8/28/11 - Pentecost 11 - Matthew 14:13-21

"THANK YOU"

Appreciation

From a very early age children are taught to say “please” and “thank you.” At least I was. My mother did not give us anything without waiting for us to say that magic word first and she did not let us walk away until we said that two word phrase of appreciation. Because it’s the polite thing to do, isn’t it? It’s the respectful thing to say. And especially when it comes to saying, “thank you” I might even go so far to say that it’s a Christian response. Because “Thank you” is a verbal sign of gratitude for what a person has done; it’s an acknowledgement of the effort someone has put in for you, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem to be. You are really telling them in so many words that you have not overlooked what they have done and that you consider their actions as something meaningful and important.
And it’s nice when someone says “Thank you” to you, isn’t it? Because then you feel appreciated; you know that your efforts have not been rudely overlooked because someone actually noticed and cared enough to mention what you did. And although that simple response of “Thank you” is a phrase that is mindlessly repeated far too often, it truly is an important thing to say and to hear on a regular basis.

“Thank You” is a Powerful Prayer

But “Thank you” is not just good manners. “Thank you” is not just the polite thing to say. “Thank you” can also be a powerful prayer. Now normally we think of prayer as asking God to give us something. And that’s true. Prayer can include a request to the Lord for something that you want or something that you think we need. But prayer does not stop at requests. Prayer can also include thanksgiving. Instead of asking God to give you something you are thanking God for what he has already given you. And that kind of prayer is powerful! Because you are in effect saying to the Lord that you appreciate what he has done, that you truly are grateful for his work and his efforts on your behalf. You are letting the Lord know that his love has not gone unnoticed and you are honored to receive from him what he has so graciously given. Now God doesn’t need our “Thank you” prayers to feel good about himself, of course. And he isn’t going to take away those blessings if we happen to forget to thank him. But that simple prayer is pleasing to him. He likes to hear that powerful petition even if “Thank you” is all you end up saying.
The portion of Scripture set for the sermon this morning is a very famous story from Matthew 14. It is the miracle of the Feeding of the 5000. And although Jesus’ power is certainly on display here,I also want you to notice the simple yet powerful prayer that he prays: When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick. As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.” Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered. “Bring them here to me,” he said. And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.
Did you catch that simple prayer of thanks Jesus prayed? It was so simple in fact that his words aren’t even recorded for us in Scripture! All that this story says is that “Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves.” Jesus gave thanks. And not for an incredible amount of food but only for five loaves of bread and two fish - probably not even enough food to feed his 12 disciples on any normal day. He knew what was going to happen, of course. He was planning on performing a miracle of multiplication that no one ever could have anticipated. Ahh, but he looked up to heaven and thanked his Father before that miracle, not after. He didn’t thank his Father for enough food to feed 5000 men plus women and children; he thanked his Father for the meager amount of food that he could hold in his own two hands. “Thank you for this food, Father.” Maybe he even said, “Please bless this food, Father.” In any case it was a relatively simple prayer. But it was a powerful prayer. It was a God-pleasing prayer.

Complaints

Here’s another simply powerful prayer of thanks that many of you are familiar with: “Come, Lord Jesus, be our guest and let these gifts to us be blessed…” And here’s another that my family and I say before our meals: “Heavenly Father, bless this food to your glory and our good.” And then there’s that famous ending taken right out of the book of Psalms: “Oh, give thanks to the Lord for he is good for his mercy endures forever. Amen.” All of us say simple prayers of thanks to our Father too - hopefully every day at every meal. As well we should! He deserves our thanks; he is due our appreciation. But apart from those prayers of thanks at the meal time, how often to do we thank him for the little things in this life?
We may thank him for a new morning when we get up or a day now past before we go to sleep, but is there anything else? Do we normally thank him for the sunshine or do we complain about the heat instead? Do we thank him for cloud cover or do we then complain that the sun isn’t shining? Do we thank him for blessing us with the ability to breathe and communicate move around and do what we are able to do or are we more often than not complaining about the aches and the pains? Let’s even take it to another level: Do you find yourself regularly thanking your heavenly Father for a paycheck when it isn’t enough to pay the bills or for your family at those times when they seem to be causing more problems for you than helping you fix the ones you already have or for the blessing of sleep after a night when you tossed and turned and only grabbed two or three hours all night long? No, we usually don’t thank the Lord for a small paycheck or a difficult family or a little sleep. But we sure do complain about them! We might not complain directly to the Lord and outwardly accuse him of anything, but we certainly grumble under our breath and let it show on our face and voice our complaints to those around us. Because, apparently, what we’ve been given is not enough. It’s not good enough, it’s not big enough, it’s not nice enough; it’s not what we need, it’s not what we want, it’s not what we had planned for; we were looking for something different, we were looking for something better, we were looking for something more. And so we complain and grumble and gripe.
I don’t think that’s the reaction that the Lord is looking for to the blessings he gives us! I’m sure our heavenly Father isn’t hoping that we would complain and grumble over the gifts that he so thoughtfully and patiently weaves into our lives! But that’s what we end up doing anyway! It seems that we are not satisfied unless we get exactly what we want, when we want it, how we want it.

