Children of Light – Sermon on Ephesians 5:1-9 for the Third Sunday of Lent

¹ Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. ² And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

³ But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. ⁴ Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. ⁵ For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. ⁶ Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. ⁷ Therefore do not become partners with them; ⁸ for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light ⁹ (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true),

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

You’ve probably all heard the phrase, “Nothing good happens after ___ o’clock.” If a news anchor said it, the time might have been midnight or 2 AM. If it was one of your parents, it was probably 10:00. Kids, if you ever hear that phrase from your parents or grandparents, they know what they’re talking about. When darkness falls, it is a lot more likely that evil things are going to happen.

Darkness is the favorite blanket of evil, and we know this instinctively. It’s why kids go into their parents’ room in the middle of the night and cry about monsters under the bed or whatever other impossible things kids imagine. Everyone has a keen sense of vulnerability in the dark. Even adults often have their bleakest thoughts when the world is dark. The thoughts that wake me up at 3 AM are never the best, brightest, or most hopeful ones.

In a wonderful way, Scripture repeatedly gives a picture of the Savior as the bright Morning Star (Is. 60:1-3; Mal. 4:2; 2 Pet. 1:19; Rev. 2:28, 22:16). Or, in a similar vein, Scripture says that, when Jesus comes, a new day dawns (Ps. 84:11; Ro. 13:12). In the first chapter of Luke’s Gospel, the coming of Jesus is described as the “sunrise from on high” that “give[s] light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,” and His coming, “guide[s] our feet into the way of peace” (Lk. 1:78-79).

Dear saints, the picture Scripture gives us is that all of creation has changed because Christ has come. The darkness has been dispelled, put to flight, and broken up. Jesus hints at this in our Gospel reading (Lk. 11:14-28). Christ says that He casts out demons by the finger of God, and His power to do that is proof that the kingdom of God has come upon us (Lk. 11:20).

Because of Jesus’ resurrection, there is a new day – the day that the Lord has made. Because He has made it, we rejoice and are glad in it (Ps. 118:24). And this new day will never end. Believer, this changes you, and it changes how you think about the world. The fact that today and every other day of your life is the day that the Lord has made, the things in front of you that are ominous, scary, and threatening are all less intimidating. Yes, they are still threats, but you know that they are all defeated threats.

All three of our readings today are about spiritual warfare, about the battle between the kingdom of darkness and Christ’s kingdom of light. It’s obvious in both the Old Testament (Ex. 8:16-24) and Gospel (Lk. 11:14-28). In our Gospel reading, Jesus tells us know how the kingdom of Satan operates, and our Lord comforts us because He tells us how He, our Savior and Champion, has defeated sin, death, and the devil.

And in the Old Testament reading, we heard how Pharaoh’s magicians recognized that the finger of God was at work when they couldn’t replicate the gnats that swarmed throughout Egypt (Ex. 8:18-19). Those evil, demonic sorcerers were able to duplicate the sign God did through Moses of turning his staff into a serpent (Ex. 7:11-12), but they failed to do the smaller thing of reproducing gnats.

The last time these texts came up, I had fully intended to preach about the folly of the kingdom of darkness because that folly is on full display through Pharaoh and his magicians. Their whole country is completely overrun with gnats, but they still try to duplicate the sign done through Moses. That text shows how self-destructive the kingdom of Satan is. “Our whole nation is filled with these gnats.” “I know what we should do; let’s try to make more of them.”

But today, rather than seeing how the kingdom of darkness works or how self-destructive it is, I decided to preach on this Epistle reading because it gives us the strategy of how to fight back against the forces of darkness. Throughout Scripture you are given several ways to fight evil, but this text gives you one simple weapon – thankfulness and thanksgiving.

Notice that v. 3 gives us a list of things we are to not only avoid we aren’t even to name them. That list is sexual immorality, impurity, and covetousness. Then in v. 5, that list is repeated when we’re told that the sexually immoral, the impure, and those who are covetous have no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

To contrast that twice-repeated list, Paul mentions only one thing here – thanksgiving. The beloved children of God who walk in love as children of light have thanksgiving on their lips, not filthiness or foolish talk or crude joking.

Thanksgiving is one of the fruits of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23). And thanksgiving is one of your best weapons against the darkness from which you have been rescued. When thanksgiving is on your lips, the temptations and sins you face are much easier to fight because those things become revolting.

Think back to the Garden of Eden and how the devil tempted our first parents to fall into sin. “Can’t you eat from any tree? If you eat from this one that God told you not to eat from, you will be like God. Don’t you want to be like Him?” (Gen. 3:1, 5). Instead of being thankful that God had given all the other trees for food, instead of being thankful that God had already made created them in His image (Gen. 1:27), Adam and Eve coveted (Gen. 3:6). The fruit of the forbidden tree looked good, and it was desirable. Because of that coveting, because of that wrong desire to be more than God had already made them to be, they took of the fruit and ate and plunged all of creation into the darkness of sin and death.

Coveting is a sin, but it is a sin that rarely registers in our conscience. We pass off coveting as nothing because we think it doesn’t hurt anyone else. That is so wrong. Here coveting is equated with idolatry (Eph. 5:5). Coveting is the first step into sin. To put it another way, every time you sin, you first covet and idolize yourself. Coveting is basically saying, “God, you got it wrong. You messed up. That thing over there,” whatever it is, “should be here. It should be mine.”

Whenever you sin, you break at least three commandments. Every time you sin, you first covet which is nothing less than idolizing yourself. Then you commit adultery, steal, lie, take the Lord’s name in vain, etc. The way to fight against this is to give thanks instead of coveting and having those false desires.

Imagine for just a minute if thankfulness had replaced Adam and Eve’s coveting. They would have realized, “We aren’t hungry; the entire world is our pantry! Thank you, God. We are already created in God’s image and are exactly what God wants us to be. Thank you, God, that we are created in Your image and that you have declared that we are ‘very good’” (Gen. 1:31).

Dear saints, Scripture gives you several ways to fight against the devil and the darkness. But today, you children of light, this text gives you one simple, specific weapon to fight back against the forces of evil, and that is thanksgiving.

You husbands, the next time you are tempted with lust, pause. Take a moment to give thanks to God for your wife. Thank God for uniting the two of you in the bond of holy marriage (Mt. 19:6). You wives, the next time you are tempted to complain to someone about your husband, take a moment to give thanks to God for him and all the ways he cares for you and your family. Children, the next time you are tempted to disobey your parents, take a moment to give thanks to God for all that your parents provide to you and how they protect you.

Dear saints, the light of Christ has shined upon you, and because of that you are now children of the light. You used to be darkness, and notice the way Eph. 5:8 says that. It isn’t just that you were in darkness. No. You were darkness itself. But now that you are God’s children, you are light in the Lord, so now you walk as children of the light. And as children of the light, you produce the fruit of light which is found in all that is good and right and true.

You give thanks to God for all the good He has given you. You give thanks to God, and it is right to do so because He has truly blessed you because He has given Himself up for you as a fragrant offering and sacrifice.

God has forgiven you (Eph 4:32). He has made this new day of light and has shined His light into you. So, rejoice, be glad in this day, and give thanks. And as you give thanks, the darkness flees. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Life’s Sacred Rhythm – Sermon on Ecclesiastes 2:18-26 for Midweek Lent 2

Mar20

The Scripture readings for tonight’s service are Psalm 127:1-2, 104:24-25, 29-30; Ecclesiastes 2:18-26; 1 Thessalonians 4:9-12; and Matthew 11:25-30.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

How you talk matters. The words you use shape how you and others think. You can call a house “small” or “cozy. Someone who has lived several more decades than you might be “over the hill” or have “a lot of life experience.”

