5/30/10 - Confirmation Day - 1 Peter 2:2-3

WELL-GROUNDED TO GROW

It’s finally here. You’ve spent three years of training in the Word of God and now the day is finally here. Confirmation Day. The moment you’ve been working toward since you were young, immature, naive 6th graders. You’ve spent countless hours with me and with your parents learning the ins and outs of the Triune God as confessed in the Apostles’ Creed. You’ve been taught what the Bible says about the 10 Commandments, the Lord’s Prayer, Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, confession and repentance and forgiveness and a whole variety of other topics that have grabbed some of our attention. And in just a few minutes you’ll be able to demonstrate your knowledge of Scripture in front of this congregation and confess your faith in the truths of the Bible that you have studied for so long. And although sitting up in front of a group of family and friends answering questions from the pastor might be a little nerve wracking, there’s really no need to worry. Because you are well-grounded in the Word. You have a solid foundation for your faith. You know what the Bible says and, more importantly, you believe it. And so forget about the questions for a second, forget about how you look in your dress or what the wine is going to taste like, and just listen. Because the Holy Spirit has something to say to you through the apostle Peter: “Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.”
“Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk…” Someday both of you will probably know from experience how much babies like to eat. Their bodies are growing so rapidly at that young age and their minds and their senses are developing at such an incredible rate that they need a lot of sustenance to grow bigger and stronger and healthier. They crave milk. They can’t get enough of it. And they scream and they cry and they throw a fit until they get more. “Like newborn babies crave pure spiritual milk…” Peter says to you. This pure spiritual milk is nothing other than the Word of God that you have been learning about you entire childhood, the gospel about Christ’s cross and his empty tomb, all of the teachings that are contained throughout the Bible. Crave it. Cry out for it. Never be satisfied with what you’ve already eaten; never think that you have had enough. Especially now. Especially now on the day of your confirmation as you stand at the precipice of a new phase in life. Continue to crave God’s Word because you have really only “tasted” that the Lord is good; you have yet to eat an entire meal.
Do any of you look forward to sample day at the grocery store as much as I do? When grocery stores give out samples they do that not because they’re nice but they do it, of course, in order to hook you. They not only want to get you into the store, but they also want to give you just a bite of something, just a taste of something good so that you will want to buy a whole package worth of whatever food you might have tasted. The sample you eat might very well be delicious and even mouthwatering, but it’s only half a bite. It’s not satisfying. It’s not filling. It’s not even a snack. And that’s the point. The intention is that now you have tasted something good, you crave more of the same thing.
I pray that you crave more of the same thing that you’ve been tasting these past three years. I pray that now you’ve tasted that the Lord is good, you crave the entire meal. You’ve gone through the basics, you have a good foundation, you are well-grounded in the Word, and now it’s time to grow. There’s a lot more room for all of us here to grow, myself included! It seems that the more classes I attempt to teach and the more sermons I prepare to preach and the more nights I spend with my Bible open in front of me, the more things I find that I hadn’t learned before. There are so many things I never noticed, so many connections I never saw. I have so many things to learn in Scripture that it’s almost overwhelming. And I can’t imagine it’s any different for any one of you here. Peter knew that. Peter knew that every Christian needs to continue to grow in God’s Word. And so he encourages all of us, “Like newborn babies, crave spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.”
But the sad fact of the matter is: we don’t always want to grow. It’s hard work, after all! It takes a lot of mental effort and precious time to grow up in our salvation! And we have so many other things to do that occupy our time! And those of you who are about to entire high school next year, it will be the craziest year of your life to date. There will be more homework than you’ve ever had before - a lot more, more after school activities, more friends, more stress, more highs, more lows, more boys… Your plate will be full. It will be overflowing with things to do and to see and to experience. And this, the Bible, the pure spiritual milk in which you are well-grounded right now, the will be in danger of slipping down the priority list a few notches. Your schedule and your mental capacity to handle it all will be stretched to such an extent that some things are just going to have to be cut back. And it will be tempting to cut this first. It’ll be easy for you to neglect the study of the Word of God because you are already well-grounded, aren’t you? You already know the basics! You already have faith in Jesus! And so why do you need to grow more? Why do you need to try so hard? Especially when there are so many new and exciting things to do right in front of your face!
Many of us here can attest to how easy it is to fall into that kind of attitude, can’t we? Life gets busy. Life gets fast. And craving that pure spiritual milk, growing up in your salvation, can fall to the wayside without us even noticing. Because it takes time that we don’t have and energy that we’ve already spent and effort that we’ve put into our jobs or our families or our enjoyment of life or our survival or our relationships or all of the above. And so reading from the Bible every night or going through a daily family devotion - that’s a lot to ask. And attending a worship service as often as we have the chance - that’s over doing it a little, isn’t it? And getting involved with a solid Bible study - not just a social “this is what I think it means” group - but a real in depth Bible study is hardly worth the time; I’ve just got other things to do.
Other things to do? We’ve got other things to get done before we put our minds to craving pure spiritual milk? We’ve got more pressing issues to take care of before we bother with growing up in our salvation? I find that hard to imagine. And it doesn’t matter if you are an eight grader going into high school or a tried and true veteran of Christianity who has decades of experience under your belt, every Christian struggles with prioritizing God’s Word at times. And it’s not just a warning for these two young Christians sitting up front this morning; it’s a serious issue that each one of us has to deal with every day. And many days we fail at it. We don’t grow because we don’t have any contact with the Word at all. And we don’t crave it. Because sometimes life gets so busy and our spiritual meals get so lean that we even start to forget what our salvation tastes like in the first place.
And so, if you would, allow me to refresh our memories about that sweet flavor of salvation - that message about Christ and his cross that we have all tasted before. And that wonderful gospel is this: When we reeked with sin, at that time when we were wallowing in the spiritual infection handed down to us by our parents and spewing out selfishness from the moment we were born, Christ said about us, “They aren’t worth the effort; they aren’t worth my time; they aren’t even worth a second thought. They have done nothing to earn my help; they have done nothing to earn my mercy. But I love them. And I don’t want to see them suffer an eternity in hell. And so I’m going to go down there - to my once perfect world that they corrupted - and I’m going to become one of them, for them.” And so he did it. Without hesitation, without second guessing his decision, he did what he had always planned to do. And he purposely placed himself into a situation where his human life was immediately in danger from the moment of his birth. He was born in a dirty barn on the outskirts of a little town in the Middle East without doctor or midwife, surrounded by domestic animals, their feeding troughs, and probably a little bit of manure. God himself was not born in the most sanitary of conditions. And things just got worse from there. King Herod tried to kill him when he was a baby. His own countrymen tried to murder him when he began to preach the gospel. The devil tried to destroy him in the desert. The chief priests planned for his execution. One of his own disciples plotted against him. And the people of that time, both Jews and Gentiles, finally did take his life in the end. Saving us wasn’t easy for Jesus. Saving us was not just a snap of the fingers. Jesus physically hurt. He suffered. He cried out in agony and pain. And you can be sure: he had better things to do!
Jesus had better things to do than to spend 33 long years as a human being on this earth just to save sinners from their sins! He had a universe to maintain; he had angelic songs of praise to accept, he had a heavenly kingdom in which to live and to rule. He didn’t need something else to occupy his time. And he didn’t look forward to living in a sinful world and being tortured and executed by sinful people. As a real human being Jesus was not happy to experience death. But he loved you that much. He cared for you so deeply that he was willing to give up his life so that you would have one. He was concerned about your eternity to such a degree that he was going to do everything it took to make sure you ended up in heaven. He took you and me, enemy sinners, and he placed us at the top of his priority list. And we’re still there. Everything he does he does for us. Everything he wants he wants for us. And we will never leave that number one spot.
That’s the gospel. That’s is the grace that you have tasted before. That is the forgiveness that you have nibbled at from the pages of Scripture, through the water of baptism, and through the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper. That is the salvation you are to grow up in, to be strong in, and to remain in all the days you live on this earth. And that will happen not by your own strength, of course, but by the strength of him in whom you believe. He will solidify your trust in him whenever you come into contact with his Word. He will be your comfort. He will be your rock and your shield and your strength when no one else can be. He will still be good to you when nothing else in your life is.
Remember this in the days to come. Because you know that the days to come will present their own set of unique challenges. Whether you are going into high school in a couple months or simply waking up to the next day of your life tomorrow morning, nothing is predictable. And in this ever-changing sin-filled world there will only be one thing that will always remain the same: and that’s your Savior and the salvation he has won for you. No matter what you do in this life, no matter where you go, no matter what may happen, the forgiveness Christ earned for you on the cross will never be taken away. There is nothing that will ever be more important than that. Period. And so crave it. Eat it up. Never lose your taste for it. “Like newborn babies crave this pure spiritual milk, so that you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.”
Amen.

