11/26/12 - Christ the King - Daniel 7:13-14

JESUS IS IN CHARGE

Christ Is Given All Authority

            “I, Daniel, was troubled in spirit, and the visions that passed through my mind disturbed me.”  These are the words of the prophet Daniel after the Lord had given him a vision of what would happen in this world for hundreds of years to come.  And who could blame him!  Because Daniel saw some troubling and disturbing things!  He saw a vision of four terrifying beasts: the first beast looked like a lion with the wings of an eagle that were eventually torn off; the second beast resembled a bear lying on its side with three ribs in its mouth that was told to eat its fill; the third beast looked like a leopard with four wings and four heads and it was given authority to rule; and the fourth beast was the most terrifying of them all: it had 10 horns and iron teeth with another little horn growing up that spoke blasphemous words against God himself.  We know from the rest of the story that these four beasts represented four kingdoms in succession: Babylon (under whose rule Daniel was currently living), Persia, Greece, and Rome.  And as Daniel watched this vision play out he saw authority to rule given to each kingdom, only to be ripped away and given to the next.  Because each kingdom was more powerful than the one before, each kingdom was more violent and ruthless than its predecessor - and the people of God were going to have to suffer under them all.  No wonder Daniel was troubled and disturbed by these visions!  There was going to be wholesale shifts of power throughout the known world in the near future.  Kingdoms were going to crumble.  Nations were going to fall.  Chaos and disorder and upheaval were going to be commonplace.  And those who thought they were in charge, were not going to be in charge for long.

            But after the chaos and disorder and upheaval are described in Daniel’s vision, immediately following the description of the fourth beast, the prophet is shown who really is in charge: “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence.  He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.”  There may have been some powerful nations on the brink of world domination during and after the time of Daniel; there may have been some kingdoms that would be able to do almost anything they wanted to - at least for a time; but in the end the “one like a son of man” would be given all authority and glory and power.  And every single nation on this earth would be under his rule because his kingdom would never pass away.

            This “one like a son of man” is none other than Jesus.  The one who has been given the name that is above every name, “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:10-11).  Jesus was the one who sat on the throne.  Jesus was the one who had all people under his feet.  Jesus was the one who was completely in charge of everything.  Jesus was in charge.  Not Daniel.  Jesus was in charge.  Not Babylon or Persia or Greece or Rome.  Jesus was in charge.  Jesus still is in charge.  And no one else.

       
We Aren’t In Charge

            And that includes you!  You aren’t in charge either.  You are not in charge.  And I know that is tough for some of you to swallow… Actually, it’s tough for all of us to swallow.  Because we all want to be in charge of some things at some times, don’t we?  Especially of our own lives.  We want to make the decisions that will determine what we do or won’t do, we want to have a say in what is going to happen to us, we want to be involved in the plans that are going to affect our day to day existence.  We want to be in charge of at least our own lives.

            And so I hate to break this to you, but you’re aren’t capable of being in charge of your own life!  You aren’t smart enough, you aren’t strong enough, you aren’t stable enough, you aren’t savvy enough to be in charge.  And if you’re not quite sure that you agree with that yet, think about this: are you able to control things that happen to you?  You might be able to adjust at times but you certainly can’t control the weather or the people or the accidents that affect you.  How about this: do you have complete influence over something personal like your health?  You might be able to exercise and eat right, but there is no way you will be able to avoid every virus and bug and disease.  Or consider this question: are you capable of regulating how old you want to be?  You might be able to do a few things that slow the process down a bit, but you know just as well as I do that you cannot do a single thing to stop yourself from getting older and weaker, more wrinkled and more forgetful - it will happen and you will eventually die whether you want to or not.  You aren’t in charge of your life - no matter how bad you want to be.

            But let’s talk about the most important issue when it comes to being in charge of your own life: when you die will you be able to get yourself to heaven?  Most of you know better than that.  Most of you understand that there is nothing you can do to get yourself to heaven.  You aren’t in charge of that.  And if you were in charge of that, you’d be in a whole world of trouble!  How would you ever be able to get yourself to heaven if it were up to you?  By trying harder?  By doing more good things?  By really, really, wanting it deep down in your heart?  Good luck with that…  Nothing you do here is going to get you there.  In fact, anything you do here is going to get you to hell, not heaven.  You don’t measure up to the standard God has set.  You aren’t in charge of eternal life.  You aren’t in control of what happens in this world.  You don’t even have full authority over what happens today!  You aren’t in charge.  You can’t be.

Jesus Is In Charge

            A couple years ago my wife and I went white-water rafting.  We were in the raft with only four other people and our guide.  Our guide sat in the back steering the vessel with his oar in the water while he directed us when to paddle, how to paddle, and where to paddle as he navigated our raft through rapids and around boulders and away from trees.  When we were a few hundred yards away from the bank where we were going to disembark, he asked if I wanted to take over for him.  It looked like relatively smooth waters up to the point where we were going to get out and so I thought I could probably handle it.  It ended up that I had no idea what I was doing.  I understood the basic concept of steering the raft with an oar and paddling around obstacles, but I didn’t know how far the raft would turn with how much paddling, I didn’t know how much the raft would rotate depending on the angle of my oar, and I wasn’t familiar with how the rapids moved and influenced the raft in different directions.  And so as we came up to a large boulder, I knew that we had to avoid it, I just didn’t exactly how.  And what seemed so easy for the guide to do dozens of times before now was impossible for me.  And we promptly ended up running into this boulder, half way up this boulder, stuck on this boulder.  Our guide shook his head, smirked, told us what we had to do to get ourselves free, and we finally ended up making it off the boulder and back to shore.  I had failed miserably - even on one of the easiest parts of the river.  I was in way over my head.  I shouldn’t have been in charge.

