Celebrate Freedom in Christ!

It seems like it wasn't very long ago at all that we still had snow on the ground.  Now, the 4th of July is right around the corner and brings with it all sorts of festivities.  From the backyard cookouts to the community fireworks, there's plenty of fanfare for the 4th.  The fanfare seems appropriate when you take a moment to think about what Independence Day is all about.  It's one day when we, as an entire nation, set everything else aside and just celebrate the freedoms that are ours as citizens of the United States of America.  We celebrate that we have the freedom of religion, unabridged free speech, and the right to participate in the political process.  These are wonderful blessings from God, and I hope that you take some time to appreciate them as our country celebrates this holiday.

While these freedoms are blessings from God, He has given us freedoms that are far more significant than those we enjoy as United States citizens.  In Romans 7 the apostle Paul speaks of the freedom we have in Christ:

"The law has authority over a man only as long as he lives? . . . 4 So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God. 5 For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death. 6 But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code." 

We have freedom from the consequences and dominion of sin.  When we look at our lives and how we fail to measure up to God's perfect law, that makes us, by nature, slaves.  Slaves to the law that fear the death that it condemns us to.  Thanks be to God that we "died to the law through the body of Christ."  Jesus conquered sin and death on our behalf.  Now, we don't have to live in fear.  Instead, we are free to live our lives to honor God out of thanks rather than terror.  This freedom is even more important than the earthly freedoms we enjoy.  So, no matter what your holiday plans are, give thanks to God for the freedom that he has given to us in Jesus.

Love Never Fails

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. ³ If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

⁸ Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰ but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. ¹¹ When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. ¹² Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

¹³ And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Brothers and sisters in Christ,

We've got some familiar words before us today. 1 Corinthians 13 has become one of the most well-known chapters in the entire Bible, largely because so many couples choose to include it in their wedding services. And it's appropriate for a wedding service. It shows us love pictured in a way that all married couples can and should strive for—love in action, which is so much more than just affection. And a wedding is an example of this kind of love. In a wedding, a man and a woman come together and promise to love each other until death separates them. They make a commitment to one another to love each other as long as they both live. But I think we know how that can go after the wedding day and honeymoon end. Sure, sometimes there are marriages that are wonderful examples of the love we see here, but no matter how perfect a marriage or any earthly relationship appears to be, they all have one thing in common: sin. And, because of that one thing, they don't perfectly demonstrate the love described here. But, still, we see one truth very clearly in the middle of this chapter: Love never fails. This is a truth that right now we know in part, but then we will know it fully.

One thing that we know about love right now is the way that it gives value to everything else. We get a picture of that in the first few verses of the chapter. “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. ³ If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.” A lot of times when people read through this chapter they get so focused on the description of love that they forget what comes before and after. These aren't just isolated statements about love. In chapters 12 and 14 of 1 Corinthians, Paul talks about spiritual gifts. Chapter 13 comes in the middle of that thought as a reminder of things to keep in mind as the Corinthians use these spiritual gifts in their congregation. So what Paul is saying here is that love is what gives these gifts their value. In other words, even the most remarkable spiritual gifts are worthless without love. For example, no matter how clearly you can speak the truths of God's Word, no one's gonna want to listen to you if you're rude or condescending and don't show them love as you speak to them. It's worthless without love. Paul gives the example of donating to the poor. If you give everything you have to the poor, people might look at you and think that you're a great person, but unless that giving is motivated by the love that results from God's grace, it's not gonna do you any good in the end. We can understand this. Without love, whatever gifts we have are worthless. But, on the other hand, when spiritual gifts are used with love to the glory of God and for the benefit of others, we get a glimpse of just how valuable love really is.

But that value of love is something that we only experience in part right now. It becomes pretty evident that we only have a partial and imperfect knowledge of what it means to show love when we look at Paul's description of love in the next verses. “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. ⁸ Love never fails.” It can be pretty convicting for us to read through these verses. If we're honest, we've gotta say that we're not always patient. We are proud. We are self-seeking. We do keep a record of wrongs. And we do fail. As sinful human beings, we only know in part what it's like to show this kind of love.

