Why We’re Staying

This the newsletter article for the November newsletter at Holy Cross

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

             Yes, you read that right! Today you will hear me announce that I have declined the call to Our Savior Lutheran Church in Aberdeen, South Dakota and St. John’s Lutheran Church in Columbia, South Dakota. I thought about writing 95 Theses that went into the call process that but that would have been a waste of everyone’s time. When it came down to it, there was one thing that remained far more important than anything we saw in South Dakota: Holy Cross needs its current pastor for more than five years. I happen to be that pastor, so I am staying here. 

             That being said, there are few things I would like to ask of you here at Holy Cross. First, please pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ from these congregations in South Dakota. We met absolutely wonderful people on our visit. They care so much about their congregations and their mission in their communities and have a hunger for God’s Word. Both churches have overcome some big issues and have great opportunities to bring more people the Gospel. Pray that God would send them another faithful pastor and send him soon!

            Second, this has been an incredible chance for us to evaluate what’s happening here at Holy Cross. I know that for a few months now I’ve felt complacent. This call has been the swift kick in the pants I need to refocus. I fear the same may be happening to others as well. Could this be the thing that opens our eyes to what God wants us to do here?

             Our congregation is in a good place. The financial situation is better than it was at this time last year. We’ve proven we can work together and support each other. We have dedicated people of all ages and abilities. We are primed for great things here! God has been very good to us.

            Third, I have learned a lot about the more recent history of our congregation. A few weeks ago after I announced the call on October 8, many people said, “Pastor, you don’t know how much you’ve helped us heal.” This has always been hard for me to understand. Most of you saw how bad things were here at one time. I didn’t. I tell people that I just got up, smiled, and talked about Jesus. Had I been sent somewhere else, I wouldn’t have done anything differently. Someone hit the nail on the head by responding, “Yes, but we weren’t getting that before.”

            The good news is this: the Gospel of Jesus Christ continues to be the thing that carries us through. Our complacency and every other sin is forgiven! The forgiveness Jesus won for us on the cross and through the empty tomb really does change lives! I am glad to know that it was not me, but Jesus and His Word that made the difference here at Holy Cross Emma. We say that God works through Word and Sacrament and confess this as an article of faith. Why are we so surprised when we see it happen in our own lives?

Folks, let’s get to work. God isn’t done with us here yet!

Peace in Christ,

Pastor Jacob T. Mueller 

Call Out the Message that I Tell You: a Sermon on Jonah 3:1-5, 10

For the ordination of my dear friend, Rev. Kyle McBee

June 18, 2017

Zion Lutheran Church, Humboldt, Iowa

Click here to watch to the video

In the name of Jesus, dear members of Zion, brothers in the ministry, Cayleigh, Emma, Matt and Debbie, your family and friends, and especially to you, Kyle,

            In one way, for those of us who have known Kyle for a long time today is a huge relief. We made a lot of jokes at his expense about his, how shall I say it, indecisiveness in choosing a career. You weren’t quite sure what you wanted to do. I know that at least once, you made jokes comparing yourself to Jonah for feeling like you were running from God’s call.

            That’s we were really confused when you went and joined the United States Navy. I could see how this was going to play out. You’d be out there somewhere on some boat in the middle of the ocean when the biggest storm anyone has ever seen comes up. All the sailors panic until Kyle comes up to the captain and confesses that he’s been running away from the LORD. Throw him overboard and the sea will become calm.

            Then he’d be swallowed by a huge fish and spit up somewhere near the campus of the seminary in Ft. Wayne. At least that’s how I saw it all playing out in my head.

            Of course, nothing like that ever happened. The Navy must have known something because in three and half years of honorable service to our country, Kyle never once set foot on one of our boats.

            We may joke about this all we want, but really you aren’t anything like Jonah. You were not running away from God, God was preparing you for this moment. Whether it was working at Target, UPS or serving in the Navy, the same thing was true: the LORD was shaping you and forming you to be first the man He wants you to be and now the pastor He wants you to be. The people you met and the experiences you had will help you more than you can imagine as you minister to God’s people here at Zion. And don’t worry. That shaping and forming will continue.

