Monday, July 29, 2013

PENTECOST 10 July 27-29, 2013 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: Genesis 18:20-32 “LEARN TO PRAY!”


PENTECOST 10
July 27-29, 2013
Pastor Timothy J. Spaude
Text: Genesis 18:20-32

“LEARN TO PRAY!”
1.     By looking at the One prayed to.
2.     By looking at one who prayed.

Genesis 18:20-32 (NIV 1984) Then the LORD said, "The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous 21 that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know." 22 The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the LORD. 23 Then Abraham approached him and said: "Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24 What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? 25 Far be it from you to do such a thing--to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?" 26 The LORD said, "If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake." 27 Then Abraham spoke up again: "Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes, 28 what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city because of five people?" "If I find forty-five there," he said, "I will not destroy it." 29 Once again he spoke to him, "What if only forty are found there?" He said, "For the sake of forty, I will not do it." 30 Then he said, "May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there?" He answered, "I will not do it if I find thirty there." 31 Abraham said, "Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?" He said, "For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it." 32 Then he said, "May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?" He answered, "For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it."

          “So, how’s your prayer life?” That was the question that greeted your pastors every time we visited Donald Kramer. Some of you might remember him. He’s in heaven now. Every time. Every visit. Immediately upon entering his home. “How’s your prayer life?” Donald had time on his hands and he used it to pray. His question was meant to encourage his pastors to pray as well. I have to tell you sometimes it felt like one of those doctor questions. You know, when you go to the doctor’s office and they ask you, “How often do you exercise each week? How many fruits and vegetable do you eat daily?” If you had a good week you don’t mind but if not… it kind makes you feel a little guilty. So how’s your prayer life? If you had a good week and didn’t let yourself get distracted you don’t mind at all. But if not the question makes you feel kind of guilty. God did not give us the gift of prayer to make us feel guilty. He gave it as a blessing, a meaningful way for us to talk to Him and make a difference in the lives of others and ourselves. As you heard in the Gospel reading, Jesus prayed. His disciples saw Him praying. They wanted to know how to pray. So do we. Join me then in learning to pray.
          First let’s take a look at the One we get to pray to. Then the LORD said, "The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous 21 that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know." 22 The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the LORD.” What do we learn about God here? First that He is merciful. You have to remember the whole context of God’s visit to Abraham. He had come with the two angels in human form to announce to the “too old for having children Abraham and Sarah” that they would have a son next year. Not just any son, the son of the Promise. Tied to God’s promise of a son for Abraham and Sarah was the promise of God’s one and only Son who would come to save people from their sins. God is merciful He’s also just. Sodom and Gomorrah. Their sin was so grievous that God was stepping outside of His normal way of working to bring judgment and punishment. Defiance of God’s holy will was at an all time high. God is clear. God gave sex to be a blessing between one man and one woman once they are married. Any other use of sex is sin. In Sodom and Gomorrah men were having sex with men. This is sin. And while God is merciful He will not tolerate ongoing willful sin. And here we need to remember to look at ourselves. Is there some ongoing willful sin in our lives? It’s not just gay sex that angers God. It also angers him when a man and a woman are not married and are having sex. Pick your commandment. Sin is sin. God is just. He also makes Himself accessible. Does God really need to go down to investigate what’s going on? Really, the one who already knows the hearts and minds of all mankind? No, His purpose was to give Abraham an opportunity to pray. God desires to be approached. He also doesn’t get exasperated with His children. “What if there are 50? What if there are 45? What if there are only 40? What if there are 30? What if there are 20? What if there are 10?” OK, if Jamie and Anna are asking me if they can do something or have something after about the third time that’s it. I said what I said. This human father gets fed up. But our heavenly Father doesn’t. He loves to be asked. Look at the one prayed to. He is merciful and just. He is accessible and loves to be prayed to. He is patient and enduring.
          How about the one who prayed? What can we learn about praying by focusing our attention on Abraham. First we see he is caring. “Then Abraham approached him and said: "Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24 What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it?” Abraham is praying for others. He’s not asking God to overlook sin. Abraham’s nephew Lot lived there with his family. Abraham hopes there are others there who believed and trusted in the Savior God. That’s what it means to be righteous. No one is righteous based on their own actions. Righteousness only comes through faith in the Savior. Secondly Abraham is humble. "Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes, 28 what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty?” Abraham had it right. God is God and he was not. He was not going to tell God what to do. He was a sinner. He was a beggar before God. He would humbly ask. Thirdly we see persistent prayer that relies on God’s mercy. 50. 45. 40. 30. 20. 10.
          So how’s your prayer life? More importantly how is it going to be? Before we talk about that there are two other points to hold on to from this part of God’s Word. First is that the righteous do make a difference. For the sake of 10 believers God would have spared all the people of Sodom and Gomorrah.  Remember that when you are getting discouraged about the future of our country. Secondly, God answers prayers in a better way than we could imagine. If God had answered Abraham’s prayer the way he prayed it Lot and his family would have been destroyed along with Sodom and Gomorrah. But God had a better answer. Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by fire which sadly is nothing compared to the fires of hell that those who reject Jesus condemn themselves to. But the Lord also sent the two angels to rescue Lot and all of his family who would listen. It’s great to have a God who knows better than we do!
          So how’s your prayer life going to be? No guilt. Just blessings. God is not unfair. He is just. But He is first and foremost merciful. He does not treat His children as their sins deserve but has forgiven us for Jesus sake. He is totally accessible and loves to be prayed to. There is no place on earth where we can’t talk to God. At home. At work. In the car. At the mall. On the city streets. In a hospital bed. In our own bed. God is there to hear. He listens attentively. God has no spell checker or grammar checker. He’s always there for you. So be a child of Abraham. The Bible calls all those who believe the promises of God children of Abraham. He believed in the Savior  who would come. We believe in the Savior who has come and know His name is Jesus. Let’s be children of Abraham in our prayer lives as well. Praying humbly, caring for others and practicing persistent prayer that relies on God’s mercy. He’ll give the best answer. You can count on it! Amen.