But that's why Jesus is so important to us. Whereas this section of scripture is not always a perfect description of you or me, it does perfectly describe Jesus. He is patient. He's patient enough to suffer and die for people who sin against him every day of their lives. He wasn't self-seeking or proud. Instead of focusing on his own needs and desires, he focused on ours. He humbled himself to save us. And he doesn't keep a record of wrongs. Instead, he took the record of wrongs upon himself and paid the price in full. In fact, this very same phrase that we translate as not keeping a record of wrongs is the phrase that's used a number of times in scripture to talk about how God pardons us because of what Jesus did. In Paul's next letter to the Corinthians he would write, “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them.” This is the love that Jesus shows to us. To put it another way, Jesus' love never fails.

You see, Jesus perfectly exhibits all the characteristics of love that Paul describes in these verses. And Jesus' love for us is what gives us the ability to show this love in our lives too. The Bible says that we love because he first loved us. Even though we're not perfect yet, even though we still struggle with sin, we're now able to show this love in our relationships to a certain extent. Christ's patience enables you to be patient with our kids. Christ's humility shows a husband how to love his wife. And Jesus' forgiveness gives us the power to forgive those who wrong us. We love because he first loved us.

While our love may be imperfect now, the time is gonna come when our relationships won't be tainted with sin, when we get to experience perfect love fully. Paul talks about that in the next few verses: “But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰ but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.” As Paul wraps up this chapter about spiritual gifts, he makes it clear that love not only is the most valuable gift of all right now, but that it always will be. The gifts that we have and cherish now aren't going to last forever. But love lasts forever. Most importantly, God's love for us lasts forever. God perfectly loves us now. He always has and he always will. When we get to heaven, we'll be able to perfectly love him too. And that's what we get to enjoy in heaven. Perfect love and communion with our creator as we live with him and serve him forever.

On top of our love for God being made perfect, our love for one another will also be made perfect. It's hard to even imagine what our relationships will be like in heaven. Our love for one another will never fail. There will be no more fights. There will be no more harsh disagreements and divisions—not even between Packers fans and Vikings fans or Republicans and Democrats. We'll all just be together, living as perfectly patient, kind and humble children of God. This experience of perfect love is something that we get to look forward to with certainty because God's love for us never fails.

It's probably safe to say that most of you are going to hear this chapter many more times before you get to heaven. Whether that's in your personal Bible study, in worship, at a wedding, you'll get to hear it again. When you do hear it, keep in mind that this unfailing love is a description of what God has shown to us. And now we get to show that to one another. And we get to look forward to heaven, where we'll get to see this love completely and perfectly.

Come to Your Senses!

It's quite the picture, isn't it? We see the son of the rich man, who had lived comfortably his whole life. Recently he had asked for his inheritance from his father and had gone about some extravagant living. But now things had changed. We now see him with the pigs, so hungry that he was ready to eat their feed. We might wanna say to ourselves, “What is he thinking?!” And, fair enough. He had a loving father that was ready to welcome him back. But at this point he didn't recognize how deep his father's love was and all that that meant for him. You and I also have a Father that loves us, even more than any earthly father ever could. But we don't always appreciate all that his love means for us and for those around us. Sometimes we wanna do our own thing, and that can all too often land us in some pretty messy situations. And if we take a step back, we've gotta ask ourselves, “What were we thinking?!” So, this morning, I'm going to ask you to

Come to your senses!

1. Confess your sin
2. Celebrate your Father's love

As the story begins, we hear about a man with two sons, and we see how the younger son really made a mess of things. “Jesus told them this parable: “There was a man who had two sons. ¹² The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’” Here's the first time that we find ourselves asking, “What was he thinking?” At home he had financial stability and a relationship with his family. But he decided he didn't need that relationship. He just wanted the money. In fact, he didn't even wanna wait 'til his father was ready to give it to him. He just said, “I know what I want and I want it now.” Parents, imagine if one of your children came to you with a request like this. You might not be so ready to give the handout knowing that it would mean the end of your relationship with your child. But the father in the story didn't force him to stay. He just gave him what he asked for and let him go. The younger son here has already made a mess of things. He's squandered his relationship with his father, and he's just getting started.

“Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living.” We don't get a lot of details here, but we don't necessarily need a ton of them to get the picture. He's not maxing out his IRA every year. He's living it up. And he's probably having a pretty good time, too. At least for the time being. We'll see in a minute that this party didn't last forever.

