Monday, June 28, 2010

PENTECOST 5
June 27/28, 2010
Pastor Timothy J. Spaude
Text: Luke 9:18-24

“A CLEAR CONFESSION OF CHRIST…”
1. Plainly says who He is.
2. Includes cross and loss.
3. Results in great savings.

Luke 9:18-24 (NIV) “Once when Jesus was praying in private and his disciples were with him, he asked them, "Who do the crowds say I am?" 19They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life." 20"But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?" Peter answered, "The Christ of God." 21Jesus strictly warned them not to tell this to anyone. 22And he said, "The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life." 23Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.”

But what about you, who do you say I am? That’s the key question in this Word of God before us. It was so important that the Lord Jesus created an opportunity to personally ask his disciples. He included it in His word so He could personally ask each one of you too. Who do you say Jesus is? Your answer to that question reveals not only how you will live your life here but also where you will spend your eternity—in heaven or hell. Children, your parents can’t answer it for you, nor you for them. Peter’s answer to the question was the Christ of God. That’s a good answer, a clear confession of Christ. But as good Lutherans like to do we ask another question. What does this mean? What is a clear confession of Christ?
First of all it’s plainly saying who He is. That certainly was necessary at Jesus’ time right? Look at the answers people gave. "Who do the crowds say I am?" 19They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life." There was great ignorance about Jesus, wasn’t there? Did you notice what all their answers had in common? Just a man. A great prophet, a great teacher. Still just a man.
Are our times really all that different? Brothers and sisters, don’t we live at a time when there is great ignorance about who Jesus really is? Absolutely! You know, you look at that from my perspective, the faithful believers in the visible Christian church have been doing more than ever before to get out the truth of Jesus as Savior. We have more tools available to get that message out when you think of television and internet and so much more. And yet in spite of that, in America anyway, it seems more people are ignorant of who Jesus is than ever before. More people accept Him as a teacher or prophet for the Christian religion like other religions have their prophets. Why is that? The Devil is hard at work, my friends, sowing seeds of confusion, getting the unfaithful in the visible Christian church to proclaim Jesus as one way to heaven rather than the only way. He cannot undo what Jesus has done so he tries to confuse the message about Jesus.
A clear confession of Christ is needed. One that plainly says who He is. Just like Peter said. “But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?" Peter answered, "The Christ of God." Peter didn’t focus on Jesus as teacher or prophet but only as the Christ. To every Jewish person that meant only one thing. Messiah. Savior. Holy one of God. Only way to heaven. Peter plainly said who Jesus is. We need to as well. We do no one any favors by letting them think there is any way to heaven but Jesus. What are the words that will communicate to people around you? How can you tell them plainly who Jesus is? I would suggest the word Savior. I would find ways to talk about how wonderful it is to have forgiveness for my sins instead of guilt. I would want to be bold about doing that and if I find that my personality finds it hard to tell people what I believe I would pray and ask God to strengthen me and give me opportunities. An example. Recently Chris and I were getting something at Big Lots. The story was busy. The clerk a little harried. In the ringing up banter he used a bad word. Then he signed us up for their rewards program. He asked for my e-mail. I gave it. pastorspaude@hotmail.com. He reddened a little bit and said, “I’m feeling a little embarrassed for my language right about now.” I smiled, was caught off guard. The transaction ended. That would have been a great place to say, “Well that’s why God sent Jesus—to forgive us.” Shoulda, woulda, coulda! It’s good to have forgiveness and now I know what I will say next time. A clear confession of Christ.
Now you have to understand that a clear confession of Christ includes cross and loss. “And he said, "The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life." A clear confession of Christ includes cross and loss first for Jesus. He plainly told the disciples what it meant to be the Christ. It meant that He must suffer, be rejected, be killed and be raised to life. For Jesus being the Christ meant the cross and loss of His life. That was a hard teaching for the disciples to understand. With the Bible completely written we have a better understanding. The cross and loss shows us just how bad sin is. In the Bible God doesn’t use words like mistakes, or boo boos, or “I blew it.” He talks about sin as rebellion, evil, wickedness, perversion, a stench in His nostrils. That’s what made cross and loss a must for Jesus. Sin had to be punished. Jesus was. Cross and loss were a must.