Everything He Does is “Thank You” Worthy

But even those little things - like a paycheck that is too small to pay the bills or a family that is occasionally dysfunctional or a couple hours of sleep in the middle of a long, long night - those little things are actually blessings too. Because at those moments and in those situations those things are exactly what you need. Nothing less, nothing more. Because if you needed something more or something different, the Lord would have given it to you! And so whatever it is that you have at the time, that is exactly what the Lord wanted to give you. And if it is exactly what the Lord wanted to give you, then it is definitely “thank you” worthy, isn’t it?
Jesus stood there that evening in front of thousands and thousands of people with only a few loaves of bread and a couple fish. But instead of being dissatisfied with what he had, Jesus looked up to heaven and he thanked his Father for the food in his hands. It wasn’t enough food - technically speaking - for the entire crowd to even get a bite. And it wasn’t gourmet quality food either. But it was a blessing. And Jesus knew what his Father could do with that blessing if he so desired. And so a “Thank you” was a given.
Jesus thanked his Father, his disciples didn’t - even though they had the food in their hands first! They were probably worried that it wasn’t enough to fill even their 12 stomachs. In fact, the disciples probably didn’t thank their Lord for much of what happened during Jesus’ ministry at the time. They didn’t thank him for telling them about his betrayal and torture before it ever happened; instead Peter tried talking Jesus out of it. They didn’t thank him for being arrested by the mob so they didn’t have to be; they ran away afraid for their lives. They didn’t immediately thank the Lord for dying on the cross in their place; they locked themselves up in a room. They didn’t even initially thank the Lord for rising from the dead; they had a hard time believing that it actually happened! And yet all of these events and circumstances that the disciples were concerned about at the time (and probably complained about in the heat of the moment) were actually incredible blessings that the Lord worked out for their very salvation! Because that’s what our Father does: everything he gives us and everything he allows to happen to us in our lives is a blessing that is for our best interests. From the big to the small. From the important to the seemingly insignificant. From the crumbs to the cross; from the table scraps to the tomb. From a skimpy paycheck and a stressful family life and a sleepless night to the forgiveness he suffered for at his crucifixion and the eternal life he guaranteed at his resurrection and the salvation that he secured with everything that he did and everything that he is still doing… each and every act of our God is a blessing and worth thanking him for.

What Little Things Can You Thank Him for?

Thank him for that. Thank your Lord every day for those amazing blessings that he gives you that have solidified your salvation for all eternity. Thank him for that deep well of forgiveness that washes away all your selfish complaints and for that massive storeroom of mercy that welcomes you in every time you have wandered away and that indescribable volume of love that considers you his child even when you don’t act like it. Thank him for those big things of your salvation. But thank him for the little things in your life too. Thank him for the “meager” blessings and the “incomplete” blessings and the blessings that don’t seem to be adequate considering the situation you are in. Because those are some of the greatest blessings. Some of the greatest blessings are those that teach you to live with something a little less or deal with something a little different or those that force you to lean on your Lord a little harder. Can you think of some of those blessings right now? Can you bring to mind a few of those difficulties or problem areas or frustrations in your life that the Lord is actually using for your benefit? Thank him for those gifts. Even if you don’t see or understand how the Lord is working or why he would be doing what he is doing, thank him for those gifts! Because they are beautiful expressions of his fatherly love. And they are just what you need. Thank your God for giving you exactly what you need. Especially at those times when you didn’t even know you needed it.
Amen.

“God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen” - Phil. 4:19-20

8/21/11 - Martyrs 6 - Hebrews 11:37-40

LOOK AHEAD

Old Testament Persecutions

During the reign of King Ahab in Israel, a prophet named Micaiah warned him that his campaign against the Arameans was futile and his army would be destroyed. And in appreciation for that warning Ahab locked Micaiah up in a house and allowed him only bread to eat and water to drink until the day when Ahab returned safely from his war. Ahab never returned; and we don’t know what ever happened to Micaiah. Years later, a man named Hanani told the King of Judah that since he had relied on the country of Aram for support instead of the Lord, he would be at war for the rest of his reign. Hanani was promptly thrown in prison for repeating God’s Word. 300 years after that the famous prophet Jeremiah was beaten and put in stocks for proclaiming the words of the Lord, he was put on house arrest with almost nothing to eat, citizens from his home town plotted his death, and he was once thrown into a muddy well and left for dead. Fortunately, Jeremiah’s friends pulled him from that hole and he survived, but only to be forced down to Egypt with the remaining Israelites against his wishes and against the wishes of the Lord. Of course, he fared better than Isaiah did. Isaiah, one of the great gospel prophets of the entire Old Testament, is said to have been sawed in half at the command of King Manasseh. His death is not recorded for us in Scripture, but it is not out of the realm of possibility that Isaiah could have died that way at that time and at the hand of that wicked king.
And it was the same for many more prophets, many more servants of the Word, many more Christians during those days. Living at that time as a believer in the one true God and the Messiah he promised was not only unpopular, it was dangerous. Many Christians were martyred; many more were imprisoned; many more were attacked. And we haven’t even mentioned the more well-known of these believers like David or Daniel, Elijah and Elisha, the two Zechariahs we talked about a few weeks ago, Esther’s uncle Mordecai or the three friends in the fiery furnace: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. The lives of Christians in Old Testament times were in constant danger and if it weren’t for the constant help and protection of their Lord, they never would have survived as long as they did.
It was men and women like these that the New Testament writer of the book of Hebrews was certainly thinking about when he wrote the end of his eleventh chapter. It was Christians like these whom he commended for looking ahead to the promise that awaited them despite what they had to endure on this earth: “They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated - the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground. These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.”
These Christians, stoned, sawed in half, put to death by the sword, persecuted and mistreated in every conceivable way, held firmly to their faith in their Savior. And no matter what they had to go through here, they patiently and eagerly looked ahead to what was to come.