            So the parallel between you and Jonah isn’t the reason I choose this text for today. As we look at this today, we’re going to see the way that God calls people to bring other people to faith. God wants all people to be saved and to come to know Him.

            Look at the man God calls to bring His message to Nineveh. Jonah didn’t want to go the first time God called him, but ran away as far as he could. God had to send a storm and then a great fish to save his life and bring Jonah back. You know the story.

            Why did Jonah run? Was he afraid that the people wouldn’t listen to him? Was he afraid that the King of Nineveh would have him killed? Was he afraid to leave home? No it wasn’t any one of these things. Jonah told God exactly why He didn’t want to go. He says,

“O LORD, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.” (Jonah 4:2)

            Jonah knew that God’s character! He’s actually quoting what God Himself said to the people of Israel after they worshiped the golden calf. This phrase is repeated over and over again throughout the Old Testament. God is gracious and merciful—slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The point is this: God wanted to forgive the people of Nineveh.

This prophet was reluctant because he didn’t want these people to know God’s mercy and grace! Think about it. It says that Nineveh required a three day journey to see it all—Jonah only goes in a one day’s journey. His sermon is only five words long in Hebrew. Give a sermon like that next Sunday, some people will be really excited, some people not so much. 
But what that sermon does is interesting. “Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” Today you think you’re okay, but what about tomorrow—what’s going to happen to you in the future. It’s similar to the question we ask in Ongoing Ambassadors For Christ, “Where do you think you are going to go when you die.” Jonah was more successful than any other prophet—the entire city repents—and he can’t stand it!

            At this point, I should tell you that your pastor warned me a few weeks ago and begged me not to use this text because he said, “Jacob, I actually like these people! Don’t make them think I don’t!” Kyle, as I told you then, that’s actually the point. You do like these people and are excited to serve them.

            But that doesn’t take away one thing. I’ve known you Kyle for a long time and if there’s one thing I know about Kyle, it’s that he is a sinner, just like me. That’s right; Zion Lutheran Church has maintained its perfect record of calling sinners to be pastor.

            Remember where we are at the beginning of our reading today. Jonah is sitting on the beach, covered in fish barf, looking up at the blazing sun for the first time in three days, and wondering what’s next. He’s just disobeyed God big time, and what does God do? God calls Jonah a second time. The call that Jonah receives in 3:2 is nearly word-for-word the same as the call he received in 1:2. The grace, mercy, and steadfast love that Jonah feared would be applied to Nineveh was applied to him first.

            Kyle, the same is true for you. When you were sitting in the own filthy fish vomit of your own sins, God called you to be His own child. He washed you with the water of holy baptism. He covered you with Jesus’ blood, shed on the cross for the forgiveness of your sins. He promised you Christ’s resurrection and eternal life. And now, like Jonah, God has called you to proclaim what you have received to fellow sinners so that they would also know God’s grace.

            Look at the people Jonah speaks to. The great miracle of the Book of Jonah is not that the prophet spent three days as fish barf. It isn’t the vine growing up overnight. The great miracle is that the people—all the people from the least to the greatest—repented and believed. After all, it is still a miracle any time any sinner repents and turns to the LORD with saving faith. This is the power of the Word you declare. It takes hardened sinners and makes them God’s children.  

Twice in the book, Nineveh is called a great city. There are a lot of reasons that people could say that Humboldt, Iowa is a great city. I’ve been here for all of one day and I’ve really enjoyed it. It’s clean and safe. You’ve got parks and walking trails. The economy and population are growing—it’s a great city. Your city has certainly lived up to the hype from its website.

None of these things, however, make Humboldt a great city to God. The Book of Jonah calls Nineveh a “great city to God.” It wasn’t for any of the reasons that make Humboldt great. At that time, Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian Empire—one of the largest empires the world had seen at that time. We also read that a visit to Nineveh required three days to take in all its greatness. This is where the mighty and powerful people lived. This was a great city if there ever was one!