Jesus says cross and loss are a must for those who confess Him by following Him. “Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.” In other Gospel accounts Jesus talks about the necessity of cross carrying. Here He adds the word “daily” which helps us understand what He’s talking about. It’s paired with denying ourselves. That means saying “No” to sinful desires. It means saying “No” when you are prompted to react as your sinful nature wants. It means clearly confessing Christ by living with Him as the Lord of your life. Then it is never a question of what do I want to do with my time, my money, myself, my vocation, my location, but what does Jesus want me to do. That’s a cross that you must carry daily. A cross. Jesus is telling us this won’t be easy. He’s telling us that it calls for sacrifice.
That’s where the loss comes in. Let’s start with the easy ones. If you are able to attend church and you are clearly confessing Christ you will notice a loss of time in your scheduling. There will be some activities you will say “No” to because Jesus is the Lord of your life. If you don’t notice that, you need to ask if you are clearly confessing Christ. If you are worshipping the Lord with your wallet, if you are giving firstfruits with an honorable percentage of your income you will notice a loss in the amount of money available for you to spend. There will be some things you want or activities you or your children want to do that you will deny yourself because Jesus is the Lord of your life. And if you don’t notice any loss, are you clearly confessing Christ? Those are easy ones. Let’s get a little more subtle. When it comes to how believers are to live in this world what one word could you use to describe us? How about the word different? Yes, from Old Testament Israel with their ceremonial laws to New Testament believers with their Gospel motivated choices the Lord calls us to be set apart from the unbelieving world, to act, live, talk and think differently. We are salt and light to clearly confess Christ. But my friends if I go to Summerfest and am just as drunk and immodestly dressed as the next guy or gal am I clearly confessing Christ? If I use foul language at work, am lazy or a backbiter am I clearly confessing Christ? But if I live the Jesus’ way, I may not fit in. They may talk about me. I may not be invited out. Cross and loss. It’s part of clearly confessing Christ.
But let’s not make the mistake of falling into a woe is my mentality. Let’s not huddle together in a little pity part of what a hard lot we Christians have. Clearly confessing Christ results in great savings. The words of Jesus once again. “But whoever loses his life for me will save it.” What a blessing to be counted among the faithful, the ones who confess Christ. The result is great savings. A saved life now by living in a peace relationship with God through Jesus and an eternity of always and only joyful living in heaven. That’s worth any cross and any loss. It’s why Jesus went though His cross and loss, so He could save us for eternity.
As we wait for our own opportunity to experience that we have work to do. We have love to show and the best love we can show to each other, to our families, to our neighbors, to the unbelievers in our communities is to clearly confess Christ. We cannot believe for anyone else but we can make sure they clearly hear their need for Jesus and what He has done. We cannot live for others but we can make sure that the way we live says to those around us, Jesus is the Christ of God, my Savior.” Amen.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Video of June 20th, 2010 Worship Service from Richard Waldschmidt on Vimeo.



WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM DAVID’S SIN?