Think about the words you use for eating. You eat many different things of many different qualities for many different reasons, and the language you use reflects that. You might “have a snack” of carrots and hummus. You might “treat yourself” to a candy bar or a bowl of ice cream. You might “pig out” and eat an entire bag of chips. All of that language refers to eating. But the purpose or result of eating is always the same. Eating gives your body calories and fuel to function.

At Thanksgiving, Christmas, or when grandma makes her pot roast for your extended family, it’s “a feast.” Everything tastes wonderful, there’s more than enough for everyone, and it is great to be at a table with people you love. Now, is the food you eat at that feast going to give your body the energy and fuel that it needs to function? Yes, of course. Again that’s the purpose of eating. But when you thank grandma for all of her work preparing that meal, are you going to use words and phrases only reflect that? “Grandmother, you have given my body the calories I need to live”? Of course not! You’ll say, “Grandma, what a tremendous, tasty feast!”

Tonight’s verses from Ecclesiastes focus on our work. How we talk about work matters. You might talk about your “job” or your “work.” Both of those terms can be fairly neutral. But you might also use the word “job’ in a negative sense. “This is my job, but I don’t want it to be my career” because that shows a lot more commitment. You might refer to your work as “the daily grind” or “my 9-5.” Those types of phrases make your work sound like toil.

One of the Hebrew words for ‘work’ (there are several of them) comes up ten times in the text. And, to it’s credit, our translation is quite consistent in how that word is translated – 9 of the 10 times that word occurs, it’s translated as ‘toil’ and one time (in v. 20) it translates it as ‘labor.’ But do the words ‘toil’ and ‘labor’ have a good or a bad connotation in your mind? Probably bad. The word ‘toil’ probably puts an image of a witch stirring pot of glowing green stuff over a fire, “Double, double, toil and trouble.” And ‘labor’ might make you think about being sentenced to decades of difficult life in Siberia. But the Hebrew word simply refers to putting effort into something. Exerting effort isn’t a bad thing. All sorts of things we enjoy require effort.

Maybe some of you went outside close to 2:00 AM this past Friday to see the ‘blood moon’ eclipse. That required effort, both to get out of bed at that time (or to stay up that late) and then to push through the next day. Baking, gardening, knitting, reading a good book, playing an instrument, camping, jogging, cheering your favorite sports team – all of those things require degrees of effort. Everything you do requires effort – even sleep.

With that simpler meaning of the word that gets translated as ‘toil,’ I want you to follow along as I slightly rephrase v. 21, “Sometimes, a person puts in effort that requires wisdom and knowledge and skill, [but] must leave everything to be enjoyed by someone who did not put in any effort for it. This is breath [vanity] and a great evil.”

Sticking with food analogies: imagine that you’ve spent hours of effort making a brisket, prime rib, or turkey. It’s cooked and is just resting on the kitchen counter before you serve it so you don’t lose all the juices. But you leave the kitchen for a minute only to come back and find that Fido has devoured the whole thing. This is, indeed, a great evil. All your effort and toil has become like a breath that’s instantly vanished.

Are there times when your work and effort is wasted and done in vain? Sure, of course. But that isn’t always the case. It doesn’t mean that all your work and all your effort is vain, meaningless, and evil toil. Not at all! Look again at v. 24-25. These are the verses we’ll focus on for the rest of the sermon because, in them, Solomon gives us one of the ingredients for a life that is filled with God-given joy. “There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the effort he expends. I saw that this [joy] is from the hand of God, for apart from God, who can eat or who can have enjoyment?”

This is so beautiful and comforting. Under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Solomon wisely tells us how to find joy in life. Joy comes from eating and drinking and finding enjoyment in your effort. This is God’s design. It is the holy, sacred rhythm of your life. God gives you moments when you need to work, sweat, and strive with all your strength. Then, God gives moments when you live quietly. The point Solomon is making here is there is joy in both (1 Thes. 4:11).

Notice especially that Solomon says that joy comes in your effort. This is so simple, but it’s the opposite of how we often think. We think that we work and work and work to get a paycheck. Then, we take that paycheck and use it to buy things that we think we will enjoy. In that perspective, we enjoy the things that come from the work we did, but not the work itself. What that does is it makes our work a sort of punishment, a penance or purgatory, that we have to endure to eventually, maybe, get enjoyment. Our typical mindset that we work to get something from our work that we hope will bring us happiness. But it doesn’t bring happiness.

Through all of ch. 2 prior to this text, Solomon talked about all the wealth and stuff he accumulated in an attempt to find joy. He had more than we can even imagine, but Solomon says that those things didn’t bring him joy or satisfaction. Solomon even tried saving for the future, but it didn’t bring joy because you can’t enjoy the future. The future isn’t here. You can only enjoy today, this present moment.

Solomon’s correction for us, and the wisdom he gives us is that we are not to work so we can get joy from our effort; instead, find enjoyment in our effort. That’s a big difference. God gives us work to do, and He wants us to find enjoyment in the work – not from it, but in it. A more literal translation from the Hebrew of v. 24 goes like this, “eat and drink and see in your soul the good in your effort.” In other words, open your eyes and see the good in all the things where you spend your effort and work because that work is given to you by God’s own hand.

I remember being in school and thinking about all sorts of subjects, “What’s the point of all this? When will I ever use this information?” Do you see how that orients things? It assumes there can only be a benefit in the future, which, again, isn’t ours to control.

Christian, is it true that God is in control and directs all things? Yes, “in Him we live and move and have our being” (Act. 17:28). And is God good? Yes. So, if God has put you in a classroom where the teacher wants you to be able to locate Djibouti on a map, calculate the volume of a sphere, diagram a sentence, or identify the parts of a flower – your loving, heavenly Father has given you that task from His good hand. The effort you spend on that task is good. Your opinion of the importance of any task is irrelevant. God is the One who put that task in front of you. And because He is good, that task and the effort you spend on it is good. This is true for all your efforts. It includes your job, the ways you serve your parents and family, the ways you volunteer, your prayers, etc. Seeing your tasks, whatever they are, is a gift from God’s hand, and recognizing that will give you joy.

And God doesn’t only give you work and tasks. He also blesses you with the leisure of eating and drinking. This is how God has ordered and established the rhythm of creation. The God-given rhythm of your life is work and eat and drink, you can think of this as having time to enjoy the gifts God gives you. Have a little leisure and enjoy God’s gifts. Get a bit of sleep. And wake up again and go, enjoy your work. Again, this might sound simple or even naive, but this is what the Bible gives us to find joy in. This is all a gift of God.

Finally, dear saints, notice who receives this wisdom and knowledge and joy. Your told who in v. 26. This joy is given to the one who pleases God.

And you are pleasing to God because Christ has removed all of your guilt. In Jesus, God absolves your sins by His death and resurrection. Jesus is your Savior so you can have joy in your work and in your leisure. This is the kind of rest Jesus talked about in our Gospel reading. Christ places His easy yoke and light burden upon you. In Him, and in Him alone, you find rest and joy for your soul (Mt. 11:28-30). Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Limping – Sermon on Genesis 32:22-32 for the Second Sunday of Lent

Mar16

Genesis 32:22–32

²² The same night he arose and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. ²³ He took them and sent them across the stream, and everything else that he had. ²⁴ And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. ²⁵ When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. ²⁶ Then he said, “Let me go, for the day has broken.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” ²⁷ And he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” ²⁸ Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.” ²⁹ Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him. ³⁰ So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.” ³¹ The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip. ³² Therefore to this day the people of Israel do not eat the sinew of the thigh that is on the hip socket, because he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip on the sinew of the thigh.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Everyone faces difficulties, but what do you do when something difficult stares you in the face? It probably depends on the situation. You might try to find another, easier alternative. You might try to get others to help and assist you. You might try to avoid that difficult thing altogether. A lot of times, the most difficult tasks come with the highest reward, so if you always try to avoid difficulties, you are also going to miss out on some of the greatest joys.