New Testament Promise

Of course, they never received what was to come when they were living on this earth. They were waiting for and longing for and looking for the Savior, that Messiah who was supposed to arrive from the line of David and save his people from the awful effects of their sins. But he never came. At least not until all of these Old Testament believers had long passed away. They never saw Jesus. They never had the chance to actually witness the promise fulfilled. But they still believed as strongly as ever. And as they were being tortured, in the middle of their pain, at the height of their agony - whether it was physical or mental or psychological - you can be sure that they continued to look ahead. They didn’t despair over the situation they were in. They didn’t give in to the enemies that surrounded them. They didn’t fall into the cesspool of self-pity wondering why the Lord was doing this to them or what they had done to deserve this treatment or how unfair this was for them to undergo. No, they simply looked ahead. Through faith they set their eyes on the future promise. They did not know when it would be accomplished; they didn’t even know all of the details of exactly how it would work out; but they knew that it would. Because it was a promise from God himself. And so they were content to suffer all of the pain and all of the persecutions that this sinful world could throw at them because, as far as they were concerned, the promise was as good as done. And one day - in this life or the next - they would see the God of this promise face to face.

Looking Down instead of Looking Ahead

And so will we. One day we will see the God of this promise face to face. In the meantime, we live here on the same earth that those early Christians did, surrounded by the same sinful world, enticed by the same kinds of temptations, dealing with the same kinds of pains and unpleasantries that they had to endure. And although we have not been thrown in prison for our faith or physically abused simply because of who we are, there are plenty of troubles and problems that we still have to deal with. And they aren’t easy! Lying in a hospital bed is not easy. Dealing with a death of someone you love is not easy. Handling the stressful family relationships in your life is not easy. Paying the bills is not easy. Remaining happy is not easy. Life is not always easy. We experience countless disheartening and discouraging difficulties throughout our lives - some worse than others. Things that unsettle our peace of mind. Things that disrupt our happiness and take a swing at our sanity. You know what problems plague your own life. You know what issues affect the way you act and the way you talk and the way you live. You know how difficult some of those troubles can be to deal with. Unfortunately, we don’t always deal with those troubles in the way the Old Testament believers so successfully dealt with theirs.
Because instead of looking ahead we tend to look down around us and take inventory of all the problems that we have to handle. And we start feeling a little overwhelmed. And we start feeling a little outmatched. And we start feeling a little sorry for ourselves because we don’t know what to do and we don’t know how long it will last and we don’t know how we’re going to get ourselves through it all in the end. And we look down behind us at that reoccurring and nagging problem that follows us everywhere we go and we look down at our side at the unexpected problem that has just popped up and we look down at our feet at the unavoidable problem that we realize is inevitably going to trip us up. And suddenly we notice that we are completely surrounded, our hands are full, our shoulders are weighed down, and it’s even difficult to keep our heads above water. And in those moments when that one big problem or two big problems or 20 big problems seem to almost permeate every aspect of your life what does your Lord say? He says, “Stop it. Look ahead. Stop trusting in yourself to fix the problem and look ahead. Stop relying on your own abilities to get through it and look ahead. Stop worrying about how you can handle the situation and look ahead. Stop driving yourself crazy about what has happened or what is happening or what might, should, or could happen and look ahead to what will happen. Because what will happen is my promise and guarantee.” The Lord does not like it when we fail to trust in him to take care of us. The Lord is not happy when we allow the problems in our lives to overwhelm his promises. But he is also sympathetic of our situation. He understands our weaknesses. And so he points us ahead to the very same thing that he pointed his Old Testament children to: he points us ahead to the promise of a Savior.

The Promise Remains

Because no matter what horrible things may happen in this life, the promise he gave to his Old Testament believers still remains true for us today - just from a different angle. The coming of the Christ that those Old Testament Christians believed in has happened. The salvation they sought has been accomplished. The forgiveness they looked forward to has been won. You have what those ancient believers could only imagine! You have a full understanding of what those battered and beaten believers could only partially piece together! You have Jesus presented to you in the pages of Scripture as a real human being in every sense of the Word. You have Jesus displaying his power and majesty as only the one true God can. You have Jesus carrying out your salvation in vivid detail and unmistakable acts of mercy and love. You have Jesus presented as the only way to eternal life in four thorough gospel books of the Bible and 23 others sections of what we now call the New Testament. You have the crystal clear picture of the Old Testament Shadow. You have the facts and the proofs of the vague prophetic visions of the past. You have the privilege of reading about and hearing about the actual accomplishments of Christ instead of just trusting in the unclear possibilities. You have not just been given the words of the promise; you have been blessed with its fulfillment. And no matter what you have to undergo in this life, the fulfillment of that promise still stands. Jesus came; Jesus lived; Jesus died; Jesus rose; Jesus reigns; you win. You win. You win. Every time. In the end, when it is all said and done, you win. No trouble can crack you. No problem can drag you down. No accident, catastrophe, or failure can gain the upper hand because Jesus already has. He has taken care of everything for you. Nothing has been left undone.
That is what the writer of the book of Hebrews meant when he said, “God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.” The better thing he had planned for us was the fulfillment of the promise that had been given to them. And together with those believers long since gone, we will join the angels in heaven, singing the praises of our God for fulfilling yet another promise to us - that promise of eternal life in heaven.