II Samuel 11:26-12:10, 13-15
I. Confront Sin When We See It.
II. Confess Sin When We’ve Done It.
In the name of Jesus, dear saints whose sins have been washed away by the blood of Christ. Amen
In years past I can remember only one football game where I had to turn away from the television. I wasn’t watching the famous Monday Night Football game when Joe Theismann’s leg was broken but I can remember another night like that. Napoleon McCallum a running back for the Oakland Raiders tore his knee up in one of the pile ups where you just had to look away. In the last couple of years it seems that there have been many more times when I’ve had to look away from football games. Interestingly it wasn’t during the games themselves. It’s been during the commercials. Some commercials have shown that you can talk about anything on the airwaves. But it also seems like the football game commercials are pretty tame compared to the evening news. Every broadcast seems to be filled news of violence, killing and predators. I’m not sure if the world is becoming more and more evil with more of these thin gs happening or if there is much more reporting on these incidents because they are the stories our people’s sinful natures want to hear about. It’s probably a combination of both. But then we come to God’s house today and we hear God’s Word talk plainly about adultery and killing. We might wonder why our holy God would tell us about this ugly incident. God tells us about David’s sin to warn us and to let us know how we should act when we see sin and when we commit a sin. So today let’s ask ourselves what we can learn from David’s sin. I. Let’s confront sin when we see it. II. Let’s confess sin when we have done it.
Our enemy the devil is very smart. He comes with his temptations when things are going badly and he comes when things are going well. Things were going well for David. God had used him to defeat and drive out most of the enemies of God’s people. There were just a few “mopping up” missions to be done yet. David even stays back in Jerusalem while his army goes out. The story is quite well known. One night from the viewpoint of the roof of his palace David saw the beautiful but also married Bath¬sheba taking a bath. He sent for her and David committed adultery with her. She became preg¬nant with David’s child. David had Bathsheba’s husband Uriah murdered in an attempt to cover up his sin. God’s word tells us that after the death of Uriah, Bathsheba became David’s wife. David thought he had covered his ugly tracks of adultery am murder pretty well. But “the thing David had done displeased the Lord.”
David might have thought no one knew about his sin, but there were others who knew David was doing something sinful and they remained silent. When we think about this account we usually don’t think of them but we can learn something from them about David’s sin. Let’s learn that we confront sin when we see it.
That night on the balcony, there were others there. David asked one of his servants about who the lady who was bathing was. You almost get the feeling that maybe the servant knew something was up because he replies, “Isn’t that Uriah’s wife? David may not have known Bathsheba but it would seem that he would have known who Uriah was . Later Uriah is mentioned as being on the all star team of David’s soldiers called David’s Mighty Men. A servant is sent for Bathsheba and as far as we know nobody says a word of warning to David that what he was doing not right. Those servants probably justified it to themselves thinking that it was no of their business that David was summoning a married lady whose husband was not home to the palace in the middle of the night. Maybe some of those same servants listened as David tried to get Uriah to spend the night at home while he was home on leave.
Joab the commander who got the message from David to put Uriah up near the front lines and then pull back never said a word. Joab wasn’t shy about telling David if he thought he was making a mistake. When David went easy on one of Saul’s officials, Joab caught up with the man and killed the man. When David was mourning for Absalom and the rebellion, Joab said told David that he was making a fool of himself and embarrassing his army. So Joab wasn’t afraid to say something to David when he was wrong. But yet he keeps his mouth shut when the order comes for Uriah’s death.
Is that what we do when we see sin? Do we keep our mouths shut? Do we think to ourselves that it is none of our business? Do we keep quiet about the unmarried couple living together because we think it is none of our business? Or do we whisper behind the back of the person who is sinning starting off our conversations with, “I really shouldn’t say anything but….” If those words have to start our sentences then we shouldn’t be saying anything except to the person involved in the sin. Jesus says, “If you brother sins against you go and show his fault just between the two of you and if he listens to you have won your brother over.” Perhaps we stay quiet because we don’t understand the seriousness of sin. We forget about the damage that sin does. Look what it did in David’s life. Or could it be that we keep quiet about the sin of others because we don’t care.
God did send someone who wasn’t afraid to talk to David about his sin. The Lord graciously sent his prophet Nathan to David. Nathan told David the story of a rich man and a poor man. The rich man had a large number of cattle and sheep. The poor man had one little ewe lamb. This little lamb ate and drank from her master’s table and grew up as a member of the family. The poor man treated the lamb like one of his own daughter, much like the way many of us treat our pets. When the visitor came to see the rich man, the rich man took and killed the poor man’s pet iamb and served it to his dinner guest.