On the 4^th of July in 2015, we were on a family trip in Colorado. We wanted to find a nice mountain hike that all of could enjoy. Our kids were 2, 4, 6, and 8 at the time. A quick search yielded a recommendation of the Hanging Lake trail. The review had some pictures that were breathtaking. It said the hike would only took an hour and claimed it was great for families. The person who wrote that review must be the 17^th generation of sherpas who lead expeditions up Mt. Everest because I’ve since learned that that trail climbs 1,000 ft. (basically, 90-100 flights of stairs) over 1.2 miles. The thing that kept us going was hearing people hiking back down encouraging us, “Keep going. You’ve got a way to go still, but it’s totally worth it.” They were right. I can show you pictures after the service, but it’s one of the most stunning places I’ve seen on God’s green earth. Difficult? Absolutely. Worth all the pain and struggle? Also, yes.

God had given a promise to Abraham that the Savior first mentioned in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 3:15) would be one of his descents (Gen. 22:17). Jacob here was the third in that line. And Jacob faced difficulties his entire life, and, yes, many of those were self-inflicted.

Jacob’s difficulties started in his mother’s womb as he wrestled with his twin brother, Esau before they were even born (Gen. 25:19-26). When they were older, Jacob took advantage of Esau’s hunger and purchased Esau’s birthright for a cup of stew (Gen. 25:29-34). Later, Jacob deceived their father, Isaac, into passing the blessing that was first given to Abraham on to him even though he was younger than Esau (Gen. 27:1-40). Because of that deception, Esau planned to kill Jacob, who had to flee (Gen. 27:41-45).

During his exile, Jacob ends up working for a guy named Laban, and his wages for seven years of work would be marrying Laban’s daughter, Rachel. But Laban tricked Jacob and gave him his daughter Leah instead of Rachel. Still, Jacob agreed to work another seven years to marry Rachel (Gen. 29:15-20). Despite all of the deception of his father-in-law, Jacob continued to work for Laban and was paid with certain portions of Laban’s flocks. But that was difficult too. Jacob had to plot against Laban throughout his employment (Gen. 30:25-43).

Finally, God told Jacob to move away from Laban and return to his origins (Gen. 31:3). But as he’s returning home, Jacob hears that Esau is marching toward him with 400 men, which was the standard size of an army in that day (Gen. 32:6). So, what does Jacob do? He prays, and I’ll summarize his prayer (Gen. 32:9-12), “Ok, God. You told me to go back home and promised to do good to me. I’m really thankful about that, but now Esau is coming, and I’m afraid that he’ll kill me. But You’ve promised to be with me. So, what’s going on?” But God doesn’t answer.

So, Jacob does what he’s always done when he is in a difficult situation. He takes matters into his own hands and starts plotting and scheming. He sends a massive, expensive gift from his flocks to Esau (Gen. 32:13-15). That’s his “plan A.” But Jacob isn’t done plotting. He also divides his family into two camps figuring, if Esau attacks one camp, the other one will be able to escape (Gen. 32:7-8). That’s Jacob’s “plan B.” Jacob also sends those two camps ahead of him across a stream while he stays behind on the other side. It almost seems like that’s his “plan C” thinking that if Esau wipes out his family at least he’ll escape so God can keep His promise. Like his grandfather Abraham did before him with Hagar and Ishmael, Jacob decides he needs to matters into his own hands so God can keep His promises.

God did have a plan to get Jacob out of this difficult situation, but God isn’t going to give Jacob a large army. It won’t be because of Jacob’s gift to Esau, or letting half of Jacob’s family escape, and God doesn’t deliver Jacob from this difficulty by anything Jacob does on his own.

Instead, God comes down. God comes down to wrestle with Jacob who, at this point, is 96 years old. Sure, Jacob lived to be 147 (see Gen. 47:28), but wrestling with anyone for an entire night, and having your hip thrown out of joint is going to take a toll on a person. So when you consider the whole context here, it seems as though God has two intentions with this wrestling. On the one hand, is seems like God is letting Jacob take out all his frustration on God Himself in a physical way. On the other hand, it seems like this wrestling is intended to make Jacob look weak. Keeping Jacob up all night isn’t enough, so God wrestles with him. And even that isn’t enough, so God also touches and dislocates Jacob’s hip socket.

The next day, when Jacob limps toward Esau, he looks so weak and pathetic that Esau runs to Jacob, and the two brothers embrace and weep together (Ex. 33:1-4).

All of this is further proof of what God says in 2 Cor. 12:9-10, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” This wrestling match left its toll on Jacob. For the rest of his life, Jacob was limping, and that limping served as a constant reminder that he had held on to God and refused to let God go until God blessed him. Every step of the rest of Jacob’s life, served as a reminder of that night when Jacob grappled with God and was blessed through it – even though that blessing came through the difficulty of limping the rest of his life.

Dear saints, I have two things for you to remember from this account. First, when you look at your life and all of God’s promises to you, remember first that you don’t need to give yourself over to bitterness or political machines or other contrived solutions to fight the difficulty and evil you face. Don’t think that God can only bring about His promises if you get your hands dirty with anger, hostility, and bitterness. God keeps His promises and is always faithful.

Second, remember that God knows what you need better than you or I do. And what you need may be a difficulty. Dear saints, whatever difficulty you have – if it’s pain or trauma or a disease that the doctors cannot treat or heal – yes, this is definitely a difficult, horrible thing that you have to face. But it is not a reason to despair and stop trusting God. Instead, it’s is a call for you to hope. In the brokenness of your flesh, remember Jesus who was broken Himself in order to crush the head of the serpent. And the day is coming when you and all who believe in Christ will be raised to a new life with no more suffering, pain, anguish, or difficulty.

Again, God’s power is made perfect in weakness. There’s no greater proof of that than in what Jesus has done for you by taking on your flesh; being beaten, mocked, whipped, and crucified; and by dying the death you and I deserve. So, in our limping, we do not lose heart, as 2 Cor. 4:16-18 says, “Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look to not to the things that are seen but to the things unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”

Dear saints, when you face difficult things and are struggling to even limp along, lean on God. Trust His promises. Jesus is there with you in your limping. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

What You Can & Can’t Fix – Sermon on Ecclesiastes 1:1-18 for Midweek Lent 1

Mar13

The Scripture readings for tonight’s service are Psalm 37:1-9; Ecclesiastes 1:1-18; Romans 12:1-3; and Luke 12:22-32.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

In a world that is broken by and full of sin, everyone wants to have joy, meaning, and fulfillment. Now, you can find all sorts of books, podcasts, and 90 second reels on social media that will offer advice on how to find all of that. Some of them are good, some are fine, and some will lead you in the wrong direction – a completely wrong direction.

The Bible is full of God-inspired wisdom so you can have joy, meaning, and fulfillment, and the book of Ecclesiastes is especially loaded with all of that. But the wisdom of Ecclesiastes is given in a somewhat twisted way. And I say ‘twisted’ because, when you read Ecclesiastes (which I highly recommend that you do), you’ll likely see the book as pessimistic, a book filled with gloom, despair, and meaninglessness. Part of the reason Ecclesiastes is so pessimistic is that the majority of the book tells you all the ways you won’t find joy.

