures us that when we completely place our trust in him, satan is not able to tempt us, because the Lord is on our side and fighting for us.

But once again, the problem still remains! Satan does not give up easily. He will continue to tempt us and tempt us as long as he is able. That is why Jesus’ third lesson to us is this: resist the devil and he will flee from you. When satan came tempting Jesus, this is exactly what Jesus did. Just as Matthew tells us in our lesson: “Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. ‘All this I will give you,’ he said, ‘if you will bow down and worship me.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Away from me, Satan! For it is written: “Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.” ’ Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.” (Matthew 4:8-11).

When it came to the last temptation of the day, satan pulled out all the stops. He took Jesus to a high mountain, and because the Lord allowed him to, he showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and all their splendor. Then he simply said, “All this can be yours if you simply bow down to me and worship me.”

With these words, satan was trying to tempt Jesus with an easy way out. He was trying to tempt Jesus with an easy way out because he knew why Jesus had come to the earth. He knew that Jesus had come to the earth to suffer and to die for the sins of the world. He knew the horrors that Jesus would endure as he hung on that cross suffering under the weight of all those sins. He knew that in his human nature this would be something that Jesus just wasn’t looking forward to, and with this temptation, he was trying to get Jesus to take the easy way out. In effect he was saying, “Why go through all that pain and agony and suffering to attain the glory which the Lord has promised, when I can give you all that glory right now if you just bow down and worship me.” But what was Jesus’ response? “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’ Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.” (Matthew 4:10-11).

How often doesn’t satan do the same thing to us? How often doesn’t he tempt us to take the easy way out? How often doesn’t he whisper in our ears, “You know it’s so hard to get up in the morning to get to church on time, maybe you should just sleep in today.” How often doesn’t he try to convince us, “You know, God will understand if you miss church from time to time. He understands that you are busy and that you might want to go to church but your job has to take precedence over worship.” How many times doesn’t he try to convince you that you get more out of worshiping God in nature than you do from sitting in church and listening to the Pastor drone on and on about nothing. How often doesn’t it happen that he succeeds and we take the easy way out? Though there are times when we give in and take the easy way out, when we turn to the Lord in repentance, it is the Lord who forgives us. It is the Lord who builds us up, and it is the Lord who reminds us that when we resist the devil, he will flee from us. Sometimes it may happen with a single rebuke to our enemy. Other times we may have to stand our ground five, six, seven, or even more times as satan comes at us with stronger and stronger temptations. Yet, as Jesus taught us today, we know that when we resist satan, by the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, satan must flee from us

Yet, while these lessons should be aptly learned, there is one final lesson we need to keep in mind. In fact, it is the very lesson that has been intertwined with the three we have learned here today and that lesson is simply this: when we do fall into temptation, turn to the Lord in repentance for forgiveness. Though by listening to the Lord our God, by placing our trust squarely in him, and by resisting the devil, we will avoid temptation, we are not perfect like our Savior, and we do fall into temptation. But when we do, we don’t need to beat ourselves up over it, because Jesus Christ our Savior, who endured all of satan’s temptations and never once fell into sin, is the one who forgives us. This is our comfort when we do fall Jesus Christ has forgiven all of our sins, and we can rely on his salvation.

What greater lessons could Jesus be teaching us today than these lesson on avoiding temptation. For it is through his example we have learned that through faith we are able to avoid satan’s temptation by listening to the Lord our God, by placing our faith squarely in the Lord, and resisting the devil until he flees from us. But best of all the lessons is the assurance that when we do fall into temptation all is not lost. Rather we can always turn to the Lord our God in repentance and he will forgive us. he will forgive us, strengthen us, and give us yet one more opportunity to learn from his lesson on avoiding temptation.


Amen.

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

Raise your hearts in fervent prayer (Matthew 6:9-13)

Sermon Hymn 410: Our Father, Who from Heaven Above
Tune: Vater Unser Im Himmelreich, Der Du: 88 88 88

1. Our Father, who from heav'n above Bids all of us to live in love
As members of one family And pray to you in unity,
Teach us no thoughtless words to say, But from our inmost hearts to pray.

2. Your name be hallowed. Help us, Lord, In purity to keep your Word,
That to the glory of your name We walk before you free from blame.
Let no false doctrine us pervert; All poor, deluded souls convert.

Dear friends in Christ.

A story has long been told about two monks who were discussing the Lord’s Prayer and their ability to pray it completely while concentrating on it fully. The first monk said with sorrow and frustration, “I can’t do it! I try and I try, but invariably somewhere in the middle of the prayer my mind wanders and I start thinking about other things.” “Really,” said the second monk. “I have no problem praying the Lord’s Prayer or concentrating on what I am saying.” The first monk looked quizzically at the second and said, “I don’t believe you! I’ll bet you my horse that you cannot say the Lord’s Prayer without being distracted and thinking about something else.” So the second monk took the bet. He took a deep breath to help clear his mind and focus his thoughts. He folded his hands, closed his eyes, bowed his head, and began praying. But before he even reached the petition asking that the Lord’s will be done on heaven and on earth, he stopped, looked at the first monk and said, “I guess you were right. Everything was going fine. I was focused and concentrating on what I was saying, and then I suddenly wondered if the saddle would come with the horse.”