Reach Back, Face Forward

And so face forward and look ahead. You can reach back of course! Reach back and grab hold of that cross and steady yourself on that offset rock from the empty tomb, but face forward and look ahead. Because that promise of Christ’s first coming that you already know has set the stage for the promise of Christ’s second coming that you waiting for. And that is what we look forward to as we live this life: a life to come, a perfection never before experienced, a Paradise to enjoy for the rest of eternity. And when we have that Paradise in our minds and in our hearts, all of those troubles that are floundering around at your feet, all of those pains that are poking you in the side, all of those troubles that are bothering you, all of those worries and stresses and uncertainties that are grabbing your arm and begging for attention… they aren’t even worth looking down at. Deal with them as a faithful Christians would, but don’t let them get to you. They’re inconsequential. They’re nothing when compared to what waits for you ahead. Just ask those Old Testament believers mentioned in the book of Hebrews. The flames that caught their clothing and the swords that pierced their flesh and the saws that cut them apart were temporary, painful but passing, unpleasant at the time but pointless in the end. Because they continued to look ahead to the Savior who was to come, the one in whom they hoped with joy, the one in whom they trusted with confidence. Look ahead with them. Reach back, face forward, and look ahead. Because the promised Christ that has already come for you once is one day going to come for you again. And nothing else matters. And it’s as good as done.
Amen.

“He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” Amen. Come Lord Jesus.” - Rev. 22:20

8/14/11 - Martyrs 5: James - Colossians 4:2-6

MAKE THE MOST OF EVERY OPPORTUNITY

You Know the Gospel

How well do you know the gospel? And that’s not a trick question at all. I’m not asking you how much you know about the different teachings of Scripture or how many passages you can recite from memory or how adept you are at explaining some of the intricate details of the lesser known sections of the Word. I’m asking: How well do you know the basic gospel about Jesus? And let me answer that for you: You know the gospel well. You know that God loved the people of this world to such an extent that he sent his Son, Jesus, to this earth. You know that the Son of God was born of Mary and the Holy Spirit and so became a human being. You know that he lived this life just like one of us, dealing with the same pains and the same troubles and the same temptations - and yet doing it all without ever falling into a single sin. You know about his teaching and his preaching, his miracles and his praying. You know about his immense sufferings, about his cross, about his tomb, about his ascent into heaven. You know about the effects of what he did: forgiveness won for everyone, eternal life given to all who believe, peace, comfort, encouragement, joy. This is the basic gospel. And you know the gospel well. And you know it so well because you have read it and heard it; you have been baptized with it and have tasted it in the Lord’s Supper. You have studied it and sung it and soaked it in for years. You know the gospel well because you believe it. It’s really as simple as that. As a believer you are an “expert” in the gospel. Of course, that also means you know the gospel well enough to share it with others.
And that is true whether you like it or not: You know the gospel well enough to share it with others. And sharing doesn’t mean you have to defend the gospel or have all the answers to every question; sharing simply is telling others what you already know. In fact, that’s your job as a Christian. That’s your responsibility and privilege. It’s your calling. And so it’s not only important to share with others what you already know; it’s important that you make the most of every opportunity to do that. Because you might not have much time lift. Just consider the life of the Lord’s disciple James.

James had Seen it All

James, the martyr we have been looking at as an example this morning, knew the gospel better than almost anyone! He actually saw the gospel. He witnessed the gospel being carried out by Jesus every step of the way. He was there at Jesus’ first miracle at the wedding in Cana and he was there for the last miracle Jesus’ promised at Pentecost. He was one of the three disciples who was allowed to go up onto that mountain and see Jesus transformed in front of them. He was one of the three to see Jairus’ daughter raised from the dead. He was one of the three along with his brother John and Simon Peter to be taken farther into the Garden of Gethsemane than any of the other disciples so that they could pray with their Lord. He saw Jesus captured, he saw Jesus scourged, he saw Jesus condemned, he saw Jesus in agony, he saw Jesus die, he saw and talked with and actually touched Jesus after his resurrection, he saw Jesus float up into the air and into the clouds and out of sight. James was an eye witness of what we can only read about. James not only knew the gospel; he experienced the gospel first hand. And so after Jesus physically and visibly left this earth there were few people more qualified and more capable than Jesus’ disciple James. There were very few believers who could have been looked to as leaders of the early Christian Church other than this special disciple of Christ. But then James died.
It was probably only a little over one year after Jesus’ ascension into heaven when James was arrested by King Herod and killed in his prison cell. A little over a year. And although we have no record of what he said or the things he did during that time, James certainly was preaching and teaching, leading and directing as a disciple of his caliber would. But whatever James was doing for that short period of time after Jesus’ ascension, his time was cut short. No one could have guessed, not even James himself, that this chosen disciple of Jesus’ inner circle, this man who had been with Jesus from the very beginning, this believer who had personally watched the gospel develop right in front of his very eyes, someone who had so much to offer others… no one could have guessed that James, of all people, would be taken from this world so soon. And then what? There were no more opportunities for him to share what he had seen. No more chances to spread the Word. No more souls that he could reach with that gospel he knew so well.
I would hope that James made the most of every opportunity he had. I would hope that a man with that kind of knowledge of his Savior shared his Savior every chance he got. Because he certainly knew what he was talking about. And others certainly needed to hear what he had to say.