               But God did not call Jonah to go to Nineveh and tell them how great their city was; instead the reluctant prophet was called to call these people to repentance. Nineveh’s greatness was achieved with great cruelty. They would scatter the peoples they conquered throughout their vast empire. The blood of hundreds of thousands of innocent people was on their hands. Nineveh was a city filled with great sin!

            I serve a congregation in Emma, Missouri. For all the joking Missouri and Iowa may do about each other, we really aren’t all that different. If Humboldt is anything like Emma, you’ve got people here who are addicted to drugs and alcohol, people who have no respect for God’s gift of marriage and sexuality, people who hurt each other with divorce, abuse, lies, and general apathy towards their neighbors. You’ve got people who are hurting from the loss of someone they love, who are suffering from cancer, and whose bodies are failing. You are all sinners and you are all effected by sin. We are no better than the Ninevehites. We all need to repent.

               If God would have sent fire and brimstone or an invading army to wipe Nineveh of the face of the earth, everyone would have agreed that the wicked Ninevehites would have gotten was what coming to them. However, God had something else in mind. He sent them someone to speak His Word on His behalf.

               This is why God considered Nineveh to be a great city: they are sinners who need to be called to repent and then need to hear about His grace. Here’s what God says about Nineveh at the end of the book:

“And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?" Jonah 4:11

God cares about them and wants them to hear the message of His love. He was concerned about them because they were lost and God wanted to bring them back. This is why we heard that Jesus had compassion on people in this morning’s Gospel reading. The people were “harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd.” Jesus’ command is that we would then pray that God would call workers into His harvest. Today, God has answered that prayer for Zion, Humboldt.

               Nineveh was about twenty five times bigger than Humboldt, but to the LORD, such distinctions do not matter. God thinks Humboldt is such an important place that He continues to call and gather people to hear His Word. That, Kyle, is why you have been called here. You have been called to speak God’s Word and not your own to a city that He thinks is great because His compassion is greater than we can imagine.

            You have been called to proclaim the One who is greater than Jonah—someone who didn’t spend three days and nights in the belly of a great fish. He spent three days in the heart of the earth. This is of course, our Lord Jesus. In His death, we have clear evidence that God is gracious and merciful to us. We freely receive the forgiveness and life we do not deserve. We see that God is slow to anger—all of His wrath was poured out on His Son and not on you.

This Jesus was crucified for us and was buried. But like it wasn’t possible for the fish to keep Jonah in its stomach, it wasn’t possible for death to hold onto Jesus. It had to throw Him up! He lives to die no more.

            Kyle, the Gospel that you proclaim, that Jesus calls us to believe, is that He has done this: He has lived the perfect life that you could not live. He has died in our place on the cross. And He has risen from the dead so that we would have forgiveness of sins and everlasting life.

In this Jesus, God is moved from judgment to mercy just as He was for the people of Nineveh. God brought this good news to Nineveh through Jonah. For decades now it has been declared here at Zion and you get to be one in a long line of pastors who call people to repentance and declare God’s good news.

Jonah walked into Nineveh alone. He was the only one who knew God. Kyle, you are not alone here. You have hundreds of people in this congregation who have been gathered by the Holy Spirit to hear His Word and work for His kingdom. Already you love them. May the Lord richly bless you as you serve them. Amen. 

Pastor Kyle McBee!

This is proof that a screen shot of someone preaching rarely looks good.

If You're Hesitant about Camp Restore in Detroit, Please Read This!

        We're trying to pull together a mission team of high school and college youth from Holy Cross and Immanuel, Sweet Springs. This team will go to Detroit, MI and help with the new Camp Restore opening there. Here is the link for general information on Camp Restore Detroit.

        Several people have honestly discussed their concern with sending kids to Detroit. I will have to admit, this is honest. Here is a link to a USA today article from October, 2016 ranking America's most dangerous cities. Detroit is number two. (St. Louis is number one and Kansas City is number ten.)

