Monday, December 26, 2011

CHRISTMAS EVE
December 24, 2011
Pastor Timothy J. Spaude
Text: Luke 2:11

“THE BEST DEAL!”

Luke 2:11 (NIV 1984) “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.”

It doesn’t happen often, in fact I can’t remember it happening any other time but on this particular morning I woke up mad. Let me tell you why. My alarm went off. Normally that’s not a problem. They are supposed to do that. It’s what I heard when my alarm went off. Some people have alarms that are bells. Some have buzzers. Some wake you up with your favorite music. Mine is set to a radio station. Light music. But when the alarm went off it was commercial time and this was the first thing I heard. “Everybody knows that that the holidays are all about getting the best deals.” I processed that and started fuming. Are you kidding me? This was before Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is not about getting a deal for yourself. It’s about being thankful! And Christmas. Christmas about getting a deal! It’s about Jesus birth! Then I stopped fuming as a lay there and I started thinking. Maybe there was some truth proclaimed in this commercial. Is it really wrong to think about Christmas as getting the best deal?
Bargain hunters will tell you that a good deal is when you pay the least amount of money for something you really need. Bargain hunters will tell you that a good deal is when both parties in the transaction walk away happy. My favorite bargain hunter is a man named Clark Howard. He’s a radio, TV and internet personality that bills himself as the world’s cheapest man. He’s always looking for the best deal. Do you know what his definition of a good deal is? Free!
Let’s return now to what the Christmas message proclaims to us. It is summarized in the angel’s message to the shepherds. “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” Let’s look at that truth from the standpoint of getting a good deal. One of the definitions of a “good deal” was that it was for something you really need. I don’t think I’m the only adult who watches some of the older shows from simpler days. Shows like “Little House on the Prairie.” Classics, like Dickens “A Christmas Carol.” You see how the people appreciated simple gifts that they needed. You flash forward to our abundantly blessed times when needed gifts like socks and shirts aren’t appreciated as much as wants like games and toys. We pray for more grateful hearts. And still the best deal is when you get it on something you need—like a car repair or a new furnace.
At Christmas we did receive the best deal because we received something we needed. We needed a Savior from sin. Sin is one of life’s little inconvenient truths, isn’t it? It’s not hard to talk about other people’s sins. It is easy to be appalled at the gross and flagrant sins we hear about in the news like murders, sex crimes, child abuse, theft and embezzlement. It’s harder when we have to talk about our own sins, like murdering people with words that hurt worse than sticks and stones and you have to own up to having said that. Or how about sex crimes against God and others through pornography or lusting. Then there is the child abuse of causing little ones to sin by using God’s name in vain so that they repeat it later. Or when we embezzle from our employers by wasting time on the clock. Those and many more are our sins. The inconvenient truth is that you can’t fix sin. What’s done is done. Saying, “I’m sorry,” is the right thing to do but it doesn’t undo the sin or fix the damage done. It doesn’t pay the debt owed to God or the person we sinned against. Jesus does, though. A Savior. A Rescuer. That’s who He is. That’s what we needed and received from God at Christmas. Good News! A Savior has been born. Whatever sins you remember tonight, the ghost of sins past that still haunt you, today a Savior has been born. Jesus rescues you from those sins and gives you the right to leave them behind and will be your help in dealing with any earthly consequences. That’s a great deal!
Another mark of a great deal is when both sides in the transaction walk away happy. You know how it goes. Maybe you stop at a rummage sale and you find something you want and it’s only $5. So you scoop it up before anyone else does and after you pay, you go to the car, call your friend or mom and crow about what a great deal you got. And the person holding the rummage sale is thinking or saying, “I can’t believe all these people are paying me to take away my junk! This is great! What a scam!” Everybody’s happy! Our Christmas deal is like that. People, God loves you to death, to the death of His Son. He knows that by having His Son born as one of us, born as God and man at the same time, that Jesus is going to be the only one who can fix sin and it will take His suffering and death. But God loves you. Just like imperfect parents often find joy in making sacrifices for their children our perfect Father in heaven is happy to give His Son for us. He’s pleased by the deal. We get to be happy too. You know, I don’t know what your life is like right now. I don’t know what you are going through. You do. God does. You have the right to be happy even if some temporary earthly things aren’t going so well for you. Relationships with spouse, family, friends. It will pass. Financial strain, job issues. It will pass. Health problems. One way or another, this too shall pass. Jesus. You have Him forever. Because of Christmas you have a Savior for now and forever. Both sides get to walk away happy.
And how about Clark Howard? I’ve been thinking about calling into his program some day. If I’m honest about what I am going to say I know I won’t get past his screeners. But I want to tell him about the best deal ever. One that is free! Real gifts are like that, aren’t they? They don’t cost the getter anything. They do cost the giver however. We know that by giving us Jesus as a Savior it would cost God the pain of forsaking His Son. We know that it would cost Jesus His suffering and death on the cross. But the cost to us is nothing. God’s gift is free. The shepherds didn’t have to pay to hear the Angels’ Concert even though the message they proclaimed is worth everything. Neither do you. God’s gift to you in Jesus is free. You have a Savior. Forgiveness is free. We got the best deal ever!
There are all kinds of things you can do when you get a great deal. You can tell your friends, maybe help them get that great deal too. But that’s for another time. What you can also do when you get a great deal, is enjoy it, feel good, be happy. Tonight, this week, do that. Enjoy for yourself what God has given to you. You have the best deal ever. For “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” Amen.

Thursday, December 15, 2011

MIDWEEK ADVENT 3
December 14, 2011
Pastor Timothy J. Spaude
Text: Psalm 71:1-18

“PSALM-THING TO THINK ABOUT: HOPE FOR FOREVER!”

Psalm 7:1-14 (NIV 1984) “In you, O LORD, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame. 2 Rescue me and deliver me in your righteousness; turn your ear to me and save me. 3 Be my rock of refuge, to which I can always go; give the command to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress. 4 Deliver me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the grasp of evil and cruel men. 5 For you have been my hope, O Sovereign LORD, my confidence since my youth. 6 From birth I have relied on you; you brought me forth from my mother’s womb. I will ever praise you. 7 I have become like a portent to many, but you are my strong refuge. 8 My mouth is filled with your praise, declaring your splendor all day long.
9 Do not cast me away when I am old; do not forsake me when my strength is gone. 10 For my enemies speak against me; those who wait to kill me conspire together. 11 They say, “God has forsaken him; pursue him and seize him, for no one will rescue him.” 12 Be not far from me, O God; come quickly, O my God, to help me. 13 May my accusers perish in shame; may those who want to harm me be covered with scorn and disgrace. 14 But as for me, I will always have hope.”