How often doesn’t the same thing happen to us? How often don’t we begin speaking the words of the Lord’s Prayer when suddenly three or four different thoughts crowd their way into our minds and we simply stop paying attention to the words we are speaking? How often doesn’t it happen that we hear the Pastor say something like, “We join to pray the prayer that Jesus taught, and the next thing we realize is that we are saying, “Amen” and we are continuing on with the Communion liturgy or sitting down to sing the next hymn? How often haven’t we simply taken the Lord’s Prayer for granted? How often haven’t we simply prayed it without considering what we are praying for? How often haven’t we been upset because we were in a church that used that other version of the Lord’s Prayer, the one with which we are not so familiar, and we had to open our hymnals and read it, and think about the words we were saying; instead of simply reciting it verbatim without a care in the world? We’ve all done this! We have all failed to focus on what we were praying as we fervently prayed the Lord’s Prayer. It is for this very reason that we want to take a closer look at the Lord’s Prayer today so that we might grow in our understanding of what we are praying, and so that we might be better able to focus our attention on what we are so fervently praying to the Lord with these words.

To our text! Take a look at Matthew 6:9” “This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,’” (Matthew 6:9, NIV). With these words, Jesus himself is inviting us to believe that God is our one true Father in heaven and that through faith in him and his Son Jesus, we are his true children. With these words, Jesus is teaching us that we can pray to the Lord God our heavenly Father as boldly and confidently as children speak to their parents here on earth. With these words, Jesus is teaching us that we can bring any problem, hardship, frustration, concern, item of joy or praise to our heavenly Father at any time and he will hear us, he will listen, and he will answer our prayer as we fervently pray to him and ask that his name be kept holy.

Now, if you think about it, God’s name is already holy in itself, even without our asking. But when we are praying that the Lord’s name be hallowed, we are asking that we too might keep it holy. We are asking for his help and his blessing in keeping his name holy, because God’s Name is hallowed, when his Word is taught in its truth and purity. God’s Name is hallowed when we, as God’s children, live holy lives according to his Word, and as we pray that his name be kept holy, we are asking our Father in heaven to help us do that very thing so that through our lives others might see our faith and have the opportunity to learn about their Savior through the message of the Gospel. This is God’s will for our lives that his kingdom comes to us and many others through the message of his Word. Join me in singing about his kingdom and his will in stanza’s 3 and 4 of hymn 410:

3. Your kingdom come, we humbly pray, That Christ may rule in us today
And that your Holy Spirit bring Still more to worship Christ as King.
Break Satan's pow'r, defeat his rage; Preserve your Church from age to age.

4. Your gracious will on earth be done Just as in heav'n around your throne,
That patiently we may obey Throughout our lives all that you say.
Curb sinful flesh and ev'ry ill That sets itself against your will.

Such beautiful words the hymnist uses to expound what we are praying in those two very beautiful petitions form Matthew 6:10: “your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10, NIV). How strange it is that we as Christians should be praying such a petition as, “your kingdom come.” After all, we know that God’s kingdom will certainly come even without our asking, but when we speak these words, we are asking that God’s kingdom would come to us and to many others through the Holy Spirit whom the Father sends into our hearts through his Word and Sacraments. We are asking our heavenly Father to send his Holy Spirit into our hearts and the hearts of many others so that we all might believe his Word and lead a holy and godly life here on earth, through faith, and forever in heaven by God’s grace. This is God’s good and gracious will for our lives!

Again, God’s will would certainly be done without our prayer! Yet, whenever we pray, “Thy will be done;” we are praying that the Lord our God would break down and defeat every evil plan and purpose of the devil, this sin-filled world, and even our own sinful flesh. We are asking the Lord to strengthen us and keep us strong in our faith and firm in his word so that we might keep his name holy with our lives and his kingdom might come to others through our words and actions. That is God’s good and gracious will for our lives, that satan would be defeated, that the Lord would use us to spread his word to the nations, and that he would call many others to faith in Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.

This is our fervent prayer to the Lord as we speak the words which our Savior has given. Though the petitions, to this point, have been rather straight forward and easy for us to speak, as we come to the Fourth and Fifth Petitions, we find ourselves in a little more difficult territory. Though these words roll off the tongue so easily without a thought, when we stop to consider their meaning, they become that much more difficult for us to speak. Join me in singing these petitions from stanzas 5 and 6 of hymn 410:

5. Give us today our daily bread, And let us all be clothed and fed.
From hardship, war, and earthly strife, From sickness, famine, spare our life.
Let selfishness and worry cease That we may live in godly peace.

6. Forgive our sins, Lord, we implore, That they may trouble us no more;
We, too, will gladly those forgive Who hurt us by the way they live.
Help us in our community To serve each other willingly.

So how did you feel as you sung the words of these two stanzas? Did you find these words easy to sing or did you find them a little more difficult than you expected as they so clearly expounded on what Jesus tells us in verse 11 and 12 of Matthew 6: “Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” (Matthew 6:11-12, NIV). But why is it that these petitions are so difficult for us? The answer is quite simple; because we are asking our God not only to teach us to rely on him for all things, but to live in love and forgiveness for each other. In fact, just think about what we are saying when we ask our God to give us our daily bread. We are asking him to provide everything that we need for our body and life on a daily basis. We are asking him to help us realize that he graciously gives us all these things and more, even without our asking, even to those who are wicked. But we are asking him to help us realize that all our blessings come from him and that he will provide all that we need, which is something that so few of us do because it is so contrary to our human nature. All we have to do is look at our budget and calculate how much we are paying in credit card interest and other deferred payments for things that we may not have needed but simply felt that we couldn’t live without in order to find our level of trust in the Lord’s ability to know what we need and provide all that we need every day.