Now, When you think of real life examples of this proverbial “prodigal son”, who comes to mind? Maybe a sibling or a friend comes to mind who had everything, but then squandered it. And maybe you can't help but draw those comparisons in your mind. In fact, I'll admit that when I look at this story, there's someone who comes to mind as this younger son: Me. I can't help but think of all the times that I've desired material blessings more than I've desired a relationship with God. And I know there have been plenty of times where I've squandered what God has given to me. I hope there are other people here who think of themselves when they hear about this younger son. If you've never seen yourself when you look at the younger son in this story, take another look.

Who of you can say that you've never been frustrated, waiting for God's timing rather than your own. And who of you could claim that you've always made the most of the gifts God has given you? Time gets wasted constantly. It happens way too often that we fail to carve out time to spend with God in his Word, or we let distractions take us away from other important responsibilities. And, while we may not have squandered our money like the younger son in the story did, that doesn't mean that we haven't misused it. Money can so easily get in the way of relationships. It can and does split up families and friends. There are so many times when we don't use God's gifts the way he wants us to. If you think about it, you can all probably come up with ways that you've squandered God's gifts that he's given to you. In those ways, we're just like that prodigal, wasteful son.

This story would be quite the downer if it ended with the prodigal son, having wasted everything, being left to starve. But it doesn't. The story goes on, “After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. ¹⁵ So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. ¹⁶ He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.

¹⁷ “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! ¹⁸ I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. ¹⁹ I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.’ ²⁰ So he got up and went to his father.” You see, he had hit rock bottom. He had gone from his life of stability with his father, now he was so hungry that he wanted nothing more than to eat pig feed to satisfy the intense hunger he had. Then he finally came to his senses. The memory of his father's love and grace moved him to confess his sin and trust in his father to take care of him.

Maybe that's where you are in your life. Maybe you've made one bad decision after another and the consequences are all crashing in around you. That's probably where some of you are. Just like the son in the story, you want nothing more than to be restored to your father's good graces. But, I'm sure there are also plenty of you who feel like life is going pretty well right now. But whether we're flying high or sinking to the bottom, there is no difference, for all of us have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. For that reason, we would all do well to join with the son's confession, “Father, I have sinned. I am no longer worthy to be called your child.”

Do those words sound familiar? We say something similar to that nearly every time we gather together in church. Because every week we realize our faults again, and we confess them to our father again. Look at the father's reaction in the story after his son returned home: “Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. ²³ Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. ²⁴ For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” The father in the story was overjoyed when his son came home. He didn't make his son work as a servant. He received him back gladly.

God also rejoices every time a sinner repents. That's really what this whole chapter of Luke 15 is all about. This reading leaves out two parables that Jesus told, one about a sheep that was lost and then was found, then about a coin that was lost and found. In both parables, the people rejoiced when they found what was lost. And now here's the climax of the chapter: The son was lost and now was found. So, of course, the father celebrates. He kills the fattened calf and has a feast. This is symbolic of how our heavenly Father rejoices when a sinner repents. That's why we can rejoice at the Father's love!

But not everyone at the party rejoiced. Listen to what the older son said, “Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. ³⁰ But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!” The son, selfishly, refused to celebrate his father's love for his brother.

And Jesus really drives home a point here. You see, the context of these parables is that the Pharisees, who thought of themselves as God's faithful children, were upset with Jesus because he “welcomes sinners and eats with them.” So, with these parables, Jesus tells them in no uncertain terms, “I welcome these people back. And I rejoice when they repent!” And now at the very end of this section of parables, he points it back to the Pharisees and asks them why they don't rejoice when a sinner who was lost becomes found.

So, what's our reaction gonna be to the love that the father has extravagantly shown to us? Well, I think that we can echo the Father's thoughts here and say, “We have to celebrate!” Celebrate that our Father loves us despite all of our shortcomings. And we have to celebrate every time we see that grace reach another person. We have to celebrate, even if it's someone that makes us a little bit uncomfortable with the way they look or dress or talk. We have to celebrate, because what was lost has been found.

You know, I'm afraid that all too often the point of this parable is missed. People read it and think, “Well, it's good that I've never squandered God's gifts like that.” If you've ever thought that way, even a little bit, you're exactly the kind of person that Jesus is talking to here. So come to you senses: Confess that you have sinned, and celebrate the Father's love for you and for your brother. Amen.