Monday, July 15, 2013

PENTECOST 8 July 13-15, 2013 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: Deuteronomy 30:8-14 “GOD GIVES US A WONDERFUL LIFE”


PENTECOST 8
July 13-15, 2013
Pastor Timothy J. Spaude
Text: Deuteronomy 30:8-14

“GOD GIVES US A WONDERFUL LIFE”
1.     By calling us to repentance.
2.     By keeping it simple for us.
3.     By giving us His word.

Deuteronomy 30:8-14 (NIV 1984) “You will again obey the LORD and follow all his commands I am giving you today. 9 Then the LORD your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land. The LORD will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your fathers, 10 if you obey the LORD your God and keep his commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law and turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 11 Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. 12 It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, "Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" 13 Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, "Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" 14 No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.”

          “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Hopefully every American 12 years old and older recognizes that sentence as coming from our country’s Declaration of Independence. Does it make me un-American if I quibble with it just a little bit? It’s that last part that bothers me. Listed as an unalienable right endowed by the Creator is the pursuit of happiness. Really? God gives me the right to pursue happiness? That’s not what the Bible says. The Bible says God gives us the right and the ability to be happy. Always. Happy the people the Lord has chosen to be His own! Happy/blessed are they who hear the word of God and keep it. Rejoice in the Lord always. Since that’s true I don’t want to waste my time pursuing happiness. Neither do you. Instead we get to spend our time being happy. But that only happens when things are right with us and the Lord.
          Hear God’s good news. God gives us, His people, a wonderful life. Let’s see how He does that today by looking at how He did that with His people some 3500 years ago. That’s the setting for God’s Word before us. God’s people, the Israelites, were led by Moses. They had completed 40 years of wandering around in the wilderness as a consequence for their lack of trust in God’s power. 40 years before God told them to enter their new home but they were scared. They didn’t trust God to keep His word. Now 40 years later they were going to get to enter their Promised Land that would be their home. Moses spoke the words of God’s laws to them a second time. That’s what Deuteronomy means—the second giving of the law. Everything given 40 years earlier on Mt. Sinai was repeated. Then God had Moses outline the blessings of living the repentant life.
          “You will again obey the LORD and follow all his commands I am giving you today. 9 Then the LORD your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land. The LORD will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your fathers, 10 if you obey the LORD your God and keep his commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law and turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.” Do you see how God gave them a wonderful life? That 40 years of wandering in the wilderness was an extended call to repentance.  They recognized their sin. They were remorseful for it. They turned to their Lord and were living with Him again. God would give them a wonderful life.
          The same thing is true for us. He knows we can’t be happy without Him so He calls us to repentance. We too have problems trusting God to keep His word. He tells us to seek first His kingdom and righteousness and we often get around to God and His word later. Too many other things are more important. He tells us to set our hearts on our heavenly home but the things in the earthly one are all we know so we often value them more. He tells us to live holy lives that stand out among the unbelievers we live among. Too often we fit in too well. Sadly the list of ways we have in the past declared independence from God is a long one. But God loves us. He calls us to repentance. He makes sure we hear words of the law at church , in the Bible, from a friend. We might not get 40 years of consequence but we get our own. And it’s good. Did you notice how God did not focus on Israel’s past but their future? So too with you. Your past does not matter. God gives you today as a present and He wants you to have a wonderful life where you can turn to God with all your heart, soul and mind. The only way for that to truly happen is to keep your eyes on Jesus. Jesus is the reason your past sins do not matter. He took those sins from you. He loves you. He gave Himself for you. No threats of punishment can motivate a person to love God with all his heart, soul and mind. But love can. Jesus loves you. He lives for you. He dies for you. He wants you with Him forever. God gives us a wonderful life by calling us to repentance.