Let me try this as an analogy: Have you ever come across a link that claims to have the secret for the juiciest hamburger ever? When you tap on it, you quickly realize that the recipe is buried way down at the bottom and is almost the last thing you’ll find. You have to flick your thumb half a dozen times and tap the little ‘x’ on several ads do you get to the end of the page to finally find the ingredients you need and the steps to follow. Those online recipes are frustrating because they’re filled with all sorts of nostalgic stories and anecdotes that have nothing to do with cooking whatever you actually want to make. Online recipes make me yearn for the good ol’ days of 3×5 index cards with grandma’s nearly illegible, faded handwriting in pencil.

In a lot of ways, Ecclesiastes is similar to those online recipes. The book is Solomon’s recipe for joy, but he also tells you about all the futile ways he tried to find joy but never achieved or attained it. You can think of Ecclesiastes as an online hamburger recipe that begins by going on and on about all sorts of ways to not make a hamburger. If Ecclesiastes were a hamburger recipe, it would be paragraph after paragraph of Solomon saying, “Don’t mix rocks or dirt or pavement into your meat.” Eventually, Solomon gives you a couple ingredients for a life of joy. And then, he goes on with long sections about not storing the meat on the counter at room temperature for days and days, then give you a couple more ingredients.

But don’t get impatient and skip over those long portions that tell you the ways you won’t find joy. Even in all the negative sections, you’ll find important, Holy Spirit-inspired wisdom. So, don’t skip, unless of course, you want to waste your time, waste your effort, and have no joy. Tonight, we’re going to spend some time in Ecc. 1, which is one of those sections.

One more important thing before we dive in: I’ve already mentioned this, but Ecclesiastes was written by King Solomon and likely near the end of his life. The reason that is important is this: other than Jesus Himself, Solomon was the wisest person to ever walk this creation. He had a God-given wisdom (1 Kgs. 3:5-14) that even Jesus recognized and praised (Lk. 11:31). And since Solomon was divinely inspired by the Holy Spirit to write Ecclesiastes, the wisdom he gives us here, and in other portions of Scripture, should be even more precious.

Ok, to the text. Solomon begins by lamenting, “Vanity of vanities; vanity of vanities! All is vanity.” Immediately, you can tell that this is one of those negative sections.

That Hebrew word that gets translated as ‘vanity’ is used 72 times in the entire Old Testament, and 37 of those uses are in Ecclesiastes. Because it’s used so often, it’s important to get a good handle on what the word means because when we normally hear the word ‘vanity’ we think of a piece of furniture where a woman puts on make-up, or it’s used in a song that you probably think is about you.

The word simply means ‘breath’ or ‘vapor.’ It refers to something that is fleeting. Think of a cold morning (probably this morning) where you step outside, exhale, and see your breath. It’s there but only for a moment. Then, it’s gone. Just because that breath is gone doesn’t mean that it’s not real or doesn’t exist. It certainly is real, but it’s insubstantial. Solomon will also use a phrase that’s related to this word; he’ll talk about ‘chasing after the wind.’ Many things in this life are, as wise Solomon recognizes are a ‘breath,’ a ‘vapor,’ and a ‘chasing after the wind.’

In other words, most of life is filled with things that you can’t control. You can’t grab or hold on to it. Generally, you can’t put parts of your life in your pocket and deal with them when you decide. It’s here one moment and gone the next. Simply recognizing that most of life is like a breeze that you can’t control helps you orient your life in a wise, godly way.

Look again at Ecc. 1:12-17 because, there, Solomon makes a wise application in light of everything in life being fleeting. That wisdom is simply this: You can’t fix things in this world that God hasn’t given you to fix.

In those verses, Solomon says three things. 1) Solomon was the king, and probably the most powerful king in the entire world. 2) He gave his attention to wisdom and knowledge. In other words, he wasn’t a politician who was trying to govern for his own benefit. And 3) he couldn’t fix things. There were problems that Solomon wanted to fix and tried to fix. But he was unsuccessful. He comes to the conclusion, “What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be counted” (Ecc. 1:15). This world is crooked and bent. This world is lacking so many things that you can’t even calculate everything that is missing. We live in a sinful, broken world, and not even Solomon could fix it.

Imagine we had an election and unanimously chose the perfect person to be the president. Everyone loved this new president and decided to give him ten consecutive terms. He has plenty of time to fix all the problems of our country. Here, Solomon is saying, “That’s me! I had all the resources, all the authority, all the wisdom, and forty years of ruling over my kingdom. But I couldn’t fix our problems.”

I know that sounds depressing and fatalistic, but it isn’t. Well, it shouldn’t be. Instead, this is a God-inspired key to finding and having joy in a broken world. You can’t fix the world or our culture. You can’t do that because you can’t fix sin. Whether it’s our culture’s morality and violence, whether it’s our nation’s broken view of marriage and life, whether it’s the economy, racism, etc. You can’t fix it. You can’t solve it.

Before I go on, I need to be clear. Yes, you are assigned all sorts of important vocations, and God uses you and your work to do important things. There are things that God has put under your care. But those things are minuscule to all the things in this world. So, be faithful in all the callings God gives you. Be a good spouse, parent, grandparent, child, friend, employee, coworker, etc. Do all the things, all the tasks, all the duties you have in those areas. But, at the same time remember that there are things you can’t fix because you aren’t God. You were created in God’s image and created to have dominion over the earth (Gen. 1:28-30), but you and I gave up that dominion by way of our sin. So, God has relieved us of that dominion. And this is good news.

Fixing what is broken is not what God has called you to do. God has not called you to the office of being the world-fixer or the sin-minimizer. Instead, God has given to His own, dear Son the office of being the Savior of the world. And as the Savior, Jesus has and will fix the world’s problems, by His death and resurrection. But you cannot.

In tonight’s Gospel reading (Lk. 12:22-32) Jesus says the same thing as Solomon does here, but in a different way. What Solomon says in a ‘negative’ way, Jesus says in a ‘positive’ way. What I mean by ‘positive’ and ‘negative’ is this. If I’ve just pulled out a fresh batch of cookies out of the oven and I want my kids to enjoy them, I could tell them to have a cookie in a positive way, “Cookies are done! They’re warm and fresh. Come enjoy them.” Or I could tell them to have a cookie in a negative way, “Don’t let your cookie get cold.”

Solomon, in a ‘negative’ way, says, “You can’t fix things.” Jesus in a ‘positive’ says the same thing, and I’ll paraphrase: “Your heavenly Father already knows what you need. So, seek His kingdom, and everything you need in this fleeting, breezy life will be given to you. And know that it is your heavenly Father’s good pleasure, He is absolutely delighted, to give you the kingdom.” Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

The Lord’s Battle – Sermon on 1 Samuel 17:40-51 for the First Sunday of Lent

Mar9

1 Samuel 17:40–51

⁴⁰ Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd’s pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine.

⁴¹ And the Philistine moved forward and came near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him. ⁴² And when the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance. ⁴³ And the Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. ⁴⁴ The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field.” ⁴⁵ Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. ⁴⁶ This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, ⁴⁷ and that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hand.”

⁴⁸ When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. ⁴⁹ And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground.

⁵⁰ So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. There was no sword in the hand of David. ⁵¹ Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Faith is the main characteristic David exhibits when he faces Goliath – not courage. Of course, David is courageous. There’s no question about that, but David’s courage is fueled by and rooted in faith.

What you just heard isn’t the whole story of David and Goliath. And please know that when I use the word ‘story,’ that doesn’t mean that this is some made-up fairytale. Not at all. This story, this true story, happened. When we talk about Bible stories, we’re doing it in the same way you might ask your parents to tell you the story of how they met. It’s something that actually happened in history.