“May the Lord our God be with us as he was with our fathers. May he never leave us or forsake us.” - 1 Kings 8:57

5/23/10 - Pentecost - Genesis 11:1-9

SIN REVERSED

The Lord has a distinct way of dealing with sin. He punishes sin more severely than we would ever dare to. He hates sin more intensely than anyone has hated anything in this life. He crushes sin with a judgment that is swift and final and irrevocable. The Lord has a deep and impassioned distain for sin. But the Lord also uses sin. He doesn’t let one single sin go by in this world without using it for the good of those he loves. Sin is certainly despised by the Lord, but it isn’t wasted either. He takes sin and he manipulates sin and he turns sin in the direction he wants it to go. He even reverses sin sometimes so that what ends up happening is the direct opposite of what that sin was intended for in the first place.
In Genesis chapter eleven we have an example of sin reversed. The Lord takes a sin committed by the people and reverses it to carry out his will. It was a punishment upon the people of this world, without a doubt. But it was also something the Lord would one day use to bring about his grace. “Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. They said to each other, ‘Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly.’ They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. Then they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.’ But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. The LORD said, ‘If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.’ So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babel - because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth.”
This is really an unfortunate story in the history of this world. The people of the earth as a whole blatantly disregarded God’s command and decided to settle down in one place instead of dispersing throughout the different lands the Lord had given them. And then on top of that act of disobedience, they began to make a massive tower - a tribute to humanity - that would reach up to the heavens and stand as a beacon for all times showing how great these people were. But the Lord was going to have none of it. He was not going to allow a sinful people to stop his perfect will from being done. And the Lord makes it clear in this story that he does not get pushed around.
Throughout Scripture and even in our own lives we see the Lord putting up with a lot of different things. He doesn’t always immediately condemn sinners to death. He doesn’t always intervene when something awful is going to happen. He doesn’t always express his displeasure right away even if he is displeased. But when it comes to his will and the salvation of his people, he will not tolerate anything to the contrary. Our Father is not a parent who allows himself to get walked all over by his disobedient children. He does not let rebellion slide. He does not look the other way. He doesn’t excuse sin. He has never excused sin. Not even ours.
As Christians we sometimes have the tendency to think: “He’s my Father; I’m his child; he loves me; so I make a couple of mistakes here and there; it’s no big deal.” But the Lord never just shrugs his shoulders over sin. The Lord never says, “Ah, you’re a Christian, you’re a believer, so I won’t take the sin you just committed too seriously. I know you didn’t really mean it.” No, the Lord doesn’t consider our sinfulness as just a few bumps along that path that are not worth bothering with. It’s a mistake to think of sin as just a mistake, as a minor blunder, as an accident. Because the Lord doesn’t see our sins that way. Every sin that we commit - whether it’s something we do or a word we say or a thought we think - every sin is in direct opposition to his Word. Sin attacks God’s will. And anything we do contrary to God’s will is putting brick and mortar on the Tower of Babel all over again. Each sin is an attempt to build something for ourselves, to do something for ourselves instead of taking into consideration what God wants. And so the Lord takes sin personally. He should! He should be offended! He should never let sin slide!
He certainly didn’t let the sin of the Tower of Babel slide. He punished it. He stopped it. He reversed it. Instead of allowing the people to build this magnificent structure for themselves, the Lord instantly stopped it by separating the people with a confusion of languages. And instead of the people being able to gather together there in the plain of Shinar in that enormous world city, the Lord scattered them over the face of the earth. Just like he wanted them to do in the first place. Just like he had commanded them to do from the very beginning. Sin was not going to be an obstacle to the Lord’s plans. Sin was not going to thwart his intentions. On the contrary, he used sin to bring his plans to completion.
Now I want to jump ahead in history about 2000 years - from this event of the Tower of Babel to a time that was 50 days after Jesus rose from the dead, 10 days after he ascended into heaven, in a city called Jerusalem. Because there, during a Jewish festival called the Feast of Weeks, people from different cultures all over the world were gathering together. People with various customs and traditions, people with unique dialects and verbal idiosyncrasies all congregated in the capital city of Jerusalem to worship the Lord for this prescribed Old Testament celebration. But by and large the people that gathered there were still separated by a lack of communication. There were some exceptions, of course, but one group from one part of the world could not understand another group from another part of the world. Believers could not talk to one another about their God. Those who had a common faith in the Lord could not hear what Christ had just finished doing on a hill right outside the city. Those people may have been physically in the same place, but they were still far apart. The curse, the punishment of the sin of Babel still had some serious repercussions for the people gathered together there that day. And so the Lord reversed it.
As the 12 disciples were sitting in a room, waiting for the Holy Spirit that Jesus had promised to send them, Scripture says that, “Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. Utterly amazed, they asked: ‘Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs-we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!’ Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, ‘What does this mean’” (Acts 2:2-12)?
What does this mean? It means that the Lord reversed sin. It means that his plans would be carried out despite the punishment that he had to place upon the people of this world. This event of Pentecost was the Lord’s way of saying, “Sin will not get the best of me. It will not determine what I do or how I do it. Instead, I will determine how sin will work out according to my will. And I will reverse it if needs be so that my people are saved.” The Lord could have just left the world the way it was after Babel. He could have let them wander about with their own people in their own lands without ever having contact with the gospel again. The Lord didn’t have to bring them back. He didn’t have to search anyone out. He didn’t have to share his Good News with other countries in other cultures. But his grace compelled him to. His grace compelled him to give these disciples gathered in Jerusalem the miraculous ability to instantly speak foreign languages they had never spoken before so that his gospel could be shared with a world that should have still been speaking one language - if it hadn’t been for their ego in the plain of Shinar. God’s grace obligated him to reverse the punishment of sin he had pronounced 2000 years before and make it possible for everyone there to hear the gracious and life-saving words about the cross and the tomb.
That’s what Pentecost is all about! Pentecost is about the Word of God being shared with all people. It is about the Holy Spirit reaching out through the voices of Christians to make more Christians through their words. It is about bringing together again those who were once scattered across the face of the earth. It’s about sin reversed. In a very real way, you are a Christian today because of how the Lord reversed sin on the day of Pentecost. Would the gospel have reached you without the events that happened on that day in Jerusalem? Possibly. But Pentecost was the official start of the Great Commission that Jesus had given to his disciples: “Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations…” (Matt. 28:19). Pentecost was the moment of an incredible dissemination of the gospel about Christ that people there had never heard of before. They knew about the Old Testament laws and regulations. They knew about the sacrifices and the offerings and the coming Messiah, but this was the first time they had heard that the Messiah and come! And died! And risen from the dead! And ascended into heaven! And forgiven their sins! And these people from all of those different countries and cultures undoubtedly brought that gospel home with them and shared it and offered it and believed it.
And now you have it too. Over the centuries and throughout generations and down through the diversity of hundreds of different civilizations, you have the gospel. You have the truth about what Jesus did for you. You have the Good News about how he reversed sin for your good. You now know and believe that instead of your sin ending in your own condemnation, your sin condemned Christ. Instead of bringing you unbearable pain, it caused Christ to cry out in agony. Instead of sending you to hell, hell is where it cast your Lord. Instead of sealing your death forever, the Lord used it to break death forever. Jesus reversed the effects of sin so that now death is the entrance to life and the grave is simply a holding cell for our emptied bodies until that day they are reunited with our souls in heaven. Sin could not get the best of Jesus and, therefore, sin will not get the best of us either. It has been paid for. It has been nullified. It has been reversed.
And every time the gospel is preached today, every time it is shared, every time it is offered to someone else, sin is reversed yet again. The punishment of Babel is turned around, the separation that it caused is closed when the salvation that Jesus won is heard by those he won it for. And so continue to close that gap. Mend that tear. Make it your personal goal to bring everyone from every culture closer to their Lord through his Word. Give the Holy Spirit an opportunity to reverse sin in their hearts too so that one day we will all actually gather together in one city, we will all speak one language, we will all revel in the glory. But it will be the city of Paradise, not Babel. And it will be the language of praise, not personal pride. And it will be the glory of the Lord that we will revel in, not our own.
This is our Pentecostal privilege as Christians. We are the disciples with the words of the gospel in our mouths. We are the believers endowed with the Holy Spirit to share the Good News. And there are so many people around us who do not know it. But they need to. They need to know that their sin is real. They need to know that their sin is reversed. They need to know the One who reversed it for them.
Amen.

