Monday, March 25, 2019

March 23-25, 2019 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: 1 Corinthians 10:1-13 “BREAK THE CYCLE!”


LENT 3

March 23-25, 2019

Pastor Timothy J. Spaude

Text: 1 Corinthians 10:1-13



“BREAK THE CYCLE!”

1.     Be aware of past unfaithfulness.

2.     Rely on God’s faithfulness.



1 Corinthians 10:1-13 (NIV 1984)  “For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. 2They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 3They all ate the same spiritual food 4and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. 5Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered over the desert. 6Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. 7 Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in pagan revelry.” 8We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. 9We should not test the Lord, as some of them did—and were killed by snakes. 10And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel. 11These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. 12So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! 13No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”



          It is a sad observed and documented pattern of human behavior. Cycles of bad behaviors that can dominate a family. It is sad but true that kids who get bullied are more likely to be bullies to others. Children that are abused by their parents are more likely to abuse their own children. And so it goes for other kinds of sins like alcohol abuse and drug abuse. There are these repeated cycles of bad, sinful behavior. As bad as those are there is one worse than them all, unfaithfulness to God, knowing  His love and goodness and care and leaving Him, deserting Him. It’s a cycle that has too often been repeated by those privileged to be called the children of God. In our Sunday morning Bible Class we are going through the book of  Exodus. In that book you see a pattern of how God works with his people. It goes like this. Deliverance. Covenant. Worship. First God delivered the people of Israel from their slavery where they were helpless to help themselves. Then God made a covenant with them that had the promise of great blessing. Finally God gave them instructions on how to thank Him with worship.

          In the word of God before us the Apostle Paul uses that pattern to teach us about our own relationship with God. “For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. 2They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 3They all ate the same spiritual food 4and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.” With these words Paul reminds us of how our spiritual forefathers, the Israelites were delivered by God from slavery in Egypt passing through Red Sea that destroyed the pursuing Egyptian army. How God brought them into a covenant relationship where if they would keep Him as their God and not serve others He would provide for them and bless them. And then they were to worship God. But what happened?

          “Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered over the desert. 6Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. 7 Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in pagan revelry.” 8We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. 9We should not test the Lord, as some of them did—and were killed by snakes. 10And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel.” What happened was unfaithfulness. Different sins are mentioned. Idolatry. Pagan revelry—think drunkenness and gluttony. Sexual immorality. Testing God—pushing His patience with their ungrateful behavior. Grumbling—probably not on most of our top 10 list of detestable sins but certainly on God’s. God gets to the heart of it by saying all of these are examples of setting hearts on evil. And when God’s people want what they want instead of Him that is evil. Sadly they have had a history of doing so. You can see the cycle repeated.

          But the cycle can be broken. By comparing what Israel went through to a baptism and spiritual food and drink and having the rock Christ, he was helping New Testament Christians see God’s faithfulness has not changed. We too have been delivered by God, from the power of sin, death and the devil. God has made a covenant with us as well. It’s the covenant sealed by the blood of the Lamb Jesus Christ. It’s a one sided covenant from God to us where He promises, He promises us His everlasting love and ongoing forgiveness. He lets us know that it pleases Him when we live lives that show thankfulness, that demonstrate dependence on Him and that the most meaningful way for us to show our love for Him is willing obedience to His commands. How will we respond? Will we continue the cycle of unfaithfulness or…? There is a maxim, a truism, that works for many areas of life from evaluating a car, to mutual funds, to people behavior. “The best predictor of future performance is the past.” In other words if you want to guess how a player or a fund or a used vehicle is going to perform in the future look at its past. There is a caveat to that statement. The best predictor of future performance is the past unless something big has changed.