Yet even as we have sinned against the Lord by not trusting him, we are asking him to forgive us. Yet this is also where it becomes difficult for us. Though it is easy to pray that the Lord would forgive our debts, our sins; it is not as easy to pray, as we have forgiven our debtors—those who have sinned against us. This, too, goes completely against our human nature. We long to hold on to our grudges and remember what this person or that person did against us. We see it as a source of pride to withhold forgiveness from someone who sinned against us. Yet we fervently pray for our God to forgive us, we are asking him for the strength to forgive others as well. We are praying that the Lord would neither look upon our sins, nor deny our prayers because of our sins, even though we sin on a daily basis and deserve only his wrath and punishment. Yet, as we approach our heavenly Father, we ask him to act in mercy because of our Savior, forgive us of all our sins, and help us to do the same for those who have sinned against us. We ask him to help us reflect the love our Savior has for us by forgiven others, even as Jesus has already forgiven all of us.

This is the forgiveness in which we all live; the forgiveness that is ours through faith in Jesus, who poured out his blood and took back his life to save us. This is the forgiveness that now moves us to live in his love, love our neighbor as our selves, and forgive those who sin against us. This is the forgiveness that no moves us to pray that the Lord deliver us from temptation and all evil, just as we sing in stanzas 7 and 8 of hymn 410:

7. Into temptation lead us not. When evil foes against us plot
And vex our souls on ev'ry hand, Oh, give us strength that we may stand
Firm in the faith, a mighty host, Through comfort of the Holy Ghost.

8. From evil, Lord, deliver us; The times and days are perilous.
Redeem us from eternal death, And, when we yield our dying breath,
Console us, grant us calm release, And take our souls to you in peace.

Just as we sang so beautifully in our hymn we pray so fervently with those words from verse 13 of Matthew 6: “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” (Matthew 6:13, NIV) Though we know that God does not lead anyone into sin or even tempt them to sin, with these words we fervently pray that the Lord our God would guard us and keep us so that satan, this sinful world, and our traitorous-sinful flesh would not deceive us, or lead us into false belief, despair, or any other sins for that matter. Instead, with these words, we fervently pray that with God’s help we may overcome these and other temptations and win the victory over them as God himself delivers us from the evil one—our enemy, the devil.

This, too, is our fervent prayer that God our Father would deliver us from every evil that would threaten our body and soul, even our property and reputation. Not only that, but we also pray that when our time comes, the Lord would grant us a blessed end by calling us out of this life to his side forever in heaven. This is our fervent prayer to the Lord our God who promises to hear us, answer us, forgive us, provide for us, and deliver us from every form of evil.

Thus, we come to the end of the Lord’s prayer as recorded in the Bible. Though it was a little different in the account in Luke than it is in Matthew, there is no place where the doxology is recorded in the Scriptures. So I cannot point to you any specific passage in the Bible where you can read, “For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever.” But even though they may not appear in any specific passage of Scripture, they undoubtedly echo many of the praises found in the Scriptures which describe how the Lord’s kingdom, power and glory shall endure forever. Interestingly enough, these very words were included with the Lord’s prayer in the Didache, which was essentially the Catechism for Christians back in about 100 AD. They were the words that we sang in response to the reading of the Lord’s Prayer during the communion service back when we used The Lutheran Hymnal, and they are words that have stuck. They are words of praise and glory that we proclaim before we say Amen, which is our statement of confidence that the Lord will hear and answer our prayer. Thus we say Amen at the end of our prayer, for this simple word declares, “Yes, it shall be so.” Yes, it shall be so thus declares our confidence in approaching our heavenly Father in this way, for not only has he commanded us to pray and promised to hear us, but these are the very words that Jesus has given us to pray.

So now, as we continue fervently praying the Lord’s Prayer, each and every week, I pray that this brief explanation will help you more thoroughly concentrate on what you are saying as you speak those familiar words that our Savior gave us. Thus, as we bring this sermon to a close, let us join our hearts and voices in singing the Amen from stanza 9 of hymn 410:

9. Amen, that is, it shall be so. Make strong our faith that we may know
That we may doubt not but believe What here we ask we shall receive.
Thus in your name and at your Word We say, "Amen. Oh, hear us, Lord!"

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church Le Sueur, MN

Listen to the Word of God (Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23)

Dear friends in Christ.

When I was growing up, my mom was an avid follower of the TV show M*A*S*H*. Each week she made time to watch the new episodes as they came out, and then, when the re-runs began airing each afternoon on channel 9, she could be found watching them as she had the opportunity. It was because of her love for the show that I found myself constantly watching the show. Though I can’t say I was ever as big a fan as she was, because of the pattern of viewing M*A*S*H* episodes every afternoon, I’m pretty sure that I’ve seen most of the episodes. In fact, of all the episodes aired in the afternoons, the one I remember the most is the episode where Alan Alda’s character, Hawkeye Pierce, temporarily lost his eyesight. At first, he was scared and angry that he had lost his eyesight because a gas from a heater stove had flared back in his face, and he was worried that he might never regain his eyesight. Yet, as the episode went on he began using his other senses in ways he had never used them before; especially his hearing. In fact, in one conversation with his tent mate, he told how he had grown to simply love listening. He had spent the entire morning just sitting and listening to the rain as it fell. As he listened, he heard the different textures of sounds as the rain fell on the canvass of the tent and splashed into puddles. He even spoke about how funny it was to hear the sounds of someone slipping in the mud, falling, and splashing into a puddle. Because he wasn’t able to use his eyes, he began relying on his ears and he focused on intently listening to the world around him.

