PENTECOST 10 August 16-18, 2014 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: Romans 8:28-30 “ALL!”

PENTECOST 10

August 16-18, 2014

Pastor Timothy J. Spaude

Text: Romans 8:28-30

“ALL!”

1.     God knows all.

2.     God plans all.

3.     God works all.

Romans 8:28-30 (NIV 1984) “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.”

          In our the first reading today from 1 Kings God told King Solomon to ask for anything.  Just think, he could have asked for money or power, the ability to eat as much as he wanted without getting overweight. He could have asked for his team to always win the big games. But he didn’t. He asked for wisdom, that wisdom that begins with the fear of the Lord. That was more valuable. Jesus in the Gospel reading told some parables to picture how valuable being part of the kingdom of heaven is. It’s so valuable that you give up everything you have for it. If you’ve been in worship with us the past few weeks you have heard sermons based on Romans chapter 8. Such a comforting portion of God’s Word to have bookmarked. It helps you understand why God’s spiritual blessings are so valuable.

          Today we continue going to that well for good news from God and it revolves around the little word “all.” You know there are some things God has created that are pretty small but very powerful. Think for instance of the ant. Did you know an ant can lift 100 times its own weight? That would be like a 200 pound man lifting 20,000 pounds. Or think of a little acorn that grows into the mighty oak. All is a little word in our language but it is very powerful when it comes from the mouth of God. Listen again to how it governs or rules our entire text. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.” What great news for the children of God. God works all, knows all and plans all.

          “For those God foreknew.” This is talking about God knowing before the creation of the world those who would be His children and it reminds us of the overwhelming truth that God knows all. The technical term for that characteristic of God is omniscience. He knows everything. What do you think about that? On the one hand it’s kind of scary, isn’t it? God knows everything. You know those things you try to hide from your parents or maybe a spouse? God knows those sins. How about the thoughts we have and our motives, why we do and say the things we do and say. Yes, He knows that too. That’s not so nice to know. You can’t hide from God. On the other hand it’s really comforting that God knows everything. Have you ever had it happen that you are going through a tough time and some well-meaning soul talks to you and says, “I know just how you feel.” And you think, “you have no idea how I am feeling.” That’s true. But God does know and He cares and helps.

          When you put together the fact that God knows all and knows beforehand things like people it really highlights God’s grace. Those of you who play fantasy football will be drafting your teams soon. What kind of players do you go for? If you knew beforehand that a quarterback would be the league leader in interceptions or throw only half the touchdowns that he did the year before would you pick him? How about the running back that would have the most fumbles or the defense that would give up the most points? We wouldn’t pick them if we knew beforehand they would be like that. But God did. He knew beforehand all our sins, our fumbles, all the right things we would fail to do and He still picked us! What a wonderfully loving God we have. The God who knows all.

          And the God who plans all. “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.” One of the jobs I had working my way through college was for a construction company.  I remember seeing our foreman look at the blueprints the very first time. What a mess. Page after page of what looked like endless and meaningless impossible to understand drawings, numbers, notes. Didn’t make sense. After a while though he taught me what to look for and all those pages began to make sense. Paul lets us have a peek at God’s blueprints for our salvation. We have to remember that since we are untrained at salvation some of the plans might not seem to make sense to us. We know that since God knows all things He knew Adam and Eve were going to sin. He knew that going ahead with Creation meant the sacrifice of His Son. According to the plans God drew up before the Creation of the world then God predestined or predetermined to conform us to the likeness of Jesus. That means that we will be like Jesus in true holiness some day. Then as the plan gets revealed through time He called us to faith in His Son. Through faith in Jesus we are justified, that means declared innocent of our sins and granted citizenship in heaven. From God’s timeless perspective we are also glorified. Now that part of the blueprint hasn’t been unfolded for us to see yet but God already has it all planned.

          And that’s what gives us the comfort for whatever we face in this life. God works all. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” First of all understand brothers and sisters, that you are the ones Paul is talking about here. You have been called according to God’s purpose. Because of everything He has done for you from creating you, taking care of you, redeeming you through His Son Jesus Christ, you love God. You are those who love Him. And do you know what we know about those who love God? We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him. There’s that little word “all” again. It’s a little word but it’s a powerful word. For what does all mean but all?