          Our big is God and His faithfulness to help us. “These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. 12So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! 13No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” The reason Paul was writing to the Corinthians, the reason he was making them aware of past unfaithfulness was so that they would break the cycle, not repeat the bad behaviors of the past. It’s the same reason we have this word of God today. Just because God’s people in the past fell into unfaithfulness doesn’t mean we have to. We have been given examples as warnings. Not everyone who grumbles or commits sexual immorality got killed or gets killed. God made examples of them. This is serious. And then for our encouragement Paul points us to the faithfulness of God. Every temptation that God allows to come our way He has already given us what we need to handle it. He’s given us Jesus who has beaten every temptation for us. The covenant God made with us is one sided. It’s based on forgiveness. Now so we can worship Him daily by fighting sin and doing right He’s given us His word. It’s the double edged sword of the Spirit. It’s what Jesus used when He perfectly defeated every temptation in our place. It’s what will make sure we break the cycle of unfaithfulness. If we use it.

          That brings us to another cycle by God’s grace we will break. The cycle of taking the Word for granted. Consider these words written by Pastor Martin Luther some 500 years ago: “I consider that Germany has never before heard so much of God’s Word as now. There is no trace of it in history. But if we let it pass by without thanks and honor, I am afraid that we shall have to suffer plague and grimmer darkness. My dear Germans, buy while the mart is at our door; gather in while the sun is shining and the weather good, make use of God’s Word of Grace while it is there. For know this, that the Word of God’s grace is like a sweeping downpour, which never returns to where it has already been. It has visited the Jews; but it has gone. Now they have nothing. Paul brought it to Greece; from there it has also gone. Now they have the Turks. Rome and the Latin lands have had their visitation; but it has gone. Now they have the Pope. And you Germans must not think that you will have it forever, for it will not stay where there is ingratitude and contempt. Therefore, let all take hold and keep hold who can.”   Let’s break the cycle. Amen.

Saturday, March 9, 2019

March 10th, 2019 Luke 4:1-13 1st Sunday In Lent


Luke 4:1-13-21 (EHV)  Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, 2where he was tempted by the Devil for forty days. He did not eat anything during those days. When they came to an end, he was hungry. 3The Devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” 4Jesus answered him, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’” 5The Devil led him up to a high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6The Devil told him, “I will give you all this power and the glory of these kingdoms, because it has been entrusted to me, and I can give it to anyone I want. 7So, if you worship me, it will all be yours.” 8Jesus answered him, “It is written: ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’” 9The Devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the pinnacle of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here, 10because it is written: He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you. 11And, they will lift you up with their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” 12Jesus answered him, “It says: ‘You shall not test the Lord your God.’” 13When the Devil had finished every temptation, he left him until an opportune time.