When it comes to God’s Word, we could take a lesson from this episode of M*A*S*H*. For the truth is, there are times when each and every one of us needs to lose our eyesight for the word of God, so to speak, so that we are forced to pay attention and listen to what the Lord has to say to us in his word. For the truth is, so often we see what the Lord has to say, or we hear what he has to say, but we don’t really pay attention, because in some ways, God’s Word has become something that we take for granted, as many of us take our eyesight for granted. Sometimes, it seems that what we really need to do is take time to close the eyes of our sinful logic and actively listen to what the Lord is telling us with his Word.

As we study the Word of God before us today, I invite you to do just that. I invite you to close the eyes of your logic and reason as you actively listen to the Word of God with me by opening your Bibles to our Gospel lesson today, which can be found on page 968. Now, as we read just a few minutes ago, Matthew 13 is the very familiar account of Jesus teaching the crowds of people by the Sea of Galilee. It was one of those days that so many people had gathered to hear the Word of God that Jesus had to step into a boat and push off from shore a little ways so that he could be certain that the people would be able to hear what he was saying, because as he spoke the words of the parable to them. He was telling them exactly why it was so important for them to listen to the Word of God. We read in verse 3 and 4 of Matthew 13: “A farmer went out to sow his seed and as he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up” (Matthew 13:3,4).

As you know, farmers no longer walk up and down their fields scattering seeds. Instead we see them driving their tractors up and down, planting something like 16 rows at a time. But not even this guarantees complete safety for the seeds as you can often see flocks of birds circling the skies over a field that is being planted. You can watch as those birds start flying right behind the planter, land in the field and snatch up any of the seeds that they can after the planter has gone by. This is the danger that Jesus is warning us against as he calls on us to listen to the Word of God. As Jesus says in verse 19: Jump down to verse 19 with me and listen to Jesus’ explanation. He says, “When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path,” (Matthew 13:19).

In the same way that the birds longed to snatch the seeds form the sower, so also satan is always eager snatch the gospel away from us. That is his goal right now, even this morning, as the Word of God is being sown into your hearts. He is eagerly seeking ways to keep you from listening to the Word of God this morning so that he can snatch it away from you. He is looking for ways that he can snatch it away from you so that you will not hear it and will not grow in your faith and be strengthened in your faith. And yet, this is not his only goal. Though satan is patient and constantly seeking ways to distract us and snatch the Word from us, he also knows that he won’t be able to snatch it away from every one. He knows that there will be many in whose hearts the Word of God will be planted because they have listened to that Word, so for them he forms other plans. These are the plans that Jesus explains to us in verse 5-7 of chapter 13: Jesus tells us, “Some [seeds] fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among the thorns, which grew up and choked the plants,” (Matthew 13:5-7).

I’d be willing to bet that you’ve noticed things like this as you drove passed different fields. Perhaps you’ve noticed a spot in a field of corn, or wheat, or soybeans that was a whole lot shorter than the rest of the field. Maybe it was a spot in the field that was simply dead. Though you could tell that the crops had once been thriving there, now there was nothing left, or if there was anything left it was just a huge patch of weeds. Again, these are descriptions of what satan longs to do to our faith when we take time to listen to the Word. As Jesus explains in verse 20-22 of chapter 13: Jesus says, beginning with verse 20: “The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away. The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful,” (Matthew 13:20-22).

Because we have listened to the Word of God and faith has been planted in our hearts, our crafty adversary will stop at nothing to destroy that faith. He will do everything he can, use every weapon in his arsenal, as he seeks to scorch our faith with hardship and choke it out with temptations. How often haven’t we felt the scorching heat of sickness, broken bones, terminal illness, job loss, financial troubles, bankruptcies and all the other hardships that seek to cause us to stop listening to God’s Word and doubt his love and promises? How often hasn’t satan sought to wither our faith as even our most trusted friends turn against us and laugh at us for belonging to a church like Grace? How often haven’t we been surprised by how many weeds satan has planted in our hearts; weeds that he hopes will wind their roots around the roots of our faith to choke it out from beneath even as its quick growth is designed to keep our faith from the light of God’s Word? How often don’t those weeds begin as simple little weeds that quickly grow into huge weeds of worries and despair that grow so dense all we hear is the rustling of our problems and we are long longer listening to the Word of God?

These are but a few of the ways that satan is constantly trying to distract us from the Word of God so that he can destroy our faith, and these are the very reasons why we need to be continually listening to the Word of God. We need to be continually listening to the Word of God, because it is God’s Word alone that strengthens our faith in our Savior and enables us to guard against our enemy. We need to be constantly listening to the Word of God for the strengthening of our faith as well as the comfort we receive in knowing that we belong to the Lord who has freed us from our sins, and will one day gather us into the store houses of heaven along with the rest of the harvest. Let’s take a closer look at that very assurance that the Lord gives us in verse 8 of Matthew 13: Jesus tells us: “Still other seed fell on the good soil where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown,” (Matthew 13:8).