There was a Philistine warrior named Goliath who was over 9 ft. tall, who had a coat of bronze armor that weighed about 125 lbs., and whose spear tip weighed around 14.5 lbs. (1 Sam. 17:4-7). Goliath and the rest of the Philistine army assembled on one mountain while King Saul and the Israelite army mustered on an opposing mountain with a valley between them (1 Sam. 17:1-3). Every morning and evening for forty days, Goliath would issue a challenge, “Give me a man to fight. If he kills me, we’ll be your servants. But if I kill him, you’ll be our servants” (1 Sam. 17:8-10, 16).

Enter David. David was the youngest of Jesse’s eight sons. David’s three oldest brothers had followed Saul into battle, and Jesse asked David to go and see how his brothers were doing in the battle and bring them some bread and cheese (1 Sam. 17:12-18). While David was there, Goliath issued his challenge again, and David heard (1 Sam. 17:23).

You have to remember the context. Saul is still the king, but we already know that the next king won’t be a descendant of Saul. Back in ch. 16, David was already anointed to be the next king after Saul. After that anointing, the Holy Spirit rushed upon David (1 Sam. 16:6-13). But David doesn’t immediately go to the palace and ascend the throne; instead, David only goes to the palace to play his guitar whenever King Saul is tormented by a demon (1 Sam. 16:14-23). Even though he’s been anointed to be the next king, David fluctuates between serenading Saul and tending his father’s sheep.

David has faith in God’s promise that he’s going to be the next king. David so firmly believes this that, when he’s sitting in the field watching over his sheep, he’s not worried when bears or lions come after his lambs. He figures, “I’m not king yet, so not so fast, bear. Get back here, lion.” And he grabs them by the beard and kills them (1 Sam. 17:34-35). Easy peasy lemon squeezy. In other words, David rightly believes that until he becomes king, God is going to protect him.

It’s the same thing when David hears Goliath defying God and His armies and His people. Since Saul still has the crown that will eventually belong to David, he won’t let Goliath’s mockery stand. God has promised to make David the next king, so what could Goliath possibly do to him before he ascends the throne? It is that faith that gives David courage. So, David accepts Goliath’s challenge.

David simply trots onto the battlefield, reaches into his bag to take out a stone, flings it into the Philistine’s skull, and lops off Goliath’s head with his own blade. David might not have even broken a sweat. And when the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, headless, and utterly defeated, they fled.

Dear saints, last week I mentioned how we wrongly think of ourselves as the heroes of all sorts of Bible stories, and I specifically mentioned how we aren’t David defeating Goliath. Instead, we should see Jesus fulfilling this story. In Jn. 5:39, Jesus says that the Scriptures bear witness about Him (see also Lk. 24:44). While the true story of David defeating Goliath is something that actually happened, even it points us to Jesus who has defeated our greatest enemy.

It’s helpful to start by remembering who your enemy is. Eph. 6:12 says that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Those enemies, who would all easily overpower us, have the devil as their champion, a giant that opposes us and mocks us.

But dear saints, you have a David, a shepherd, who had perfect faith in God’s promises. In our Gospel reading (Mt. 4:1-11), you heard how Jesus perfectly trusted God despite the devil’s temptations. Christ trusted God’s promise to give Him food at the right time. You heard how Jesus perfectly trusted God’s promise to protect Him from danger. You heard how our Lord perfectly trusted God’s promise to give Him all the kingdoms of the world. So, He engaged in the battle and won.

This same Jesus, with the same perfect faith, perfectly trusted that God would deliver Him, would not let Him see corruption (Act. 2:27), and would not abandon Him. So, Jesus engaged in battle against Satan, sin, and death. The odds against Christ looked overwhelming. But on that cross, Jesus dealt the death blow to your enemy. And on the morning of the Resurrection, Christ emerged victoriously holding the crushed, severed head of the devil (Gen. 3:15; 1 Sam. 17:57). Jesus disarmed all the powers of evil and put them to open shame (Col. 2:15).

Jesus is your David, who has defeated your Goliath.

Now, do you have a place in this story? Sure, absolutely you do. You are in the Lord’s army and have endured the bragging, the mocking, and the scorn of the devil. But Jesus brought all of that to an end. Because of His death and resurrection, you know that the Lord saves not with a sword or spear but with the precious blood of Christ.

The battle is the Lord’s, and He has given all your enemies into your hand (1 Sam. 17:47). In the verses that follow our text, Saul’s army pursued the defeated the Philistines and pushed them back until they had plundered their camp (1 Sam. 17:52-53). That’s where you come in.

You, dear saints, are in the mop-up crew. Jesus, your Champion, has won on the field of battle, and His victory encourages you to join Him in the fray. You see Christ’s victory, and it fills you with a newfound strength and courage. Jesus’ triumph fills your mouth with laughter and puts shouts of joy on your tongue (Ps. 126:2). His conquest transforms you.

Before His victory all you could do cower in fear as your enemy boasted and mocked you. Now, that is all over. Now that Christ has won, you are turned into men again. Men who are emboldened to engage in the war.

Now, you participate in the battle – even though that part doesn’t win the war in a meritorious sense. You are heartened and encouraged by Christ, your Champion, and participate in His victory. You wage war against a routed, headless, defeated foe.

God is not mocked. The battle is His. He is risen. He is now seated on the throne with all things subjected under His feat because He has won.

No one would say that the fighting you do is safe or without danger. No one would say that there is no skill needed for the part you have to play. Far from it. To be sure, the challenges you face are real and they are dangerous. But you know that the outcome is not a mystery.

Your Champion has already turned the tide. Jesus has defeated the Goliath of sin, death, and the devil. So the foes you face, whether that foe is temptation or sickness or trauma or whatever, know they all fear you because your Champion has defeated theirs. Goliath is dead and headless. Jesus has won. He brings you in His train and on His team.

Christ has won the victory. He doesn’t need you, but He has won you. Now, you follow Him on the field of victory. What Christian would not want to follow Him? You know who fights for you. You know who has concurred and gives you the victory. And you also know the promises He has made to you. Promises that He will fulfill. Believe those promises, and act and live accordingly. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Gift & Assignment – Sermon on 2 Peter 1:2-11 for Ash Wednesday

Mar6

2 Peter 1:2–11

² May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

³ His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, ⁴ by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. ⁵ For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, ⁶ and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, ⁷ and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. ⁸ For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹ For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. ¹⁰ Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. ¹¹ For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Pause – Sermon on Luke 18:31-43 for Quinquagesima Sunday

Mar2

Luke 18:31–43

³¹ And taking the twelve, he said to them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. ³² For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. ³³ And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise.” ³⁴ But they understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said.

³⁵ As he drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. ³⁶ And hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what this meant. ³⁷ They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” ³⁸ And he cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” ³⁹ And those who were in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” ⁴⁰ And Jesus stopped and commanded him to be brought to him. And when he came near, he asked him, ⁴¹ “What do you want me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, let me recover my sight.” ⁴² And Jesus said to him, “Recover your sight; your faith has made you well.” ⁴³ And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Generally, when we let our imagination go wild, we like to be the heroes. Boys imagine hitting a grand slam in Game 7 bottom of the 9^th two outs down by three, or they imagine they are the receiver who dives to catch the hail Mary as time expires to win the Super Bowl. Girls imagine they are Cinderella dancing the night away with Prince Charming, and getting engaged after he returns her glass slipper. Even when it comes to Bible stories, we like to imagine that we are Joshua toppling the walls of Jericho or David slaying Goliath or Elijah defeating the prophets of Baal.