Lent 1

Luke 4:1-13

What would you say is the biggest temptation that you struggle with? Last week CNN released the results of a survey that asked Americans that same question. The most common answers: Procrastination, gluttony and spending too much time on media. We could probably agree that those are issues that our society has to deal with. But if that survey had been done thirty or forty years ago, the answers would've probably been quite different. But while temptations may vary, the way the devil attacks doesn't really change too much. In today's gospel lesson we saw three ways that the devil attacked Jesus, and when we look closer we'll see that the devil still attacks us in some similar ways. We also saw that Jesus overcame the devil's temptations. And when we look closer we'll see what that means for us and how we can also defeat the devil when he attacks.

The first thing that the devil attacked was Jesus' confidence. Listen to the first temptation: ³ The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” You might think to yourself, “What would be the problem with Jesus turning these stones into bread? He was hungry!” It might seem like an innocent enough thing, changing rocks into bread. And it's not so much the act in and of itself that would have been wrong. The problem would be that changing stones into bread would've shown a lack of trust in God. God had brought Jesus into the wilderness. Changing these stones would have shown a lack of trust that God would care for Jesus in this hunger that he had brought him to. That's what would have been the problem with this.

And you know that that's what the devil was getting at. Just look at the way he approaches the situation. In the chapter before our text for today, Luke recorded the baptism of Jesus. At that baptism, Luke tells us God said, “You are my son, whom I love.” Now look at the very first words out of the Devil's mouth: “If you are the son of God...” This approach aimed to cast doubt in Jesus' confidence in those words. If Jesus had yielded to the devil's temptation in order to prove himself as the son of God, that would have shown a lack of trust and security in his relationship with his father.

But Jesus didn't feel the need to prove himself to the devil. Instead he responded with God's Word. He said, “⁴ Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone.'” Jesus didn't need to miraculously change these rocks into bread. He had the words of God. He knew that God meant it when he said that Jesus was his son whom he loved, and that was the basis for his confidence.

The devil tries to attack our confidence in God too. God has given us promises that our faith is founded upon, but the devil tries to get us to doubt those. God says that all things work out for the good of those who love him. Then there's the devil, trying to cast doubt in our confidence in God, asking, “How could it possibly work out for your good that someone you loved was taken from you so soon?” Or he might try to get you to doubt God's promise that his Word will not return empty. You share God's Word again and again with a friend, but nothing seems to be happening. So the devil seizes that opportunity to tempt you to doubt the trustworthiness of the one who made the promise. And, sad to say, but sometimes our confidence is shaken. So we want to look again to see Jesus overcome the devil's temptation. We look to him, not just as our example, but more importantly as our substitute. Even though the devil tempted Jesus, just as he tempts us, Jesus' confidence wasn't shaken. And because Jesus perfectly obeyed his Father's will, that covers over all the times we've failed when faced with temptation. So how can we defeat the devil when he attacks our confidence? Well, Jesus has already defeated him for us, and that's where we find our confidence.

But the devil didn't give up after just this one try. He tempted Jesus many more times, two of them are recorded for us. Here's one: “ The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. ⁶ And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. ⁷ So if you worship me, it will all be yours.” At first glance it seems like the big temptation here is that the devil wants Jesus to worship him instead of the true God. While that appears to be what his ultimate goal was, there's a lot more to the temptation than just that. The devil wanted Jesus to take the easy way out. Jesus knew what was ahead of him. He knew that God wanted him to bear the sins of the entire world on the cross. Now here was the devil, and he offered to Jesus the opportunity to skip over those three difficult years and rule over the world right away. And all he had to do was bow down and worship him! Suddenly this offer sounds a little bit more tempting.

But Jesus didn't get distracted by the devil's lies. Instead, his focus was on the will of his father. “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’” No matter what the devil had to offer him, Jesus refused to worship him because God has made it clear in his Word that only he deserves our worship.

The devil tempts us the same way he tempts Jesus. He wants us to make him or something else more important in our lives than God is. And he appeals to the same desires. When Jesus says, “Take up your cross and follow me” the devil tells us that we don't have to take up any crosses and that we don't have to deny ourselves. And sometimes he doesn't have to work too hard. Sometimes we're glad to indulge our selfish sinful nature at every opportunity. But when we find ourselves, once again, having failed to bear the cross as our heavenly Father wants us to, we remember how Jesus did bear the cross. He chose to walk down the difficult path that was in front of him, all the way to the cross, where he paid the price for all the times that you've failed. So in response to that self-sacrificing service that Jesus showed us, we respond by worshiping and serving him only.