       In light of this concern, I asked Pastor John Carrier, who serves at Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church, Detroit, which is hosting Camp Restore, about this very issue. Here's the email exchange we shared:

(I wrote)

John, 

Thanks again for your answers. I'm sure you'll run into this with other groups. Unfortunately, Detroit doesn't have a great reputation. I've been there I know you guys will take good care of us (and of course evil is everywhere). Is there anything you can do to help other people know they'll be okay there? 

Thanks 

Jacob 

(Pastor Carrier responded)

Jacob,

Thank you for your candor.  While I do not live in the neighborhood (I actually live about an hour away where my wife and I had a home already before I and Mount Calvary began working to develop this ministry), I come and go freely at various times of the night in my vehicle without a great deal of concern, but I would not want to be wandering in this or any unfamiliar neighborhood after dark.  I do walk freely through the neighborhood during the daylight hours.  Although daylight hours will be long during the time of your visit I would not encourage youth or others unfamiliar with the community to wander alone (that is not a good idea in any urban area regardless of the city or neighborhood).  I often walk the sidewalk in front of the Church to greet those walking and driving by on Sunday mornings, and have had my 3 and 4 year old grandsons alongside me doing so as they joined us during VBS week.  I do not expect wandering the neighborhood to be a problem as the trip will be a time of group bonding and service.  I would anticipate that any area of service to the poor, disadvantaged, or those struggling with life's challenges would be in areas of similar concern. While you will provide your own transportation to service sites, either a representative of Camp Restore or the leader of a community partner group with whom we are familiar will guide you there and ensure that you are secure as you serve.  

You might check the web site of "Life Remodeled" to get an idea of some of the service work needed in Detroit.  This group came through our area last summer and  did extensive work with well over a thousand volunteers clearing brush away from buildings and making small repairs on homes.  With the involvement of a former roofing contractor in their efforts, one woman who is a friend of Mount Calvary, even received a new roof.  

You should plan "down time" to include group activities in Detroit, there are many things to see and do here.  You may want to take in 1 or 2 of the local restaurants (Slow's Barbecue is one of my favorites . . . Roma's restaurant is more expensive, but they claim to be the oldest continuous restaurant in Detroit and the oldest Italian restaurant in the United States.  There are museums, Belle Isle, the Detroit Zoo, and Greenfield Village experience sponsored by the Ford Co. in nearby Dearborn, just to name a few of the possibilities for group activities you might want to take an afternoon off to enjoy.  I mention these possibilities as afternoon outings you might want to take as a break from your labors some time during the week. If the Tigers are in town you might choose to spend an evening at a ball game.  

Other "down times" would normally be spent resting from the day's labors and discussing your experiences, especially if your group is divided for your service experience.  We have fencing around much of our property to secure the building. . Our sleeping areas are on the 2nd story of our building, about 2 1/2 stories above the street level. Our fellowship areas are on that floor and in the basement, which is where our gymnasium is located.  We also have a good relationship with Detroit's 9th Precinct and will request extra attention when we have guests in the building.  We have a fenced lot for vehicles which will be locked overnight.  We have a security system in place for overnight and any time the building is unoccupied. Your safety is our first concern. It is certainly in our own best interests, as well as yours, to keep you as safe as possible. I would not invite you to come if I was not confident that all would be safe.

As you might imagine, with less than 25% of the lots occupied by residents, there are not a lot of people to be seen in the evenings outside the Church.  There are quite a number of neglected buildings in need of destruction in our neighborhood, but in the immediate vicinity of the Church most homes on unoccupied parcels have been demolished.  The open areas create sight lines that make it more difficult for anyone to cause us any trouble. The City of Detroit is constantly working to clear uninhabitable buildings and eliminate the problems they can present.  Our efforts to clear away over growth and debris from lots aids in this effort. We also have a well lit exterior discouraging anyone from disturbing the premises.  While I have heard the stories of issues long before I came (as is common in any urban area - I spent 10 years in a blighted area of Chicago), we have had no incidents in the time I have been there and no recent issues of which I am aware.  There have been incidents in the larger community around us, but those have been late-night events or the result of issues between the parties involved.  The suggestion was made that groups might be housed in suburban areas and drive in for events, but that would take the group from the area of service and diminish the impact of the experience.  