Opportunities Lost

Of course, all of this applies to you as well. You too know what you are talking about and others certainly need to hear what you have to say. You may not have seen what James saw or witnessed what he witnessed, but you know the same Savior; you trust in the same cross; you have experienced the same forgiveness. And your time may be just as short. That’s why the apostle Paul in the book of Colossians chapter four says what he says: “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” Paul was in prison when he wrote this letter. He certainly knew of James’ death at an early age and Paul himself was standing there when Stephen was stoned to death. And so Paul knew that his time could be coming soon as well. For this reason he asks those in Colossae to pray that not only a door would be opened for him to spread the gospel, but that he would be able to proclaim it clearly as he was called on to do. Paul knew the importance of sharing his faith with everyone he came across. He understood how essential it was for him to make the most of every opportunity that was placed in front of him. And he knew how critical it is for you to do that too. Remember what he said with the backing of the Holy Spirit: “Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.” You may not be on death row at the moment and your life might not be in immediate danger as you sit here this morning, but you never know when your time may be up. This may be the last calendar year you live on this earth. This may be the last summer you ever experience. This may be the last week recorded on your obituary. This may be the last day you have an opportunity to share your Savior with someone who doesn’t know him as their Savior.
How many opportunities have you missed so far? And, of course, that’s a loaded question. That question is supposed to bring about some feelings of guilt and inadequacy. How many opportunities have you missed to share the gospel in your lifetime? If you answer, “None at all,” then the Lord be praised for your faithfulness. If you answer, “Far too many,” then you are probably a little more like me and a little more like everyone else in this room. “Far too many.” Far too many opportunities squandered. What a tragedy. And “squandered” is probably a good word to use because it implies that we once had those opportunities right in our hands and we blew it. We let them slip through our fingers. We lost the chance to share our Savior. Whether it was out of laziness: “Yeah, I just don’t feel like talking about that kind of thing today,” or out of selfishness, “I don’t want to spend the time with that person right now,” or out of fear, “I’m kind of afraid of what that person might say to me,” or out of indifference, “Well, I’ll just save that for some other day or some other week or some other conversation - as long as they bring it up first.” It is embarrassing how many opportunities we have let slip by. And it is heartbreaking when we can bring to mind specific people with whom we no longer have a chance to share that wonderful Word of God.

The Mystery of Christ

Do you think James failed to make use of the some of the opportunities that the Lord placed in front of him? Oh, certainly. There’s no doubt that James left some words unspoken and left some souls unstirred. But that did not prevent him from going to heaven. And our missed opportunities will not prevent us from going to heaven when we die either. Because we do not have a quota that we have to meet. We do not have to take advantage of a certain percentage of opportunities that the Lord gives us before we are acceptable to him. We do not even have to try our best for the Lord before he is satisfied with our work and lets us in for the sake of our efforts. Because you know what the gospel says! You know what the “mystery of Christ” is as Paul puts it here in the book of Colossians. The “mystery” of Christ - something that we could not figure out until it was revealed to us by the Holy Spirit - is that Christ actually forgives us! We who are not part of God’s Old Testament chosen people, we who did not ask for it, look for it, or even want his forgiveness, we who, now that we have forgiveness, all too often stuff it in our pockets and keep it to ourselves… we are actually forgiven! Jesus assures us of that through his effective Word. Christ lives in us through faith! Eternal life in heaven is waiting for us as we speak because of the outpouring of love that Christ showed on the cross and the indescribable power that he demonstrated outside of that tomb! Why would he do that for people like us? I don’t know, it’s a mystery! He loves us; he wants to save us; he longs to be merciful and compassionate to those who are not worthy. That’s why! And so the very mystery of Christ that we fail to share is the same mystery of Christ that forgives us when we fail to share it. It is the gospel that James knew and that saved him. It is the gospel that we know and that saves us. It is the gospel that we want others to know because it can save them too.
And the Lord is going to give you plenty more opportunities to do just that. We may have squandered some opportunities in the past, but there are more to come. You might even come across a few today. You will certainly have a number of chances this week. And I can’t even imagine how many more souls and situations the Lord will throw in your lap before the he decides to take you home. It’s exciting, isn’t it? It’s thrilling to know that the Lord is going to keep pouring out opportunities into your life so that you can share the gospel that saved you with someone else who needs to be saved! It’s mind boggling that the Lord will continue to use us to do such an incredible and eternally important thing! And so get ready. Those opportunities are coming. And you have to be prepared. And so take Paul’s advice and “Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” Opportunities to share your Savior are coming your way. Make the most of them. You might not have much time left. And the people you know might not either.
Amen.

“May the name of our Lord Jesus Christ be glorified in you, and you in him, according to eth grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” - 2 Thess. 1:12

8/7/11 - Martyrs 4: John the Baptist - Malachi 3:1

JOB WELL DONE

John in Jail

John the Baptist ended up in jail at the ripe old age of 30. Did you know he was that young when he was sent to prison? He was only 6 months older than Jesus, after all. Of course, you know that John the Baptist never left that prison cell. John’s head ended up on a platter in that jail because of an ill-advised promise Herod had made to his stepdaughter / niece. And so my question for you is this: Was the work that John did a job well done? John’s job was multi-faceted: he had preached countless sermons along the banks of the Jordan River; he had baptized hundreds - if not thousands - of people in its waters; he had convicted hearts with the law; he had soothed souls with the gospel; he had pointed everyone he met to “the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” But for all of his efforts, after all of the time and the work he had put in to doing what he was supposed to do for his Lord, his Lord allowed him to be arrested and locked up and held indefinitely by King Herod. In fact, The Lord allowed John to be murdered in the prime of his life. But it wasn’t because the Lord didn’t like him. And it wasn’t because he had messed up or had committed some awful sin to get on God’s bad side. No, when Jesus spoke to the crowds about John the Baptist he said that there was no other prophet like him on the face of this earth. Jesus loved John, appreciated John, commended John for what he had done. The Lord wasn’t punishing John by letting his head be cut off at 30 years of age. It was just the opposite. John’s work was a job well done. It was just time for him to go home.