In the last temptation that Luke records for us, we see the devil attack the Word of God itself. It says, “The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. ¹⁰ For it is written: ‘He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; ¹¹they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” What the devil did here was he twisted God's Word. He emphasized one passage of scripture that says that God will take care of his people. But he emphasized that verse at the expense of the other verses that should go along with it. But Jesus, knowing the Scriptures, wasn't fooled. He pointed to the clear statement of God that the devil had ignored. “Jesus answered, “It says: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'”

The book of Ecclesiastes says that there's nothing new under the sun. We see an example of that here, don't we? This is the same tactic the devil used in the garden of Eden. Adam and Eve had the clear words of God: You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But then Satan said, “Did God really say?...” He twisted the clear words of God to tempt Adam and Eve, and they fell for it.

But what about us? Does the devil tempt us that way too? You better believe it. You hear the “Did God really say?” echoing throughout the world over and over again. You could trace back just about every false doctrine to someone listening to something other than God's clear words. But, surely, that couldn't happen to us, could it? I mean, we're Wisconsin Synod Lutherans! God's Word is our great heritage and shall be ours forever! We certainly have been blessed by our heritage that the Word of God has been passed down to us and taught in its truth and purity. But you better not ever, for even one second, think that your membership at Our Savior Lutheran Church means that the devil can't attack you. It's important for you to study the Bible for yourself. So that when Satan comes along and asks you, “Did God really say?” you don't have to respond with, “Well, let me check with pastor.” Instead, you can respond, emphatically, like Jesus did, “This is what God says.” And there's no way that you're gonna be able to do that unless you cling to the clear words of God, just like Jesus did.

This isn't an exhaustive list of all the ways that the devil tempted Jesus. But we know that in all the temptations Jesus faced, he never lost sight of God's Word. You see, Jesus has given us a pretty simple formula for defeating the devil: God's Word. So, whenever the devil tempts you, whether he attacks your confidence, your cross, the clear words of God or anything else, cling to God's Word. Most of all, cling to the words that tell you that the God gives you the victory through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Meditate on the Wisdom of God -- Sermon based on Psalm 19

I've got a question for you: Did Adam and Eve have belly-buttons? You may have your opinion on that one way or another, but in the end, the Bible doesn't answer that question for us. so we've just gotta say, “I don't know.” You see, there are some questions that the Bible doesn't answer for us. And some of them are a little bit more serious than whether or not Adam and Eve had belly-buttons. Why did God create Satan if he knew he was going to rebel? Why are some people saved but not others? It can be frustrating not to have the answers we want. We might think, “Why didn't God just tell us?!” But if you stop and think about it, there's a lot of wisdom in the way that God has revealed himself to mankind. So today we're going to meditate on the wisdom of God. We'll meditate on his wisdom that's on display in his created world, and in his written Word.

In the Psalm that we'll focus on this morning, it speaks of God's wisdom in his world right from the very first verse. It says, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” We see God's wisdom in this verse, because he revealed himself to people in creation itself. You don't have to think about it too long to come to the conclusion that everything we see had to come from somewhere. That's so evident that the Bible says that only a fool could deny it. You see, everything that he has created proclaims his glory for all people to hear.

Just think about the wisdom in that. As God went about his work of creation, he was well aware that the crown of his creation would rebel against him and that people wouldn't always have a close relationship with him. He knew that after Adam and Eve fell into sin, that every person would be born spiritually blind. So he told them some things about himself in nature. God demonstrated very clearly that he is powerful and in charge of everything. Because of this, everyone who ever lived, no matter what their situation in life might be, can understand that God is real and very powerful. From that alone, we can say that God's wisdom is displayed in his world.

But the display of God's wisdom isn't limited to to the fact that he has put a natural knowledge of him into each person. Verse 3 says, “There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.” Every time someone so much as says a word, it proclaims the work of God's hands. All our speech shows that God has enough wisdom to design some very intelligent creatures. I mean, just think about all that mankind has accomplished. Human intellect has put a man on the moon and a phone in your pocket, but it still can't really explain to you why you remember certain people's names but not others. And whatever feats mankind goes on to accomplish, they really “proclaim the works of his hands” even more. As the one who created us and has given us all our abilities, his wisdom is shown in everything we do.