“You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” - 1 Cor. 6:11

5/16/10 - Easter 7 - Numbers 9:15-23

THE LORD WILL TAKE THE LEAD

The Israelites wandered in the desert for 40 years. After coming out of Egypt and before they were allowed into the Promised Land, God’s people marched through the desert without a permanent place to stay for four decades. And it was all their fault. When the 12 spies had gone into the Promised Land the first time and all but Caleb and Joshua brought back a frightening report about the numerous foreign nations and their fortified cities, the people doubted the Lord’s ability to deliver the Canaanites into their hands. And because of their doubt, God pronounced that they would have to wander in the desert for 40 straight years before he would take them into the land that he had promised to one day give them. But don’t think of this “wandering” as a confused group of people straying in any and every direction. And don’t think of it as if the Israelites were lost and didn’t know where to go. The Israelites weren’t confused and they weren’t lost. They knew exactly where they were supposed to go every day of those 40 years in the desert. But they didn’t follow their own intuition or rely on their own abilities to navigate the harsh terrain of the various deserts south of Canaan. They didn’t vote on which way to go or even follow the way Moses thought was best. Instead, the Lord took the lead and the people had to wait for and rely on his decision every day.
Scripture describes this 40 years of wandering in Numbers 9. And notice what the Israelites were forced to do because the Lord decided to lead them through the desert in the way that he did: “On the day the tabernacle, the Tent of the Testimony, was set up, the cloud covered it. From evening till morning the cloud above the tabernacle looked like fire. That is how it continued to be; the cloud covered it, and at night it looked like fire. Whenever the cloud lifted from above the Tent, the Israelites set out; wherever the cloud settled, the Israelites encamped. At the LORD's command the Israelites set out, and at his command they encamped. As long as the cloud stayed over the tabernacle, they remained in camp. When the cloud remained over the tabernacle a long time, the Israelites obeyed the LORD's order and did not set out. Sometimes the cloud was over the tabernacle only a few days; at the LORD's command they would encamp, and then at his command they would set out. Sometimes the cloud stayed only from evening till morning, and when it lifted in the morning, they set out. Whether by day or by night, whenever the cloud lifted, they set out. Whether the cloud stayed over the tabernacle for two days or a month or a year, the Israelites would remain in camp and not set out; but when it lifted, they would set out. At the LORD's command they encamped, and at the LORD's command they set out. They obeyed the LORD's order, in accordance with his command through Moses.”
The Israelites had to wait for the Lord to take the lead. They weren’t allowed to suggest a time or a place in which to move. They couldn’t influence the Lord one way or another how long they would stay in one place. They couldn’t even plan ahead! The only thing they could do was plan to be ready. Once the cloud of the Lord settled in an area, they had to be prepared to pack everything up at a moment’s notice and head out the very next day. But they also had to be patient if that day of departure didn’t come for an entire year after that. The Israelites were forced to completely rely on their God for direction. He would show them where to go. And he would decide when they would do it.
That would have really frustrated me! If I were a member of the Israelite nation during those 40 years, waiting for the cloud to lift up or to come down would have driven me crazy! Because I like to plan ahead. I like to be prepared in every way that I can. I like to have everything in order so that it all goes according to schedule. I would have had a hard time simply waiting for the Lord’s command. And I’m sure it would have been difficult for many of you as well. Think of some of the frustrations that the Israelites would have had to deal with: There would be places that they would like, areas in which they had settled down and had just gotten comfortable, but then the cloud of the Lord will rise above the tabernacle and they would have to immediately pick up and leave. And then there would be those places that they would despise, parts of the country that they would have liked to get out of as quickly as possible, but it would be in those situations when they would have to remain in that spot for an extended period of time. They certainly had their own opinions on where to go and what to do. And they undoubtedly thought certain places where better to settle than others. But it didn’t matter. They could try to plan and guess and strive and wish and plead all they wanted. But if the Lord took the lead in a different direction at a different time, all they could do was follow.
Each one of us has plenty of our own thoughts and plans and ideas in this life, don’t we? Each one of us has thoughts about where things should go, plans about how things should be, and ideas about when those things should be done. Jobs, vacations, purchases, chores, activities, and the time period in which they should all be carried out largely fall to our decisions and choices. The Lord gives us the responsibility and the capacity to live our lives to his glory in whatever way we see fit. We are able to praise and thank him in our lives in a variety of different ways. But if the Lord takes the lead in a different direction, all we can do is follow.