Job Well Done

The job that John had done so well was an important one. It was a simple job in a way, but it had far-reaching implications. In fact, his job was clearly laid out for him over 400 years before he was born. Through the prophet Malachi the Lord predicted what the job of his messenger would be: “See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the LORD Almighty.
The Lord’s messenger, this special man who would come before Christ, was to prepare the way before him. That’s it. He wasn’t called on to lead an entire nation through the Red Sea like Moses or rain down fire from heaven like Elijah. John was to get the people ready for the entrance of Jesus into this world so that they would be set up to see him as their Savior. And that’s exactly what John the Baptist did. He faithfully prepared the people with the Word of God by preaching and teaching and baptizing. And he did that work well until Jesus officially began his public ministry in this world. Because when Jesus began to teach and to preach and to reveal himself as the Son of God, John’s work was done. Even though he was a relatively young man and he had not lived a “full” life in the normal sense of the word, the time for preparation had passed. His important work was now over. And so he was arrested; imprisoned; martyred; and taken to the place that the Lord had already prepared for him. John’s job was finished. And it was a job well done.

We Each have a Job to Do

We too have jobs to do for our Lord or “callings” if you will. They might not be as challenging as preaching on the banks of the Jordan River or as exciting as baptizing entire groups of people or as dangerous as confronting a king with a specific sin, but our jobs are just as important. And in our second Scripture reading this morning we saw that the Lord mentions a number of different things that people can do to praise him depending on their station in life. Wives are to submit - they are to willingly and joyfully support - their husbands. Husbands are to unconditionally love their wives. Children are to obey their parents. Slaves (or “employees” in our day and age) are to loyally work hard for their employers. And those who have been given authority over others are to treat their subordinates well. And one of the key phrases in that section of Scripture from the book of Colossians is 3:23: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord.”
I have three younger brothers. My youngest brother is a Lutheran grade school teacher. His twin brother is a pastor like I am. My brother in between my twin brothers and me is a Border Patrol Agent. And so who do you think the Lord appreciates more? None of us! Or all of us at the same time! Just because three of us are called workers in the church and one is not doesn’t mean that the Lord commends one more than another. We are all using our gifts and talents to the best of our abilities “as working for the Lord.” You don’t have to be John the Baptist to contribute to the Lord’s work. You don’t have to preach or teach or baptize or stand up and speak out against a blatant sin of a powerful person who has the ability to take your life if he so chooses… As a spouse, as a parent, as a child, as a sibling, as a neighbor, as a friend, as a citizen you have a number of jobs and responsibilities that the Lord has given you to do. Some may seem small and some may seem a little bigger and more significant, but all of them are important. All of those little jobs that you do as Christians on this earth are important because they can be all done out of praise and thanks to your Savior. They are all ways in which you can show your appreciation for everything he has done. And they are all ways about which the Lord will one day say: “Job well done, my dear child. Job well done.”

Taking Days Off

Of course, I’m not so sure that the Lord would say that about my work on some days. There certainly are days in my life when the work I have in front of me and the jobs that I have been blessed with as a pastor and a husband and a father and a brother and a son and a friend and a neighbor and a citizen are left undone. And it’s usually because I’m a little lazy and a little (a lot) selfish and I don’t care to do what I’m supposed to do as a pastor and a husband and a father and a brother and a son and a friend and a neighbor and a citizen. I don’t act like I should for the sake of others; I don’t carry out my duties for sake of the name of my Lord. I don’t do anything worthwhile because I just don’t feel like it! I don’t gladly do those little things that make up my every day life because I’m feeling tired or cranky or out-of-sorts that day! And on those days, at those times when I am far from loyal to my calling as a Christian, “Job well done” would be a laughable description of my life. “Job not done; job still in progress; job on hold” would be about as nice as I could describe my life in those moments.
I’m guessing that you’re lazy on occasion as well. Maybe not as often as I am, but I’m sure that your selfishness gets the best of you from time to time and a lazy attitude overwhelms the need to carry out the responsibilities that the Lord has given you in the various stations of life. And when you are being lazy, at those times when you just don’t feel like being the spouse or the parent or the child or the friend or the neighbor or the citizen that you have the opportunity to be, do you think the Lord is happy? Do you think the Lord looks down from heaven and says to himself, “This child of mine is just like my servant, John the Baptist: so loyal, so faithful, so eager to carry out the assignments I have given him. I am satisfied with his efforts. I am happy that I have given those duties to her to carry out. Job well done. Job well done.”

Jesus’ Job Done Perfectly

You are smart enough people to recognize the difference between a job well done and a job done poorly. And I doubt that we could fool ourselves into thinking that the majority of our lives could be described as jobs well done. But realize that the majority of John’s life wasn’t a job well done either. Yes, he is described as a prophet of the Lord who faithfully carried out his duties and loyally performed his responsibilities even to the point of death. But he undoubtedly had faults as well. He had plenty of lazy and selfish moments too. But it didn’t matter. Because John’s job was not to get himself into heaven. John’s job was not to earn forgiveness or to get on God the Father’s good side. That was Jesus’ job.
Jesus, John’s own cousin, did his job perfectly. He is the one whom Malachi describes as the “messenger of the covenant” in that prophecy we read earlier. This Messenger of the “new” covenant had the all-important task of taking on a human body and fighting off every temptation and keeping every law and performing every duty and receiving every punishment and conquering every enemy and forgiving every sin and making it possible to save every soul. Jesus had the one job that actually counted, the job that eternal life depended on, the job that only he could do as both God and human being at the same time. His job was to be a substitute, a sacrifice, and, ultimately, a Savior. His job was to do his job perfectly, and that’s what he did. He selflessly and passionately carried out his role as our brother and God’s Son both on this earth and now in heaven. His job was to be hated, to be scourged, to be ridiculed, to be murdered, to rise, to ascend, to rule. His job was impossible. His job was accomplished. Job well done? No, job done perfectly. Job done for us.