            Our Lord is good at reminding us every once in a while who should be in charge.  He may let us pretend that we are the guide in the back every once in a while, but only so that we end up turning the boat around and running up onto a boulder.  He wants us to know that we can’t do what he does, we can’t be in charge.  We don’t know what we are doing and we have to rely on the expertise and ability of our God.  And he is glad to do it!  He wants to be in charge!  He wants to rule and direct our lives because he honestly cares about us.  And so he cares for us by doing things like manipulating the weather to do exactly what he wants so that we benefit from it.  And he either blocks viruses and bugs and diseases or allows viruses and bugs and diseases according to his perfect knowledge so that we either are spared or tested.  He manages the health of our bodies, working inside and out, making sure the heart pumps and the lungs expand and the internal organs function.  He regulates our age, aware of every hair that falls out of our heads, conscious of the depth of every one of our wrinkles, remembering every one of those memories that we have long forgotten.  Jesus is in charge of everything.  He navigates the waters with precise timing.  He gets us around the boulders with expert care.  He carries us over submerged obstacles that we won’t ever see.

            But, of course, he takes care of the most important thing too.  He isn’t just concerned about your happiness and your health and your age in this life; his number one priority is your life with him in heaven.  And so, being in charge, he’s already taken care of that.  Because he was in charge he directed the world to where he wanted it to be so that he could come to this earth as a human being at exactly the right time.  Because he was in charge he went to all the right places and said all of the right things and performed all of the right miracles as he lived here for just over three decades.  Because he was in charge he influenced the hearts of people to bring them to faith and used the minds of unbelievers to carry out his purpose.  Because he was in charge he let himself be arrested, he let himself be condemned, he let himself be crucified.  And by his suffering he gave you healing.  By his death he gave you forgiveness.  By his life he gave you a home.  Jesus was in charge of your salvation the entire time - from beginning to end and everything in between.  He knew what was coming, he knew what was going to happen, and he knew how he was going to use it to save you.  And so now you are.  You are saved!  You are completely forgiven and a recipient of the eternal life your Lord has won for you on the cross.  Problem solved.  Situation fixed.  Case closed.  But only because Jesus was in charge.

Our Lives Are Secured

            And he still is.  Our same God is still in charge of everything that happens to us.  Because remember: “His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.”  Just like in the time Daniel, kingdoms will rise and kingdoms will fall in our lifetime.  Nations will come to power and nations will fade away.  Presidents will be elected, economies will ebb and flow, power will shift from one place to the next.  But throughout all the chaos and disorder and upheaval, who really has the power?  Who really holds all authority in his hands?  Who really is in charge? 

            Your life is completely secure, my dear Christian brothers and sisters.  Because your life rests in the palms of the one who is charge: the King himself.  He stands high above everything so that nothing can take you from him.  And he will continue to direct and rule and influence and command whatever needs to be done so that you, his most treasured possession, will end up with him forever.  Who could possibly touch you if the King holds you in the palm of his hand?  What horrible thing can possibly cause you any eternal harm if the King holds you in the palm of his hand?  Who can even look at you, who can even think about you without the King knowing?  Your King is in charge of your life in every single way.  No person, no problem, no president, no possible situation will ever be able to usurp his authority.  Jesus is in charge.  And so rest easy tonight.  Sleep well.  Jesus, your King, is in charge.  Not you.  Not anyone else.  Just Jesus.  Jesus is in charge.  You’ve got nothing to worry about.

            Amen.

“Now to the King, eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever.  Amen.”  - 1 Tim. 1:17

11/21/12 - Thanksgiving Eve - Psalm 9:1-2

THANK YOU, LORD, FOR EVERYTHING

The Occasion of Psalm 9

            Psalm 9 intrigues me.  There are plenty of other interesting psalms throughout the Bible, of course.  And some of those psalms are interesting because they actually tell us the reason why they were written.  The very beginning of Psalm 51, for example, says that it was written by King David after he repented of his sin of committing adultery with Bathsheba.  Psalm 92 was written by someone to be read on the Sabbath Day.  Psalms 120-134 are labeled “songs of ascents” - possibly written for the people to sing as they “ascended” the hill up to the temple for worship.  Psalm 9 has a small explanation at the beginning as well, but it has always peaked my interest for what we don’t know about it.  We know a few details: like many psalms it was also written by King David.  And like many psalms it was given to the director of music for the choirs to sing.  And like many psalms the words were written to a specific melody.  But that’s what intrigues me.  As you can see in your bulletins, the tune that this psalm was written to was called, “The Death of the Son.”

            Was this David’s own tune that he wrote?  He was a talented musician, after all, and so he could have written it.  Plus, he had once lost an infant son to death.  Remember that the product of his adultery with Bathsheba was a little baby boy and the Lord promised that the child would die because of David and Bathsheba’s sin.  And although David prayed and pleaded for his son’s life, God took him away anyway.  And so was this melody based on that incident?  We don’t know.  We don’t even know if David wrote this psalm before or after that happened.  Or maybe David used a melody that someone else had already written.  But if so, why would he use something entitled “The Death of the Son”?  If you saw that title to a piece of music, what kind of music would you expect it to be?  Probably a little melancholy, probably in a minor key, something a little slower, something maybe even a little depressing like Chopin’s famous funeral march.  But that’s what is so interesting: Psalm 9 is not a depressing psalm at all.  Listen to how David begins this song: “I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonders.  I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.”