If you’ve ever driven through the United States of America, you would have noticed that each state seems to have a different color soil. In Wisconsin the soil color varies from reddish-brown to sandy-brown. Down in Southern states like Kentucky, Tennessee, and Georgia you will often find soil with a reddish hue. Over in South Dakota they have some good dark colored soil, but I still haven’t found dark rich soil like we have here in Minnesota. Now, you can say that I’m biased, having grown up here, but truthfully, I have never seen any richer soil than what we have right here. This is the kind of soil that produces not merely abundant cops but often times produces a super abundance of what is planted in it. This is the kind of soil that our Savior is speaking about in his parable, and this is the type of soil into which the seed of the word was planted when it was planted into our hearts. Just as Jesus tells us in verse 23, “the one who received the seed that fell on the good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it,” (Matthew 13:23).

Though satan continually seeks to scorch our faith and choke it out with weeds of sorrow and temptation, Jesus assures us that we who have listened to his Word, have had that Word planted in the rich soil of our hearts and it has been growing there ever since. Now that the Lord has planted the seed of faith in our hearts, Jesus calls on us to be constantly listening to his Word, because it is that Word which waters our faith so it will grow. It is God’s Word that pulls out all the weeds that satan plants in our hearts so that our faith might stretch toward the light of the Word and continue to grow. It is the Word of God that continually cultivates the soil of our hearts so that the roots of our faith can grow down deep, so that not even the windstorm of satan’s temptations can uproot our faith in Jesus Christ our Savior.

So as you continue on in your Christian service, continue to listen to the Word of God. Make God’s Word a priority for your lives and set aside time each day to read it, study it, meditate on it, and listen to it. In the same way that Hawkeye Pierce was forced to utilize his other senses, especially his sense of listening, when he was accidentally blinded, so also we need to take time each day to close the eyes of our human logic and reason and open our ears to listen to the sweet message of the Gospel. When we do this there may be times when we will be surprised to hear what the Lord is saying, there will be times when we are shocked. There will be times when we will be convicted. But every time we read we will find comfort in the gospel, assurance of the forgiveness of sins, and the comfort that comes from knowing we are God’s people destined for the harvest home of heaven.

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church Le Sueur, MN

Marvel at the Lord's Salvation (Romans 10:8-13)

Dear friends in Christ.

Between my senior year of High School and my first year of college, my family traveled to Estes Park Colorado for a couple weeks of family vacation. However, on the way we stopped at any number of sightseeing places. We stopped at Wall Drug, we drove through the Black Hills, and of course, we stopped at Mt. Rushmore National Park. Now, when I saw Mt. Rushmore for the first time, I couldn’t help but marvel at what I was seeing! For there before me were the faces of four famous presidents expertly carved out of solid rock. Though I had seen the films showing what the workers went through and how they blasted and chiseled the rock away to reveal the faces within, I was astounded by what they were able to accomplish. Even now, after I have seen the monument as many as ten times, I still marvel at what Victor Borgland and his workers were able to accomplish on the side of that hill. But even though what they accomplished there was an amazing feat, it is nothing compared to the salvation, which the Lord has chiseled in to each and every one of our hearts today. In fact, as we study the word of God before us, we will have one more opportunity to marvel at the Lord’s salvation. And as we do this, as we marvel at the Lord’s salvation, we will find that it not only belongs to you and me by faith, but that it also belongs to all who trust in Jesus Christ as their Savior!

Yes, dear friends, as we have gathered to study God’s Word this morning, we cannot help but marvel at the Lord’s salvation because it does indeed belong to each and every one of us through faith in Jesus Christ our Savior! This, in fact, is exactly what the Apostle Paul is assuring us of as he writes in our text today: “‘The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,’ that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. (Romans 10:8-10)

Now, when Paul first wrote these words, he wrote them to assure us that salvation belongs to us, not because of anything we have done, but simply through faith in Jesus Christ our Savior! For, as we heard in our Gospel lesson last week, it was Jesus, our Savior, who defeated satan for us, and opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers! Though satan offered Jesus three incredibly appealing temptations designed to entice him to take the easy way out, Jesus stood his ground, and did not fall. He made his defense in with the Word of God and finally satan was forced to flee. Though satan continued to rear his ugly head, tempting Jesus every chance he got, Jesus continued to win battle after battle against his adversary. He defeated satan in the wilderness. He defeated in Nazareth when the people rejected him and tried to push him off the brow of the hill. He defeated satan as we heard in our Gospel Lesson this morning when the Pharisees tried to scare Jesus off form completing his mission. He defeated satan in Jerusalem as the Pharisees continued to try to trap Jesus and discredit him. He defeated satan in Gethsemane, and he defeated satan once and for all on the cross. For when Jesus went to the cross, he in effect threw satan into a coffin, nailed it shut, and buried him below hundreds of feet of earth. This is why we marvel at the Lord’s Salvation today, because we know that when Jesus gave his life for us on the cross, he not only freed us from our sins, he completely stripped satan of any power he had over us!

What a great comfort it is for us to know that through faith in Jesus Christ, our salvation has been secured! For it is through the message of the Gospel, which we hear proclaimed to us week after week, that faith has been created in our hearts! It is through that faith, which has been created in our hearts, that we have now been justified, that is, declared not guilty before our Lord and God. It is through that message of the Gospel, through which faith has been created in our hearts, that we now live to confess our Savior’s holy Name through our words and actions. In doing this, we show that we are truly marveling at the Lord’s salvation! We are marvel at the fact that this salvation belongs to us not because of anything we have done, but solely through faith in Jesus Christ our Savior! No, we have not earned this salvation because we have lived extremely glorious lives! We have not received it because Martin Luther was such a staunch defender of the faith and many of us have some German heritage in our bloodlines. We did not earned it because we are extremely good looking. It was not offered to us because we are incredibly talented. The Lord hasn’t even awarded it to us because we are living in the valley of the Jolly Green Giant!