    

I have heard Detroit described as "The biggest comeback story" in recent years lately.  All of our major professional sports teams have returned to Detroit after many years of self-imposed "exile" to the suburbs.  Various Detroit entrepreneurs have spent millions, if not billions, of dollars investing in this community.  Downtown street corners that were void of life in the last few years are teaming with people once again and Detroit is the place to be!

I hope the information is helpful.  If there is anything more I can do, please do not hesitate to contact me.

God's blessings as you serve Jesus in all you do!

Pastor John Carrier, Camp Restore - Detroit/Mount Calvary Lutheran Church

17100 Chalmers Ave.

Detroit, MI  48205

      I went to college at Concordia University, Ann Arbor, MI and while I was there I went into Detroit a number of times. I helped an intercity church do evangelism in a not so nice neighborhood and to another downtown church for worship. I attended a concert downtown and went to two or three Tigers games. All of those times I was in a group and never felt unsafe. We would do the very same thing with a group.

Peace in Christ,

Pastor Jacob Mueller      

Salvation Revealed: a Sermon on Isaiah 52:7-10

In the Name of Jesus, the little baby with God’s face, dear fellow redeemed,

                   More than any other Old Testament prophet, Isaiah helps us understand what Jesus means. He paints the most vivid pictures of the Lord’s coming and work for us. Even though he’s writing some seven hundred years before Christmas, Isaiah helps us understand what’s going on with Jesus’ birth.

                   To help us understand what Isaiah’s saying about Jesus’ birth, we’re going to take a look at this picture. You saw it when you came in and it’s in the bulletin. The painting is an Ethiopian rendition of our Lord’s birth and the coming of the Magi. Ethiopia has been a Christian nation since ancient times and has a very long history of Christian art.

There’s one thing that really sticks out about this painting. It’s the eyes. Artists can show you a lot by the way they paint eyes. For example, when you look at a painting, follow the eyes of the people in the painting and they will draw you to the thing the artist wants to make sure you see. In this painting all eyes—even the eyes of the cattle—are on Jesus and His mother. They are looking at each other.

                   One of the features of Ethiopian art is to paint people’s eyes much bigger than they actually are. They’re way out of proportion! You sort of get the feeling that the people in the painting are staring back at you! They did this intentionally to draw you into the picture and into the narrative. [1]

                   Our text says, “The voice of your watchmen—they lift up their voice; together they sing for joy; for eye to eye they see the return of the LORD to Zion.” Here in Isaiah, the eyes are important too. God is coming so close that you can see Him face to face! You can see God and there is joy!

                    We know that this is not the way things usually play out when God shows up. Remember in Genesis 3 when Adam and Eve sinned and then God came walking in the garden? They were afraid to even stand in God’s presence! When Moses saw God in the burning bush he had to cover his face. When God appeared on Mt. Sinai the people asked Moses to speak for God instead of God speaking to them, Even Isaiah, who saw just the train of God’s robe when he was called, knew that standing in God’s presence as a sinner was a really bad thing! In that moment of terror he says, "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; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!" For sinners like us, standing in God’s presence should be the end of us!

                   Even in the New Testament, this trend continues. When Peter has Jesus in his boat and Jesus gives him a miraculous catch of fish, falls down before Him and says, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” When the disciples where with Jesus and saw Him in all His glory at on the Mount of Transfiguration, they could not help but fall down in terror.

                   God’s holiness and human sinfulness simply cannot mix. We cannot stand in God’s presence. We haven’t done the things we should have done. We’ve gone and done things we shouldn’t have done instead. God showing up among us shouldn’t be a good thing. If God is coming to us, we should be terrified!

                   But look again at the people in our picture. None of them have a look of terror in their eyes. None of them have shocked expressions on their face. Even the cattle are at peace. Actually, everyone is smiling in this picture.