            That doesn’t seem to fit with a melody entitled “The Death of the Son” at all!  Was David actually praising God for the death of his son?  Well, in a very real way, David did praise God when that tragedy happened.  David stopped fasting and lying on the ground in sackcloth as he had been doing.  Instead after his son died he got up, ate, and “he went into the house of the LORD and worshiped” (2 Sam. 12:20).  We don’t know if this is the occasion that prompted David to write Psalm 9 or not, but it fits.  David did worship the Lord at the death of his son.  Because David understood that he could thank the Lord not only for the “good” things that happened to him in this life, but for everything.  Even death.

We Complain about the “Bad”

            We are just hours away from Thanksgiving Day.  The annual nationwide festival each year when we as Christians officially thank the Lord for what he has done and what he has blessed us with.  And as you sit around your kitchen table tomorrow or as you lie in your bed recounting all of the things that you want to thank the Lord for, what kinds of blessings will you bring to mind?  Your family?  Your home?  Your job?  Your health?  Your city?  Your country?  Your congregation?  And you should thank the Lord for all of those blessings!  Those are great gifts from your Lord that should be acknowledged every day!  But how many difficulties are you going to thank the Lord for tomorrow?  How many problems, how many troubles, how many unpleasant situations are you going to thank your Lord for on Thanksgiving Day? 

            If you’re like me, you probably are more apt to complain about those things than to thank God for them.  If you’re like me, you’re more likely to whine about the difficulties and the troubles.  If you’re like me than you’re not going to thank the Lord for those things - certainly not on Thanksgiving!  Because those things bother me and make my life difficult.  Those things produce a lot of stress and cause unneeded anxiety.  Why would I thank the Lord for those things?  Why would I praise his name for the problems that plague my life? 

            Why not?  God is in control of the problems too, isn’t he?  God is in charge of the difficulties and the troubles as well, is he not?  Doesn’t he promise to work those things out for our good?  Doesn’t he guarantee that whatever he allows and whatever he sends our way will prove to be beneficial for us in the end?  So why shouldn’t we thank the Lord for those things we might categorize as “bad”?  Or are we that naïve as to limit God’s power only to the “good” things that happen on this earth?  Are we that ignorant as to limit God’s love only to the pleasant things in our lives?  Are we that selfishly picky as to limit God’s grace and his mercy and his compassion only to those things that we like?  “Thanks for what I have asked for, Lord, but I don’t want that other stuff you give me.  Thanks but no thanks.  You can keep it!”  “But this is what is good for you,” the Lord says in his Word.  “Yeah, well I don’t care.”  “But this is how I am stretching your faith,” the Lord says in his Word.  “Yeah, well it’s not worth it.”  “But this is how I am protecting you and guiding you and guarding you,” the Lord says in his Word.  “Yeah, well I don’t like it.  Just give me the ‘good’ things and leave me alone.”

We Can Thank God Even for the “Bad”

            Sometimes the “bad” things are the “good” things.  Sometimes what we don’t like is exactly what we need.  Even the most horrible disasters.  Even the most challenging difficulties.  Even death.  Even death!  Even death is in the Lord’s hands!  Even death is used by our God for the good of those who love him!  Think of what Job did at the death of his children in the Old Testament reading: he praised his God.  Think of what Jesus did at the death of his friend Lazarus in the New Testament reading: he praised his Father.  Think of what David says here to the tune of “The Death of the Son”: “I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonders.  I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.”  Think of what your God did for you at the death of his only Son: he covered your sinfulness with his Son’s blood; he buried your guilt in that one-man catacomb; he canceled the punishment that awaited you because he had laid that punishment on his dead child.  And now you praise him for it!  You actually praise your God for the Death of the Son!  In fact, that’s what we thank our Lord for every week: for the Son’s suffering, for the Son’s cross, for the Son’s sacrifice, for the Son’s death.  The death of God himself was worked out for your eternal benefit!  And so think of what he can do with the much smaller problems and troubles in your life now?  Even those that you can’t seem to handle.  Even those that don’t seem to go away.  Even those that end in death.  Even in death God works things out according to his will.  Even in death God demonstrates his love.  And he has proven that through the death of his Son.

            Thank your Lord for that tomorrow.  Not just for the death of his Son, but for everything else that he does.  Because sometimes the biggest blessings come through the worst situations.  You might not see them, you might not feel them, you might not think you are benefitting from them at the moment, but you can be sure that your Lord has your best interests in mind no matter what he does.  Job knew that.  Martha knew that.  David knew that.  And so do you.  You know that no matter what happens, you have every reason to sing with David every day: “I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonders.  I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.”  Thank you, Lord, not just for the “good” things, but for the bad.  Not just for the things I like, but for the things I don’t.  Thank you Lord, for everything.  Amen. 

12/18/12 - Saints Triumphant - Daniel 12:1-3

A LONG-TERM INVESTMENT

Long-Term Investments

       
            Someone told me the other day that real estate is a long-term investment.  It’s not a five year project; it’s not even a ten year project, he said.  Buying a house or a piece of property is a long-term investment because there are going to ups and downs over the years and peaks and valleys in the market, but if you’re in it for the long-term, it’ll pay off in the end...  Now, there is probably some truth to that.  Just like any other investment, a long-term approach is more likely to end favorably.

            But that’s not guaranteed, is it?  Even long-term investments do not always end well because we can’t predict what will happen in the future, we can’t control the thousands of different factors that come into play, and we can’t always adjust to the surprises we weren’t anticipating.  A person might hope that a long-term investment pays off, but no one really knows for sure.