No! Rather, we have received the Lord’s salvation as a precious gift through faith in Jesus Christ our Savior! There is nothing more incredible in all the world than knowing that the Lord our God loved us so much that he willingly sacrificed his Son on the cross to free us from all our sins. There is nothing more humbling than the knowledge that the Lord made sure that we heard the message of the Gospel and therefore came to faith in Jesus as Christ our Savior. There is nothing more incredible than the Lord’s salvation, at which we are marveling today! For as we have heard again and again, that salvation now belongs to us through faith in Jesus Christ our Savior, we cannot help but marvel at that incredible salvation! But the most incredible thing about the Lord’s salvation, is the fact that this salvation also belongs to everyone who trusts in him.

Yes, the Lord’s salvation is truly a marvelous thing! For it not only belongs to you and me through faith in Jesus Christ, it also belongs to everyone who trusts in him as his Lord and Savior. This, is exactly what the Apostle Paul is reminding us of as he continues in our text, he writes: “the Scripture says, ‘Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.’ For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile--the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’” (Romans 10:11-13)

What greater comfort could the Lord offer than the comfort he offers in his salvation! For as he tells us, his salvation belongs to each and every person who believes in Jesus Christ as his Savior! This, in fact, is the most marvelous part of God’s salvation! It shows no favoritism and it has no boundaries, because it belongs to every single person who trusts in Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. Anyone, from the poorest homeless person living on the streets of New York City, to the worst murder on death row can claim salvation through faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior. Anyone, from the most devout Native American to the most extremely radical Muslim believer can also receive God’s salvation. Not by sincerely trusting in their own religion. Not even by relying on what they have done. Rather this salvation comes only through the faith which the Holy Spirit alone can create in a persons’ heart.

Though there are times when we forget this and think that it is just harder for some people to come to faith and be saved than others, we need to remember the power of the Holy Spirit. For if the Holy Spirit was able to soften the granite of our unbelieving hearts and mold them into a monument of the Lord’s salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. He can do the same thing for any other person who hears the Word of God.

This, in fact, is exactly what the Holy Spirit has been doing since the beginning of time, and this is what he is still doing today. For he is the one who is working in the hearts of the Lakota people in Mission, SD and calling them to faith through the Gospel that has been preached to them. He is the one who is at work among the Apache people in East Fork, AZ. He is the one who has called quite a number of Hmong people in St. Paul, MN to faith in Jesus Christ through the message of the Gospel that has been lovingly proclaimed to them. He is the one who has snatched many of the Vietnamese people living in Meridian, ID from the clutches of satan, bringing them under the protection of their Savior, Jesus Christ. In fact, this is the very thing the Holy Spirit has been accomplishing throughout the world. For through the preaching of the Gospel, he has called many Africans, Chinese, Japanese, Russians, Bulgarians, and Albanians to faith. He has even managed to convert quite a few Jews to the Christian faith as well as a great number of people from the Muslim world. For wherever the Word of God is being preached, there the Holy Spirit is at work, changing hearts and offering salvation to all who come to believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

Truly the Lord’s Salvation is a marvelous thing! And now, as we sit here today, being reminded that his salvation belongs to each and every person who comes to faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior, our mission could not be clearer! For now that we have been reminded of the power of the Gospel and the marvelous wonder of the Lord’s Salvation, we cannot help but realize that it is our mission to go out into all the world and preach the Gospel and make disciples of all nations. It is our mission to give our gifts and our offerings not only for the work of this congregation, but so that we can continue to send our offerings to our synod so that they can continue to do their work on our behalf. It is our mission to make every effort to worship the Lord here at church so that our faith might be strengthened and built up in Jesus Christ, so that we are always ready to seize every opportunity the Lord gives us to tell others about Jesus Christ their Savior. It is our mission to go out these doors and invite our friends, neighbors, and even our enemies to come and join us to hear the Gospel so that they to might come to know their Savior. And, even though it might be a little scary, as you already know, it is our mission to bring the Gospel of our Savior to the Hispanic people living in our community as well as any other ethnic groups around us. It is our mission to bring them the Word of our God so that the Holy Spirit can work in their hearts and bring them to faith in Jesus Christ, so that they can marvel with us at the Lord’s amazing Salvation.

What greater thing could there be than countless Christians together, marveling at the Salvation the Lord has won for us! Though this salvation was never carved into the granite face of a mountain like Mt. Rushmore, we know how it was set in our hearts by the working of the Holy Spirit! What a marvelous thing it is to realize that the Lord’s salvation not only belongs to us, but it belongs to all who trust in the Lord, Jesus Christ. For as Scripture has truly taught us: Everyone who calls on the Name of the Lord will be Saved!”

Amen.

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

Wield the weapon of God’s Word (Luke 4:1-13)

Dear friends in Christ.