Over the summer my family had a chance to visit the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC. It is a moving, heart wrenching display. Of the many things that made no sense in that horror was one that stood out to me, the reaction of many of the death camp prisoners. We saw videos where one hundred or more prisoners were guarded by just 5 soldiers who would march them to a ditch, line them all up and they simply stood there waiting to get shot. Why? Why not at least try to resist? It didn’t make sense. We heard eyewitness accounts of prison escapes where some would overpower their guards, get the gates open and run for freedom while the majority simply stayed where they were. Why? The gates were open! The guards unable to respond! Why just sit down? Hopelessness. That’s the reason given. They had lost all hope so they didn’t even try. Having no hope is a horrible place to be. In all probability none of us will have to endure the horrors of a death camp. And yet because we live in a sin messed world and we ourselves are sinners we are likely to face all kinds of difficult situations. At each one our ancient enemy the Devil is there trying to lead us to despair, despondency, giving up. His tool is hopelessness. How thankful we are for the word of God, the truth that defeats Satan’s lies. As we conclude our Advent focus of Psalm thing to think about Psalm 71 proclaims God’s truth that with Jesus we have hope for forever.
We don’t know for sure whom God used to write Psalm 71. Likely it was King David. The psalmist prayed “In you, O LORD, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame. 2 Rescue me and deliver me in your righteousness; turn your ear to me and save me. 3 Be my rock of refuge, to which I can always go; give the command to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress. 4 Deliver me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the grasp of evil and cruel men. 5 For you have been my hope, O Sovereign LORD, my confidence since my youth. 6 From birth I have relied on you; you brought me forth from my mother’s womb. I will ever praise you.” Here we find a truth proclaimed. With the Lord there is hope for when you are young. Young people have problems. We can think of young David. Sounds like he was the runt of the litter, the forgotten child in the family. He could have been hopeless. Things will never change. He had to defend sheep from lions and bears. Pretty scary, a chance to feel hopeless. But he wasn’t . He had the Lord. The Lord would protect him and see him through. He had hope when he was young because he had the Lord.
We young people here today, we have problems we face. You young ones younger than I, have hard things to face. What is it that the Devil is trying to make you feel hopeless about? Is school work a struggle? Do you think it will never change, never end? Is it hard for you with the other kids? Having trouble fitting in? Are there problems at home? Do you have a broken heart that you feel will never end? It’s OK. This too will pass. You have Jesus. He is on your side. That means you have hope. Just wait and you will see how He rescues you for He will. Don’t give up. Don’t despair. With Jesus you have hope for when you are young.
But it’s not just us young people who to have hope. You old people do too! Listen to the Psalmist. “Do not cast me away when I am old; do not forsake me when my strength is gone. 10 For my enemies speak against me; those who wait to kill me conspire together. 11 They say, “God has forsaken him; pursue him and seize him, for no one will rescue him.” 12 Be not far from me, O God; come quickly, O my God, to help me. 13 May my accusers perish in shame; may those who want to harm me be covered with scorn and disgrace. 14 But as for me, I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more.” Young people problems can seem pretty big and they are for those at that age. As we get older problems get bigger. Now we are talking jobs and family income and expenses. Now we are talking marriage relationships. Now we are talking major medical and end of life issues as the plumbing and electrical start to degrade. Then there’s the kids and the grandkids too. What situation is the Devil trying to use to make you feel hopeless? But you are not hopeless. You have the Lord. Just like the Psalmist you can say, “As for me I will always have hope.” You can say that because you know and have seen how the Lord has worked your past. He does work all things for good. He does refine and chasten those He loves. He does come to that aid of His people when they cry to Him. He never has left you nor forsaken you and He never will. Jesus lives. He is ruling all things for your good. With the Lord we have hope for when we are young and for when we are old.
And forever. Let’s go back to the first verse of the Psalm. Often times with Psalms the first verse will be a summary of what you need to learn through the whole Psalm. Verse one says, “In you, O LORD, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame.” Never is a strong word. It is a controlling word. Never means not ever under any circumstance. The Psalmist prayed for no shame ever under any circumstances. Shame is an interesting word, isn’t it? Children who misbehave might hear their parents say, “Shame on you!” People who do or say things that go beyond what is commonly accepted as decent might here the phrase, “Have you no shame?” What if God gave me a camera where if I shined it on you all your thoughts about others would be revealed on a screen. What you thought about me, your pastors, your teachers, your students, your spouse, that actor or actress. Is there anyone who wouldn’t be ashamed?
And yet the Psalmist prayed for no shame. Because his trust was in the Lord. We will never be put to shame trusting in Jesus, that means regret it because with Jesus we have no shame. Instead with Jesus we have hope for forever. All those things you thought of when I talked about the camera revealing that would embarrass you to death. Those sins that we are ashamed of and shame on us for committing them, everyone gone because of Jesus. Washed away by His blood. No shame. Hope for forever. We have heaven to look forward to. We have Jesus. At the day of our death, on Judgment Day we will have no shame because with Jesus we have hope that lasts forever.
Hope for forever. Hopelessness can lead people to do things that are hard to understand. Like doing nothing. Like ending their own lives. Like giving up or pushing people away. If the Devil whispers in your ears that your situation is hopeless, resist him, rebuke him, tell him to go away. For you belong to Jesus and that means you have hope for forever. Amen.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

December 11/12, 2011 Advent Song Service

December 11/12, 2011 - Advent 3 - by Pastor Paul G. Eckert

December 11/12, 2011
SONG SERVICE
BASED ON PROPHETIC STATEMENTS
FROM THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
WELCOME
Hymn 30:1-3 (Sunday) --- “Rise, Arise”
Hymn 30:1-2 (Monday) --- “Rise, Arise”
P: Come, let us worship in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
C: ♫ Amen.
P: Prayer
C: ♫ Amen.
From the lips of children (Sunday)
Jr. Choir (8:15 service) - “Emmanuel Will Come”
Cherub Choir (10:45 service) - “Advent Canon”
Hymn 30:3 (Monday) --- “Crown Him King!”
1. Sing To The Lord A New Song, For He Has Done Glorious Things.
Isaiah 12:1-6 - In that day you will say: “I will praise you, O LORD. Although you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you have comforted me. Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.” With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. In that day you will say: “Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted. Sing to the LORD, for he has done glorious things; let this be known to all the world. Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel among you.”
Psalm 31, page 77 --- “Surely, it is God who saves me”
2. Acknowledge That We Have Done Other Things.
Isaiah 1:2-6 - Hear, O heavens! Listen, O earth! For the LORD has spoken: “I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me. The ox knows his master, the donkey his owner’s manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.” Ah, sinful nation, a people loaded with guilt, a brood of evildoers, children given to corruption! They have forsaken the LORD; they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him. Why should you be beaten anymore? Why do you persist in rebellion? Your whole head is injured, your whole heart afflicted. From the sole of your foot to the top of your head there is no soundness— only wounds and welts and open sores, not cleansed or bandaged or soothed with oil.
P: Confession
Hymn 27:1-3 --- “O Jesus, Lamb of God”
3. Marvel At God's Response To Our Sin.
Isaiah 1:18 - “Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.”
P: Absolution
Hymn 27:4 --- “Help me to change my ways, O Lord”
4. Marvel At The Future He Holds Before Us.
Isaiah 2:2-5 - This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem: In the last days the mountain of the LORD’s temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. Many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.” The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. Come, O house of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the LORD.
Isaiah 25:6-8 - On this mountain the LORD Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine— the best of meats and the finest of wines. On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth. The LORD has spoken.
Ladies' Choir --- “Lift Up Your Heads”
5. Consider How Specific God's Promises Were.
Isaiah 7:14 - Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
Isaiah 9:6-7 - For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.
Mixed Choir --- “He Shall Be Called”
Isaiah 4:2 - In that day the Branch of the LORD will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of the survivors in Israel.
Isaiah 11:1-3 - A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him - the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD - and he will delight in the fear of the LORD.
Hymn 47:1-2 --- “Behold, a Branch Is Growing”
6. See How God Prepared The Way.
Isaiah 40:1-3 - Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins. A voice of one calling: “In the desert prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.”
Mixed Choir --- “Prepare The Way”
P: Prayer
All: The Lord's Prayer
Hymn 43:1 and 4 --- “To Thee My Heart I Offer”
We Bring Our Offerings --- (during this time please fill in the Friendship Register)
7. Shudder And Rejoice At What Took Place.
Isaiah 53:1-7 - Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
Mixed Choir --- “You Are My All In All / Fairest Lord Jesus”
8. Now The Glory Of The Lord Still Rises Upon Us.
Isaiah 60:1-2 - “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you and his glory appears over you.”
Ladies' Choir --- “O Come, O Come Emmanuel”
P: Closing Prayer and Blessing
C: ♫ Amen, Amen, Amen.
Hymn 21:1-4 --- “Hosanna to the Coming Lord”
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Monday, December 5, 2011

ADVENT 2
December 4/5, 2011
Pastor Timothy J. Spaude
Text: 2 Peter 3:8-14

WHAT GOD WANTS!
1. Everyone’s Repentance.
2. A New Heaven and a New Earth.
3. Our Every Effort.

2 Peter 3:8-14 (NIV 1984) “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. 11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. 14 So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.”