When David heard this story, he burned with anger.(the Hebrew language expresses anger by saying that his nose got hot.)David said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this deserves to die! Because he did such a thing and had no compassion.”
Nathan then came with the sledgehammer of God’s law. “You are the man.” In a split second, David realized that he was the rich man who had everything but yet he stole the wife of poor Uriah. Suddenly David felt the weight of his guilt. David talks about what that guilt felt like in Psalm 32, “My bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me.” Under the burden of his guilt, David makes the confession, “I have sinned against the Lord.”
How many times have our noses gotten hot. As we lament how materialistic everyone is, we forget that we like our stuff too. We piously complain that there is nothing decent on TV these days but then fail to realize that our sinful flesh loves to see filth on TV. It’s easy to condemn the predators we hear about on the news but forget that we have transgressed the 6th commandment more times than we can count. Jesus makes us aware of our guilt, just as Nathan told David, ”You are the man!” when he says, ”I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
Let’s not hide our sins, let’s not make excuses. Let’s admit our guilt and say with David, “I have sinned against the Lord.”
In Psalm 32 David tells us what to do when we fall into sin, “I said, I transgressions unto the Lord.” Forgiveness and peace were the first words out of Nathan’s mouth. When David confessed his sin Nathan doesn’t not say, “You sure did mess up. What were you thinking?” Instead he says, “The Lord has taken away your sin.” The words seem to pour out of his mouth on David who needed to hear those words so badly.
Like David we have sinned. In our thoughts and words we’ve broken the 5th and 6th commandments. We haven’t handled the sin of other like God wanted us to. But the Lord has taken away our sin. Jesus took away our sin on the cross and gave us his holy perfect life. He lifts the burden off our shoulders. Listen to the words of David in Ps 32, “You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with the songs of deliverance. Rejoice in the Lord and be glad you righteous.” We thrill to hear the words, “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” The devil loves to try to throw the cold wet blanket of guilt over our hearts again. But listen! No one can change God’s word to you, “The Lord has taken away your sin.
My nephew Jacob is now a great big fireman. But when he was little he was playing with the push buttons on the big garage door in my dad’s shop. He knew he wasn’t supposed to do that. As he was playing he got his little fingers into the track of the garage door and it rolled over the top of them. He ran and hid in the bathroom. Finally his sister came and told mom that Jake was hurt. When we hurt ourselves with our sin. Let’s not run and hide. Let’s confess our sin and hear God’s forgiveness. When we see others hurting themselves with sin let’s talk with them. Let’s point them to the Savior who has taken away sin. Amen.

Monday, June 14, 2010

June 13/14, 2010 sermon by Pastor Paul Eckert

June 13/14, 2010, Pentecost 3
Sermon by Pastor Paul G. Eckert
Sermon text - Galatians 1:11-24
11 I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up.
12 I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.
13 For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it.
14 I was advancing in Judaism beyond many Jews of my own age and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers.
15 But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased
16 to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not consult any man,
17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went immediately into Arabia and later returned to Damascus.
18 Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Peter and stayed with him fifteen days.
19 I saw none of the other apostles—only James, the Lord’s brother.
20 I assure you before God that what I am writing you is no lie.
21 Later I went to Syria and Cilicia.
22 I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ.
23 They only heard the report: "The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy."
24 And they praised God because of me.
CAN WE SAY OF OURSELVES WHAT PAUL SAID?
I ABOUT THE SOURCE OF OUR FAITH
II ABOUT WHAT OUR PAST HAS BEEN
III ABOUT WHAT OUR FUTURE WILL BE
Next Sunday is Father’s Day. Thinking of fathers, I am quite sure we are all familiar with the expression about being "a chip off of the old block." Are you, or do you want to be, a chip off of the old block?
I guess that depends upon what the old block was or is like, doesn’t it.