            There is a long-term investment, however, that always pays off in the end - but it’s a spiritual investment: faith in Jesus as your Savior.  That investment will always turn out well because it is guaranteed by the Lord himself.  And the Lord can predict the future!  He can control thousands of different factors all at once!  He can adjust to surprises because he anticipates all of them!  But remember: it is a long-term investment!  It’s not a five year project; it’s not even a ten year project.  And so when you are right in the middle of the ups and downs of this life and when you experience the peaks and the valleys and when you are going through times when things don’t look so good and you want to sell and get out as fast as you can, remember that faith is a long-term investment.  It’s a life-long investment.  Trust that no matter what you have to go through in this life and no matter how bleak the future may look at times, the Lord will make sure that in the end this long-term investment will pay eternal dividends.

Daniel’s Short-Term Difficulties

       
            A good example of how faith is a long-term investment would be the life of the prophet Daniel.  He believed in the coming Savior and he knew he was going to go to heaven, but he had to live through some tough times along the way!  At a very early age Daniel was ripped away from the Promised Land, the place where he was born, because the Babylonians came in, destroyed Jerusalem, burned down the temple, and deported Daniel and many of his countrymen back to Babylon.  Daniel then had to serve under a very ruthless and ungodly king who almost ended up murdering Daniel without reason.  Daniel was then called on to confront this king with the announcement that the king would be dethroned if he did not repent of his sins.  Daniel soon became hated by many of the Babylonians leaders and so they plotted his death.  Daniel was the one who was thrown into the lions’ den to be eaten alive.  Later on Daniel was called on to confront another king with a declaration from God that the king would soon die for his sins and his kingdom would be taken away.  And by the time everything settled down in his life and Daniel could live peacefully for the first time, he was too old to go back to the land of Israel with his fellow countrymen.  And he ended up dying thousands of miles away from his home in a country in which he did not belong.  Daniel’s life wasn’t exactly pleasant.  It was filled with hardships and difficulties, ups and downs, peaks and valleys.  But Daniel held on.  He trusted that this investment would pay off.  He trusted in this promise that came from his Lord:

            “There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people—everyone whose name is found written in the book—will be delivered.  Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.  Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever.”  What a promise!  What a guarantee!  Daniel’s eternity was secure!  There was no doubt that he was going to end up in heaven!  And everyone else whose name is written in the Book - those who believe in Jesus - will one day shine like stars right there with him.  Faith is a long-term investment.  And in the end it will always pay off.

Our Short-Term Difficulties

            I played football throughout high school and college.  And by the time guys got to college, they knew what to expect if they went out for the football team.  But in high school, there were always a group of freshmen that had never played football before and stepped onto a football field for the very first time for the first practice of the year.  Now the football team had practices for a week or two before school even started.  And since there weren’t any classes yet, there were 2 or 3 practices a day in the middle of August in the middle of Nebraska.  And so there was a lot of heat and a lot of humidity and a lot of running - a lot of running.  And so inevitably, there would be a handful of freshmen each year that wouldn’t make it.  They would quit.  They would fake injuries or give excuses or just never come back.  In short, the running and the heat and the effort and the physical work wasn’t worth it to them.  They would have rather been sitting on the couch in their flip-flops than be out in the hot sun running 40 yard dashes in full football gear.  But the veterans knew what it was all building up to.  We knew that if we could just make it through these first few weeks of intense and physically nauseating practices, we would get to what it was all about: the Friday night games, under the lights, a big crowd on hand, and the thrill of victory.  But for those few freshmen each year that didn’t even make it through the first couple days of practice, the excitement and the contest and victory of Friday night wasn’t theirs.  All they could do was watch behind the ropes on the sidelines.

            It’s tempting to just call it quits sometimes, isn’t it?  It’s tempting to throw in the towel and actually enjoy yourself in this life because sometimes it just doesn’t seem to be worth trusting in a God who doesn’t seem to be there for you, who doesn’t seem to be helping, who doesn’t seem to be following through!  You pray and you pray and you pray and you try and you try and you try and you wait and you wait and you wait, but life doesn’t seem to be getting any better.  And you wonder why you are even bothering.  You wonder why you are putting up with so much unpleasantness in your life when you thought things were going to be a little easier.  “I want answers now, Lord!  I want solutions now, Lord!  I want good things now, Lord!  What are you waiting for!”

            But that wasn’t the deal.  That’s not what your Lord promised you, was it?  He did not promise a good life and a pain-free existence.  He did not promise that you would not have any problems and that all of your troubles would be instantly taken away.  And so how dare we demand that of him!  As if he owes us.  As if he is obligated to do what we want him to do when we want him to do it.  “Oh, but he promised to help me!” we cry.  “He promised to support me and be with me!”  Who says he’s not helping you or supporting you or with you?  “But he’s not helping me in the way I want him to, the way I’m asking him to, the way I need him to!”  So we have the right to get angry and frustrated with the Lord when he is not helping us in the way we think is best?  And we feel like quitting in the middle of things?  And we feel like cutting our losses and figuring out a different direction?  What a wicked disposition we have!  To think that we know better than the Lord, to think that his plans are not as good as ours, to think that this long-term investment in him is not panning out because he is obviously not holding up his end of the bargain.

Jesus’ Long-Term Investment

            Why should the Lord even stick around?  Why should the Lord continue to put up with us if we always complain and gripe and demand and even begin to doubt his sincerity?  Could any of you blame him if he just walked away?  Could you fault him if he finally threw up his hands, shook his head, and let us deal with life on our own?  He would have every right to do that.  But he’s not going to.  Your Lord will never walk away from you no matter how unpleasant you are at times because he’s invested way too much into you to cut his losses now.