It was about 65 AD. The young Christian church was barely 30 years old. The people filling the pews those days were first generation Christians. The Apostles still walked the earth. They took the word of God, the promise that Jesus would come again very seriously. Some, many, were getting tired of waiting. They were getting discouraged. The Holy Spirit sent Peter into action. His second epistle encouraged waiting Christians. In the first part of chapter 3 Peter had talked about scoffers coming and saying “Where is this end of the world?” You wonder if Peter didn’t know that the biggest scoffer lives inside of each one of us too. We are waiting Christians. We know and believe Jesus’ promise to come again. Yet life goes on. We all have things to do and people to see. We easily settle into the routines of life celebrating the proper observances at the proper time. Today this word of God serves us by encouraging us to focus on what God wants in view of Jesus’ coming.
The first thing He wants is everyone’s repentance. “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” OK. It’s three weeks, 21 days until Christmas. Is that a long time or a short time? Well that depends on your perspective right? Children you have to wait 21 days to open presents. That seems like forever doesn’t it? I remember when a week was like a year. Parents 21 days until Christmas and we say, “Oh no! Are you kidding? It’s already here! I’ll never get everything done.” The end of the world is like that. The people in Peter’s time thought it was taking so long. That was their perception of time. Maybe we do too, if we even think about it. But look what God has in mind. The perception of time is meaningless.
What God wants is not. He wants everyone to repent. That’s what He is waiting for. Everyone gets their chance. God is patient. He doesn’t want anyone to perish. He wants repentance. Now I can’t give Him everyone’s repentance. Neither can you. What can we do? Well we can get the word out. We can do that personally with those we know. We can give money to support those who proclaim God’s Word here and elsewhere. We can pray for the repentance of all people. But we can also give to God our own personal repentance. That’s what He wants. Does He have it from you? If Jesus came today is there something on your cell phone you wouldn’t want Him to see? Anything hiding on your computer, in your house? Sin comes to all of us but repentant Christians will strive to make sure that it never finds a home with us. How about the home of your heart? Are you letting bitterness and jealousy dwell rent free? Who or what sits on the throne of your heart? If it is anything or anyone but Jesus, repent. That’s what God wants.
What God wants is a new heaven and new earth. We can relate. It’s nice when clothes have worn out to get something new. The world we live in is wearing out. Ever since Adam and Eve sinned it’s been fighting against itself, never functioning exactly like it is supposed to. Species become extinct. Fault lines slip with ensuing destruction of earthquakes and tsunamis. Try as hard as we want to be green we continue to pollute. It is inevitable. The world is getting worn out. God wants a new heaven and a new earth and he’s going to get it! “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. 11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.”
When the last day comes and it will this world as we know it will be destroyed. Some people like to argue back and forth over whether or not God will just create everything new or rework the refined created matter into a new heaven and new earth that is the way it was supposed to be in the beginning. Not me! I hear new heaven and new earth and my eyes light up. On the Price is Right when they win the brand new car they don’t look to see how many parts were made out of recycled material. They whoop and holler and jump and scream because it’s new. That’s the attitude we get to have to as we wait for the Day of the Lord. And it’s what motivates us as Paul said “to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.”
That’s also what God wants. Our every effort in living as Christians.“So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.” Spotless. Blameless. At peace with God. Brothers and sisters, these are not things that are going to happen by our doing. You and I know very well that our best efforts at holy living will fall short. We need to work hard at living holy and godly lives but guys even when we keep our computers clean they are still going to focus on the exposed cheerleaders during the football games. We will see that. And sisters you know very well how your heart or mouth is going to respond to some other woman’s words or actions. Probably not always taking them in the kindest possible way. Children when you look at why you are doing the things you are doing, how you act at school and at home there is a lot of selfishness there, isn’t there? Spotless. Blameless. How do we make every effort to be found that way?
By clinging to the only one who can and does make us spotless and blameless, Jesus Christ. That’s what God wants. Are you making every effort to do that? This past Thanksgiving after Thanksgiving worship my family traveled to La Crosse to be with family for Thanksgiving. Caused a little problem for me. See church gets over at about 10:30. Packer game starts at 11:30. WTMJ’s radio signal usually lasts until somewhere between Madison and the Dells. So I got online to find other stations that might broadcast. I asked phone people if there was a way to listen on the phone. I made every effort to hear that broadcast. Are you making every effort to hear the broadcast that tells you about Jesus? For the past few years your pastors have been concerned about worship attendance. We see a gradual decrease in our people coming to worship Jesus. Has that happened with you? Has every week changed into 3 out of 4? Has 3 out 4 then become every other? Now sure you can read the Bible on your own each day but are you? Are you practicing daily repentance, examining your heart and life so when you take the Lord’s Supper it is the blessing God intends and not the judgment that happens when one tires to play games with God who knows all and sees all. Is God getting your every effort? That’s what He wants as you wait.
Christmas is coming. We know that. We are waiting for it to happen. Will you get what you want? We’ll see. And why do you want those things? Probably for yourself. The Last Day, when Jesus returns, that’s coming too. Will God get what He wants? And did you notice that what He wants is for the good of others, not Himself? What He wants is everyone’s repentance, a new heaven and new earth for people to live in and our every effort to hold on to Jesus so we will be found spotless and blameless in that Day. Let’s strive to give it to Him. Amen.

Thursday, December 1, 2011

November 30, 2011 Wednesday Advent sermon on Psalm 24 by Pastor Paul G. Eckert

Wednesday Advent - November 30, 2011 - by Pastor Paul G. Eckert
Psalm 24
The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.
Who may ascend the hill of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false. He will receive blessing from the LORD and vindication from God his Savior. Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, O God of Jacob.
Lift up your heads, O you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is he, this King of glory? The LORD Almighty - he is the King of glory.
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Ancient Jerusalem was a walled city with a number of gates. The gates were there to keep out some people, soldiers, armies the city did not want. They were there to welcome others by opening them up. The reference in our Psalm to gates lifting up their heads is what we call an anthropomorphism. The gates are pictured to be like people who lift up their heads, look up with happiness when they see someone coming whom they like, who is important to them.
While I can tell you what an anthropomorphism is - applying human terms to something not human, I don’t think I can tell you exactly how they opened the gates of Jerusalem that had to be very heavy. But I do know something about opening garage doors. You see, I’ve had a number of experiences with garage door springs breaking. Those garage doors are heavy. Trying to lift them alone is asking for trouble for your back.
But let’s move now from the picture of opening a garage door for a car to come in to the picture in our Psalm of gates lifting up their heads, or opening up, to welcome the King of glory in. Let’s look at
THE GLORY OF A KING
I A KING WHO IS ALMIGHTY (1-2,8,10)
1. That almightiness is seen in creation. (1-2)
The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.
a) What a world we have! It has dry land and seas. It has vegetation - all kinds of trees, fruits, vegetables. It has the tiniest creatures that are so complex, and animals, from little to big, that roam the land. It has water life in the oceans and lakes, from minnows to the largest whales. It has birds of all sizes flying in the air. And it has people, male and female, to populate and manage the earth.
b) We know what the world says about this. It says that all of this came by itself, that the intricate designs of nature and creatures are by evolution from nothing, that there is no god, no supreme being. But we believe what God has revealed and what our Psalm says:
The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.
2. That almightiness is seen also in the Lord’s control. (8)
Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.
a) God has not stepped out of the world He created.
b) Whether people accept it or not or believe it or not, the fact is that history is under God’s control. We often may not understand why God controls the world as He does. Yet we believe He is strong and mighty and in control.
3. Could this apply to Jesus?
a) It’s Advent. We’re celebrating Jesus’ coming. When He came in Bethlehem He was seen as a helpless baby needing His mother’s attention. Lift a garage door? He couldn’t even walk yet.
b) Then how can we say He is the almighty King of glory? At Christmas time many see a baby. But do they lift their heads and see a King who is almighty to whom belongs the glory of creation?
4. Yes, Jesus is the King of glory. (1-2,10)
The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters. --- Who is he, this King of glory? The LORD Almighty - he is the King of glory.
a) Does this describe Jesus? Is He the almighty Creator?
b) Listen to what John in the opening words of His Gospel says about Jesus, the Word made flesh for us: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made."
c), Yes, Jesus - with the Father and the Holy Spirit - is
the LORD Almighty - he is the King of glory.
II A KING TO BE WELCOMED (7-9)
1. He was welcomed on Palm Sunday. (7-8)
a) Psalm 24 is regularly used in our Palm Sunday services.
Lift up your heads, O you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.
b) You can easily see why, thinking of Jesus nearing the gates of Jerusalem, remembering the people lifting their heads in welcome.
2. But then what?
a) Yes, Jesus was acknowledged as coming in the Lord’s name.
b) But by the end of the week He was totally rejected.
3. Can we, like on Palm Sunday, welcome only outwardly?
a) Children, can you hear about Jesus, say that you believe in Him, but then forget about Him? Can you come to church but then pay no attention to His Word, not ask what you can learn about your Savior today - or maybe not even want to come to church at all?
b) All of us, can our church membership be outward only? Is it easy to call ourselves Christians, outwardly acknowledge Jesus, but find all kinds of reasons to open the gates or doors of our cars and drive elsewhere instead of opening the gates of our church to hear God’s Word and praise our Savior?
4. Please remember: the King of Glory is worth welcoming. (9)
Lift up your heads, O you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.
a) I wonder how many have had trouble lifting a garage door.
b) I hope not too many. But there is a problem we all have, and that is opening the gates of our hearts the way we should.
c) Remember that the King of Glory is a King to be welcomed.
III A KING WHO WELCOMES US (3-6,10)
1. Why would He welcome us? (3-4)
Who may ascend the hill of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false.
a) Clean hands and a pure heart, not putting anything ahead of the true God - who of us qualifies for that? None of us.
b) Sinners that we are, why would the Lord welcome us? An accurate description of us would be that our heart springs are broken, that because of our sin we can’t and don’t lift up the garage doors of our hearts the way we should to let the King of Glory come in. Welcome us? We deserve to be rejected by the Lord.
2. But we are welcomed because He is our Savior. (5)
He will receive blessing from the LORD and vindication from God his Savior.
a) To welcome us the helpless Baby born in Bethlehem became our Savior. Our sins were like a garage door too heavy by far for us to lift. But Jesus lifted that load, lifted it up on the cross with Him.
b) And there, with His innocent death for us the guilty, He vindicated us, justified us, exonerated us, set us free from the punishment we deserve for our sin. That is the message of salvation the Holy Spirit uses to give us faith in the Lord of glory, our Savior.
3. What glory He thus gives us. (3-5)
Who may ascend the hill of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false. He will receive blessing from the LORD and vindication from God his Savior.
a) Because we are vindicated, forgiven, we are clean and pure in the eyes of God.
b) Because of our Savior we receive blessings from our Lord.
4. May we always seek him. (6,10)
Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, O God of Jacob.
a) Seek Him who invites, "Come unto Me."
b) Fellow sinners, no matter how bad we are, how heavy our sins, there is a Savior who welcomes us, who came to this earth to lift our load of sins from us, to forgive us, to vindicate us.
Who is he, this King of glory? The LORD Almighty - he is the King of glory.
c) And that glory He welcomes us to share with Him.
As the first Christmas came, so the time of sharing glory with our Savior is daily drawing closer. Whenever our last hour or the last day comes, Jesus will not tell us to lift up our garage doors. But He will say what He said to His early disciples, "Lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near." Yes indeed, heed these words:
Lift up your heads, O you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is he, this King of glory? The LORD Almighty - he is the King of glory.