          All covers good health and sickness and diseases like cancer. All covers births in the family and deaths. All covers job offers, job promotions,  job rejections and layoffs. All covers where we live and where we go to school. All covers accidents. All covers storms and fires and floods. All covers good weather and bad. All covers even the evil that men do and the plots and traps of the Devil. All covers, well, all. And if ever you are having trouble believing this let your thoughts and attention return to the cross of Jesus Christ. Rewind and review what happened there. How could God let them do that to His Son? He could and did because in all things God works for the good of those who love Him. And what good God accomplished there, freeing us from our sin burden and all punishment and opening the way to real life, the glory that is to come. Oh what peace we often forfeit. Oh what needless pain we bear not only because we don’t remember to take everything to God in prayer but also because we in times of trouble we have a hard time believing God’s truth that in all things He is working for our good.

          I’m sure that all of us can look back at some difficult time or trouble or hardship we went through that was very difficult at the time but now we see a bit of God’s plan, the good He worked. That blueprint makes sense. There are I’m sure plenty of other times we look back and still don’t see or recognize the good God worked. But the measure of truth is not what you and I see or recognize. The measure of truth is what God says. And God has not given us this word for the purpose of  looking back but to give comfort for right now. What is it that causes your heart to ache, your mind to worry? Hear the word of the Lord. We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him. And all means all. Amen.

         

July 26-27, 2014 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: Romans 7:15-25a “THERE’S A WAR GOING ON (IN THERE)!”

PENTECOST 7

July 26-27, 2014

Pastor Timothy J. Spaude

Text: Romans 7:15-25a

“THERE’S A WAR GOING ON  (IN THERE)!”

1.      Fighting its battles gives glory to God.

2.     The war’s victory is the glory of God!

Romans 7:15-25a (NIV 1984) “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do--this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. 21 So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God's law; 23 but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

          The wife and children have gone to bed. The Christian man sits alone at his computer. The temptation comes to surf the net, look at a little porn. He knows it’s wrong. What will he do? The Christian alcoholic sits alone, the desire to open the bottle so strong. What will she do? The Christian student looks at the test and panics. “I don’t know this stuff! But if I sit up a little bit I should be able to see her paper.” Will he cheat? The social group is together again. Once again the character assassination begins. She knows she should speak up and defend. After last time she promised herself she would speak up. Will she? Brothers and sisters, these real life examples and many more typify the struggles with sin that go on many times each and every day in the lives of Christians. There’s a war going on in there! It’s a war between the desires of our own sinful nature and the desire of our true self, the Christian, follower of Christ that we really are. Oh, thank you, Holy Spirit, for having someone like the Apostle Paul own up to it so the rest of us can talk about it in the joy of the Gospel. We do that today as we acknowledge before God and each other, there’s a war going on in there!

          The first thing we need to remember is that fighting its battles gives glory to God. A war is made up of many battles. You can win many battles and still lose the war. Likewise you can lose battles and still win the war. When it comes to the sin war inside of us we get to rejoice that there are battles to fight. Really? Why? Having those battles, those conflicting desires between what sin wants and what Christ wants is a sign that your faith is alive and active. If there is no struggle against sin and temptation faith is dead or so weak it can’t even speak. And you know what? The closer you grow to Jesus the more sin struggles you’ll feel. It’s like going into your basement with the lights off and all looks well. Then you turn on the lights and you see there is a stain on the carpet, cobwebs in the corners. When we are far away from Jesus we might think we look OK but when you draw near Jesus in His word and your life is held up to the standard of holiness that covers deeds, words, thoughts, motives, Oh my, you see your sinfulness and once you are aware, like the Apostle Paul, the Christian response is to fight, fight the sin battles. It gives glory to God to call sin sin and want it out of our lives.

          Some of those battles you will win. “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.” Paul points to sin living in him getting him to do some things he hates. Paul is also reminding us that the real us, the Christian, loves God’s law and calls it good. In other places Scripture says resist the Devil and he will flee from you. No temptation comes except what is common to man and God will always give you a way out. In Ephesians 6 Paul reminded us of our spiritual armor and the sword of the Spirit, which is God’s Word to defeat temptation. Jesus showed us how it is done perfectly when He used God’s Word to defeat the Devil’s temptations for us. And the better you know God’s word when those temptations come to peek or to cheat or to keep quiet when you should speak up the Spirit will be with you reminding you of the Word and you will win some of those sin battles. That gives glory to God! And if you are a believer who has to fight some of those sins that have addictive qualities like alcohol or drug abuse or pornography, keep fighting, and know that there are believers who have won those battles.