And doesn’t that irritate you when that happens? When all of your intentions and plans and hard work are apparently not what the Lord had in mind? It’s almost depressing when we can’t do what we think needs to be done! But let’s be careful. Let’s be careful about our attitude when our plans don’t happen to match up with the plans of the Lord. That frustration and that disappointment can stem from a little bit of arrogance at times - and maybe even a little bit of doubt in the Lord’s power. That irritation we have when the Lord is leading us in a different direction can be produced by the prideful thought that our plans would have worked if only we were just given the chance! Our ideas would have been better, but the Lord didn’t allow them to happen! Our time frame would have been the most beneficial, but the Lord let an opportunity slip us by! Be careful not to be so confident in your own decisions and strategies and ideas that you end up thinking that they are better than whatever the Lord has in mind. Because when the Lord will take the lead, he does so for good reason. If he sees that you are headed the wrong way, if he knows that your plans will not end up working for your good, he will not hesitate to turn your around. He will immediately point you in the right direction. How could we be mad or frustrated or disappointed at God for doing that for us?
In the book of Acts there are many different stories about the apostle Paul going to many different places with the gospel. Acts 16 says he planned on going into Asia Minor and Bithynia to spread this message of Christ’s death and resurrection. But the Lord took the lead in a different direction - more than once. “Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us.’ After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.”
Paul certainly had good intentions, didn’t he? His thoughts were God-pleasing and his plans were commendable. They just didn’t match up with what God had in mind. The Holy Spirit first prevented him from going into Asia Minor. But Paul wasn’t upset. Instead he went around that part of the world and tried to go into Bithynia. And when the Spirit didn’t allow him to go their either, he simply turned around and found another place in which the Word needed to be heard. And, of course, while there the Lord sent Paul a vision of a Macedonian man pleading for him to bring the gospel to the western side of the Aegean Sea. The Lord was taking the lead. He had thwarted Paul’s plans on two separate occasions but he also opened up opportunities elsewhere. The Lord was leading him in the way he wanted his zealous missionary to go. And Paul didn’t have a problem with that. He understood that the Lord knew best. And he realized that this Savior who had suffered for him, this Savior who had died for him, this Savior who had risen from the dead for him would always do things for the best interests of his children and for the good of his gospel. Paul was content to follow the Lord’s lead - wherever it may have taken him.
We can be just as content to follow the Lord no matter where he leads us. Because we don’t have an incompetent trail guide who has no sense of direction. We don’t have a selfish decision-maker who is only concerned about his own comfort and personal preferences. We have our Savior in the lead. We have the one who led Caesar Augusta to proclaim a census for his entire kingdom so that Mary and Joseph had to travel to Bethlehem and give birth to their firstborn son in the town of David. We have the one who led Mary and Joseph down to Egypt to escape the clutches of King Herod. We have the one who led sinners to trust in his words of comfort, who led the sick to come to him for healing, who led his disciples to understand the Truth. We have the one leading us who allowed the mob to lead him to the high priest on Good Friday morning and the crowds to lead him to Pilate and the soldiers to lead him to the cross. We have the one who led his Father to forsake him as he hung there bleeding to death. We have the one who led his victory campaign into hell so that he could proclaim his triumph to the devil. We have the one who led a couple women named Mary to the tomb on Sunday morning so that they could see for themselves what he had done. We have the one who led his disciples onto a hill in Galilee so they could witness his ascension into heaven. We have one who leads us to trust in his forgiveness even for those sins of arrogance and doubt when it comes to God’s plans. We have the one leading us now who will one day lead us to heaven. We can be content to follow our Lord’s lead. He’s used to leading his people. He’s good at it! There’s no one else we should want in lead - not even ourselves. Because just like Paul, we don’t always know what is best. But our Leader certainly does.
During those hot dry days in the middle of the desert for 40 long years, the Israelites couldn’t move until the cloud lifted up over the tabernacle and showed them the way to go. They had to wait. They had to be patient. They had to trust that the Lord would lift that cloud when it was exactly the right time. The cloud has been hanging over this particular house of worship for quite a few years now. We thought it would move by now; we expected it would move by now; we wanted it to move by now! But the cloud still remains in place. The Lord has decided in his loving wisdom to keep this congregation in the same location a little longer than we have planned. But that’s OK. That’s OK! The Lord is still in the lead. He knows where this group of Christians needs to be. He knows what we need to do. And he knows when we need to do it. There is no rush. There is no reason to become uneasy. The Lord is out in front - always in complete control. He will lift the cloud when it is time and give us opportunities to spread his Word in many different ways - either here or somewhere else. And so keep planning. Keep praying. Keep working hard. And trust that the Lord will bless our efforts according to his will. He truly wants his gospel to be spread and his Word to be heard. And he will take the lead to make sure it is done at exactly the right time.
Amen.