Saturday, November 26, 2011

THANKSGIVING
November 23, 24, 2011
Pastor Timothy J. Spaude
Text: Daniel 4: 4-5, 24-25, 29-31, 33-37

“THANKSGIVING TIPS FROM NEBUCHADNEZZAR”
1. Don’t be a turkey.
2. Do thank the LORD for turkey.

Daniel 4:4-5, 24-25, 29-31, 33-37 (NIV1984) “I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at home in my palace, contented and prosperous. 5 I had a dream that made me afraid. As I was lying in my bed, the images and visions that passed through my mind terrified me. 24 “This is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree the Most High has issued against my lord the king: 25 You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like cattle and be drenched with the dew of heaven. Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes. 29 Twelve months later, as the king was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, 30 he said, “Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?” 31 The words were still on his lips when a voice came from heaven, “This is what is decreed for you, King Nebuchadnezzar: Your royal authority has been taken from you. 33 Immediately what had been said about Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled. He was driven away from people and ate grass like cattle. His body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird. 34 At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives forever. His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation. 35 All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: “What have you done?” 36 At the same time that my sanity was restored, my honor and splendor were returned to me for the glory of my kingdom. My advisers and nobles sought me out, and I was restored to my throne and became even greater than before. 37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble.”

Nobody knows it all. Everybody needs help. Those who are wise regularly listen to others to find better ways of doing things. That’s why you have longstanding newspaper columns like “Hints from Heloise.” If you run into trouble making that Thanksgiving Turkey or just want some ideas on how to make it the best you can call the Butterball Turkey Talk Line. How about Christians for thanksgiving? Who could we turn to for Thanksgiving tips? I’m sure there are several obvious ones you could think of but today we turn to a not so obvious tipster. King Nebuchadnezzar.
You probably know him as the Babylonian king who conquered Jerusalem around 600 BC. He’s the one who carried off the brightest and best of the Jewish people to Babylon. If you haven’t connected the dots yet he is also the one who built the 90 foot tall and 9 feet wide image of gold and commanded all the people in Babylon to bow down to it. He’s the one who then had Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego thrown into the fiery furnace. That’s all in Daniel chapters 1-3. Then you get to chapter 4. It reads like a signed confession from Nebuchadnezzar. He had had a dream, a very terrifying dream. No one could tell him what it meant. No one, that is, except the prophet Daniel who had also been carried off to Babylon. He said, “This is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree the Most High has issued against my lord the king: 25 You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like cattle and be drenched with the dew of heaven. Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes.”
Now why was this all going to happen? Well as it turns out Nebuchadnezzar was acting like a turkey. We have that phrase. If someone is being, well a jerk, proud, just kind of strutting around not thinking of anyone else, he’s a turkey. Here it was the Lord who had raised up Babylon and given the empire to Nebuchadnezzar for the purpose of chastening Judah and Jerusalem and Nebuchadnezzar was acting like he had done it all. He was proud and boastful, a turkey.
That leads to our first Thanksgiving tip from Nebuchadnezzar. Don’t be a turkey. On Thanksgiving Day, yes all year long, don’t be a turkey. Don’t become boastful and proud about your accomplishments, the things you have, the job you hold, your place in society. On Thanksgiving and always recognize God as the giver. Don’t be a turkey spiritually. We all have to fight that aspect of our sinful nature that really does think we are better than other people, that it’s just a little understandable why God would love and save people like us rather than other sinners. Don’t be a turkey.
Nebuchadnezzar was and so the Lord treated him that way. “Twelve months later, as the king was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, 30 he said, “Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?” 31 The words were still on his lips when a voice came from heaven, “This is what is decreed for you, King Nebuchadnezzar: Your royal authority has been taken from you. 33 Immediately what had been said about Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled. He was driven away from people and ate grass like cattle. His body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird.” Hair like feathers? Nails like claws of a bird? The turkey looked like a turkey. God was humbling him.
Now listen to how Nebuchadnezzar responded. “At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives forever. His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation. 35 All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: “What have you done?” 36 At the same time that my sanity was restored, my honor and splendor were returned to me for the glory of my kingdom. My advisers and nobles sought me out, and I was restored to my throne and became even greater than before. 37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble.” Nebuchadnezzar thanked the Lord for turkey, for humbling him.
That’s our second tip from him. On Thanksgiving Day and always thank the Lord for turkey. Obviously it is an easy and natural thing to thank the Lord for your Thanksgiving turkey just like it is an easy and natural thing to thank the Lord for other good things in life. It’s good for us to do that. If you have good health, more than you need, loving family and friends, good things happening in your life, thank the Lord for that. Those are blessings. They come from Him. But thank the Lord for turkey too.
Nebuchadnezzar’s kind of turkey. God’s humblings in life. We need them. Just like Nebuchadnezzar when God fills our lives with good things we can tend to take them for granted. We want to take credit for them or at least share the credit with God. If you read Abraham Lincoln’s Thanksgiving proclamation made during the Civil War you see that the nature of man has not changed. We don’t want to admit to our complete dependence on God. But we are completely dependent and need to live that way. Lincoln looked at the Civil War as a humbling chastisement from God. Nebuchadnezzar saw his turkey episode as a humbling chastisement from God. We can and should do the same. Thank the Lord for turkey, for any humblings. They are for our good. They keep us reliant on Him for our earthly needs. They keep us trusting in Jesus for our salvation. That’s the worst form of arrogance, isn’t it? When we think we merit heaven on our own or help Jesus in some way. So much better to be humbled by having our sins exposed by God’s righteous laws so we know how much we need Jesus, believe in Him and are saved eternally.
That becomes the bottom line. We have learned some Thanksgiving tips from an unlikely source. Nebuchadnezzar. What we don’t know is if we will see him again in heaven. His confession isn’t clear. Did he simply acknowledge God’s sovereignty or know Him as the Lord who showed mercy and would send a Savior? We don’t know. Don’t do that to the people who will follow you. Let them know by what you say and do that Jesus is your Savior and have a blessed Thanksgiving. Amen.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

November 20/21, 2011



November 20/21, 2011, Christ the King, sermon by Pastor Paul Eckert

Sermon text - Ezekiel 34:1-2, 10-26, 30-31

1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 "Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who only take care of themselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock?" 10 "This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them." 11 "For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. 12 As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. 13 I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land. 14 I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. 15 I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign LORD. 16 I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice." 17 "As for you, my flock, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will judge between one sheep and another, and between rams and goats. 18 Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture? Must you also trample the rest of your pasture with your feet? Is it not enough for you to drink clear water? Must you also muddy the rest with your feet? 19 Must my flock feed on what you have trampled and drink what you have muddied with your feet?" 20 "Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says to them: See, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep." 21 "Because you shove with flank and shoulder, butting all the weak sheep with your horns until you have driven them away, 22 I will save my flock, and they will no longer be plundered. I will judge between one sheep and another." 23 "I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd. 24 I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them. I the LORD have spoken." 25 "I will make a covenant of peace with them and rid the land of wild beasts so that they may live in the desert and sleep in the forests in safety. 26 I will bless them and the places surrounding my hill. I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing." 30 "Then they will know that I, the LORD their God, am with them and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, declares the Sovereign LORD. 31 You my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, are people, and I am your God, declares the Sovereign LORD."