          But what about the battles we lose? Paul owned up to if well for himself. “I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do--this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.” You know how it goes. You beat one temptation and another pops up. Satan does not give up on us easily. He keeps at you. The sinful nature is real. There is no sinful nature bypass surgery we can have. There is no heart transplant that takes out all our sinful nature desires and replaces them with only good. Paul acknowledges that for us too. “So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God's law; 23 but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. 24 What a wretched man I am!”

          No, what a wretched man I am. What wretched folks you are. Be honest. God already knows. He knows the lust thoughts we entertain like guests instead of kicking out as the enemies they are. He knows our cheating hearts, our greed and discontent, our shading of the truths, half truths and outright lies we tell to protect ourselves, make ourselves look good or someone else bad. He knows how we weakly sit by while someone else’s reputation is trashed but quickly and proudly defend our own name. He knows the foul mouth we try to hide behind closed doors or at least when the pastor’s not around. He knows that we like Paul know that His law is good and we don’t keep it anyway. What wretched men, women and children we are. We are helpless to win this war. With the Apostle Paul we cry out, “Who will rescue me from this body of death?”

          And before we even asked, God answered. We aren’t  just wretched men, women and children. We are wretched men, women and children who know Christ! “Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord!” Oh, yes, there’s a war going on in there. Some of its battles we win and some of them we lose but the victory in the war belongs to God. Granting us that victory is the glory of God. Did you notice that in the Old Testament reading where Moses wanted to see the glory of the Lord? What did God say? "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” God’s glory is to have mercy and compassion on sinners. What did Jesus say in the Gospel lesson? Oh, beautiful words for sin sick sinners who are disappointed with themselves again. "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” It is the glory of God that the victory in the war was won by Jesus. It is the glory of God for Jesus to give that victory to newborn babies brought to Him at Baptism and to the aged Christian with all the sin scars that come along with life. It is the glory of God to give that victory to those who despair of their own worthiness and to withhold it from those who arrogantly think they are “good enough” on their own.

          “But, Pastor,” you might say, “I’m tired of it all. I just want to be done and get it right for a change.” Hear God’s Good News. You have. You can. You will. You have. God already sees you as a perfectly obedient child, a perfect sin fighter in Jesus. You have His righteousness. You can. With the help of the Lord we overcome. Fight the battles. You can win some. The fact that you are fighting is the real joy. You will. While you can’t get rid of your sinful nature on earth, it won’t follow you into heaven. At death God separates it from you for good. How fun will that be! Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord indeed! Amen.

OUR NATION SUNDAY July 5-7, 2014 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: Jeremiah 29:1-14 “A CHRISTIAN RESPONSE TO THE STATE OF THE NATION”

OUR NATION SUNDAY

July 5-7, 2014

Pastor Timothy J. Spaude

Text: Jeremiah 29:1-14

“A CHRISTIAN RESPONSE TO THE STATE OF THE NATION”

1.     Understand that God has a plan.

2.     Bloom where you are planted.

3.     Rejoice in the wisdom, love and power of God!

Jeremiah 29:1-14 (NIV 1984) “This is the text of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders among the exiles and to the priests, the prophets and all the other people Nebuchadnezzar had carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. 2 (This was after King Jehoiachin and the queen mother, the court officials and the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen and the artisans had gone into exile from Jerusalem.) 3 He entrusted the letter to Elasah son of Shaphan and to Gemariah son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to King Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon. It said: 4 This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 "Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. 6 Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. 7 Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper." 8 Yes, this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: "Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have. 9 They are prophesying lies to you in my name. I have not sent them," declares the LORD. 10 This is what the LORD says: "When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile."

          God’s people have often felt themselves feeling like fish out of water, strangers in a strange land, people who don’t fit in. Abram experienced it when God called him to leave his family and his people and go to a place God would show him, a placed filled with people that did not worship the only Savior God. Jacob and his family felt it when God used a famine to move them to Egypt. Jacob’s descendants, the Israelites, felt it when God led them out of  Egypt to the Promised Land. Yes, it was a land flowing with milk and honey but it was also filled with peoples that worshiped idols in weird and perverted ways. At the time God had Jeremiah serve as prophet God’s people felt it again. They were strangers in a strange land, exiles from Judah carried off to Babylon. What should they do? What should we do? Are you feeling it? Are you starting to feel like a stranger living in a strange land? As followers of Christ who are committed to Him and His word above all we can’t help but feel it. What’s going on here? Things are changing so rapidly. Members of the greatest generation, that’s you WWII era saints, you know there was sin, shameful sin around at your time. But at least it was called sin and spoken of with shame. Did you shed a tear a 4^th of July parade because you love your country and it’s not what it used to be? Did you think of other parades in our country where people march for the right to murder their own babies or to sin sexually in ways that God calls unnatural and a perversion? What should we do? Run to the word of God of course! The words God has given to provide comfort and peace for His dearly loved people who find themselves living as strangers in a strange land.