            Think about everything that your God has invested in you over the past few thousand years: He’s invested a lot of time in you, hasn’t he?  And not just during your life; ever since sin was in this world he promised to send a Savior for you.  Which means that he had to continue to work throughout history and steer things in the right direction so that your Savior could come at exactly the right time.  And he’s invested a lot of effort in you too.  While Jesus was on this earth the amount of effort it must have taken him to keep every one of his Father’s commands on your behalf must have been completely exhausting.  What about the pain he’s invested for your forgiveness?  That’s a lot of pain!  What about the blood for your salvation?  That’s a lot of blood!  What about his life?  He decided that you were actually worth dying for!  God was willing to invest his life on this earth for you so that you one day could have a life in heaven.  What about the energy your Lord invests in you right now?  He’s always watching you, always guarding you with his power, always guiding you with his Word; he’s always planning ahead for you, he’s always picking up your messes behind you, he’s always working everything out for you that is happening right now.  God has invested his reputation in you because he has publically called you his child.  He’s even invested the rest of his eternity in you because he promises that you will be with him in his home forever!  Your Lord has invested everything in you!  Everything!  He’s all in!  He’s not backing out!  He’s not folding his cards.  He’s not cutting his losses because he has no losses to cut.  You are his; he has paid dearly for that privilege of calling you his own; he is not going to give you up.  He’s not going to give up on you.

Our Long-Term Dividend

            Which bodes well for us even in this life, doesn’t it?  If our Lord is that committed to us and that invested in us to promise us the glories of eternity, then he’s certainly going to take of us now while we are living here in this world.  He doesn’t want us to fall away from the faith we have in him.  He doesn’t want us to give up on the investment that we have in our Savior.  And he doesn’t want us to become too discouraged when that investment doesn’t seem to be working out.  Because we will experience days and weeks and maybe even entire decades of trouble and difficulty and dark, dark times.  After all, that’s what the Lord promised: “There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then.”  But that doesn’t mean he leaves you at those times.  That doesn’t mean his investment in you is wavering.  It simply means that at those times he is pulling us closer to his promises: his promises of love, his promises of strength, his promises of eternity.  Because he doesn’t just promise distress, he also promises deliverance: “Everyone whose name is found written in the Book will be delivered.”  You will be delivered.  You will be delivered from all of this!  Hang on!  Don’t give up on that investment now!  It’s too precious to throw away.  It’s too certain to give up.  This long-term investment in your Savior will pay off.  It will.  You will receive eternal dividends that will make everything worth it.  Just as the apostle Paul once said, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” (Rom. 8:18).  You cannot avoid suffering in this life.  They will come.  But those suffering aren’t even worth comparing to what awaits.  Hang on.  Hang on.  The Lord will see you through.  The Lord will get you home.  And when he does, you’ll never want anything else ever again.

            Amen.

“The Lord will rescue us from every evil attack and bring us safely into his heavenly kingdom.  To him be glory forever and ever.  Amen.”  - 2 Tim. 4:18

11/11/12 - Last Judgment - Daniel 12:13

WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO?

Allotted Inheritance in the Promised Land

            It must have been a little nerve-racking for those families.  And I’m not talking about the families on the east coast after the storm came through.  And I’m not talking about the families of the politicians during these recent elections either.  I’m talking about all of the families of the Israelites who had gathered in the city of Shiloh one morning.  Because those families were there for a very important reason: to see what part of the Promised Land they would receive as an inheritance.  Now Joshua had already led them to the Promised Land and they had defeated many different cities and kings and nations, but they had yet to divide up the land and distribute it to each of the tribes of Israel.  And so now that Joshua, their leader, was getting old, and now that many of their enemies had already been cleared out of the way, it was time to divide up the land that their Lord had given them.  And so they all gathered in Shiloh to find out what portion of the Promised Land they are their extended family would move to and settle in for generations to come.  And it had to have been a little nerve-racking! 

            Can you imagine standing there, waiting to find out where you are going to spend the rest of your life by the roll of the dice?  Think of you and your family coming over to America for the very first time, gathering in a city like Kansas City right in the middle of the country with millions of other people, and drawing the state you are going to live in out of hat!  “You are your extended family are going to live in… Florida.  You and your extended family are going to live in… Vermont.  You and your extended family are going to live in… Idaho.”  It sounds a little ridiculous, doesn’t it?  But that’s exactly what the Israelite nation did there at Shiloh.  The tribes of Israel were there, the land was before them, and they divided it into sections by “casting lots.”

            Casting lots was done quite a bit in Old Testament times, but we don’t know exactly how they did it.  It may have been like picking names out of a hat, it could have been similar to drawing the short straw, it could have likely been stones that were marked and either thrown down or individually picked out of a container.  In any case, we can imagine the excitement and the anxiety those Israelite families must have had as they stood there in Shiloh and found out for the very first time where they were going to establish a home, not only for themselves but for their relatives for the next few hundred years.

Daniel’s Allotted Inheritance

            Of course, once the land was distributed, those territories were very special to each of those tribes.  It was more than just a national pride; it became a pride in a physical piece of ground that their ancestors had lived on and worked on for hundreds of years before and something their descendants would live on and work on for hundreds more.  So imagine the distress these Israelites went through many, many years later when they were torn away from that allotted inheritance.  God sent the Assyrians and the Babylonians and they deported the Israelites to different countries, away from the Promised Land the ground their ancestors had inherited so long before.

            One of these Israelites who had been taken away from the Promised Land when he was just a boy was a man named Daniel.  He was a prophet and a leader of the people as they lived in Babylon, the land of their exile.  But Daniel would have loved to go back and see the land he had left.  Unfortunately, he was too old to go back.  He would end up dying in a foreign country.  And so think of how excited Daniel must have been near the end of his life when the Lord gave Daniel a promise that not only must have been a thrill to hear, but something that must have also reminded Daniel about the Promised Land he had known when he was just a boy: “As for you, go your way till the end. You will rest, and then at the end of the days you will rise to receive your allotted inheritance.” 