In the two parts of today’s text – the Passion prediction and the healing of the blind man – the only hero is clearly Jesus, and He fully embodies the perfect love that was described in our Epistle reading (1 Co. 13:1-13). This is the third time Jesus explains to the disciples that He is going to Jerusalem to be betrayed, mocked, shamefully treated, spit upon, flogged, crucified, and raised from the dead. But the disciples don’t understand Jesus, the saying is hidden from them, and they could not grasp what Jesus said.

Still, Jesus’ love is on full display. Jesus is patient with and kind toward them. He is not irritated or resentful at their thick skulls. Jesus is going to Jerusalem and will endure all these things because His love does not insist on its own way. Instead, Christ submits to His Father’s will in perfect obedience.

By going to the cross, Jesus will bear all things. All the burdens, all the sins, all the transgressions, all the iniquities, all the wrongdoings, all the evil, all the brokenness of this fallen world – Jesus will bear all of it in His body (1 Pet. 2:24). He does it all for you. Jesus’ journey from His throne in heaven, down into your flesh. His fasting and temptation in the wilderness. His path through the lands of Israel with no place to lay His head (Lk. 9:58). His teaching, healing, casting out demons, forgiving, and restoring. His triumphal entry. His betrayal. His suffering. His death. His burial. His three day rest in the tomb. His resurrection. His ascension. And His continual rule and authority over all things is a journey of love for you.

Jesus’ entire work is directed outward. He didn’t need to do any of that to benefit Himself, and He doesn’t do it for His own, personal gain. He does it because He loves you. And this love of Jesus wasn’t based on your loveliness. It was based on the fact that the God the Father loves you and wanted to rescue you. So, Jesus, God the Son, loved you and did everything necessary to save you.

God hated seeing what sin and death had brought to His creation, so He did something about it by undoing sin and death by the death and resurrection of Jesus. Christ lived the life we were unable to live. He obeyed the whole will and Law of God that we were unable to obey. He took up His cross, endured punishment that you and I deserved, and gave up His dying breath. All of this is done for you.

Jesus does all of this with full knowledge. None of it surprised Him. Christ knew exactly what is going to happen to Him. And still, He goes and does all of this to love you with His perfect, pure love.

Back in Lk. 9:51, we are told that Jesus had “set His face to go to Jerusalem.” In other words, Jesus is determined to do this loving thing for you. He was focused on redeeming creation, on getting there, and accomplishing it. He goes toward Jerusalem in love.

Day after day, Jesus gets closer to His goal until He arrives in the city of Jericho, which is about fifteen miles from Jerusalem. He’s close – about a day’s journey from the city. But Jesus isn’t in a rush. Sometimes, when you have to do things that you know are going to be unpleasant and painful, you just want to get it over with and put in your rearview mirror. Again, Jesus doesn’t do that. Instead, He paused along His way through Jericho.

Christ hears the blind man’s cry, “Son of David have mercy on me.” Jesus doesn’t say, “I’ve got more important things to do. I’m going to have mercy on you when I get to Jerusalem and go to the cross.” No. Our Lord stops.

The cry for mercy from any corner of His creation gets Jesus’ full attention. He commands that the blind man be brought to Him. Jesus asks him, “What do you want Me to do for you?” “Lord, let me recover my sight.” And in love, Jesus gives the man the mercy he desired. “Recover your sight; your faith has made you well.”

Jesus’ mission to be the Savior of all creation does not stop Him from pausing to give His mercy to the individual He meets along the way. He pauses and heals him.

Dear saints, Lent begins on Wednesday, and Lent is a good time for us to pause and consider all that God has done for us. Today, pause and ponder whom you are most like in this text. Again, we’re not the hero; we’re not Jesus. Instead, sometimes, we’re like the disciples who do not understand or grasp what God is doing for us and saying to us. Sometimes, even though God has plainly and clearly spoken, we are blind and don’t understand what God is doing.

Sometimes, we are broken like the blind man. Even though the blind man could not see with his physical eyes, he understands who Jesus is and what He has come to do. Despite his physical blindness, he has faith that Jesus can and will restore what is broken. So, when Jesus is present, he cries out for mercy. And Jesus gives him the mercy, restoration, and healing that he needed. Maybe, like the blind man, you look foolish to the world how you relentlessly call out to Jesus for His mercy.

Whom are you more like? It probably depends on the day, maybe even the moment. Whether you don’t have any clue of what God is up to like the disciples or whether all you can do is cry out for mercy, the thing to do is follow Jesus.

Notice that even though the disciples don’t get all the things that God had said through Jesus and through the Scriptures, even though they are blind in their hearts and minds – what do they do? They go with Jesus. They follow Him to Jerusalem and the cross. The blind man, even though he could not see anything until Jesus gave him the sight he desperately wanted, what did he do? He followed too.

Whether you understand what God is up to or not, the conclusion is the same. Follow Jesus. Follow Him to the cross. No matter where you are in your journey through life, no matter how much you understand what God is doing, no matter how much you need from God, no matter how much God has already given you, follow Jesus to the cross.

Stay the course. And as you go with Christ, He will give you ample reasons to glorify God and give Him praise. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Return – Sermon on Isaiah 55:6-13 for Sexagesima Sunday

Feb23

Isaiah 55:6-13

⁶ “Seek the Lord while he may be found;
call upon him while he is near;
⁷ let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him,
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
⁸ For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
⁹ For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

¹⁰ “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
¹¹ so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

¹² “For you shall go out in joy
and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you
shall break forth into singing,
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
¹³ Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall make a name for the Lord,
an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

A lot of decisions you make in life are based on the recommendation(s) of others. But you rank and evaluate those recommendations based on several factors. For example, if you need to replace the windows on your house, you’ll probably ask someone who just remodeled, “What kind of windows did you get? What brand? Who installed them? Were they punctual?” Depending on their experience, you might get the same brand and kind of windows but have another contractor install them. Or, if you find out that person has only had those windows for a few months, you might try to find someone who got new windows in the past two years because they know how those windows work in the hot and cold. Just one positive or negative recommendation might be all you need to make your decision.

But even when you can’t ask someone you know personally, you might look for recommendations. You shop online, and you’ll read through the reviews of complete strangers. If you see a couple hundred variations of, “Five stars! Works exactly as described. Would definitely buy again.” You’re more likely to buy that product rather than another one that only has a dozen reviews.

Sometimes, you don’t seek recommendations, but they’re offered to you anyway. You meet a friend for coffee, and she tells you that you “have to” try this drink or see this movie or meet Sally because she’s just so great. You might really like that friend. But, depending on how much you trust her taste in those things, you might follow her recommendations or not.

Here, Isaiah is giving you an unsolicited recommendation. “Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near.” And it’s a recommendation you can trust because it’s backed by Isaiah’s own personal experience. Of all the prophets the Holy Spirit could have inspired to give this recommendation, of course it comes from Isaiah.

When Isaiah was called to be a prophet (Is. 6:1-7), God was very findable and extremely near. Isaiah was in the Temple, the place where God had promised to dwell among His people. But by God’s design, the Temple had all sorts of separation. There was smoke and walls and curtains to maintain a safe distance between the holy God and sinners.

As Isaiah was in the Temple that day, all of the protection of the smoke of the incense, the walls, and the curtain was stripped away. Isaiah doesn’t just see the ark of the covenant, which represented the throne of God; instead, he sees the actual throne where God sits. Isaiah sees the angels flying and hears them singing, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of armies.” Again, God was very findable and near. But in that moment, Isaiah would not have recommended that you seek God or call upon Him. Instead, Isaiah wished he wasn’t there. He called down a curse upon himself: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips” (Is. 6:5).