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Picture this. You are living in your comfortable home. Bad guys come, yank you out of your home, march you to a location a long distance away. After being there for a while, a report comes to you that the bad guys went back to your home area, leveled to the ground St. Jacobi church, the church you used to go to, burned down and completely destroyed the house where you had lived and had all your memories. But then you also hear that in the future your area and home would be rebuilt, and that you would end up with what would be better than anything you ever had or could dream of.

Yes, picture that. If that were you, do you think you would have reason to be thankful for that end result, and thankful not only one day, like a one day Thanksgiving Day this week? I think that I sure would be thankful. With that in mind let’s turn to our text and to our theme.

GIVE THANKS FOR OUR SHEPHERD KING

I THE NEED (1-2,10,17-22)

1. There were bad shepherds. (1-2)

The word of the LORD came to me: "Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who only take care of themselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock?"

a) Picture Israel like a flock of sheep. Israel had shepherds, or leaders, that included judges and kings. Reading their history you have to conclude that most of their shepherding kings were bad guys.

b) The flock also had spiritual leaders. You know the good guys, like Isaiah and Jeremiah. But there also were bad spiritual shepherds who went along with the paganism that was all around them.

2. There was a problem also with bad sheep. (17-19)

"As for you, my flock, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will judge between one sheep and another, and between rams and goats. Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture? Must you also trample the rest of your pasture with your feet? Is it not enough for you to drink clear water? Must you also muddy the rest with your feet? Must my flock feed on what you have trampled and drink what you have muddied with your feet?"

a) Definitely yes, there were good sheep, true followers of the true God. The clear water of the truth was there.

b) But that clear water of truth was muddied up, mixed with false teaching. Some sheep liked that more than they liked God’s truth.

3. God would not overlook this. (20, 10a)

"Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says to them: See, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep."

a) God would judge between the true and the false sheep.

b) And He would also judge the false shepherds who were more interested in serving themselves than in serving the sheep.

"This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves."

4. And God would not forget His true flock. (21-22,10b)

"Because you shove with flank and shoulder, butting all the weak sheep with your horns until you have driven them away, I will save my flock, and they will no longer be plundered. I will judge between one sheep and another."

a) There weren’t only human sheep and shepherds. There also was the over-Shepherd, God, who saw everything that was happening.

b) He knew His flock then as He knows His true believers today.

"I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them."

c) Yes, the good Shepherd would take care of His flock in its difficulties. That was His promise then as it is His Promise today.

II THE PROMISE (11-16)

1. God had made a promise about the land of Israel.

a) All of history started with Adam and Eve. That was in the area where the Prophet Ezekiel now was, Babylon, or present day Iraq.

b) But the Prophet Micah pin-pointed a spot way east of there, near Jerusalem, where something of importance for the whole world would happen. He prophesied: "But you, Bethlehem Ephratha, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times."

2. At Ezekiel’s time that promise seemed to have failed.

a) The church he had gone to, the temple in Jerusalem, had been destroyed. His house he would never see again.

b) You see, Ezekiel had been carried away into exile by the bad guys, and the nation of Israel no longer had any authority or power.

3. But God reminded him that God was still in charge. (11-16a)

"For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land. I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign LORD. I will search for the lost and bring back the strays."

a) Do you know what? This happened! God brought Israel back from the Babylonian exile to the land where Bethlehem was. b) But why? Could this picture have anything to do with God’s promise of a birth in Bethlehem, of an earthly descendant of the great King David, of a ruler who would be Immanuel?

4. Could God be pointing to the Shepherd King? (16b)

"I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice."

a) There were so many bad kings and shepherds in the past.

b) Would there really be a good Shepherd King for God’s flock?

c) That question God answered with fulfillment.

III THE FULFILLMENT (23-26, 30-31)

1. Was David the fulfillment? (23-24)

"I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd. I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them. I the LORD have spoken."

a) David was a shepherd king. But that was way back, many years ago. David had been dead about 400 years already.

b) Then who is pictured here by David? Listen to what the Apostle Peter once said, "I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. Seeing what was ahead, he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ ---." (Acts 2:29-31)

2. Yes, God’s Son, Jesus, is the promised Shepherd King.

a) David stayed dead and buried; Jesus, his descendant, did not.

b) Scripture records David’s family line that headed straight to Bethlehem, to the one who would be acknowledged as the Son of David, the one who was to sit on a throne that would be eternal, as an angel had announced to Mary about Jesus, saying, "He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."

3. From this Shepherd King come showers of blessing. (25-26)

"I will make a covenant of peace with them and rid the land of wild beasts so that they may live in the desert and sleep in the forests in safety. I will bless them and the places surrounding my hill. I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing."

a) Think of how the blessing of the forgiveness of our sins was showered on us with the waters of Baptism. Think of how, when we so easily fall into sin, our Good Shepherd comes to His penitent people and showers on us in His Word and in the Lord’s Supper His forgiving peace that transcends all understanding. Think of how at our last hour He will assure us that we can depart in peace, showered with His forgiveness and grace, knowing heaven is our home.

b) That is what Ezekiel pictures for us when in our text he speaks of showers of blessings in a perfect land, even as John also did in the last book of the Bible when he pictured Jerusalem the Golden as the fulfillment of God’s promise when showers of blessings will be eternal.

4. All of this is because of our Shepherd King. (30-31)

"Then they will know that I, the LORD their God, am with them and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, declares the Sovereign LORD. You my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, are people, and I am your God, declares the Sovereign LORD."

a) Israel would experience that God would do what He promised.

b) Jesus, Immanuel, the Son of God and Son of David, our Shepherd King, would carry out His mission. He said, "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep." Jesus did that. He died for us. He arose for us. He lives for us. He showers His blessings of grace and forgiveness on us every day.

c) And one day He will take us from the exile of our earthly existence and shower blessings eternal on us in the real promised land of glory with Him.

Picture this? Yes! Enjoy the picture. It will be a reality. On Thanksgiving Day, and every day, don’t forget to GIVE THANKS FOR OUR SHEPHERD KING. Because of Him we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever!

November, 13, 2011



Daniel Waldschmidt
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
St. Jacobi Lutheran Church
11/9/2011

13 Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. 14 We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15 According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage each other with these words.