          And by keeping it simple for us. “Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. 12 It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, "Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" 13 Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, "Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" Do you remember the Bible Story about Naaman? He was the Syrian general who had leprosy. But God had put into his life an Israelite girl who was a believer. She sent him to the prophet Elisha who told him God would heal him by having him dip himself in the Jordan river. Naaman went away mad. It was too easy. Too simple. He wanted something great and grand. But God doesn’t do things that way. He keeps it simple. We need saving so He has His Son Jesus do all the work. We simply believe what God has already done. Or think of Baptism. It’s so simple! Where do you find people apart from water? You don’t. So when God wants us to know we are His children and our children are His children, He keeps it simple. He gives us Baptism.
          When it comes to giving us a wonderful life God keeps it simple for us. Simple commands. Jesus simply put it this way. “If you love me obey my commandments.” Hardly ever does it happen that we really don’t know what God says is right and wrong. It’s not like some of the instructions you see on products these days. I’m sure you’ve seen them. Like this one found on a Japanese food processor. “Not to be used for the other use.” What does that mean?  Or this one seen at a parking lot. “Entrance only. Do not enter.” What do you do with that? Or how about this on a 500 piece jigsaw puzzle? “Some assembly required.” Really. God doesn’t play those games with us. He keeps it simple. “Here are my commands. The most meaningful way for you to say thank you and show your love for me is by willingly obeying them. I will bless you.” God gives us a wonderful life by keeping things simple for us.
          And by giving us His word. “No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.” God’s Word is power. He calls it sharper than any two edged sword. He tells us it is His power to save. We know it is the absolute truth. Jesus rebuked the Devil by quoting the Scripture, “Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” He gently rebuked and encouraged Martha with the truth that only one thing is needed—the word of God. Jesus is the one who said, “Blessed, (or happy) are those who hear God’s word and keep it.” God gives us a wonderful life by giving us His word. He says it is in our mouth and our heart. How does that happen? By daily use. Are you, making daily use? It’s the key to a wonderful life. Reminds me of when I first became a pastor. Before becoming a pastor I had a great habit of daily devotions and Bible reading. Then I was assigned to be a pastor at Cross of Christ Lutheran Church in Universal City, TX. Chris and I got married. We moved there. She started her job teaching. I started pastoring. There was so much to do. A house to set up. An office to set up. People to meet. Sermons to write. Meetings. About three months go by. I felt kind of empty. I studied so long for the privilege of becoming a pastor. Now I was one. What was wrong? Something was missing. Do you know what it was? My God’s Word time. I fell out of the habit. I was missing out on the wonderful life.
          But God loved me. He found a way to wake me up. God loves you too. He wants you to have a wonderful life now as you wait for the most wonderful life with Him in heaven. Join with me, brothers and sisters, in rejecting the American pursuit of happiness and claiming the Christian blessing of ongoing happiness. When God calls you to repentance, listen. Don’t think too hard. God’s made it simple so keep it simple. Obey Him out of love. All you need to do that is His word which will keep your eyes on Jesus. You have it. Use it. Amen.