                   Why is Christmas different? Why is the LORD’s appearance among us celebrated with joy instead of terror? Why does Isaiah say over and over again in this text that the LORD’s arrival will be marked with singing and rejoicing?

                   The answer is found in the baby. God didn’t come to us in a burning bush, terrifying mountain, or horrible vision, but as a little baby. All of those times God appeared to His people show that God wants to be with us. He isn’t content to let everything drift further and further out of control. He’s steps in and helps His people when they are in trouble.

Every terrifying appearance of God in the Old Testament reaches its fulfillment in this little baby. A baby isn’t scary. His arms have those little rolls that you just want to pinch and squeeze and you just want to count all the toes on His beautiful little feet! We can relate to that. All of us were babies once.

God lets us see Him. Normally looking at God face to face would mean death for sinners. But since Jesus comes like one of us, we can look at Him and He doesn’t have to hide anything. Hebrews 1:3 tells us what this means, “He is the radiance of the glory of God, the exact imprint of His nature.” Here is God’s glory in the face of a little baby. So Mary and Joseph get to look at God eye to eye in the face of the little baby they are holding. There is no terror, only love. They love their baby and their baby loves them—more than they can know.  

Those of you who have held your newborn child know what this is like. You look into the babies eyes and he or she knows you! They’ve been listening to your voice for nine months in the womb and now they recognize you. You’ve been waiting for them and expecting them. It is love at first sight.

The same is true in an even greater way with baby Jesus. We look into His eyes and see the one we’ve been expecting and longing for. He looks at us and He loves us. Not just because He’s been with us for nine months already, but because He made us and He is here to save us.

 “The LORD has bared His holy arm before the eyes of all the nations” The LORD is rolling up His sleeves and He is ready to get to work. We know what that work is going to be. Just a few verses later we hear these words about what will happen to this baby.  

Isaiah 53 says, “He was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have—every one—turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

These beautiful feet would not look pretty covered with blood and with nails sticking through them. These arms would be striped bear and hands nailed to a cross. These are the beautiful feet which have come to bring us good news. This is the arm of the LORD, which stretched out to show God’s salvation to the ends of the earth.

When this would happen, we get to see just what it is like to look into God’s eyes when He is angry. Jesus did that for you so that you don’t have to. He himself is our peace and He brings peace to you.

If that were all there was to Jesus, there wouldn’t be so much joy in Christmas. But His resurrection from the dead gives us joy far beyond anything else this world has to offer. Those feet with nail scars come to bring you good news to you today. That living arm reaches out to embrace you with His love. The little Lord Jesus is our living LORD and redeemer. Whenever He comes there’s reason for us to rejoice.

Look at what happens to the shepherds. After seeing Jesus, they go out with joy to share the good news with everyone! Shepherds are not known for having nice looking feet. But that night the shepherds of Bethlehem had the most beautiful feet in the whole world. That’s because the message they brought was so beautiful, it couldn’t help but make all them as radiant as the sky when the angels appeared to them.

We get to share this good news. We get to have beautiful feet when we bring this good news to our friends and family. All the ends of the earth are going to see this. Look at how this good news has made it to the ends of the earth! Here we are, the children of Europeans, sitting in the United States, looking at a picture made in Ethiopia! In all three of these places, people are celebrating today. They rejoice because Jesus has come for them.

We rejoice too. Usually we celebrate other people’s birthdays by giving them a gift and sharing in their joy that way. We celebrate Jesus’ birthday by giving everyone else presents. What if people celebrated your birthday that way? Imagine someone coming up to you and saying, “Hey man, I’m so excited about your birthday, that I gave everyone else presents!” What would you think?

Jesus doesn’t mind. In fact, we come to God’s house today and He gives us more! Come to His table today and receive the gift that He has for you in the Lord’s Supper. Today we get to see Jesus, not quite like Mary, Joseph and the Shepherds did that first Christmas, but we get to see Him nonetheless. He comes to us today in bread and wine. We get to see Him in a way that we get to touch, taste, and smell. This is how we proclaim His death until He comes again.