“Oh the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments and his paths beyond tracing out! For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.” - Rom. 11:33,36

5/9/10 - Easter 6 - John 14:25-26

AN ADVOCATE OF CHRIST FOR CHRISTIANS

1914 was a busy year. It was the year that ushered in the beginning of World War I, the year the arch duke of Austria, Francis Ferdinand, was assassinated, and the year the Panama Canal was opened for the very first time. Some significant things happened 96 years ago. But in the middle of all the rest of these important world events that happened to occur in that same calendar year, 1914 was also the year in which President Woodrow Wilson made Mother’s Day into a national holiday of the United States. Since then, of course, this celebration on the second Sunday in May has gained popularity and gifts and cards and flowers are sent to mothers all over the country. In fact, more people eat out on Mother’s Day than any other day of the year. And there are more phone calls made on Mother’s Day than on any other day of the year as well. It’s become a very big event. And for good reason.
Mothers do a lot for the children - without asking for anything in return. They are natural advocates of the ones they raise, which means they stand up for and speak out for and promote the best interests of their children. They are caring and concerned about the welfare of the ones they give birth to and, for the most part, mothers would do anything for those they call their own. And because mothers would do anything for their children, because they are their children’s strongest advocates, they are also advocates of other people for the sake of the children as well. A mother is usually an advocate of her husband: “What did your father tell you to do?” a mother might say to her child. “Then you better do it or you are going to get in trouble!” She is being an advocate of her husband for the sake of her child. A mother is also an advocate of the teacher for the sake of her child: “What did the teacher ask you to get done for this assignment? Then you should probably follow the directions if you want a good grade.” A mother is an advocate of the doctor for the sake of her child: “Take your medicine that the doctor gave us and you’ll get better.” A mother is an advocate of the laws of the government as well as the words of the Bible for the sake of her child: “Buckle up; it’s the law so that you stay safe… Don’t hit; that’s not nice… Fold your hands so that we can pray to Jesus…” A mother will speak for or speak against, advise, suggest, lead, guide, promote, encourage… in short, she will be an advocate of anything for the good of her children and their best interests. She wants her children to succeed. She wants her children to be happy and healthy. And it is on Mother’s Day when children of every age have a specific opportunity to thank their mothers for everything they have done for them for so many years.
The sermon text that we have in John 14 today fits well with the holiday on which it falls this month. And although John 14 doesn’t talk about mothers per se, it does talk about an Advocate that acts on behalf of God’s children. And that Advocate is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit really treats us in the same that mothers treat their children. The Holy Spirit helps, speaks for or speak against, advises, suggests, leads, guides, promotes, and encourages anything for the good of God’s children and their best interests. And so just like mothers, the Holy Spirit is not only our advocate, he is also and mainly an advocate of someone else for our sake. Jesus said it this way to his disciples: “All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counselor [or probably more accurately: “the Advocate”], the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” The Holy Spirit is the Advocate of Christ for our sake because he teaches us what Christ says. He explains to us what Christ has done. He guides us and leads us and encourages us with Christ’s words. And he assures us of what Christ promises. The Holy Spirit helps us see Christ; he helps us hear Christ; he helps us know Christ. And the Holy Spirit helps us out in all of these different ways not so that he can get anything in return, but purely for the benefit of God’s children.
Of course, children don’t always want help. They don’t always think they need help. They don’t like to be told that they could use some help because they like to think that they can do things on their own. And just to use a biblical example of this childish attitude, take a look at Samson - the judge of Israel with supernatural strength. One day he saw a Philistine woman whom he instantly wanted to marry. And so he demanded that his parents get this girl for him as a wife. But his mother and his father said to him, “Why don’t you find a wife among our own Israelite people instead of taking one from the ungodly Philistines.” They were really advocating the words of the Lord that said no Israelite should marry anyone belonging to a foreign nation. But Samson wouldn’t listen. He wanted to marry this Philistine girl anyway and so he ignored the advice of his parents. And because he didn’t heed the words of the Lord that they promoted, Samson ran into many difficult problems that snowballed out of control. Samson had some growing up to do. And unfortunately, it took him quite a few years and many more mistakes before he did finally grow up and learn to trust in the words of the Lord that his parents had asked him to follow.
It probably should go without saying: but there are times that we have some growing up to do as well - no matter how old we are. Sometimes we are the children who do not want any help, who don’t think we need help, who don’t like to be told what we could use some help because we think that we can do things by ourselves. And we have been immature children not just with our earthly maternal advocates, but especially with Christ’s Advocate, the Holy Spirit himself. We don’t always want his help. We don’t always see the need to listen to him. We don’t always think it necessary to pay attention to his teachings of Scripture or take to heart his words of encouragement from the gospel or put into practice his spiritual advice. We like to try things out ourselves. We like to think we are big enough and old enough and experienced enough and smart enough and talented enough to handle life on our own. But the more we try that approach, the more we ignore what the Advocate of Christ has to say in the Word of God, the more trouble we inevitably get into. Because then we stop listening to what the Holy Spirit teaches us about in the Bible. And that’s a dangerous game to play: to think you’re just fine. To think that you’re a spiritual adult now and you have no need of the childish training and the basic instruction of the past.