Monday, July 1, 2013

June 29-July 1, 2013 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: 1 Kings 19:13b-18


PENTECOST 6
June 29-July 1, 2013
Pastor Timothy J. Spaude
Text: 1 Kings 19:13b-18

“WE’RE NOT THE ONLY ONES LEFT!”
1.     We have the Lord.
2.     We have each other.
3.     We have work to do.

1 Kings 19:13b-18 (NIV 1984) Then a voice said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" 14 He replied, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too." 15 The LORD said to him, "Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram. 16 Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet. 17 Jehu will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu. 18 Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel--all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and all whose mouths have not kissed him."

          You would think this he would have been at one of the high points of his career. Who, you ask? Elijah, the prophet of Israel. He’s one of the few that God allowed to do miracles to authenticate his message. He should have bouncing off the walls from adrenalin packed excitement rather than lying on the floor of a cave in dejection and despair. Why you ask? Well you can read the whole story in 1 Kings chapter 18 and you will want to because it’s a good one. Briefly it contains the showdown between Elijah, the prophet of the one true God, and the 450 prophets of the idol Baal. With the people of Israel watching the Lord proved He is the one true God. Two altars were set up. One for Baal. One for the Lord. The prophets of Baal got to call on Baal to send fire on their sacrifice for hours and nothing happened. Then came Elijah’s turn. One simple prayer and God dramatically sent fire from heaven that consumed the sacrifice, the altar, even the soil around it. “The Lord, He is God!” the people shouted and they killed the 450 prophets of the fake god Baal. Awesome! Love it. Why wasn’t Elijah excited? Well wicked King Ahab and evil Queen Jezebel did not like what God did through Elijah. They sent word they would kill Elijah. You would have thought that God’s people who had seen His greatness would have defended Elijah who stood up for what was right. Apparently they just melted, more concerned about what Ahab and Jezebel might do to them than sticking up for their prophet. They didn’t defend Elijah so he ran for his life and at the time of our text was cowering in a cave. When God asked him what he was doing you heard the response. "I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too."
          Do you feel that way sometimes? Is there an Ahab or Jezebel in your life, your family, your place of work so that evil seems to prosper? Has it happened that discussion at work touched on an issue of morality and you spoke your Bible based beliefs but nobody else joined in to say, “The Lord, He is God. What the Bible says is true.” And you found yourself thinking, “Am I the only one left?” Maybe you were at a family get together and you start realizing the way the conversation is going that Christ isn’t their centerpiece and you find yourself thinking “Am I the only one left?” Chris and the girls and I just got back from a wonderful vacation to Florida. One of the places we visited there was Siesta Key Beach, consistently ranked one of the top beaches in the USA. And it was beautiful! Easy to walk on white sand. Gently sloping ocean access. What God did there was awesome. And man messed it up. We found a place to put our things, stretched out to get some sun. And the group of young people on one side was talking about all their sexual sinning in detail and their drunken exploits. On the other side every third of fourth word was an expletive. Behind us more of the same. We started to wonder. Are we the only ones left? Are we the only ones on this huge beautiful beach who want to honor the Creator and Savior with words and actions? We’re coming up on the 4th of July. Our nation’s birthday. Freedom. Independence. Some of  you fought to preserve that freedom. You had fathers, brothers, sons, daughters. You hear the same news I do. You see what that freedom is being used for. Protection and promotion of sexual immorality of all kinds. Government laws not only allow abortion but are making abortion and the abortive “morning after” pill as easily accessible as possible. God says that’s wrong. So we say it’s wrong. What’s going on? Are we the only ones left?