            Daniel probably barely remembered the “allotted inheritance” he had left in Israel.  Daniel had been very young when he left and now he was an old man.  He had lived a long life away from the Promised Land, the Inherited Land, where he was born.  It was a land that he still prayed for, a land he longed for, but it was a land to which he would never make it back.  He would never again set foot on the allotted inheritance that had been given to his family almost 1000 years before.  And so to hear this promise from his Lord must have filled Daniel with an incredible amount of joy: “At the end of the days you will rise to receive your allotted inheritance.”  Daniel was not ever going get back to the allotted inheritance he had left on this earth, but he was about to receive an allotted inheritance in heaven.  What an exciting thing to look forward to!  The lots had already been cast!  The stones had already been picked!  His name had come up!  And he was about to enter a land that had been prepared just for him!  A land that was far better than the land he had left behind as a boy.  A land that would not have to be protected or taken care of.  A land that would never be defeated.  A land that he would never be forced to leave again.

What We Should Be Allotted

            You hear every once in a while about a wealthy person who dies and ends up not giving any of the inheritance to the children or grandchildren.  The inheritance is left to a charity or an organization or a church, but the relatives don’t get a penny.  And those children and grandchildren are mad, aren’t they!  They expected the inheritance!  They were looking forward to the inheritance!  They wanted the inheritance because they were family!  Of course, in those situations they usually look over the fact that they weren’t very nice to that wealthy relative while he or she was still alive.  They might not have even talked to that person for the last ten years of his or her life, but those children and grandchildren still expected an inheritance despite the way they had treated the one now dead.  And so what inheritance do you expect.  What inheritance are you looking forward to?  As you stand in front of the Judge and he makes the final decision about what is in store for you after this life, what will be your allotted inheritance?

            Put yourself in a situation similar to what the Israelites had to experience at Shiloh.  You gather together with millions and millions of other people around the throne of God.  The Lord is there himself, distributing out the land.  He’s pulling names out of a hat and announcing where they are going to live for the rest of eternity.  “Luke, you will be living over here among the lakes and the pine trees… Rebekah, you will be living over here in the mountains and the valleys… John, you will be living over here next to the river and the springs…”  And then he gets to your name.  What is he going to say?  Where are you going to go?  What is your inheritance going to be? 

            What if the Lord said this: What if he looked straight at you and said, “Your allotted inheritance is… nothing.  Not up here anyway.  Not in my land.”  What would you say?  Would you hesitantly raise your hand and say, “But Lord!  I thought I was OK.  I thought I was your child!  I thought we were family!”  “You were my child,” the Lord would reply.  “There was nothing wrong with my adoption of you in baptism.  I made good on my promise.  You were my child.  But look at how you have lived your life after that!  You’ve been nothing but trouble!  You’ve been rebellious!  You’ve been disobedient!  You’ve been disrespectful!  You’ve been blatantly forgetful, undependable, and completely selfish!  You were continually ignoring my Word!  You routinely disregarded my directives!  And you constantly put yourself above me.  How could you expect to still be my child and receive an inheritance from me when you have acted that way your entire life?  Who do you think you are?  You aren’t good enough to be my child!  You aren’t worthy of that title or the inheritance my children get!  Your allotted inheritance isn’t up here with me.  It’s down there.  In the eternal dungeons I originally prepared for the devil and his angels.  That’s your land now.  That’s what you can look forward to.”

            And if the Lord said that to you, who of you could argue?  I certainly wouldn’t be able to say anything if the Lord said that to me… because it’s all true!  I have been nothing but trouble to the Lord throughout my life!  I have been rebellious and disobedient and disrespectful - I’ve been all of those things!  I don’t deserve to be called his child or to receive the inheritance he has prepared for his adopted children.  I have earned myself the opposite: the place of punishment, hell and all its consequences.  We will all receive an allotted inheritance in the end, but the inheritance we have actually earned for ourselves is less than pleasant.

What Christ Was Allotted

            So what is your Lord going to say to you on the day of judgment?  What inheritance can you expect?  Do you still expect something good?  Something glorious?  And if so, can you be sure that’s what he’ll give you?  Yes!  You can be sure you will receive a wonderful inheritance!  He’s not going to pull our name up and pronounce that our allotted inheritance is the land of eternal suffering in hell.  And he’s not going to do that because all of that has already been allotted to Christ. 

            The Son of God comes to this earth with the name “Jesus.”  And not only is he the Son of God, he is the only true Son of God because he is God himself who has existed from all eternity.  And so what does this Son of God receive because he decided to come down to this earth and live like one of us in our place?  Hell.  He was allotted all of the suffering and torture and pain of hell.  This Son of God, as a perfect child, painstakingly follows every one of his Father’s commands while he is here on this earth.  And what does the Son of God receive for his obedience?  Hell.  He was allotted all of the suffering and torture and pain of hell.  This Son of God, always faithful and forever loyal, places his Father’s will above his own every time.  And what does the Son of God receive for his efforts?  Hell.  He was allotted all of the suffering and torture and pain of hell.  This Son of God was pegged to a couple wooden planks for sinful human beings.  This Son of God bled from his head and his face and hands and his feet and his back and his side for sinful human beings.  This Son of God hung there for sinful human beings as sinful human beings mocked him for hanging there.  And what did the Son of God receive for his selfless sacrifice?