Whenever we take that path, we will fall. Just like Samson. We will trip and we will stumble and we will land right on our faces. When God’s Word is not our guide, when the Advocate is not our Counselor, we will fail. Every time. Without a doubt. And when that time comes when everything comes crashing down and you and you are on all fours panting for breath, not knowing what to do with yourself and not understanding how you even ended up in that position, Christ’s Advocate, the Holy Spirit will call to you once again from the Word. And when you hear his voice in the pages of Scripture, look up. Because the Advocate will be standing right where you left him. His arms will be outstretched with the body and blood of the Lord’s Supper in his hands; over his arm will be draped that robe of Christ’s righteousness that you received at your baptism, but that you decided not to wear for a couple days or a couple weeks, or a couple months; and his words will be sweet and inviting because they will be pure gospel. And so with scraped knees and bruised elbows and wounded pride crawl back to the one who warned you and tried to help you - the one you ignored and shoved away. And know that he won’t scold you or hold a grudge; he will gladly welcome you back. Like a mother with her wayward child, he will simply be happy that your home. And he will proceed to do what he has never stopped doing: telling you about the gospel of Christ - and convincing you that it’s true.
It’s not pleasant to fall. It’s not admirable to stray away and lose your close connection with the Word. But it’s going to happen. It’s happened to you before and you know it will probably happen again - at least on some level! You may not completely fall away from Christ but your faith will slip at certain points in your life. It happened to David when he committed adultery and murder. It happened to Peter in the courtyard, Jacob with his birthright, and Adam and Eve in the Garden. It happened to the Israelite people dozens of times even though they were surrounded by God’s power and visible glory on a regular basis. And it still happens today. Even life-long Christians stop listening to the Word at times. Even born and raised believers from infant baptism tune out the voice of Christ’s own Advocate for any number of reasons. You are not immune to that. And neither am I. But we are not immune to the Advocate’s love either. And the Advocate shows his love to us in this: by showing us the love of Christ.
That’s what the Holy Spirit does! The Holy Spirit reminds us about what Jesus did: about the life he lived and the forgiveness he won. The Holy Spirit teaches us about the love the Lord has always had for us and the guilt that he has wiped away in his blood. The Holy Spirit reassures us that our status before the Almighty God is still in good standing - regardless of what we have done in the past or may do in the future. The Holy Spirit through the Word speaks for Christ for the sake of Christians. He promotes what Christ has accomplished. He proclaims what Christ promise. He appeals to our hearts. And he is relentless in his mission to secure the faith of believers in the Savior that died for their sins. The Holy Spirit is motherly. He cares about the children of God and is not concerned about anything he may receive in return. The Holy Spirit is essential to our salvation. He is certainly worthy of extended and heartfelt praise.
But how often does the Holy Spirit really cross your mind? I realize that you know of him and you are aware of what he does. But outside of a Bible study or hearing the Triune God mentioned in a worship service, does the Holy Spirit ever make his way into your thoughts? Do you ever pray to him specifically? Do you ever thank him at night as you send up your requests to the Lord? Do you ever ask the Holy Spirit personally for guidance as you read the Word that he himself inspired? Do you ever boldly plead for the Holy Spirit to give you more and stronger spiritual gifts? Do you ever sit and ponder the incredible power of the Holy Spirit working on your heart as you do with Christ and his cross or the Father and creation? I wonder if we really and fully appreciate what the Holy Spirit does for us on a daily basis.
I’m not sure if I do. I probably don’t think about him or pray to him or express my gratitude to him as often as I should. Maybe we need a “Holy Spirit Day” just like we have a Mother’s Day so that we can have at least one day on which we focus on this third person of the Trinity. Ah, but we do. We do have a Holy Spirit Day. And we’re going to celebrate it in just two weeks. It’s called Pentecost. That’s the one day out of the Christian Church year in which the Holy Spirit and his power and his gifts take center stage. The one Sunday you can count on when the Holy Spirit is the main focus of our attention for the entire worship service. Get ready for that! Look forward to that! It’s a great annual celebration! And the best part about this holiday is that you don’t have to bring him flowers. You don’t have to send him a card or buy him a gift. All he wants is for you to listen. Because all he wants to do is to tell you about Christ. He wants to teach you about the gospel. He wants to remind you about the cross. He wants to be the Advocate of your Savior for the sake of your faith. And when you listen to his words, when you believe his words, when you live his words, there is nothing that makes him happier. Because the Holy Spirit’s goal is to see you through this life so that he can see you in heaven. And you can be sure that the Holy Spirit will achieve that goal because he is motherly: he will continue to remind you and encourage you and guide you and lead you and nag you - in a loving way - until he brings you back home. And Christ’s Advocate will not stop until you make it there.
Amen.