A good block from which to be a chip is the author by the Spirit’s inspiration of today’s sermon text, a man named Paul, a man who was not a father but an apostle. Yet, thinking of the people who came to faith through the Word of God which he proclaimed to them, he did speak of himself as a spiritual father. And he showed himself to be a very concerned father for his spiritual children. Listen to these words that are in the 4th chapter of this letter from which our text is taken, "My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you." Paul was concerned about the spiritual life and welfare of the people to whom he had preached. He did not want them to fall away from saving faith in their Savior.
Thinking now of Paul as a good block from which to become chips, let’s get into our text and ask:
CAN WE SAY OF OURSELVES WHAT PAUL SAID?
I ABOUT THE SOURCE OF OUR FAITH (11-12,15-20)
1. That faith is in the Gospel (11,16a)
--- the gospel I preached --- to reveal his Son in me ---
a) that Gospel was in the Old Testament Scriptures; but Paul had
not learned the full truth of it from the church leaders of his day
b) the true Gospel was what Paul now was talking about, God’s
eternal good news revealed in His Son, the Gospel about which
Paul could say, "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes."
2. This Gospel came not from man (11-12a,16b,17a,18-20)
I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up.
a) there are many man-made religions, from Islam to Hinduism to
Unitarianism to Mormonism, and so on, but Paul said:
I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; --- I did not consult any man, --- nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, --- Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Peter and stayed with him fifteen days. I saw none of the other apostles—only James, the Lord’s brother. I assure you before God that what I am writing
you is no lie.
b) Paul went to the church leaders in Jerusalem to become
acquainted; he did not go to them as the source of truth, as
sad to say many today go to the pope in Rome for that
3. Gospel truth came from God’s revelation (12,15,16,17)
I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ. --- [God] was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not consult any man, --- nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went immediately into Arabia and later returned to Damascus.
a) in Paul’s case he was given a special revelation of Jesus
b) but what he received was nothing different from what God’s
Old Testament Scriptures had proclaimed: the Gospel or good
news of salvation through God’s Son, Jesus, who had come in
fulfillment of God’s promise of a Savior, who then fulfilled
that promise by His perfect life and innocent death in our place,
and a victorious resurrection to be our resurrection and our life
4. Can we say what Paul said?
a) do you believe what you believe just because your church or
your teacher or your parents tell you what to believe? - don’t
forget that there can be bad pastors, teachers, parents out there,
just as Paul had bad church leaders who had mistaught him!
b) Paul made sure by going back to Scripture; and I am sure he
was happy when the people to whom he preached likewise
searched the Scriptures to see if what he, Paul, said was true
c) the source of Paul’s faith was no longer what the church or its
leaders said, but the Gospel message of God’s revealed Word;
and let us say the same thing, responding to what Jesus said: "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
II ABOUT WHAT OUR PAST HAS BEEN (13-16a)
1. Paul may have looked great to some (14)
I was advancing in Judaism beyond many Jews of my own age
and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers.
a) he was zealous, dotting every i and crossing every t of the law
b) but he had been mistaught; he saw the law for earning God’s
favor instead of for showing our sin and need of a Savior
2. What he now saw was a bad past (13)
For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it.
a) doesn’t Paul sound like a good terrorist prospect, convinced he
was serving God by persecuting believers in Jesus?
b) listen also to what he said about himself in Acts 26:9-11: "I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the saints in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme. In my obsession against them, I even went to foreign cities to persecute them."
3. What can we say of our past?
a) hopefully there are no misguided terrorists here; but surely we
all have plenty lurking in our pasts that we are not proud of and
would rather not be reminded of, even by a sermon like this
b) and what about things we didn’t even think were sins but were?
who here doesn’t have to say what the Psalmist said, "Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults."?
4. But look at what we also can say (15-16a)
But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me ---
a) like Paul who finally recognized his sin, we also confess our
sins when we learn to know God’s will
b) we too rejoice that God has revealed His Son and revealed
everything He did for us and means to us: forgiveness and life
c) and we also can say of our past and present sins what Paul and
a hymn writer said, "Chief of sinners though I be, Jesus shed
His blood for me."