            “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Jesus cried out when he was there on the cross.  His Father had actually forsaken him, he had abandoned his own Son so that Jesus was actually experiencing the real punishment of hell there on the cross.  All of the suffering and all of the torture and all of the pain of hell for every sin that had ever been committed all at once.  That was the Son’s allotted inheritance.  That was his reward for all of his work.  That’s what he received so we wouldn’t have to.

Our Allotted Inheritance in the Promised Land

            And that’s why our Lord is not going to send us there: he already sent his Son there.  The punishment has already been paid; the land has already been occupied once, it doesn’t have to be occupied again.  Oh, there will be people there!  There are plenty of people in hell already.  But not you.  Because you are still a child of God.  You might not act like it sometimes.  You might not feel like it sometimes.  And you will never deserve it at any time.  But you are anyway.  Because God’s promises never fail.  He forgave your sins through the death of his Son.  He brought you to faith by the work of his Holy Spirit through the Word.  And he will one day give you exactly what a child of God can look forward to: life forever with him in heaven.  Your inheritance is not determined on how well you have treated your Father; your inheritance is determined by how well he has treated you.

            And you can be sure what you will inherit.  Because the words that were spoken to Daniel so long ago were not just for him.  These words are for everyone who believes in Jesus as their Savior.  These words of your God are for you: “As for you, go your way till the end. You will rest, and then at the end of the days you will rise to receive your allotted inheritance.”  The lots have already been cast!  The stones have already been picked!  Your name has come up and your inheritance is waiting: the Promised Land, the Paradise of perfection.  It is a place far better than you have ever imagined.  It is a place you can look forward to.  Because it is a place your Lord has guaranteed that you will receive.

            Amen.

“Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he chose for his inheritance.”      - Psalm 33:12

11/4/12 - Reformation - Daniel 3:16-28

STAND STRONG IN THE FACE OF DEATH

Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego… and George

            Almost 500 years ago, a small group of Christians met in the city of Augsburg in what is now the nation of Germany.  They were there for only one reason: to present a written statement of faith to the Holy Roman Emperor himself.  This emperor though, was not too sympathetic of these Christians because he happened to belong to the Roman Catholic Church.  The Roman Catholic Church was the only other church of that time and dominated not only the religious activity of the people but much of the government policies as well.  And for years they had accused these Christians of heresy and had even outlawed anyone who held to the name that this group called themselves by: the  name “Lutheran.”  And so a number of Christians were willing to stand up for the truth even in the face of death.  One of those Christians was a man named George.  He was the margrave, or the ruler, of the area of Brandenburg.  One evening, George and a few others met with the emperor and his brother, king of Austria.  These two high officials and both members of the Catholic Church demanded that while the Lutherans were in town, no Lutheran sermons could be preached in the churches, all Lutherans would be required to attend religious events that were contrary to Scripture, and they would have to submit to whatever decision the Roman Catholic Church made.  George, bold in his faith and unafraid of the consequences, responded, “Before I let anyone take from me the Word of God and ask me to deny my God, I will kneel and let them strike off my head.”  George’s head remained intact that day, but what a courageous stand on the truth!  In the face of death this Christian layman was not going to back down!  He would have rather died than compromise even one letter of God’s Word that he had come to believe. 

            Doesn’t that remind you of those three men who faced death at the hands of the king of Babylon?  Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were in a similar situation when the king of that time demanded that they bow down to another god - and if they didn’t, they would be thrown into a furnace and burned to death.  But like George who would live many years later in Germany, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were bold in their faith too and unafraid of the consequences.  “If we are thrown into the blazing furnace,” they said, “the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king.  But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”  That was a bold statement!  And the king was obviously a little upset by their insolence, and so he heated up the furnace seven times hotter than usual, tied up these three Israelites, and threw them into the blaze.  But you know the rest of the story: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did not die.  Instead an angel from the Lord was sent to rescue them and these three men ended up walking out of the fire without even the smell of smoke on them.  But they didn’t know that was going to happen!  They didn’t know that they would be saved!  These men understood that their lives that day could have ended in a very unpleasant and extremely painful way.  But they stood strong in the face of death nevertheless.  They did not back down.  They were even willing to die for the sake of the truth of God’s Word.

“Even to the Point of Death”

            Has your life ever been threatened because of your confession of faith?  Mine hasn’t.  I have never been in a situation like Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego… or George had to deal with.  I have never stood before a blazing kiln because of my faith - a fire so hot that it killed those who got too close.  I have never been declared an enemy of the state for what I believe.  I have never been put into a situation where my life was on the line depending on whether or not I would stand strong on the truth of God’s Word.  And, knowing most of you fairly well, I don’t think any of you have been in a situation like that either.  But even though most of us here haven’t had to face that kind of pressure, most of us here have promised that we would stand strong in the face of death if we ever are in that situation.  In fact, a couple more of us will make that same promise today.  Because when a person becomes a member of this congregation or another congregation in our church body, that person stands up in front and before everyone and before God himself that person promises to remain faithful to the Word of God in every respect “even to the point of death.”  Even to the point of death!  That’s a big promise, isn’t it?  So anyone that has made that promise in the past or anyone who is about to make that promise in just a few minutes, is really saying: “Even if my life is put on the line because of my faith, I will not back down.  Even if my life is threatened because of what I believe, I will not compromise.  Even if death itself is the consequence I have to face for standing strong on the Word of God, I will never give in.”  That’s a big promise.