Now, think about that for a minute. When Isaiah woke up that morning, he had unclean lips. He had those unclean lips as he walked to the Temple. Isaiah lived among people of unclean lips long before he saw God on the throne. So, what was it that made Isaiah despair? What caused his conscience to go into overdrive? It was God’s nearness. It was the fact that the holy God had found him, and that terrified Isaiah.

I heard a distinction from another pastor, and I think it’s helpful: There is a difference between a troubled conscience and a terrified conscience. A troubled conscience is aware of sin. A troubled conscience will say things like, “I’ve made some mistakes, but nobody’s perfect. At least I’m better than that guy.” When you have a troubled conscience, you know that there’s something wrong with you and something wrong with the world.

A terrified conscience recognizes more. A terrified conscience recognizes that God is mad because I’ve sinned and that He has promised to punish sin. Think back to the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve had a troubled conscience when they sewed fig leaves together to cover their shame. But then, when God showed up, they had a terrified conscience and tried to hide behind some bushes or trees.

Neither a troubled conscience nor a terrified conscience is going to seek God when He can be found or call upon Him when He is near. If your conscience is merely troubled, you won’t think that you need Him. You’ll wrongly think, “I’ll just make up for my mistakes.” And if your conscience is terrified, you’re going be as silent as possible when God gets close because you don’t want to draw attention to yourself.

Before I go on, I need to make something crystal clear: God doesn’t want you to remain in the state of having either a troubled or terrified conscience. God wants to forgive you and give you a pure, clean conscience (Heb. 10:21-22). But because you and I are sinners, we are going to have a conscience that is either troubled or terrified. And frankly, it’s much, much better to have a terrified conscience. If your conscience is merely troubled, or if you think you will fix your conscience by trying to do better, I have no good news for you. None whatsoever. All I can say to you is that you will always be troubled until you stand before God’s judgment throne. Then you will be terrified, but it will be too late. God will condemn you, and you will spend an eternity in hell and terror. Repent now. Return to God now, now while He is near and may be found.

But if the Holy Spirit has worked a terrified conscience in you, then I do have good news. To you who know you can’t fix your own guilt and shame, to you who know that you cannot hide from the Holy, Almighty, and Just God – know that God is near to you now. And this is a good thing.

When Isaiah’s conscience was terrified to the point that he thought he was finished, God sent one of those angels to touch Isaiah’s lips with a burning coal. That act took away Isaiah’s guilt and atoned for his sin (Is. 6:7). That compassion and abundant pardon from God brought Isaiah even closer to God. But now he had a new, cleansed, and purified conscience.

Because of that merciful, gracious, forgiving, atoning act of God, Isaiah makes this recommendation from his own experience. “Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near.”

When v. 7 of this text says, “let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts,” that wickedness and unrighteousness includes all the sinful things you do with our lips, hands, feet, and mind. Sure. But take particular notice of the last half of v. 7, “let him return to the Lord, that He may have compassion on him.” In other words, the wickedness and unrighteousness you are to forsake is failing to seek the Lord while He may be found and your unwillingness to call upon Him when He is near.

Instead, dear saints, return. Return to your God because He will abundantly pardon. Catch that – abundantly pardon. Your God pardons because His thoughts and ways are not like your thoughts and ways; God’s are infinitely higher. That doesn’t only mean God’s IQ is way up here and ours is way down here. While that’s true, that isn’t the context of Is. 55:8-9. Instead, God’s ways are the high, heavenly ways of compassion and abundant pardon, while our ways, frankly, aren’t. That’s even more reason for you to listen to Isaiah recommendation and return to God.

When God’s Word of abundant pardon goes out, that Word does not return empty. It accomplishes exactly what God sends it to do. In other words, when God says, “I forgive you,” what God actually means is, “I forgive you.” That very word of your high, compassionate, pardoning God removes your sin from you as far as the east is from the west (Ps. 103:12). Because of that you will go forth in joy and be lead in God’s peace. The mountains and hills and trees and all creation will rejoice with you.

Dear saints, return to God. Return to Him for His mercy, for His grace, and for His abundant pardon. He is near. Seek Him now. Return to Him now. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

A Fresh Look – Sermon on Matthew 20:1-16 for Septuagesima Sunday

Feb16

Matthew 20:1–16

¹ “For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. ² After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. ³ And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, ⁴ and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ ⁵ So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. ⁶ And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ ⁷ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ ⁸ And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ ⁹ And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. ¹⁰ Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. ¹¹ And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, ¹² saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ ¹³ But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? ¹⁴ Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. ¹⁵ Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’ ¹⁶ So the last will be first, and the first last.”

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

What is the greatest gift given in this parable?

At first glance, we think that it’s the denarius, that full day’s wage, handed to the workers who showed up last. But that’s the wrong answer. All the workers – those who were hired at the eleventh hour, the ninth hour, the sixth hour, the third hour, and right way at daybreak – they all get the same coin. It looks like the later you come, the greater the gift you receive. We think the only ones who don’t receive a gift are those who worked all day. They simply get what they had agreed to, what they bargained for – an honest day’s wage for an honest day’s work. But the denarius is not the greatest gift in the parable.

The greatest gift is a place in the vineyard. All of these workers – no matter what time of day they were hired – all of them started out in exactly the same place. They were all stuck in the marketplace with no prospects, no future, no income. None of them had anything until the master came to call them into his vineyard.

None of the workers got into the vineyard on their own. All of them knew they needed work to provide for their families. But they had no shot at that until the master called them into his vineyard. Before the master called them, they apparently didn’t even know there was a vineyard or how to get there, otherwise they could have gone to his house, knocked on the door, and asked for work. But that’s not what happens. Instead, the owner comes to them, seeks them, finds them, and promises to give them what they need. It’s the master who brings them all of them in. So, into the vineyard they all go – each at the time of day when the master called – not one moment before, not one moment after.

Back up just a bit and imagine the thought process of the workers hired first. They went to the marketplace because, in that part of the world in Jesus’ day (and still today), people who didn’t have normal, secure, regular jobs, they would gather at a certain spot in the marketplace in hope of being hired. Again, the people who were hired at the beginning of the day had nothing, no money, no job, no prospects. So, as the sun rises and as they march toward the vineyard, they’re excited about the master’s promise of an honest day’s pay for an honest day’s work. That promised denarius motivated them. Throughout the day, all of their work and toil and enduring all the heat and sweat was tolerable because that denarius meant life for each of them and for their families.

The only thing that spoiled it, the only thing made that denarius unappealing, was the fact that others also received the denarius. Seeing others get the same denarius was the only thing that robbed those first workers of their joy in the denarius. To say it bluntly: comparison is the thief or joy.

Imagine a company has two positions open. You apply and are given one of the positions, and you love everything about your new job. You like the environment, your coworkers, and $100,000 per year compensation. But then, you find out that the person hired for the other position – who is doing the same job, working the same hours, and has the same experience as you have – imagine finding out that person makes $101,000. How would that change your perception of your job and salary? If you’re selfish like me, I’m sure your attitude would change. You’d feel cheated. You’d complain. It’d ruin your whole perception of your new job. But here’s the thing: nothing has actually changed. Your paycheck didn’t diminish. The environment around you didn’t get worse. Nothing has been taken from you. You haven’t lost anything. The only thing that has changed is your perception. Someone else has gotten something that you don’t think they deserve. Repent.

Dear saints, God’s grace isn’t only for you. It is certainly given to you, but you aren’t the only one who gets or needs it. Please, please don’t be so foolish as to demand that God give you what you deserve because what you deserve is an eternity in hell. God doesn’t want to give you what you deserve. He wants you to be in His vineyard. And, yes, He has work for you to do there.