      Our student teachers from Martin Luther College are getting close to the time when they will finish up their time with us here at St. Jacobi Lutheran School.  I remember one of the projects we did with the student teacher my school had back in 2nd or 3rd grade.  We made a drawing of Goliath.  It was huge because Goliath was huge.  The Philistine from Gath was over 9 feet almost 10 feet tall.  As tall as the basketball hoop.  The point of the spear his carried weighed 16 pounds and the suit of armor he wore weighed 125 pounds.  He was so huge and capable that the Bible tells us that he came out every morning and challenged the army of Israel to send out an opponent to fight him.  If Goliath won the fight, the country of Israel would belong to the Philistines.  If Goliath’s opponent won, then the Philistines would serve the Israelites.  Seems like everything was on the line when David stepped onto the battlefield with Goliath. 
     Today we see Jesus step onto the battlefield against our opponent who hates us and wants to see us dead forever.  Everything is on the line.  Though he doesn’t wear any armor or carry a heavy spear, Jesus comes out as our Champion.  Jesus is our Champion who knows the devil’s tricks and uses God’s word to defeat Satan.
      With the color of the altar cloths changing to purple in the season of Lent we think of the bruises on Jesus’ face as he paid for our sins.  As important as Jesus work of paying for our sins was, there was another equally important part of Jesus’ mission. God’s plan also called for Jesus to lead a perfect life in our place, keeping all of God's Commandments perfectly.  God's word today concentrates on that part of Jesus’ mission as it shows is that Jesus is our champion. A big part of leading a perfect life for us with the devil right there trying to trip him up was recognizing the dirty tricks that the devil uses. 
     I suppose one of the dirty tricks the devil uses would have to be trying to get Jesus to procrastinate on this mission of saving us. You know how easy it is to put off something that is not easy to do.  Sometimes that is even true of spiritual tasks.  We might try to put things off as long as possible. I’ll think more about the end of my life in this world when I’m older.  That pet sin has to be rooted out…tomorrow, next week, next year.  But that was not the way Jesus thought.  He didn’t put fighting the devil.  “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where he was tempted by the Devil for forty days.”   Jesus was eager to fulfill his mission.  But the Devil was also very eager to try to ruin that mission. With his temptations, the Devil tried to land a first round knockout punch to Jesus and his ministry. If he could get Jesus to sin just once then God's plan for saving us would be ruined.  
      It is difficult for us to understand all of that the God- man did, but we take the Bible  at its word.  Jesus did not eat for 40 days as he fasted and prayed in the desert for those 40 days.   God took care of him.   Now, at the end of those days Jesus is hungry. The Devil tries a dirty trick to try to get Jesus to distrust His heavenly father, who had just miraculously taken care of him.  But Jesus was your Champion by recognizing the Devils dirty tricks.
     The devil is an expert at raising a cloud of doubt when it comes to his temptations. That's what he did in the garden of Eden when he came to Eve and said , “ did God really say you must not be from any tree in the garden?”  The Devil tries to fight Jesus in the same way. The Devil said to him, “if you are the son of God tell the stone to become bread.” There are really 2 dirty tricks in this first temptation first of all, Satan calls into question whether or not Jesus really is the Son of God. Remember that at the baptism of Jesus God, the Father spoke from the cloud and said,”this is my Son, whom I love with him. With Him I am well pleased.”   Satan begins his temptation of Jesus by raising doubt about that word of God. “If you really are the Son of God. Why are you out here with nothing to eat?” Secondly, Satan raises doubts about whether Jesus can really depend on is heavenly Father to take care of his need.  Instead of relying on God, Satan urges Jesus to take matters into his own hands and provide some bread for himself-in a way trying to get Jesus to focus on the bread and take his eyes off of his heavenly Father, who supplied the bread.   “Jesus answered. It is written man does not live on bread alone.”  Jesus response is one of humble, trust in God.  Jesus points out that it is not bread, but God, who keeps a person alive by providing for his every need in the time that he knows is right and it is God who nourishes the soul with the good news of life eternal in heaven.  There is your Champion.
      Satan sometimes raises the same dust clouds of doubt in our minds. He tries to make us think that God doesn't care about us. He whispers in our ear, “If you are a child of God, why does God let you get sick and suffer like this? Or why is there so much pain in your life?”  Or Satan tries to get us to think that God is not moving fast enough to protect you if you are a child of God.  “He tempts us to say, I need money right now and instead two more big bills came in this week.”  “Lord I need good health right now and yet you sent me another bad report from the doctor.”  When Satan comes with those lies sniff out those dirty tricks.  Cling to the promises of the one who defeated the Devil-the one who said, “I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”  
     When the devil tempted Eve he stirred up the dust of doubt and then threw out a lie.   The Devil plays the same cards with the temptation of Jesus.  Unsuccessful in his first attempt to stir up doubt, he now resorts to outright lying. By promising something that was not his to even give, Satan tries to get Jesus to go against His Fathers plan of Salvation, but Jesus recognized those dirty tricks.