            I have made that promise too.  Years ago, after a thorough instruction in God’s Word, I promised to remain faithful to that gospel “even to the point of death.”  But I was 14 years old! And as I look back at my life and how well I have kept that promise, it seems that I wasn’t even trying.  At those times when something should have been said about inappropriate language and a horrible abuse of God’s name, did I stand strong?  At those times when a clear confession of faith should have been verbalized for the sake of someone who didn’t know it, did I stand strong?  At those times when someone sat in front of me, a person who was struggling with life because they did not believe in Jesus as their Savior, did I stand strong?  Did I boldly and unashamedly confess my faith in the Lord who not only forgave my sins but theirs as well?  Sadly, at many of those times I failed to say anything that really mattered.  Why?  Maybe because I was scared about what they would have to say to me in return.  Maybe because I was embarrassed about what they wouldn’t agree with.  Maybe because I wanted to avoid an uncomfortable situation.  But it wasn’t death!  I wasn’t standing in front of a blazing furnace ready to be tossed in!  I wasn’t brought before high powered authorities who held my freedom in their hands!  I wasn’t on the verge of having my life taken away depending on what came out of my mouth!  And I still backed down!  I still gave in!  And so what would happen if I actually did have to face the threat of death on account of my faith?  How could I expect myself to act in that kind of situation?

            How strong would you be for the sake of God’s Word in the face of death?  How strong have you stood on God’s Word so far?  Have you always been bold and unafraid or have you oftentimes backed off and backed down?  Have you always said what needed to be said or have you sometimes not said anything at all?  Have you always been proud to confess your faith in your Savior or have you been embarrassed at times and scared at others?  Have you faithfully stood strong on the word of God in every situation or have you stood to the side more often than not and avoided the situation altogether?

            If we have not stood up for the Lord, why would the Lord stand up for us?  If we have not stood strong on his Word, why would the Lord continue to support us with his strength?  If we aren’t even sure that we would remain standing on the truth in the face of death, why would the Lord remain standing by our side?

Jesus Stood Strong in the Face of Death

            He shouldn’t, to tell you the truth.  He has no reason to.  But he did.  Jesus has already stood up for us and stood strong for us and stood by our side.  And he even did that in the face of death!  Remember what he did on Palm Sunday: he rode right into the city where his enemies had been plotting his death.  And he didn’t go quietly either; he didn’t sneak into the city.  Instead he entered in a very public fashion as children and disciples and the crowds sing his praises and wave palm branches in the air.  Jesus was making sure that everyone knew exactly who he was.  But why?  He could have gone into the city without anyone else knowing.  Why would Jesus stand strong in the face of death threats when he didn’t have to?  Because he had to for you.

            Remember what happened four days later when he was in a garden with his disciples.  A crowd was sent out at night to find Jesus and arrest him.  And when they approached him, Jesus didn’t hide or run away or try to talk his way out of it; instead he said, “I’m the one you’re looking for, let everyone else go.”  But why?  Jesus could picked any place to go that night, especially when he knew what was going to happen in that garden.  Why did Jesus stand strong in the face of death when he didn’t have to?  Because he had to for you.

            Later that evening and into early Friday morning Jesus stood on trial in front of the chief priests and teachers of the law.  They accused him and hit him and spit on him.  They challenged him and asked him who he claimed to be.  Without hesitation Jesus admitted that he was the Son of God.  A few hours later he found himself in front of the Roman ruler who was trying to figure out if Jesus deserved the death penalty that the Jews were clamoring for.  But instead of claiming his innocence, Jesus proclaimed what he knew the people hated to hear: that he was a king and that his kingdom was from another place.  Not long after that he was being tortured by Roman soldiers, and then he was carrying his own cross on his back, and then he was being nailed to those pieces of wood, and then he was hanging in the afternoon sun, dying.  But why?  Jesus could have come down from that cross at any point.  Jesus could have stopped the Roman soldiers from doing what they did.  Jesus could have struck down the Roman ruler in an instant.  Jesus could have instantly wiped out every one of those priests and teachers of the law in a moment.  Why did he stand strong in the face of beatings and torture and death when he didn’t have to?  Because he had to for you.

            Jesus knew that if he did not stand strong on this earth, you would never be able to with him in heaven.  And so he stood there and he took it and he suffered it and he endured it.  He let the pain of sin hit him in the face; he allowed the consequences of sin to be thrown on his back; he permitted the penalty of sin to take its full effect.  And even when death was at the door, Jesus did not shy away but cried out in a loud voice: “It is finished!”  Because death was not going to stop Jesus from doing what needed to be done for your salvation.  In fact, when death got in his way, he beat death by rising from the dead.  So he not only stood strong on the cross, but he stood strong outside of the tomb, alive and victorious.  And because he now stands reigning in Paradise, so will we.  We will stand with the one who stood up for us.  And we will stand with him forever.

Stand Strong on the Word of God

            Just like George is.  Just like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are.  Just like thousands upon thousands of other Christians are.  But all of those Christians are standing by their Savior in heaven not because they were so faithful in this life.  Not because they were so good or tried so hard.  No because they never failed to stand strong in the face of death.  They were too sinful!  They were to weak and selfish and incapable - just like we are!  No, they are standing next to their Savior right now because they believed in the one who stood strong in the face of death for them.  They believed in Jesus.  They clung to Jesus.  They trusted in Jesus to rescue them from the consequences of their sins and bring them home.  And so now that’s exactly where they are.  And that’s where we will one day be. 

            And so as you look back at that promise you have made to your Lord or the promise that you will make shortly, you do not have to worry that your entrance into heaven will somehow be based on how well you keep that promise.  Your salvation is based on how well your God keeps his promise.  And is promise is what the children just sang: God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him will not perish, but have eternal life.  You salvation is based on that promise.  Stand strong on that promise.  Stand strong on that Word.  Because it is the Word of your God.  And he has proven that he will never let you down - even in the face of death.

            Amen.

“Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens.  Our God is a God who saves; from the Sovereign Lord comes escape from death.”   - Psalm 68:19-20