In 2008, DreamWorks Entertainment released the computer animated movie, Kung Fu Panda. Now, if you have kids at home, or Grandkids that like to spend time with you, I wouldn’t be surprised if you’ve seen this movie on at least one occasion. But if you haven’t seen it, permit me, if you will, to tell you a little bit about it. Kung Fu Panda is a movie about a lazy, irreverent, slacker panda named, Po, whose greatest desire is to become a kung fu master and fight alongside his heroes—the Furious Five—even though his destiny, if you will, is to follow in his father’s footsteps and one day take over his noodle shop. Yet Po continues to hope that his dreams might come true. A few days later, on the day when the entire village gathers to see who will be chosen as the Dragon Warrior, Po is unexpectedly chosen as that warrior. From that point on, Po goes into strict training to learn how to wield the weapons of a kung fu master. At first things don’t go so well for Po, but as the movie progresses, we see how Po grows in his knowledge and his ability to wield the weapons of a kung fu master.

Now some of you might be wondering why I’m telling you all this. Some of you might be wondering why on earth I’m spending so much time talking about a cartoon panda and his struggles to learn how to wield the weapons of a Kung Fu Master. Well, the reason is simple. For in the same way that Po was taught by his master in the movie, so also, our Master, Jesus is taking time to teach us how to wield the weapon of God’s Word against our enemy, the devil, and the temptations that he continually brings against the fortress of our hearts. Thus, as our text begins this morning, we have Jesus teaching us his first lesson of wielding the weapon of God’s Word when satan seeks to make us doubt God’s promises. Luke writes: “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry. The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone.’” (Luke 4:1–5, NIV)

Now, to fully understand what’s going on, we have to go back a few weeks to the First Sunday after the Epiphany, when we heard about how Jesus was baptized by John in the Jordan River. We have to go back to that day when the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus in the form of a dove and God the Father spoke from heaven giving his approval and saying, “This is my Son whom I love, with him I am well pleased.” We have to go back to that point, because it was immediately after Jesus was baptized that the Holy Spirit led him into the wilderness to do battle against the devil. It wasn’t that Jesus decided to go head to head with satan on the spur of the moment, rather, he was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness according to the will of his heavenly Father so that during those 40 days Jesus might be tempted in every way, just as we are. Though the gospels of Matthew and Luke list only three temptations that Jesus faced, the three temptations serve as a summary of all the other temptations going on during that forty day period. For as the battle began, satan came to Jesus with the very same temptation that worked so well on Eve; the temptation of doubt. Satan sought from the beginning to cause Jesus to doubt who he was and to make him wonder why he, the Son of God, must face such mind numbing hunger from fasting for 40 days and nights. Thus, Satan sought to make Jesus doubt his father’s will for him and tried to move Jesus to act with a demonstration of his power, turning the stones around him into bread. Yet, even as satan attempted this with one single question, Jesus wielded the weapon of God’s Word and said, “Man does not live on bread alone.” Though Jesus could have defeated satan with a single, divine command, he fought against satan according to his human nature, using the weapon of God’s Word, thereby beginning our lesson on how to wield that same weapon when satan seeks to make us doubt God’s promises.

This is truly an important lesson for each of us to learn, because in the sparring match that is our life, doubt is one of the most powerful weapons that satan has in his arsenal. Although we are Christians who have every reason to be confident in the Lord and in his promises, how often doesn’t it happen that a single drop of doubt begins to permeate our hearts and minds in the same way that a single drop of food coloring will begin to permeate the water into which it was dropped? How often doesn’t it happen that our enemy creeps into the garden of our hearts and plants a simple seed of doubt which can quickly grow into a giant tree before we know it? In fact, I don’t want you to raise your hands or anything like that, but how many of you were dealing with doubts when you walked in that door this morning—doubts of whether or not God really loves you, or has forgiven you for the things you have done. How many of you walked in with doubts about God’s care because your health has taken a turn for the worse, or someone you know and love is sick, or suffering, or even dying? How many of you are facing worries and doubts this morning because your expenses have far exceeded your income or your investment portfolio is no longer what it used to be? How many of you are afraid because your position at work has already been eliminated, or may soon be eliminated? How many of you have found that one of the questions echoing in your mind more regularly is, “If God really loves me, why is this happening to me?”

Yet it is against onslaughts such as these that our Savior shows us how to wield the weapon of his Word to defeat our enemy. For when doubts arise in our lives, our Savior simply leads us back to his Word where we are reminded again and again that we are dearly loved children of God. Just as Paul reminded us in our first lesson this morning when he wrote, “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”” (Romans 10:8–13, NIV)

When we wield the weapon of God’s Word against our enemy, it works every time. His attack is met, his advance is slowed, and he immediately finds himself in a battle not with us, but with God himself who fights for us, who encourages us, and who helps us in every situation in life. When we wield the weapon of God’s Word, our enemy is then forced to make a choice either to retreat, or to change tack and press the attack harder, as he did against our Savior. Though Jesus had completely resisted satan’s attack and used God’s word to parry temptation, satan quickly changed his approach from that of doubt to that of making Jesus his slave. Luke tells us, “The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. So if you worship me, it will all be yours.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’” (Luke 4:5–8, NIV)

Satan knew why Jesus had come. He knew the glory that Jesus had set aside when he took on human flesh and blood. He knew that just a few weeks earlier, God the Father had declared Jesus to be the Messiah who had come to crush satan’s head. He knew all this and he also knew how terrifying the idea of suffering and dying at the hands of a righteous God would have been to Jesus human nature; so he tries to tempt Jesus to take the easy way out. Rather than go through all that suffering satan offers Jesus another option. He offers Jesus the opportunity to bow down and worship him so that he might give to Jesus all the authority and honor that Jesus would have earned a couple of years sooner. All satan was asking Jesus to do was pay a small price on the front end which would have resulted in exorbitant fees on the back end, because Jesus would have failed his Father and become the slave of his enemy. Yet even as satan hoped and almost prayed that Jesus would fall into his trap, Jesus again withstood the temptation as he wielded the weapon of God’s Word, saying, “Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.” Thus Jesus delivers to us his second lesson on wielding the weapon of the Word when satan tries to make us his slaves.