“May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” - 2 Cor. 13:14

5/2/10 - Easter 5 - Rev. 21:1-6

A BEAUTIFUL DRESS FOR AN UGLY BRIDE

“Lord, when your glory I shall see and taste your kingdom’s pleasure, Your blood my royal robe shall be, my joy beyond all measure! When I appear before your throne, your righteousness shall be my crown; with these I need not hide me. And there, in garments richly wrought, as your own bride I shall be brought to stand in joy beside you.” This is the eighth and final stanza written by Paul Gerhardt for his famous Lenten hymn: “A Lamb Goes Uncomplaining Forth.” Of course, our current hymnal only contains the four out of the eight stanzas. But because these words were so poetic and beautiful, a new tune was written for them and this one verse became its own hymn: hymn 219. The melody is probably unfamiliar to many of you - although others of you have sung it before and have even heard an arrangement of this hymn performed by the Seminary Choir. But whether you have heard the music or not, the words are undeniably beautiful. They put to poetry Scripture’s picture of Christ the Groom and his bride the Church. They describe with stunning expressions the robe of righteousness that he gives us and the blood that he used to make that garment clean. It is a hymn about the intimate spiritual union we will one day enjoy with Christ in heaven. It is a wedding song.
And this wedding song uses a picture that is scattered throughout the pages of Scripture. From the Song of Songs to the prophet Isaiah, from the letters of Paul to the revelation given to John, the illustration of Christ as the Groom and his people as the bride vividly describes the relationship between the Lord and his Church. It demonstrates the holy Husband’s love for the one he is about to marry.
The apostle John understood this concept better than anyone else. Because not only did he hear about it and write about it and read about it, he actually saw it. Near the end of the vision of Revelation, the apostle John was given some visual insight into the effects of this marriage love from the Groom for his bride. “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the first things have passed away.’” This vision that John received is, of course, the final result of Christ’s love for us. We will experience his grace in full on the day we meet him in Paradise. And we will personally enjoy what John only caught a glimpse of. But we aren’t there yet, of course. We are still here in a sinful world. And we are part of a Church that is filled with sinful human beings. And so when Scripture describes Christ’s bride while we are still here on this earth, the description isn’t so pretty. In fact, God’s Word’s makes us out to be a rather ugly bride of Christ in this world.
This ugliness is nowhere more evident than in the Old Testament books of Hosea and Ezekiel. In the words of these two prophets God’s people were not only described as ugly or unattractive, God’s people were said to be prostitutes. They had rejected their Lord. They had forsaken their husband in heaven and they had turned to different gods. They had spiritually prostituted themselves with something or someone other than their holy Groom. These words of Hosea and Ezekiel were strong words of accusation against God’s people of that day - and they are strong words of warning for us. Because we too are God’s people. And we too can fall into the same grotesque sins against our Lord. In fact, maybe some stronger words of warning are in order to get our attention.
In our daily devotions together, my wife and I are now reading through a book that contains - among other things - readings from both the Old and the New Testaments. But the translation this volume uses is a more literal translation than what most of us read in the NIV. And the only reason I bring this up is because I was struck by one of the readings from the book of Exodus a few weeks ago. It wasn’t because I hadn’t read that part of Scripture before, it was because of the word used in this particular translation. Instead of using the word “prostitution” when referring to God’s people worshiping other gods, it uses something a little harsher: “When they whore after their gods and sacrifice to their gods and you are invited, you eat of his sacrifice, and you take of their daughters for your sons, and their daughters whore after their gods and make your sons whore after their gods” (Ex. 34:15-16). I almost felt embarrassed a few weeks ago when I read these words out loud. And I would imagine your first reaction to these couple verses might have been: “Did he just say the word ‘whore’ in a sermon?” And I suppose your second reaction might have been: “Is that an appropriate word for a Bible translation?” But, my friends, sometimes blunt words need to be used to make us take notice. Sometimes an extra sharp verbal sword needs to be wielded to pierce through a calloused conscience. And so allow me to be blunt: don’t be a whore. You are the bride of Christ, after all! Don’t be a spiritual whore. Don’t give yourself to anything or anyone other than to your spiritual husband - Jesus himself.