Grace and peace to you from the God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Last week, we heard Pastor Spaude say that Judgment Day will be one of the happiest days in a believer’s life. The Christians in Thessalonica would have definitely concurred with that. “How awesome will it be,” they thought “to see Jesus appear in glorious majesty!” They were so looking forward to the Last Day. But they had a problem. Something was bothering them. “What about believers who die before Jesus comes back? Does that mean that they will miss out on the happy events of the Last Day?”
The apostle Paul heard about this problem and wrote to them, “Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep” (4:13). They had apparently taken a “snooze, you lose” mentality toward death. They were afraid that if you didn’t make it until the Last Day that you would miss out on the party.
That’s a thought that has probably never bothered you. But what does bother you about those who fall asleep? Maybe what bothers you is not that they will miss out on the Last Day, but that they are missing out on weddings, birthday parties, graduations. Are they missing out? Is it true that if you snooze, you lose?
Sometimes it bothers us that believers who die very young miss out on what could have been the best years of their life. College, hanging out with friends, getting married, having children, aren’t they missing out on all those things? Don’t believers who die at 40 or 50 miss out on the chance to enjoy the things that they have worked so hard for? You establish a home for yourself, you build up a bank account and you finally work your way out of debt, and you die before you can enjoy the fruits of your labor. Or believers who die right after they’ve retired. You work your whole life and you don’t get the chance to enjoy the golf courses of America. Isn’t it true that if you snooze you lose?
Worst of all (if we dare to think any further about this), you miss out on family events: weddings, birthday parties, graduations. The Thessalonians struggled with the thought, “This person that died was persecuted for his faith in Jesus. He endured it. He kept strong in the faith looking forward to that Last Day, but then the Lord took him away before he could see the Last Day!” We are struggling with the thought, “A man has such a promising future. He has so many good things left to experience in this life but then the Lord takes him away!”
But where does the Lord take him to? We have been looking at this all wrong! We have been thinking about all the things that those who have fallen asleep in Christ miss out on. What we should be thinking about is what they are experiencing. Today is Saint’s Triumphant Sunday. This is the Sunday when we remember that those who have fallen asleep in Christ are right now enjoying eternal glory, bliss and happiness in heaven! A bliss won for them by Jesus: “We believe that Jesus died and rose again” (4:14). Jesus wanted so badly for us to experience heaven forever with him that he came down as man and experienced death in our place. He took all of our sins on himself and paid for them all with his death. But he didn’t stay dead. He rose to life three days later to guarantee that everyone who believes in him would have life too. And when you fall asleep Jesus will take you to enjoy the bliss that he has won for you.
It’s still very sad and tragic when a person dies before they have lived a good long life, I don’t want to minimize that at all. But the fact is those who have fallen asleep in Christ, no matter what age they were, are not feeling sorry for themselves. They are not thinking about all the rounds of golf that they never got to play or the money they never got to spend or the sights they never got to see. They are thinking about the beauty of Christ, because they see his face. Paul said “I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far.”



So then why do Christians grieve? It’s a perfectly legitimate thing to do. Jesus wept at the death of Lazarus. Abraham grieved for Sarah. King David grieved for his best friend Jonathan. Christians cry at funerals and many go through a deep grieving process. They know that their loved one is in heaven. They don’t “grieve as those who have no hope” but they still grieve. Why? You tell them that their loved one is in heaven and that helps but it doesn’t take all the sadness away. Why? Because even though they know that their loved one is in heaven. They are still missing them. As we think about it we discover that those who have fallen asleep are not the ones who are missing out. We are. We are missing them.
All the more reason to look forward to the Last Day; and ask Jesus to come quickly. “We believe that Jesus died and rose again, and we also believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him” (4:14). When Jesus comes back he is not coming alone. He is bringing our loved ones back with him. The Thessalonians didn’t need to be afraid that their loved ones would miss the Last Day. Paul says, “They’ll be there; they’ll just be on the other side.”
And then Jesus will raise their bodies to life. According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep” (4:15). It’s hard to tell exactly what Paul means when he says those who are still alive will not precede those who have fallen asleep. It could mean that Jesus is not going to come and take us to heaven with him and leave their bodies in the ground. Or it could simply mean that there is no advantage to being alive on the Last Day. Jesus is going to bring dead believers back with him and he is going to raise them from the dead.
Paul describes what will happen on the Last Day, “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first” (4:16). Maybe when your loved one died, you pleaded with the Lord to give her back to you. Or maybe if you didn’t say those exact words it was certainly the desire of your heart. You wanted your child back. You wanted your mother back. On the Last Day Jesus is going to answer that prayer with an emphatic “Yes.” You will have your loved one back. Fully alive.
Maybe your believing-loved one who died had a battle with Alzheimer’s. And at the end he just wasn’t himself. When Jesus raises him up at the Last Day his mind will be fully restored in a glorified resurrection body.
One reason the Last Day will be such a happy day is because it will be a great reunion with all the believers who went before us. “After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds” (4:17). But the focal point of this reunion will not be ourselves. It will be Jesus. “Caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air” (4:17). No matter what your family didn’t get to experience together in this life because you were separated by busy schedules or geography or even death, one thing that you will for sure get to experience together is this meeting with the Lord in the air.
And remember from last week this is when Jesus will say, “I was hungry and you fed me. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink.” If your grandfather did not get to hear your name called at graduation, he will get to hear Jesus call your name and say, “well done, good and faithful servant,” and your grandfather will say “that’s my girl!”
“And so we will be with the Lord forever” (4:17). The story of the Christian life is the only one that is truly happily ever after. When I served as a vicar last year there was a shut-in in our congregation whom I would visit regularly. Even though she was in a lot of pain because of neuropathy and a host of other things, she was one of the most joyful people I had ever met. And what really made her light up was thinking about Jesus coming back on the Last Day. Whenever someone mentioned Jesus coming back she would exclaim, “Won’t that just be wonderful! I just can’t wait to see him.” It will be a happy day when Jesus comes back. You will be reunited with your fellow believers and we will all be with Jesus in life never-ending.
“Therefore comfort each other with these words” (4:18). You might want to mark this section of Scripture as a great one to turn to when you are with someone who has just experienced a loss. Of course, we want to be careful not to run roughshod over their grief. We want to mourn with those who mourn even as Jesus wept at the grave of Lazarus. But at the appropriate time we do have real hope to offer them. The sure hope that their loved ones are enjoying bliss with Jesus and that when Jesus comes back he will bring their loved ones back with him and they will be reunited and they will enjoy the Lord’s presence together forever. And so we joyfully pray come quickly Lord Jesus, and bring our loved ones with you. Amen.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

November 6th, 2011




LAST JUDGMENT
November 6/7, 2011
Pastor Timothy J. Spaude
Text: Matthew 25:31-46

“JUDGMENT DAY!”
1. What you do matters.
2. Why you did it matters.
3. Jesus matters!

Matthew 25:31-46 (NIV1984) “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. 34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ 40 “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’ 41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ 44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ 45 “He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ 46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