          The first truth we find is that God has a plan. Now you heard the history in the opening verses. This was part of a letter God had Jeremiah send to Jewish believers who had be exiled to Babylon. They were taken from their homes, the land they knew and were now stuck in a city not of their choosing. Can you imagine how they felt, their hurt, their sadness, their lack of understanding, their ache to be somewhere else, their longing for home? What should they do? Understand that God has a plan.  “This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.” Did you hear that? Did you pick it out? “I carried.” “I carried!” said the LORD almighty, the God of Israel. It looked like the Babylonians had force marched these people of God but it wasn’t true. God carried them into exile. And it wasn’t done on a whim. Later God would say, “For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” God had a plan for His people. An “I love you this is for your good plan.” And He does for us too. You more senior saints have a much better perspective of this than I do but I have seen candidates elected and re-elected who should never have made it by every standard of human reason. I have seen judges legislate from the bench and get away with it despite the checks and balances our forefathers tried to put in. I have seen Supreme Court decisions uphold what people on both sides of issues have agreed were unconstitutional laws. Is it not possible that we are seeing the hand of God at work? God has said He will work all things for our good. The highest honor that we can give Him is simply to believe what He says, take Him at His word. On the flip side there is no greater disservice to God, no greater insult or slap in His face than to disbelieve Him and label Him a liar. God has a plan.

          So bloom where you are planted. That’s a phrase wise people have told others who were always looking over the fence and wishing themselves elsewhere. Bloom where you are planted means to do your best and be your best where you are at for the glory of God. Let’s see how Jeremiah put it.  "Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. 6 Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. 7 Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper." No wallowing in self pity. No angry resentment leading to a resistance movement and acts of sabotage. Bloom where you are planted. Live there. Have children so there are more of you. Seek the good and prosperity. Pray for the city so that you prosper.

          Godly wisdom for us too.  We might feel like giving up. We can have righteous anger against advancing wickedness. But remember who we are: the people of God, chosen by Him and dearly loved. Our nation needs us. We are God’s representatives here, His face of what real love looks like, His hands to help others, His mouth to speak His truth. So bloom where He has planted you. When we Christians work hard at our jobs, are the most helpful of neighbors we mute the slander of the Christ and Christian haters. “Well I know a Christian and she’s really nice.” Have you heard this? “I’d be afraid to bring a child into this world!” Nonsense! Is God dead? If we Christians stop having kids then what? God’s still in control and there is this thing called “Obstetrical Evangelism,” growing the Church by having babies! Seeking the peace and prosperity brings blessings for us too. How good it is to have Christians working in government, police, military, fire, healthcare and public education. The peace and prosperity of our nation depend on it. Pray. Pray for the nation and its leaders. Even the ones we don’t like and did not vote for. Bloom where you are planted.

          And rejoice in the wisdom, love and power of God. God told His people not to listen to the false prophets who were telling the people they were going home the next day.  They would have to wait seventy years. During these 70 years God would preserve His people and refine them, helping them live God dependent lives. Then He would bring them back. He would do that because this was all part of God’s bigger plan to give the world a Savior, Jesus Christ. How often do you think they asked for this verse to be read? “For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” What a memory treasure! For us too! It reminds us of God’s tender love that is combined with His ultimate wisdom and His power to do anything that is at work in our lives too.

          Strangers in a strange land? Absolutely! It’s what we are because Christ called us. Maybe it’s good for us to see that a little more. I don’t know the details of God’s plan is for our nation, for us as Christians, for myself or my family. He has not chosen to reveal that exactly like He did with the people of  Jeremiah’s time. I do know that God is loving wise and powerful. I know that He has a plan to prosper not harm us. You know that too. So let’s put away the gloom and doom, plant those smiles on our faces and as the dearly loved children of God that we are, leave here to be the best of American citizens who mean it and are heard when we pray, “God bless the USA!” Amen.