There are so many details of God's creation that show us how wise God is. Just look at all the wisdom we see in the way the world works. Every fall, if you look up into the sky, you'll see birds flying south. They're not necessarily known as the smartest creatures, but God created them in such a way that they know how to keep themselves alive. And every year, if you know where to go, you can see salmon swimming hundreds of miles upstream to the place they were born in order to spawn in the right place. We can see God's wisdom in the way that these necessary instincts just seem to be imprinted on these creatures' brains from the very day they're born.

But there's also something that he's written on our hearts from the day that we were born. He's written his law onto our hearts. That's why every culture that has ever existed has had certain moral guidelines: You can't murder. You can't take something that belongs to someone else. You can't sleep with another person's spouse. There are always consequences for those actions, even in the most un-Christian societies. This also teaches every person in the world something about their God: that we haven't lived up to his expectations. If you doubt this at all, think about the feeling you get when you see a police officer out of the corner of your eye, and you just have to hope that he lets you slide by a few miles per hour over the speed limit. That frantic, guilty feeling, no matter what situation you might feel it in, lets us know that we haven't lived perfectly, and that we deserve to suffer the consequences of our actions. That's something that God has revealed to his creation in nature. And we can pretty easily see the wisdom in that, since his law is something that's important for everyone to know.

God really has shown his wisdom in his world in that he reveals himself to his creation in it. Our natural knowledge tells us a thing or two about who God is and where we stand with him. But if that were the only way that God revealed himself to us, we'd be in a pretty bad place. In the end, we'd end up where so many of the world's other religions have – trying to make God happy with what we do. But, thankfully, that isn't the only way that God has revealed himself to us. He has also revealed himself to us in his Word. And there is plenty of wisdom for us to meditate on in God's Word.

In verse seven we really see the shift in this psalm from talking about how God reveals himself in the world to how he reveals himself in the Word. It says, “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul.” There are a couple things worth pointing out before we move on. First of all, If you glance down the page here, you'll see a lot of words like, “Law” and “statutes”. When those words are used here, they're not talking about law as opposed to gospel. Instead, they're more generic words for all the things that God teaches us in his Word. So keep that in mind as we go on. Notice also that as we move from talking about God revealing himself in creation to revealing himself in his Word, we also get a change in the name that David uses. In the first part it was “God”. Elohim. That's the generic Hebrew word for God. And it makes sense to use that word when we talk about the natural knowledge of God, because the natural knowledge of God tells us that there is a creator God, but it doesn't really tell us everything about our God. But in this section, David uses the name “LORD”. That's yahweh, the God of free and faithful grace. That's what we learn about in God's Word. And you see this shift in the content of the psalm as well. In the first part, we heard about God's power and knowledge, but now the focus shifts to all the wonderful things that God does for us in his Word. Let's take a look at some of those:

Again, verse 7 says, “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul.” You can see God's wisdom here in how he relates to people. By nature we understand that we don't live up to God's standards perfectly, so our soul is in a sort of agitated state, wanting to make things better. And then God, in his wisdom, gives us exactly what we need. The Word of God comes in and, as this verse puts it, revives the soul. It tells us that while God is powerful, holy and wise, he's also loving. And that's what puts our soul at ease. God's love is shown to us clearly in his son, Jesus. Jesus lived the life that none of us could, and died to pay the price that we owed. That perfect love that we hear about in God's Word puts our souls at ease.

As much of a blessing as that is, God has even more in store for us besides that. It goes on to say, “The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple.” We've seen plenty examples of God's wisdom throughout this Psalm. Here he tells us that he'll share wisdom with us. I mentioned a little bit earlier all the impressive things that mankind has accomplished. God's not promising you a nobel prize here if you just follow his law. Instead, he promises that his Word will give you a wisdom that surpasses even that. His Word will make you wise for salvation. It teaches us that Jesus lived and died to take away our sins. You don't have to be a genius to understand that – even little children can understand it. So whether you love solving one advanced math problem after another, or you're struggling your way through school, God's Word gives you the kind of wisdom that makes all the difference.