III ABOUT WHAT OUR FUTURE WILL BE (15-16a,21-24)
1. What Paul preached was a future (15-16a)
But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me ---
a) the Law revealed his sin; the Gospel revealed his Savior
b) what a revelation that is: sins forgiven now and a glorious
future - listen to some of what Paul preached: "I consider that
our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory
that will be revealed in us. -- Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. -- By the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, [Jesus] will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body." (Rom. 8:18; 1 Cor. 15:57; Phil. 3:21)
2. What Paul believed he also lived and preached (21-23)
I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. They only heard the report: "The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy."
a) Paul had tried to destroy anything connected with Jesus
b) as his past life had made what he believed evident, now his
present life also made what he believed evident by serving the
true God whose grace in Christ was for him and is for all
3. We too believe the faith Paul preached (23b)
" --- is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy."
a) this Gospel faith can be rejected but not destroyed
b) it is a faith that permits us to say what Paul preached and said: "Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day - and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing." (1 Tim. 4:8)
4. For all of this let us praise God (24)
And they praised God because of me.
a) praise God for the source of our faith, His revealed Word
b) praise Him for giving His Son and, because of His atoning
work, giving us His forgiveness which covers our past, our
present, our continuing days on earth
c) and praise Him for the glorious future that will be
Can we say of ourselves what Paul said? Certainly not everything, just as children today can’t say everything their parents have said. But we can say the important things that Paul said. We have God’s revealed Word as the source of what we believe. We have His forgiving love in Christ for the sins in our lives. And we have a future glory that cannot be compared with anything here. When we, like Paul, can say these things, then we are good chips from a good block.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

PENTECOST 2
June 6/7, 2010
Pastor Timothy J. Spaude
Text: 1 Kings 8:22-23, 41-43

OUR FAITHFUL GOD
1. Gets praise from His faithful people.
2. Gets fame from His faithful people.

1 Kings 8:22-23, 41-43 “Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in front of the whole assembly of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven 23 and said: "O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below—you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way.” 41 "As for the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your name- 42 for men will hear of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm—when he comes and prays toward this temple, 43 then hear from heaven, your dwelling place, and do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel, and may know that this house I have built bears your Name.”

What are we doing here? What is our reason for existing? Every once in a while it is good for any organization of people to ask themselves that question. Sometimes what happens with businesses and organizations is that they lose sight of the reason they exist and over time their purpose for existing is simply to exist. They serve themselves. Certainly that can happen with churches. Generally when God’s people gather they want to have a dedicated place to worship Him so they build buildings. Buildings take work and upkeep and money. Over time the reason for existing can be to keep the buildings maintained and to meet the budget. What about us at St. Jacobi? Is that us? Why do we exist? What is our purpose in being here? To answer that question we turn to the word of the Lord written at a time when a building was being dedicated, the great Temple built by Solomon.
Let’s talk about that Temple a little bit. Perhaps you recall that it was King Solomon’s dad, King David, that originally wanted to build that Temple but God said, “No.” Solomon would build it. David did gather materials though. Let me describe some of them. In addition to the iron and bronze and copper and carefully cut timbers and dressed stone, David collected over 100,000 talents of gold. At today’s values that would be about 122 million dollars worth of gold. David also collected over 1,000,000 talents of silver. At today’s values that would be about 11.5 million dollars. Now that’s just materials. We’re not talking labor or furnishings. Certainly an impressive building.
But why? What was the purpose for such an impressive building? Solomon tells us. “Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in front of the whole assembly of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven 23 and said: "O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below—you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way.” Here is the reason. Solomon served a faithful God. He understood the privilege of serving wholeheartedly the only true God, the Savior God who keeps a covenant of love. He’s talking about the God who keeps His side of the covenant no matter what the cost. Solomon didn’t know all the details then but we do. We know the fullness of the plan God committed Himself to because He so loved the world that turned its back on Him and continues to do so. It cost Him His Son. That’s faithfulness, sticking with His people in spite of their sins, their fickleness, their laziness, their betrayal, their unbelief.