Job Security

John the Baptist knew this was going to happen. He believed that Jesus was the Savior and trusted in what he was about to do. And so although John’s life was far from perfect and his jobs and responsibilities in this life were far from being accomplished in full, Jesus’ life covered up those faults; Jesus’ death washed away those mistakes; Jesus’ resurrection replaced those errors. John’s work was well done because he did what he did out of faith in his Lord. John’s work was well done because he believed he was forgiven for the work that he could not do.
Your life is a job well done, too. No, it’s not perfect and it’s usually not even pretty. But your work is done in faith. Your work is done out of trust in your Savior and belief in his accomplishments. And your work reflects that heart-felt appreciation for his sacrifice. There is no work your Lord loves more. There is no work your Lord would rather have you do.
And it will always be there for you to do it! As long as you are still on this earth, the Lord will supply you with many different jobs and many different responsibilities no matter who you and or where you live. In any situation in life, your Savior will provide multiple opportunities to do what you do to his glory. You calling is always unique, always changing, never stagnant. Whether it is sharing your faith with others or washing the dishes, building a church or changing a diaper, preparing the way for Christ’s coming or something as simple as picking up a piece of garbage off the street and throwing it away. Every single thing that you do can be done to the glory of the Lord. And no matter how commendable or how careless you prove to be in this life, your work will be viewed with pleasure by your Lord. Because your efforts will have been driven by faith and your endeavors will have been motivated by love for your Savior. And you can be assured that when your time is up, when your job is done, when your task is over, when your life is at an end, your Lord will smile upon the one he loves and will quietly and confidently say just as he could about John, “Job well done, my dear child. Job well done. Now it’s time to come home.”
Amen.

“To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy - the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.” - Jude 24-25

7/31/11 - Martyrs 3: The Zechariahs - Zechariah 7:8-14

IT IS RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU

The Word Forgotten

There was a woman named Athaliah who was about as bad as they come. Because when she saw that her son, the King of Judah, had been murdered, she tried to kill off the rest of her family so that she could rule the country alone. She succeeded in murdering all of her relatives except one of her infant grandchildren named Joash. A priest named Jehoiada had hidden Joash in the temple of God and for six years that’s where he stayed. After that those six years had passed, Jehoiada the priest rallied the country behind Joash, placed this last grandson of Athaliah on the throne, executed Athaliah for her wickedness, and continued to raise Joash in the Word of the Lord. In fact, as long as the priest Jehoiada lived, Joash remained a believer and faithfully carried out God’s will according to his Word. But you now know what happened after Jehoiada died: Joash almost immediately forgot the Word of God and, consequently, fell away from the faith. And when Jehoiada’s son, Zechariah, confronted the king with the Word of God, Joash murdered him right there in the temple. And we wonder: How could that have happened? How could he have murdered the son of the man who had saved his life? How could Joash have forgotten the Word of God so quickly? He had been trained in it! He had been raised by it! It was right there in front of him and he threw it away!
Centuries later, long after Joash had lived and died, long after the Assyrians had come and destroyed the northern land of Israel, long after the Babylonians had come and decimated the southern land of Judah, even after a group of God’s people were allowed to go back to the Promised Land from their exile in Babylon, another man named Zechariah was sent to the people. This Zechariah was a prophet, not a priest, but he too preached the Word of God. And in his book of “Zechariah” near the end of the Old Testament, there are perhaps more gospel promises per chapter than in any other prophetic book of Scripture. He certainly preached the law too, of course, but the 14 chapters of his book are so rich in gospel proclamations that it can only be paralleled by Isaiah and the Psalms. But you now know what happened to this Zechariah too: Jesus mentions that he was murdered by the leaders of the people between the altar and the Holy Place of the temple. How could that have happened? Zechariah spoke such wonderful words about the grace of God and what he would do for their salvation! Zechariah’s message was largely one of hope and peace and deliverance! How could the leaders of God’s people murder someone like that? They killed Zechariah the prophet for the same reason they had killed Zechariah the priest 300 years before: they had forgotten the Word of God that had been preached to them. They had forgotten it even though it was right in front of them. And ironically, in the middle of the book of Zechariah the Lord warned them of that very thing so that they would not do it again:
The word of the LORD came again to Zechariah: “This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. In your hearts do not think evil of each other.’ But they refused to pay attention; stubbornly they turned their backs and stopped up their ears. They made their hearts as hard as flint and would not listen to the law or to the words that the LORD Almighty had sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. So the LORD Almighty was very angry. ‘When he called, they did not listen; so when they called, I would not listen,’ says the LORD Almighty. ‘I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations, where they were strangers. The land was left so desolate behind them that no one could come or go. This is how they made the pleasant land desolate.’”
The Lord had warned them through the prophet Zechariah about what had happened to them in the past: they had once been driven away from the land of their forefathers because they had refused to listen to the Word. They had once been forced to live in different countries that they were not familiar with because they had rejected the Word. They had come back to a homeland years later that had been devastated by armies and was still wallowing in the after-effects of war because they had forgotten his Word. And the Lord did not want that to happen again. The Word of God was right in front of them; he did not want them to give it up as they had before. Unfortunately for Zechariah, they did.