Now that God has made you wise for salvation, he's got some more wisdom to share with you for this life. “The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes.” As the light of God's Word shines in our hearts, it also shines to give light to our eyes. In Psalm 119, which is another Psalm about God's Word, we see a similar thought when it says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” As we walk in faith, God gives us wisdom each day in his Word. So it's important for us to be in this Word regularly, because not only does it create and sustain our faith, but it also teaches us how we should live.

There's one more part of God's wisdom that I want to meditate on this morning. And that's that his Word never changes. Verse 9 says, “The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever. The ordinances of the Lord are sure and altogether righteous.” That truth is what makes his Word so valuable to us. The psalm gives a couple pictures of how valuable God's Word is: “They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb.” God's unchanging promises are the most valuable thing we have. When he says that he blots out your transgressions and won't remember your sins, we count on that promise. After all, that promise came from the same powerful, wise God that has displayed his wisdom all over creation and throughout his Word.

There might be times that you wonder about why God revealed himself the way he did. We might wonder why he included some things in the Bible, but not others. If you ever find yourself thinking that way, join in the prayer that David closes the psalm with: “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.” So what will you meditate on to find your answers? The world will give us some, but the Word is where we find answers to the most important questions that we have. And when you meditate on God's Word, God doesn't promise that he'll answer all your questions, but he does promise that he'll teach you what you need to know. And when your heart meditates on God's Word like we have this morning, you will see all the wisdom that God has shown to us in his world and in his Word. Amen.

I GAVE IT UP FOR LENT

Are you giving up anything for Lent? Every year lots of Christians, especially Catholics, give something up for Lent. But what about Lutherans? Do we have to give something up? Should we give something up? Why would we give something up?

First of all, let's be clear that you don't have to give something up for Lent to be a good Christian. But still, plenty of people do choose to give something up. People give up all sorts of things, from the trivial to the meaningful. Some give up chocolate so that they'll fit into their swimsuits when the sun starts shining a little bit warmer after Easter. Others give up their daily latte and donate the three or four dollars a day to their church or a charity. The question is, why would you choose to give up something that you like when you don't have to? Some people like the reminder that it gives them. Every time that someone denies his flesh the pleasure of a sip of a soda, it can serve as a reminder of all that Jesus' flesh endured as he suffered for our sins. Every time someone donates her coffee money to church, it can remind her of how much Jesus has given us. So, while a Christian doesn't have to give anything up for Lent, you certainly could.

In the end, it comes down to your attitude. I'm reminded of the parable that Jesus told in Luke 18: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹ The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. ¹² I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

¹³ “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’

¹⁴ I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

If your attitude during Lent is like the Pharisee, that's not good. It would be easy to get to exalt yourself during Lent. After all, you come to church twice a week. Some people can't even make it once! And on top of that, you're giving something up too! I pray that God would keep us from even a hint of self-righteousness during our Lenten journey this year.

I pray that, instead, God would give us the attitude of the tax collector. In all we do, we simply ask "God, have mercy on me, a sinner."  After all, we, like the tax collector, are sinners. We are sinners who can only be justified by God's mercy. And that's what Lent is all about. Every time we gather together throughout this Lenten season, we get to see the mercy that God has shown us in his son, Jesus. May God bless you all as you focus on that mercy each day.

Christ is Coming!

²⁵ “There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. ²⁶ Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. ²⁷ At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. ²⁸ When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

²⁹ He told them this parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees. ³⁰ When they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is near. ³¹ Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that the kingdom of God is near.

³² “I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. ³³ Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

³⁴ “Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap. ³⁵ For it will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth. ³⁶ Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.”

“Band Ten hut!” I was in a marching band when I was in high-school, and everyone in the band knew exactly what to do when they heard that command. Stop whatever you're doing; stand at attention and listen closely to whatever instructions followed. You had to listen because what followed was probably something important that you needed to know. I'm sure that those of you with military experience could tell us that it was no joke when you got called to attention. It was important that you'd stand up and listen.

Jesus calls us to attention in today's Gospel. As well he should. It's the season of advent, when we talk about his coming. We're getting ready to celebrate his first coming, and we're preparing for his second coming as well. So he has some important instructions for us to follow as we wait for the last day. He tells us to stand tall and to stand firm.