Of course, we’ve all been caught in the act by our husband before. Have you sometimes depended on the amount of your paycheck or the balance in your retirement account to give you peace of mind and to bring you happiness and to comfort your worries? If so, you’ve acted like a spiritual whore because your spiritual husband is the only one you should depend on for the peace and happiness your mind wants. Do you pretend God’s law is nonexistent at times so that you can gossip just this once or stretch the truth a little bit or subtly brag to others about something you’ve accomplished? If so, you’ve acted like a spiritual whore because you have given in to other desires instead of following the desire to be faithful to your husband’s will. Have you occasionally placed your family or a day of relaxation or your laziness above reading and hearing and learning God’s Word? If so, you’ve been selling yourself. You’ve been offering yourself to another person or another thing or another opinion than to your loving and faithful husband. It really can’t be denied: You and I have been involved with spiritual prostitution for our entire lives!
I don’t know if you’ve ever been labeled with such a nasty word like “prostitution” before - I know I haven’t! - but let’s cut out all the niceties and the political correctness when dealing with who we really are and what we’ve really done. Let’s talk plainly. We have acted like a whore. We have been extremely unfaithful. We have shown our husband no loyalty whatsoever. We have been a very ugly bride. A disgusting bride. A repulsive bride.
The apostle John was part of this hideous prostitute, this whore of a Church. He wasn’t excluded and he knew it! Even though he was “the disciple whom Jesus loved” - he was just as ugly as we are. But as he looked at the vision Jesus was showing him on the island of his exile, he didn’t see an impure and desecrated bride of Christ. He didn’t see the disgusting group of sinners that makes up the Church on earth. Instead he saw “the New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.” The Church was not wearing its earthly prostitute’s clothes here. It was not covered in the whorish accessories of its past. No, this once ugly bride was now beautifully dressed for her husband. She had been transformed. She had been given a stunning wedding gown to wear. And she would live with her glorious Groom forever.
And this is exactly what the Church will look like on Judgment Day because our husband will not accept an ugly bride. Christ will not allow a practicing prostitute to enter his house. And so to make sure that each one of us would be able to come into his heaven, our husband took the penalty for our infidelity. We have spiritually prostituted ourselves countless times and spiritual prostitution deserves eternal death and nothing less. It deserves a permanent divorce from God. And so our husband offered himself up in his bride’s place. He took the humility and the accusations. He shouldered the embarrassment and beatings. He suffered a complete separation from his dear Father and dove into the most vile parts of hell to carry out the sentence. He wore the “scarlet letter” in a way so that we didn’t have to. And our husband did it without complaining, without second-guessing his decision. And he went through it all without ever planning to hold it over our heads as leverage at a future date. Our husband sacrificed himself for his bride out of pure love - purer than anything we could ever imagine in this life. And he did it for an ugly bride! He did it for a sickening creature! The holy and pure Christ himself put up with unexplainable pain and heartbreak to earn righteousness - to earn perfection - for a whore!
And for this unfaithful bride-to-be he holds a robe in his hands. And not just any robe. A robe that is woven with his righteousness, colored with the blood of his cross, and lined with his love. And our husband stretches it out and places it on our shoulders. It’s not heavy, but light. It’s smooth and comfortable. And it’s a perfect fit. And now with this robe wrapped tightly around us, we aren’t ugly anymore. We aren’t dirty or nasty or contaminated anymore. We are pure; we are lovely; we are beautiful just like he has always been. And despite our checkered past in the red light district of this world, we can proudly and confidently proclaim with the prophet Isaiah, “He has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness” (Isaiah 61:10)! He has forgiven me! He has given up his life for me! He has taken me back despite my failures and I will be married to him forever! With this robe I am ready for the wedding. With this robe I will enter Paradise! With this robe I am his.
And these are your words about your husband. These are not the joys expressed by “better” Christians or believers somehow more deserving than you… Every Christian once was ugly; every Christian now is beautiful, clothed with the robe of Christ’s righteousness through baptism and faith in his name. And although the actual Wedding Day will not take place until Christ comes again, you are wearing that wedding gown right now. And wear it with the knowledge that you did not buy it; you did not pick it out. Your husband bought it for you with his blood. He picked it out personally with hands that have been driven through with nails. And he wants you to wear it with joy as you await the Day on which you will meet your Groom for the very first time and will live with him forever in the bridal suite he is preparing for you right now. In anticipation of that Day, we listen and pray one more time the beautiful words of Paul Gerhardt, which are really the beautiful words of every Christian: “Lord, when your glory I shall see and taste your kingdom’s pleasure, Your blood my royal robe shall be, my joy beyond all measure! When I appear before your throne, your righteousness shall be my crown; with these I need not hide me. And there, in garments richly wrought, as your own bride I shall be brought to stand in joy beside you.”
Amen.

“Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory. For the wedding of the Lamb has come and his bride has made herself ready.” - Rev. 19:6-7