          Out of the cave brothers and sisters. No lying on the ground in dejection and despair. Hear the Word of the Lord. As it applied to Elijah it applies to us. God says we’re not the only ones left! First we have the Lord. Elijah should have known that. It was 1 Elijah versus 450 prophets of Baal. Who won? Elijah. Why? It wasn’t because the Lord was on Elijah’s side but rather Elijah was on the side of the Lord. And God plus 1 is always a majority. You too can stand up to the Ahab’s and Jezebel’s in your life. God let Ahab and Jezebel have their day, seem to get away with it for years but his calling to account led to their awful death. Elijah ran in fear but the Lord came to him and gave him the encouraging word. That same Lord is with you. He comes to you. Hear His words. “I am with you always, even to the end of the age. I am your shield and your great reward. I will never leave you nor forsake you.”  But then you might think about your sins. You see it’s not just other people on the beach who ruin what God has beautifully created. We do too. God gives us the beautiful gift of marriage, family, friendships, work, church. We make it dirty with our sins. We are not better than anyone else. But we have the Lord who is the Savior God. He became one of us and took our sins on Himself and was punished in full. He has given us his holiness to wear as a robe to assure us He is with us, to help fight the sin in our lives and stop those marriage, family, friendship, work, church destroying sins. We’re not the only ones left. We have the Lord.
          We have each other. Elijah thought that because no one stood up for him he was the only one left. Not true. “Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel--all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and all whose mouths have not kissed him." To some extent we can’t blame Elijah. He judged by what he saw. Now he needed to judge by what God said. Elijah was wrong times 7000. We’re also wrong when we feel like we are the only ones left. The Lord has blessed us with each other to support and encourage, to rebuke and admonish when necessary. It was sure nice for the Spaude family to be on vacation, to get some rest from responsibility for a while, but we missed you, our church family. Here we don’t have to worry that our ears will be exposed to foul language or that we will have to see men kissing. Here we are with people who say, “The Lord, He is God,” and mean it. Here are people who will join us in standing up for what is right, in resisting the Ahabs and Jezebels of the world, people who will stand us, stand up for Jesus. What a blessing to have a church family, to have each other, people who will join us in doing the Lord’s work.
          And we have work to do just like Elijah did. “The LORD said to him, "Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram. 16 Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet. 17 Jehu will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu.” Elijah was not the only one left. He was to go and put into service others who would do the work of the Lord with him. Hazael, Jehu and Elisha would take care of the wickedness Ahab and Jezebel had spread. The same thing is going on today. The Lord gives us work to because we are not the only ones left nor will we be. When I look at what’s going on in our country I put it this way. I’m sad as an American. I love my country. I’m sad it’s not honoring Jesus. But I’m confident as a Christian. The Lord He is God and Jesus wins. Always.  I have always been as strong proponent of Christian Education of our youth. What I see in our country makes me even stronger. We need to give our children the strongest foundation in God’s Word that we possibly can. If my daughters were going in the military I would want them to have the best training, body armor and weapons money could buy. We need to want the best for our children spiritually as they will apparently live in a country that will continue to grow more and more godless. But they won’t be the only ones left. They’ll have the Lord, each other and their own work to do. We’re not the only ones left.
          Take that encouraging message with you, people of God, as you leave this safe place and go back to your own little corner of the USA. We love our country. We want the best for it. The Lord put us here to make a difference. No cowering in caves. No self-catered Christian pity parties. No whining. No complaining. No chicken little. Instead go to fight your Christian battles with comfort, confidence, peace, joy always because we’re not the only ones left. We have the Lord, each other and His blessed work to do. Let’s be zealous for it. Amen.