Jesus gives us a glimpse of what it will be like when he returns. He says, “There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. ²⁶ Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken.” It doesn't sound like it would be very easy to stand tall in that situation. The picture that Jesus just painted with his words here actually sounds kind of frightening. Everything is gonna change. The sun and the moon and the stars – the things that we think of as the most stable things imaginable in this world – are gonna be shaken. And Jesus says that plenty of people are going to be afraid, even to the point that they faint. Things are gonna get crazy, and it might not be the easiest thing in the world to stand tall in the face of all of that.

In fact, we've seen some of these things start to happen already, haven't we? This drought that our land has been plagued with reminds us that this world isn't going to be around forever. And how about the verse that says, “nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea”? Doesn't that sound a little bit like what the people on the east coast went through a little while ago? These things are signs that Christ is coming. Think about it this way: How do you know that Christmas is coming up? You see the decorations in the streets, you see commercials on tv, you hear Christmas music on the radio. All these things remind you that Christmas is on its way. The same is true with these signs of the end. They remind us that Christ is on his way. Jesus put it this way: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees. ³⁰ When they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is near. ³¹ Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that the kingdom of God is near.” It'd be pretty terrible if we didn't recognize these signs and listen to the warning they have for us. We'd probably be pretty frightened if we weren't ready when Jesus came back. And plenty of people will be afraid on that last day because they'll fear Jesus' judgment. And they have good reason for that. All these signs of the earth coming to an end remind us of the consequences of sin – destruction and death. And, really, that's what we all deserve because of our sin too. For all the times that that we've thought of God and his Word as anything but the most important thing in our lives, we deserve judgment. And Jesus' call to attention today tells us that we should stand tall when he returns? How could we possibly stand tall when we realize the judgment that we deserve? Jesus tells us where we find that courage and confidence. He said, “At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. ²⁸ When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” We don't need to be afraid of Jesus coming back. You see, for us, Jesus' return doesn't signify judgment. For us, Jesus' return means redemption. When Jesus came the first time, he redeemed us with his death on the cross. When he returns a second time, he's gonna take us away from all the bad things that happen in this world. So, when he comes, we'll stand tall, excited and ready to spend eternity with our God.

So, Jesus has told us what to do when that last day comes – stand tall and lift up your heads. In the next few verses, he has some instructions for what we should do in the mean time while we wait for that last day. He tells us that we should also stand firm.

It's important that we stand firm because there will be distractions. Jesus tells us, “Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap.” Jesus gets pretty pointed here, naming a couple specific ways that people can get distracted. He tells us to avoid those. The first thing he tells us to avoid is dissipation and drunkenness. “Dissipation” isn't a word we use too much in every day life. Maybe another way to say it would be, “indulgence”. Instead of living a life of indulgence, deny yourself and stand firm while you wait for Jesus to return.

The second thing that he warns us about is “the anxieties of life”. Do you ever find yourself so busy during a day, running from one appointment to another, that you forget to set aside time to spend with God in his Word? Or maybe you're just so exhausted when you come home from work that you just don't have the energy to focus on anything, including your personal devotions. It's probably true of all of us that in one way or another we've been distracted from what's really important by the things of this life. This should not be. That is exactly how people would get distracted and have the last day close on them “like a trap”.

But Jesus knows that we're sinful people and that we'll be tempted to get distracted sometimes. So he tells us how to avoid that. He said, “Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.” Jesus has warned us that bad things are gonna happen. He tells us to watch out, so that we won't be surprised or caught off guard by them. When you're ready for these bad things to happen, you won't be afraid of them, because they will remind you that Jesus is coming soon to take you to be with him.

And he tells us to pray that we won't be overwhelmed by the bad things that will happen. The wonderful thing about this command to pray is that Jesus tells us right here the kind of answer we can expect. He says, “my words will never pass away.” You realize what that means that none of God's promises will ever pass away? Jesus said, “It is finished.” That's never going to change. And God said that nothing can separate you from his love. When we root ourselves in these promises, that's how we stand firm.

There are all sorts of things vying for your attention at this time of year. It'd be easy to get distracted from what's really important. So, as we prepare to celebrate Christ's first coming in a few weeks, we realize that we also prepare for his second coming. We prepare for both by listening to Jesus' call for our attention today. That we stand tall when he comes back, and stand firm until then.