The Word Ignored

We have the Word right in front of us too. And not just here. Not just right now this morning as we sit in the middle of a worship service. Not only do we have the Word right in front of us in a weekly sermon and Scripture lessons and in the hymns and psalms and songs and Bible studies; we have the Word of God right in front of us in our own homes every day. I made a quick count the other day of the number of Bibles we had in our house - different translations, different languages, kids’ Bibles, etc. And by my estimate we have at least 18 different Bibles! And that’s not counting the number of children’s books we have that tell only one story of the Bible. That’s not counting the commentaries and the volumes of dogmatics books and the lexicons and the catechisms and the hymnals and the publications and the devotions books that are in my office that utilize Scripture on every page. 18 different versions of the Bible! And although you might not have 18 Bibles in your home, I’m sure you have at least a few. Your own personal Bible, another one you picked up years ago, an Old King James version that was handed down to you by your mother… No matter how many Bibles you have in your house, you have access to at least one Bible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. And even if you didn’t, even if you didn’t have a physical Bible in your home right now, we have plenty of them right here. Or you can go to the internet and find dozens and dozens of different translations that you can read through for free in hundreds of different languages. We have the Word of God right in front of us like no other nation of people has ever had before. It is available; it is in our common language; it is freely distributed without restrictions. Very rarely have all three factors happened at the same time. But they are happening right now in this country. We have the Word. And we can have it any time we want.
How often do we take advantage of that? Yes, we have weekly worship opportunities here each Sunday as well as five different Bible classes each week. But we also have the chance to visit God’s Word on our own every morning and every night, when we’re sad, sick, lonely, afraid, angry, frustrated, worried, happy, thankful, and during every other emotion that we might run across in a given week. Do we run to the Word every chance we get or do we simply dabble in the Word - and only as long as it’s not inconvenient at the time? Do we relish those moments spent one on one with the Holy Spirit or do we oftentimes pass up those invitations to do something else? Do we use the Word to guide what we say and the decisions we make or is God’s Word an afterthought because we don’t consider it as having a whole lot of application for our day to day lives anyway?
Maybe we need the same warning that God’s Old Testament people did during the time of Zechariah the prophet: when we ignore God’s Word, when we push it aside for other activities, when we refuse to listen to its directives or put it into practice, when we fail to give it the priority it’s due, our lives will suffer for it. And not only will we struggle on this earth more than we need to, the Lord will be angry too! The Lord is actually angry when we bypass his Word! The Lord is furious when his Word is looked over or left unopened because of busy schedules or skewed priorities. The Lord is livid when his own people don’t take full advantage of his powerful Word that is readily available to them at all times! The Word of God contained in Scripture is how God speaks to us. This is how God instructs us and teaches us and comforts us and informs us. And he can’t stand it when his Word is not as important to us as it should be.

The Word Given

Back when Zechariah the priest was murdered by King Joash for preaching the Word, when the leaders refused to listen to the Word, when the entire nation forgot the Word, what did the Lord do? He didn’t take the Word away; instead he gave the Word to them again. The very next king was brought to faith in his Savior through the Word of God. Another prophet was sent to the people to proclaim the Word of God. And for the next few centuries, prophet after prophet was sent with the Word of God to the people, through good kings and bad, whether in the Promised Land or in exile, to tell God’s people what God wanted them to know. The Lord did not give up. He did not hold his Word back. And even after Zechariah the prophet was killed many years later, the Lord still sent more prophets to his people. And not only prophets, but his own Son as well. Despite the rejection of his Word throughout the centuries, God kept his Word and sent Jesus. Because he refused to give up on his people. He was determined to demonstrate his love. And he still does so now.
No matter how many times we have ignored his Word, no matter how many times we have disregarded his Word or underappreciated his Word or blatantly avoided his Word in the past, he still has not taken it away. He has preserved for us the revealing and life-giving words of the cross. He has provided us with the comforting and incredible words of Jesus’ resurrection. He has supplied us with the powerful and effective words of the Holy Spirit. He has presented to us the encouraging words and the gracious words of our full and complete forgiveness as well as the guarantee of a heavenly home. Our Lord has not taken that away from us! Instead, he has showered us with his Word even more! Instead of pulling back in anger he reaches out in love! And he multiplies the ways in which we can be connected with his Word. Because this is it! His Word is the only way we can ever be forgiven or comforted or reassured of what he has done. His Word, read on a page, heard in a voice, felt in the waters of baptism, or tasted in the meal of the Lord’ Supper, is our salvation. And the Lord gives it to us - free of charge. And he will continue to give us his Word in all of these ways as long as there are souls to feed and hearts to sway.

The Word Used

Drink this Word up. Dive into this Word. Immerse yourself in this Word to such an extent that you saturated with it. There is nothing more important than God’s Word. Your own health is not as important as God’s Word. Your own family is not as important as God’s Word. The basic necessities of life are not as important as God’s Word. Of course, God’s Word encourages us to love our families and take care of our bodies and provide for ourselves what we need on this earth. And so all of those other important aspects of our lives will be taken care of through that Word of God. But nothing should replace that Word in the top spot.
There is nothing better I could encourage you to do than to read the Word, study the Word, sing the Word, hear the Word, live in the Word. As your pastor, as your brother in Christ, as your Christian friend, I desperately want you to find your way into the Word as deep as you can go. I want nothing more than to have your heart filled with the salvation that comes through faith in Christ so much that it permeates your words and your actions and your very being. I want you to be so solid on the foundation of your Savior that no temptation, no deception, no attack from the devil will ever be able to knock you down. But that can only happen we you are firmly grounded in the Word of God. Hold on tight. You cannot read it too much. You cannot study it, sing it, or hear it too often. It is your strength, your peace, your calm. It means everything in this life and in the next life. And it is right in front of you. Grab it. Open it up. And do not let it go.
Amen.

“Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.” - 2 Peter 3:18