Now what do those who recognize God’s faithfulness who respond to a faithful God with faithfulness of their own, what do they want to give Him? First of all praise. That’s what Solomon was doing. You notice he didn’t simply repeat “Hallelujah!” over and over again. He declared the greatness of God and the great things He had done. That was the purpose for the Temple. That’s why it was so magnificent. It was built for the magnificent God of faithfulness so His faithful people could give Him praise.
And there was another purpose too. Solomon went on. "As for the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your name- 42 for men will hear of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm—when he comes and prays toward this temple, 43 then hear from heaven, your dwelling place, and do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel, and may know that this house I have built bears your Name.” Solomon anticipated a time when people outside of the nation of Israel, foreigners, would hear about the God of faithfulness and they would want to seek His face. They would hear about a God who saved His people, a God who had forgiveness, a God you wanted to obey. They would want to worship Him and pray to Him. Since then, as now, God did not choose to appear in visible form, the Temple would serve as a focal point for the fame of God, a place to gather more and more into the family of faith. That was its purpose, its reason for being there.
Now remember we began today talking about us and what we are doing here. Why does St. Jacobi congregation exist? Isn’t it the same reason as why the Temple was built—so that God’s faithful people can give their faithful God praise and fame? Yes, that’s why we exist. It’s why we operate a school. It’s why meeting our budgeted needs is important. We are here as a gathering place to give praise to God and spread the fame of His name.
Now how are we doing in fulfilling our purpose? Let’s talk praise a little bit. We do that together corporately in what we call worship. To be honest worship services are designed for God to give to His people, feeding their faith in Word and Sacrament. He is a faithful God after all! But what about our attitudes when we come here? I wonder sometimes if the Devil’s clever use of the modern entertainment industry to feed selfishness is robbing God of some of our praise. What I mean by that is this. Modern entertainment options subtly teach people, “It’s all about me! What I like. What I want.” 500 satellite radio stations. 900 TV channels. Computer and video games by the thousands. If you are not being entertained you turn the channel. Fine for TV. But then when we leave the mundane things of the world and cross the threshold of God’s house we take the same mindset with us. Will I be entertained today? What’s in it for me? Do you see something there that directly opposes our purpose of a gathering place to give God praise? How about instead of seeking to be entertained we seek to entertain God with our heartfelt praise and our devotion to His word that He has faithfully preserved for us? Children do you see why your parents want you to behave so well, why they want you to know the Lord’s Prayer and the Creeds and other songs? They want you to entertain God by giving Him praise and He loves it when you do.
And now let’s talk about giving God fame. I don’t mean to pick on anyone or their posture but what do you think an unbeliever might think about how great God is if they walked into our building dedicated to the glory of God and instead of seeing us give God praise they would see us texting, or reading the paper, or slouching, or giving the bored sign? Wouldn’t they be forced to think, “They serve a tiny god.” But we actually serve a faithful God who has the power to destroy us instantly, who has the right to punish us eternally but instead forgives us for Jesus’ sake and loves us beyond our ability to comprehend . That’s why we want to behave well and have our property and grounds kept up. Not so that St. Jacobi gets a good name but so that God does, so that people think, “Their god must be a great God. I want Him too!” That’s the reason the Temple existed, so that our faithful God could get praise and fame from His faithful people. It’s why St. Jacobi exists.
It’s also why you exist too. Remember that you are temples of the Holy Spirit who lives in you. You are living, breathing temples. You can do something this building we are in cannot. You can move from place to place with all kinds of opportunities to give God praise and fame. And you are doing it. You are testifying appropriately at work. We have young saints talking about their faith at Little League and telling other kids in the park. We have older saints giving God the glory for answering prayers and for giving blessings, clinging to Him in trouble and distress. Way to go. As was said about the Temple when it was dedicated and this church when it was dedicated and this congregation when it was started may it be said about each one of us and the way we live, “To God be the glory!” Amen.