Look again at v. 12-15. When the workers hired first grumble about their denarius and all the hard work they did in the scorching heat, the master doesn’t fight or question their claim. He doesn’t diminish the work they have done. Not one bit. The only objection the master against their grumbling is that he’s being completely fair with them. His generosity doesn’t mean they were short-changed. The owner simply says, “If you don’t like my generosity, take what is yours and go. You’re free to leave my vineyard and go back to the marketplace.”

Dear saints, yes, this is a parable about working in God’s kingdom, and I titled this sermon “A Fresh Look” because we all need to be reminded that life in God’s kingdom does require work. God’s call to be a Christian is a call to much work. Jesus says, “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me” (Mt. 16:24). That calling from your Savior is a call to work. But there is so much joy in your work in God’s kingdom. That’s not to say that all of the work is pleasant and easy.

Dear saints, there are many things in this world that require work, but the work itself is good. There is work, there is labor, there are difficulties involved in all good things. For example, being a parent is work – a lot of work, and even a lot of unpleasant work. Parents have to get up in the middle of the night, change poopy diapers, suck snot out of the noses of the babies. I don’t know anyone who thinks those things are pleasant or anyone who enjoys doing those things. But none of those things mean the baby isn’t a delight or a joy to be around. And there is blessing in doing them. People are happier and more content when they give of themselves and serve others. Yes, the work is its own reward.

Christian, you have been brought into God’s vineyard. A vineyard is a place where there is plenty of work to be done, but the purpose is not to produce grapes. Vineyards exist to produce wine which makes glad the heart of man (Ps. 104:14-15). Life in God’s kingdom is to live where work is done, but that work culminates in joy and feasting. The whole point of your work and labor and toil in God’s kingdom is to join God in producing joy.

Dear saints, you’re going to leave here and head back to your labor, back to your work, back to the heat and sweat and toil of your God-given vocations. But before you do, God invites you to His table to feast. Come and enjoy a foretaste of the feast to come. Come and receive the joy of receiving Christ’s Body and Blood given and shed for you for the forgiveness of all your sin. Come to the feast. Then, go. God still has vineyard work for you to do. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Come Near – Sermon on Exodus 34:29-35 for the Transfiguration of Our Lord

Feb9

Today’s sermon is short because we spent time considering our liturgy during our service. If you are interested in learning more about that, please see the video of that service.

Exodus 34:29–35

²⁹ When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. ³⁰ Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, and behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him. ³¹ But Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses talked with them. ³²Afterward all the people of Israel came near, and he commanded them all that the Lord had spoken with him in Mount Sinai. ³³ And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face.

³⁴ Whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he would remove the veil, until he came out. And when he came out and told the people of Israel what he was commanded, ³⁵ the people of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face was shining. And Moses would put the veil over his face again, until he went in to speak with him.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Moses was eighty years old when he led God’s people out of Egypt, through the Red Sea, and to Mt. Sinai (Act. 7:23, 30). When they all arrived at Mt. Sinai, Moses became a mountaineer of sorts. He kept going up and down – at least six, if not eight, total times. Before God gave the Ten Commandments Moses had already gone up and down the mountain three times (Ex. 19:3-7; 19:8-14; 19:20-25). He would ascend to hear God speak and descend to tell the people what God had said. Then in Ex. 20, all the people heard God speak the words of the Ten Commandments, but the people said that hearing God’s voice was too traumatic and fearful for them. They begged Moses to not let God speak to them anymore (Ex. 20:18-20).

God agreed to the arrangement that they came up with. Moses would be the mediator between God and His people (Dt. 5:23-33). So, Moses kept going up and down the mountain. After God gave the Ten Commandments, Moses went up again to hear the instructions of how to construct the Tabernacle so God could come near and dwell among His people (Ex. 24:9-32:15). While Moses was up there, the people decided they wanted a tame god, a god they could control. So they made the golden calf to worship (Ex. 32:1-10). So, God sent Moses back down. He saw the people worshipping the golden calf and threw the tablets of the Ten Commandments breaking them because they had broken God’s covenant. Then Moses went back up the mountain again.

Our text begins as Moses is descending Sinai one final time. This last journey up the mountain was probably the most grueling for Moses. The verse right before our reading says that Moses was on the peak forty days and nights eating no food and drinking no water (Ex. 34:28). Of course, that isn’t humanly possible, but God made it happen. The fact that Moses is even alive after all of that is a miracle. But not only was Moses alive, he wasn’t disheveled or haggard. Instead, Moses’ face shined because he had been talking with God. His face reflected God’s glory, and the people were afraid again.

Now, the cause of their fear wasn’t God’s voice. Instead, it was the fact that the skin of Moses’ face was shining. The people didn’t want to come near Moses. So, Moses would hide his face behind a veil when he finished speaking God’s Word to them.

All of this is to say that the people were afraid when God came near. They were afraid when God spoke to them directly, and they were afraid when Moses was their intermediary. The people didn’t want God to come near to them.

In Jer. 23:29, God describes His Word saying, “Is not My Word like fire, declares the Lord, and a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?” But in Is. 55:10, God also says that His Word is like the rain and snow that creates life by giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater. We might wonder, “Well, which is it, God? Does Your Word burn and break, or does it give life?” Well, dear saints, God’s Word does both. In Is. 55:11, God says that His Word will always accomplishes what God desires.

Dear saints, you cannot hear God’s Word and remain unchanged. Either you will be softened toward it, or you will be hardened against it. And that is one of the beautiful things about the liturgy we use here because, through that liturgy, God comes near so He can speak to you and create faith.

You hear God’s Law where He says that your sins have harmed you and alienated you from Him. Because of our sins, we should all be afraid like the people who didn’t want God to come too close. So our liturgy is also filled with the Gospel.

You hear how God comes near, not to destroy you but to forgive you and give you eternal life. You hear how Christ has come near by taking on your flesh and becoming one of you. Our Lord came near to remove the veil between us and God so we could stand in His holy, glorious, gracious, merciful presence. The entire service is designed to lead us out of our sinful desires and draw us to God’s side. Through our liturgy, God comes near to us so we can come near to Him.

Even though we have all sinned against God, He doesn’t want to be distant. Dear saints, God wants to bless you. He wants you to behold His face as it shines upon you in grace. He wants to lift up His countenance upon you and give you His peace (Num. 6:24-26).

That peace with God is yours through the death and resurrection of your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. In Christ, God has come near to you to dwell among you. In Jesus, you see God’s glory, full of grace and truth. And from His glory you receive grace upon grace (Jn. 1:14, 16). Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Pastorsamwise

"Don't the great tales never end?"

Children of Light – Sermon on Ephesians 5:1-9 for the Third Sunday of Lent

Life’s Sacred Rhythm – Sermon on Ecclesiastes 2:18-26 for Midweek Lent 2

Limping – Sermon on Genesis 32:22-32 for the Second Sunday of Lent

What You Can & Can’t Fix – Sermon on Ecclesiastes 1:1-18 for Midweek Lent 1

The Lord’s Battle – Sermon on 1 Samuel 17:40-51 for the First Sunday of Lent

Gift & Assignment – Sermon on 2 Peter 1:2-11 for Ash Wednesday

Pause – Sermon on Luke 18:31-43 for Quinquagesima Sunday

Return – Sermon on Isaiah 55:6-13 for Sexagesima Sunday

A Fresh Look – Sermon on Matthew 20:1-16 for Septuagesima Sunday

Come Near – Sermon on Exodus 34:29-35 for the Transfiguration of Our Lord