     What would you say to a man who told you that they had this great deal for you?  Let’s say they offered you the Colosseum in Rome for $500?  You would say that's a ridiculous offer because the Roman Colosseum is not his to sell. The Devil tries to pull that dirty trick in the second temptation of Jesus. “The Devil led him up to a high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. The Devil told him, “I will give you all this power and the glory of these kingdoms, because it has been entrusted to me, and I can give it to anyone I want. So, if you worship me, it will all be yours.” Jesus answered him, “It is written: ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and serve him only.”  The Devil took Jesus on an instantaneous work tour of the world and then offered it all to Jesus. If Jesus would only bow down and worship Satan.
       One of Satan’s dirty tricks is that he sometimes downplays his wicked strength when he is trying to get close to us.  “It’s just little old me wearing my red pajamas,” he seems to say when he is trying to get close to us.   But then in the next breath he lies about his power, like he does here.  He says that the world is his to give.  And he would give it to Jesus if he just bowed down to him.  Satan is offering Jesus the path of least resistance. Look at what was ahead for the Savior, according to the heavenly fathers plan.  The pain and shame and unspeakable horror of  having the sins of the whole world on his shoulders was waiting.  The devil’s temptation to Jesus was that all of this could be avoided- If only Jesus with bow down and worship him.
      Take the easy way out.  The devil uses that one with us too doesn’t he?  “Following Jesus is too hard.  Forget about him!  You can have all kinds of joy and pleasure now.  Look at the all the people who aren’t thinking so much about God and the things he says. They sure seem to have it all!”  
     Jesus again takes up the sword of the spirit and bonks the Devil right on the head with it. “Jesus answered him, “It is written: ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and serve him only.” Jesus makes it clear God and only God is to be the one and only object of our worship.  To worship anything or anything else is to commit idolatry.  With his answer, Jesus made it clear that he was going to follow the will of is heavenly father.  
    Satan has some more tricks up his sleeve.  He tries to get Jesus to put his Heavenly Father, whom he trusts, to a foolish test.  But Jesus is your Champion. 
     “The Devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the pinnacle of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here, because it is written: He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you. And, they will lift you up with their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.”  Did you notice that?  The devil is using Scripture but he is twisting it.  Let's just see if God is as reliable as he says.  God says he will protect you.  Throw yourself off the temple top and let’s see.  Psalm 91 does say that God will protect you with his angels but the devil twisted God’s word by leaving out some important words, “in all your ways.”  Throwing himself off the temple just to see if the angels assigned to Him were awake could hardly be considered part of Jesus’ way of life.  Where does the Bible say that God will protect us when we foolishly expose ourselves to all kinds of danger?  To be sure by His grace God has protected us many times when we have done foolish reckless things, but that doesn’t mean it is OK for us to do foolish and reckless things.   Our Champion points to another scripture passage, which helps us to understand the passage which the devil quoted.   Jesus answered, “It says do not put the Lord Your God the test.”   In other words, don't take a gracious promise of God and use it to test God by doing something that is contrary to his will.
      “When the Devil had finished every temptation, he left him until an opportune time.”  With these 3 strikes against him. The devil was out.  Jesus was not taken in by the devil’s tricks.  However, if Jesus not listening to the devil’s temptations was all there was to the story we would really just be able to say, “Good for Jesus.”  If our Champion Jesus were only our example for how to defeat the devil we would still be in trouble.  We have a long record of being taken in by the devil’s dirty tricks and odds are overwhelming that we will be taken in again.   But Jesus is our Champion who means so much more to us.  “For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.”  Our Champion’s victory over the devil is our victory.
     Now to say thank you to our champion we don’t want to be taken in any more by the devil’s dirty tricks.  Jesus gives us God’s Word, the Sword of the Spirit, to slice through the devil’s temptations.  In order to use that sword of the Spirit, you and I need to be familiar with it and practice putting it into use.  Maybe during Lent we could make it our goal that by God’s grace, at the end of these forty days we know God’s word better than before.  Some of the ways to do that might be making a plan to read a chapter or two of the Bible every day.  Maybe our plan might be to use Meditations.  A way to practice using that sword of the spirit might be to think through what this part of God’s word is saying to you and why the Holy Spirit would bring you into contact with that part of his living word today. 
     The rules committee for the NFL meets during the off season to talk about which rules of the game  to change.  I wish they would make a rule against players pumping their chests and jumping up and down when they simply do what they are supposed to do or when they flaunt themselves when their team is losing 42-0.  Notice how different our Champion is.  He wins a great victory for us and then he is on to the next thing.  What a great champion our Savior is!  Are you feeling foolish and guilty because the devil has tricked you?  Jesus is your Champion.  He won’t let the Devil do a touchdown dance on your head.  He paid for our sinful foolishness.  Are you facing a temptation? He gives us His Word to use against that temptation- the word that reminds us that Jesus won the victory for us.   Amen.