For some people it doesn’t even exist. It’s not on their radar screen. They don’t believe it will ever even happen. For other’s it’s kind of like the boogey man. Something that parents or fear mongering pastors can use to manipulate the behavior of their children or people. I’m talking about Judgment Day. But unlike the boogey man, Judgment Day is real. What do you think about when you hear about Judgment Day? Is it something scary? Something to look forward to? What do you think it will be like for you? Let’s revisit the words of Jesus and find out.
The first thing we notice is on Judgment Day there are only two eternal futures for all people. “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.” Jesus draws our attention to the glory of Judgment Day. He comes in glory. All the angels are with Him. Then there is a separation. Like a shepherd separates sheep and goats, Jesus separates the people. No matter what people believe about the afterlife there are only two types of people, those who go to heaven and those who go to Hell. What’s the basis?
Here Jesus points to the things people have done or not done. “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.” To those on His right Jesus gives the welcome into heaven. He points to things they did. Apparently on Judgment Day what you do matters. What things? Well, kind of normal things. There’s no mention of martyrdom or building of huge church bodies. No, instead it’s normal things that take care of needs like feeding the hungry, giving a drink to someone who is thirsty, clothing to those in need, kindness to strangers, taking care of the sick or visiting someone in prison.
It’s a different story for those on the left. “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.” There is no welcome into heaven. There is only hell, eternal fire, for these people. Why? Jesus points to things they didn’t do for him and they’re just the same as what the ones on the right did do, normal almost every day tasks.
Now some of you might be thinking, “Hey, wait a minute, pastor. You are going to turn me into some kind of Lutheran lunatic. Last week we reemphasized the truths of the Lutheran Reformation that we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone. This week you’re telling me it’s what I do that matters. What gives?” Jesus gives. Did you notice how both those on the right and those on the left were basically clueless as to what Jesus meant? The ones on the right couldn’t think of times when they did these nice things for Jesus. The ones on the left couldn’t think of times when they had failed to. That brings us to the second point of Judgment Day. Why you do things matters. The key phrase that Jesus the judge repeats is “for me.” “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” And again, “He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.” Who is it that lives their lives for Jesus? Who is it that does not? Now it becomes clear. Now it all fits together. We are not Lutheran lunatics after all. On Judgment Day Jesus will point to fruits of faith or the lack of them. Only believers in Jesus can and will do things for Him. Only those who belong to Him deliberately live their lives striving to follow God’s holy will for Him. Only those who know they have received forgiveness want to thank Jesus for their forgiveness. And all the things that unbelievers do that look the same as believers, feeding the hungry, providing clothes to those in need, the difference is they can’t be done for Jesus. Why you do things matters.
But really the bottom line is on Judgment Day, Jesus matters. Look at the ones Jesus welcomed into heaven. Jesus calls them “the righteous.” He calls them the blessed and says they are receiving an inheritance. That’s something you don’t work for. And did you notice what was missing as Jesus talked with them? Their sins were missing. God is not lying when He says that His forgiveness means that He removes our sins from us as far as the east is from the west. Jesus made that happen. He paid for those sins. He took them all away, nailed to the cross, buried in the grave. Whatever picture you want to use, God assures you that there will be no scandal sheet read, no public unveiling of all you secret sins. Jesus matters. Oh the joy of believing in Him! You don’t have to worry about whether you’ve done enough. As we’ll sing about later it’s Jesus righteousness that covers us. Instead our jaws will drop as Jesus praises us for things we can’t even remember that we did for Him. You see, it’s not fear of Judgment Day that is to motivate Christian living but the joy of seeing Jesus instead.
Maybe that’s why one pastor described Judgment Day as one of the happiest days in a believer’s life. Think about it. You get to see Jesus in all His glory. All His enemies are banished to Hell forever. Your faith in Him is publicly vindicated. You are about to enter, body and soul, eternal glory, and if that were not enough Jesus, Jesus is going to praise you. I don’t want to spoil the surprise for you but do you want to think a little bit about what He might say to you? Children, “I was crying on the playground and you put your arm around me. I was feeling left out and you invited me to come along. I was being teased and you didn’t laugh, you spoke up for me.” Adults, fellow members of St. Jacobi. “I needed to learn about my Savior and you taught me. You made sure money wouldn’t keep me from learning about Jesus in school. You provided safe water for me in my homeland of India and then I learned about the water of life. You gave me a food basket at just the right time, a food card from your almoner’s fund, a warm coat. You encouraged me at work when everyone else wanted me gone. You saw me straying from my salvation and you came after me. You helped me praise God through music. I was a helpless baby and you cared for me. I needed a good neighbor and you were there for me.” I could go on and on. I think it’s going to be like Christmas with absolutely no idea about what you are going to get.
It’s kind of neat to think about, isn’t it? And maybe it helps our waiting time pass a little more nicely. Because I belong to Jesus, the things I do matter. The things you do matter too. They may look like nothing special in the eyes of other people. They might not seem all that special to you. But they are because of Jesus. So have fun doing them. Amen.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

October 23rd, 20111



PENTECOST 19
October 23/24, 2011
Pastor Timothy J. Spaude
Text: Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32

“REPENT AND LIVE!”
1. Repentance is necessary.
2. Repentance is possible.
3. Repentance is living!

Ezekiel 18: 1-4, 25-32 (NIV 1984) “The word of the LORD came to me: 2 “What do you people mean by quoting this proverb about the land of Israel: “‘The fathers eat sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge’? 3 “As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, you will no longer quote this proverb in Israel. 4 For every living soul belongs to me, the father as well as the son—both alike belong to me. The soul who sins is the one who will die. 25 “Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Hear, O house of Israel: Is my way unjust? Is it not your ways that are unjust? 26 If a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits sin, he will die for it; because of the sin he has committed he will die. 27 But if a wicked man turns away from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he will save his life. 28 Because he considers all the offenses he has committed and turns away from them, he will surely live; he will not die. 29 Yet the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Are my ways unjust, O house of Israel? Is it not your ways that are unjust? 30 “Therefore, O house of Israel, I will judge you, each one according to his ways, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. 31 Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, O house of Israel? 32 For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live!”

Can you empathize a little bit with the House of Israel? At the time this word of God was written, the people the prophet Ezekiel was serving were living far from their homeland. They were in Babylon, modern day Iraq. What were they doing there? How did they get there? Their parents, their fathers, had sinned. Despite all of God’s warnings through other prophets they had chased after the idols, the fake gods of the people around them. Why? Worshipping them was more fun. They had drinking parties and orgies in their church services. To chasten them God let the Babylonians conquer Jerusalem and carry the people into exiles. So the parents had worshipped idols and now the children were living in exile. Does that help you understand the proverb the people were quoting about the land of Israel? “‘The fathers eat sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge’? Normally if someone eats something that tastes bad, like sour grapes, they experience the bad taste in their mouths. But the Israelite people felt like their parents had done wrong and they were paying for it. And you know, you know what comes next. That’s right, the age old complaint, “That’s not fair.” Children you can empathize for every time the teacher has given a classroom punishment. Maybe the talking got to be too much and it was the last straw and everyone stays in for recess and you feel if not say, “That’s not fair.” Or maybe adults you live in a city that foolishly combined the sanitation and stormwater sewer lines and now you have to pay for new laterals from your house and you surely think and feel “That’s not fair.”
And so we can empathize with the Israelites stuck in Babylon seemingly for the sins of the parents. But now listen, listen to God’s response. “As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, you will no longer quote this proverb in Israel. 4 For every living soul belongs to me, the father as well as the son—both alike belong to me. The soul who sins is the one who will die. 25 “Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Hear, O house of Israel: Is my way unjust? Is it not your ways that are unjust?” And again a little later, “Therefore, O house of Israel, I will judge you, each one according to his ways, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall.” The first thing we can learn from this word of God, brothers and sisters, is that repentance is necessary for everyone. The people of Israel felt God was being unfair. They felt they were being punished for their parents’ idolatry. But they ignored their own sins. It’s just like it is in class, kids, when the classroom punishment happens and you think it’s unfair because you weren’t talking—that time. What about all the other times you were and there was no punishment? God points out that all people are accountable to Him. And sin deserves punishment. The soul that sins is the one that should die. And remember the death of sin is separation from God. And so repentance is necessary. The house of Israel in Babylon needed to repent for their sins against God and so do we. If anyone claims to be without sin he deceives himself and the truth is not in him. You know your hearts. You know your lives. You know what you are hiding that you don’t want anyone to know about. God knows it too. “That’s not fair,” needs to be replaced with “I have sinned.” Repentance is necessary.
Thankfully repentance is possible. “If a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits sin, he will die for it; because of the sin he has committed he will die. 27 But if a wicked man turns away from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he will save his life. 28 Because he considers all the offenses he has committed and turns away from them, he will surely live; he will not die.” Like the parable Jesus told of the two sons the Lord presents two people who changed. One is someone who turns away from righteousness to wickedness and dies in rejection and so dies forever in Hell. Another lived a life of wickedness but later repents, turns from that wickedness and lives, lives into eternity. The point is the same. We have a God who looks at the heart. He does not judge people by their past but by their present. He does not judge them by their parents but by themselves. He gives to every sinner a hope and a future and says as long as you have the breath of life on this earth repentance is possible. God can say that because He did everything to make repentance possible. He promised and sent Jesus. Jesus lived the perfect life ready to be credited to all who believe. He suffered and paid for all sins so forgiveness is granted through faith. Repentance is a possible.
It’s there for everyone. It’s there for you and me and how happy we can be because repentance is living. It is real life. “Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, O house of Israel? 32 For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live!” Here we get a look at the heart of our Savior God. He wants the best for all people. Enforcing the consequences of sin on people was never God’s first choice. It’s not what He wants. That’s why His first choice was to punish Jesus. And now repentance is real living while we wait to go to heaven. God knows that each one of us finds it easier to get upset about other people’s sins than our own. He knows that’s a trick of the Devil to distract us and keep us miserably mired in a life of resentment and bitterness toward God and others because “That’s not fair!” He also knows that sin is like illegal drugs. It promises happiness but does not deliver. Instead it likes to hide in your body, making you crave more and more until just like a drug junkie isn’t herself anymore, doesn’t realize how ugly she’s become and has alienated those who love her most, the unrepentant sinner is dragged down further and further into uglier and uglier sins and pushes away the One who loves them most, the Father in heaven. That’s no life.
There is a better way! Repentance. Real living. What is this repentance? It’s taking ownership for your own sins. Being bothered more about your own sinful nature and sins than those of others. I have done it. It’s being repulsed and ashamed of those sins, regretting how dirty they have made you. It’s turning to Jesus for forgiveness and away from those sins we’ve confessed. The result is real living. God promises to give a new heart and a new spirit. Think of it. How would you like to live with no past? Now you can’t do that with people. They remember. But God doesn’t. Because Jesus paid for those sins God forgets! That’s what His forgiveness is like. He remembers your sins no more. There is no adultery there to regret. No lies to haunt you. Know stealing to be uncovered. Instead a new heart and a new spirit. A fresh start every day.
Repentance is living. Perhaps that is why Martin Luther in the first of the 95 Theses he posted on the church door wrote, “When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said “Repent!” He willed the entire life of a believer to be one of repentance. See repentance is not something you do in order to become a believer as too many Christians have been misled into believing these days. Nor is it a one time action over a certain sin. Rather repentance is a way of living every day for those who already believe. It’s necessary because daily we fall into sin. It’s possible because God is a God of mercy and Jesus has already been punished. It’s real living. For only when we are peace with God, in unity with Him, without our sins standing in the way, only then does life make sense and have peace and joy regardless of outward circumstances. Now God brought you here today. There was something He wanted you to hear. When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, “Repent!” He willed the entire life of a believer to be one of repentance. If that doesn’t describe the state of your heart today, listen to God who says, “Repent and Live!” Amen.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011