How often doesn’t satan do that same thing to us? How often doesn’t he display before our eyes the “glories” of our own sinful desires and addictions? How often doesn’t he ask us why we pay such a high price for good grades when it would be so easy to sneak the answers into class? How often doesn’t he ask us why we pay such a high price to teach our children about their Savior when it would be so much easier to drop them off for an hour and let the Church teach them once a week? How often doesn’t he ask us why we pay such a high price to make certain that everything is correct when we turn in our 1040 form when it would be so easy to invent a few key deductions that would help save some money. How often doesn’t he ask us why we seek to spend so much time with your husband or your wife and your children, especially when you know that there are so many other interesting and captivating people to be found online? How often doesn’t he ask you why you wake us so early on Sunday morning just to come to church and hear Pastor Shilling drone on and on when you could have stayed home, slept in and read the Bible for yourself?

These are but a few of the blows that satan seeks to land even before we are able to wield God’s Word against him. These are but a few of the ways he hope to counter our defenses so that he can make us his slaves and lead us captive into the dungeons of everlasting damnation. Yet, as we wield that weapon of God’s Word, we are assured that our God is also fighting for us. Though there are times when satan’s blows land on our flesh and we are deeply cut by his temptations and infected by our sins, it is our Savior who heals us with the salve of the Gospel. For in the same way that the Lord led his people out of slavery he also leads us from the slavery to our sins, into the freedom of his Gospel. He drives back our enemy and even knocks him to the ground for us, the only problem is, that in the same way that a prize fighter refuses to lay down on the mats, but gets back up to continue the battle with his opponent, so also our enemy, continues to get up and advance against us again and again. But even as he continues to advance, we continue to wield God’s Word, just as our Savior did when satan came back at him with one last strategy. Luke tells us, “The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” Jesus answered, “It says: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time. ” (Luke 4:9–13, NIV)

Since none of his other tactics were working against Jesus, satan sought to use Jesus’ own weapon against him. He took Jesus to the highest point of the temple and then dared him to jump off quoting the Psalmist who said that God would protect him even if he acted so rashly and so foolishly. But, of course, our Savior immediately saw through satan’s misuse of God’s word, setting one Scripture against another, in an attempt to deceive him into the rash action of testing the Lord his God. So, once again Jesus wields the weapon of God’s Word saying, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test,” and in doing so, he bestows upon us his final lesson of wielding his word to combat against satan’s continual desire to elicit rash disobedience by his constant misuse of Scripture.

For the truth is, satan’s misuse of the Scriptures is probably the most effective weapon that he has at his disposal. Just think about how our enemy has made each and every Christian afraid to judge anyone or anything by continually pulling out of context the simple passage in Matthew: “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.” (Matthew 7:1, NIV) Though this passage speaks about judging, from the context it tells us not to judge rashly or without all evidence while other passages of the Bible tell us that it is our Christian Duty to judge sin and sinners according to God’s law. Or think about how many people believe that money is the root of all evil, rather than sinful human nature, when the Bible clearly tells us, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.” (1 Timothy 6:10, NIV) Or how many people have bought into the idea that we can do whatever we want with our body and our life even though the Bible tells us, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body. ” (1 Corinthians 6:19–20, NIV)

But the biggest misuse of Scripture that leads even the most faithful Christians into rash actions and sinful lives is the misuse of the passage, “God is love.” (1 John 4:8 NIV) The misuse of this passage is the whole basis for the acceptance of living together before marriage, experimenting with sexuality, and engaging in same sex unions, and countless other ideas and perversions. It is the whole basis because by leading people to focus on the fact that God is love, then it logically follows that God loves us for who we are and what we are as long as we continue acting in love. Thus, it naturally follows that if we are acting in love, then no matter what we do, we must be acceptable in the sight of God because by that logic, love becomes our god. This, is by far the worst misuse of Scripture by our adversary, because it is a misuse that is leading countless millions away from the truth and down the path that leads to destruction. Thus, it becomes all the more necessary for us to wield the weapon of God’s Word boldly against these false ideas spawned from satan’s misuse of the Scriptures. For when we wield that weapon, we know our God is fighting for us and beside us. When we wield that weapon we are able to see through the misuses our enemy brings and even avoid the traps into which they lead. When we wiled the weapon of God’s Word and immerse ourselves in his word, we are ready to resist satan’s logic when he places one Scripture against another, or even one Scripture against the rest of the Word.

These are the lessons that our Master is teaching us today. These are the lessons that Jesus teaches in his battle against our enemy, the devil. Though we may sometimes face difficult times as Po did, even as he sought to become a kung fu master, with the training we have received win God’s Weaponry today, we are ready to wield them against our enemy. We are ready because we know that even as we wield them, our God fights alongside us so that through his Word, we might be victorious in Christ Jesus our Savior.

Amen.

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