PENTECOST 18
October 16/17, 2011
Seminarian Nathan Buchner
Text: Jonah 4:5-11

There are times in this life that are worth dreading. No one ever wants to fire workers at a job. No one wants to tell the bad news of an injury or even a death. We may not want to do things like this, but they still need to get done. My friends, serving God is not one of those instances that we should dread. The problem is that you and I are still stubborn sinners, and we at times we fail to see the fantastic opportunity before us. You see, serving God is a gracious gift, not a chore. In our stubbornness, God remains concerned. And in the end, God even uses us to reach other stubborn sinners.
In order to understand our section of Jonah, it is first necessary to understand what happened to him before. The story of Jonah started with God commanding Jonah to preach to Nineveh. But, in his stubbornness, Jonah decided not to do what God was commanding. Instead of making his way to Nineveh, which is close to present Iraq, he decided that he would sail straight to Tarshish, which is around Portugal or Spain! But, as he was doing this, a huge storm popped up. Because of this, Jonah had to confess his sin to the others on the boat, and suggested that they throw him into the sea. Then the storm stopped, and Jonah was swallowed up by a great fish. The thing is though, that this fish did not see Jonah as fish food. Instead, God used this fish for three days and nights to carry Jonah to dry land. Once this happened, Jonah went to Nineveh and preached repentance. Finally, the people turned to God and believed.
Although it would be a “happily ever after” ending for the story to stop here, it does not. Jonah actually faced a much more miserable ending in his book. Once Jonah noticed that the people had repented and turned to God, he said to the LORD, “I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Now, O Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.”
Nowhere in the rest of Scripture is the fact that God is slow to anger and abounding in love considered a bad thing. Only here in Jonah is it this way. After having talked with God, Jonah is so upset that he leaves the city to which he had just preached.
Now, if you’re thinking that this reaction seems odd for a man who just had the single greatest missionary experience of all time, you wouldn’t be alone. I mean, God used Jonah, a stubborn sinner and, through him, converted an entire city! The normal action after this would be to go and live it up with the brothers and sisters. But this wasn’t what Jonah did.
Jonah instead left Nineveh behind. He did this because he saw God’s gift of gospel ministry as a chore. Eventually, he sat down to the east of the Nineveh, and waited to see if the city would be destroyed. Again, Jonah went directly against God’s wishes, just as he did when he sailed the opposite way of Nineveh.
Now, if I were God, I would’ve probably ended Jonah right there. But look at God and his concern, “Then the Lord God provided a vine and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the vine.” He remained patient and provided. God’s first provision was a vine which gave Jonah comfort and shade. And for the first time, Jonah was happy.
But, his happiness was short lived. For, God had something bigger in mind for Jonah. This time when God provided, Jonah experienced discomfort, “But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the vine so that it withered. When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint.”
Without the vine, Jonah was completely susceptible to the elements. He faced brutal winds and heat, and then grew faint. And because of his pain and his stubborn nature, Jonah again said, “It would be better for me to die than live.”
And, once again, God steps in. Here God appears to be like a father listening patiently to his son expressing his feelings. He allowed Jonah to speak, but only to lead him to see that he was wrong in this matter. Even with all of God’s patience, all Jonah could muster was that he had the right to be angry. In fact, Jonah said, “I am angry enough to die.”
If we take a look at the rest of the book, we can get at the heart of Jonah’s anger. In reality, Jonah never wanted to preach to the Ninevites because he felt they didn’t deserve the Gospel because of their actions. These people weren’t like the Jews. No, these were the barbarians that tortured their captives, who showed off their savage deeds by hanging mutilated corpses on their city walls. And the Jews never did this. In reality, the Jews seemed quite tame compared to those Ninevites. The problem though is that the hearts of Jonah and the Jews were just as evil as the hearts of the Ninevites.
However, you and I continue to make the same mistake Jonah made. We judge ourselves and others based off of actions, not hearts. And once we do this, we may be lead to think that God’s grace doesn’t have to stretch so far for us. We let ourselves believe that we’re really not that bad. The problem is that we are judging only actions, not hearts. And when we do this, we think others are below us because of their evil deeds.
It doesn’t take much self-inspection to know that we really have nothing to be proud of. Our hearts are just as black as Jonah’s, and we must confess, like Paul, that we are the chief of sinners. Then once we do this, we must confess that we are no better than the Ninevites or Jonah.
But yet, God remains concerned. He sees your condition and how black your hearts are. And then he responds with his love. Yes my friends, the Lord who was concerned with Jonah is the same Lord who was concerned with the Israelites from our Gospel lesson. We saw how those Israelites who were hired first complained when they were getting paid. They felt they had done more, and for this deserved more. They didn’t understand that the work they were doing was a gift from the generous landowner, not a chore. Just as that landowner, who in reality is God, had the right to be generous with the workers, so he had the right to be concerned about the Ninevites, and even has the right to remain concerned for us. For, it was because of his grace that he shows this concern. Grace that led this very Lord Jesus to the cross to pay for all of their sins, and also for all of yours.
So, my friends, know this. God has granted us the full measure of his love. He does this because of his patience and his concern for stubborn sinners.
In our own lives, we are constantly reminded of his patience. In fact, he is so patient, that he uses us to reach other stubborn sinners. And, as we go about this work which he has given us, we know that serving God is a gracious gift, not a chore.
The reason that it is not a chore is because of the love we know we have in God. God, in verse 11, puts on his full spectacle of love when he says, “Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?”
The point that God is making here is that if Jonah was concerned with his vine, although he did not make it, why shouldn’t God be concerned about animals and especially people? Now there are a number of ways to take the phrase 120,000 who can’t tell their left hand from their right. The first way is to say that this phrase is referring to children who are so young they don’t know their left hand from their right. Now if the youngest children make up 10% of the population, this would mean the overall population of Nineveh is 1,200,000 people! The second way would be take this expression as a figure of speech. Since the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, they were completely lost. In their spiritual darkness, they wouldn’t have even been able to distinguish their spiritual left hand from their right. If the phrase is taken this way, there would have been 120,000 people in the city. Think about this then: 120,000 people is more than a quarter of the WELS! Either way you take this phrase, this is a lot of people that we’re dealing with here.
And just like that, the book ends with a question. If you’re thinking to yourself that it seems to end abruptly, you’re not alone. Many have wondered, “Well what happened to Jonah?” Did he ever realize the opportunity that God had given him? Did he ever see that God gave him the gracious gift of reaching other stubborn sinners? But in all honesty, we don’t know. The only thing we do know is that Jonah ended up writing this book, thus he could have turned back to God and this would then be his confession. However, this is not the point. The book is about God in his love, trying to show Jonah the awesome opportunity he had: that he was the one called on to preach repentance to an entire city!
In the end, we reach a glorious truth. Just as God used Jonah to preach, so he uses us to reach other stubborn sinners. Jonah, in his book, never seemed to learn this awesome truth. But you and I can see Jonah, and learn from his mistakes. We can learn that being God’s spokespeople is a gracious gift, not a chore.
There are times in this life that are worthy of dreading. But thanks be to God, that preaching his word should not be one of those chores that we go about grudgingly. This is true because God has shown his concern for us, people who were as lost as those Ninevites. We have seen how far his love has stretched for us, and we want to tell others of this great love also. For us, serving God is a gracious gift, not a chore.