He is coming again. There will be a day when we won’t need pictures anymore because we will Him face to face. There will be a day when all the prophecies and promises are fulfilled. There will be a day when sorrow and sadness, disease and dying, trouble and turmoil will all be put to an end. There will be a day when every eye will see that our God reigns!

On that day there will be singing and rejoicing as the tombs are opened and we see Him face to face. First John 3:2 says “We know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.” Our joy today is just a little taste of what that joy will be like—joy that will never end. Amen.

---

[1] http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1996-08-11/news/1996224118_1_ethiopian-art-processional-cross-iconic-art

http://www.thenextcanvas.com/about-ethiopian-art/

An Unexpected Advent Part 1: Unexpected Trouble

A sermon on Judges 2:6-23 

In the Name of Jesus, our Savior, dear fellow redeemed,

The Book of Judges is unfortunately one of the more obscure books of the Bible. We don’t ever get to read it in our regular readings on Sunday mornings. Judges covers roughly three hundred years between the death of Joshua and leads up to the beginning of Israel’s kings. These were dark times in Israel. There are tons of massive battles. If you want “blood and guts Old Testament”, here it is. However, we can’t help but see ourselves as we read this book. [1]

In this reading we have an outline of the book of Judges. There’s a cycle that you can trace through almost every account recorded for us here. First, the people start worshipping other gods. Second, God gives His people over to foreign oppression. Third, the people cry out to the Lord. Fourth, God sends them a Judge to save them. Fifth and finally, the people serve God as long as that Judge lives.

This isn’t just how things happen throughout the book of Judges, but also how things sometimes happen with us. Paul describes the idolatry Israel had committed earlier in their history saying:

“Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.” (1 Corinthians 10:11-12)

Let’s look and see how that can be.

First, Israel strays from the Lord. The people did what was evil in the eyes of the LORD. Instead of worshiping Him alone, they started worshipping Baal and Asherah—the chief god and goddess of the Canaanite pantheon. Because, hey, why have just the LORD bless you, when you can have Baal and Asherah bless you too?   

How could they do this? Don’t they know everything God had done for them?

                   Joshua entered Canaan with the children and grandchildren of those who left Egypt with Moses. Now those generations were all dead. Now we’re talking about the great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren of those who saw the plagues, Passover, and Ten Commandments. They didn’t know what God had done, so they didn’t do what God said.[2]

Are we any different? We stray from the Lord. We may not openly reject the Christian faith and run off to Buddhism or Islam, but we do it in our own way. Think about this: what idols have I set up in God’s place? Maybe it’s money or your job. Maybe it’s friends or fame. Maybe it’s sex or pornography. What am I fearing, loving, or trusting more than the God?

How could we do this? Don’t we remember that everything we have is a gift from the LORD? We worship the gift rather than the giver. Don’t we remember that the LORD has promised never to leave us for forsake us? We are afraid because we don’t think we’re going to have what we need. Don’t we remember that the LORD is faithful to us? We try trusting all sorts of other things.

So, what does the LORD do to His people who stray so often? He allows trouble to come their way. For them, it comes in the form of plunderers who plunder them. That’s what plunderers do.

However, we shouldn’t see this necessarily as punishment. The LORD specifically calls it a test. We see the same word used in verse 22 as is used in Genesis 22 where God tests Abraham by asking him to sacrifice Isaac.

What should we think when we see testing of different sorts in our lives? We know that we are sinners just like ancient Israel. But it isn’t quite the same. They had a specific warning from the LORD. We have the promise that “He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.” Like Israel, God may test us.  This testing doesn’t mean that we’ve rejected God—a lot of people are tempted to think that. God can test unfaithful Israel. And God can test people when they are faithful, like Job.  

                   We shouldn’t understand this as punishment because this is very much what we do to our own children. When our kids are very small, we carry them in our arms. But when the time comes, we help them crawl. A little later, we support them as they learn to walk and catch them when they fall. But when your kids grow up, you’ve got to let them be tested a little more. You’ve got to do things that stretch them. Then they will be ready.

If this is the way we treat our children, think about how the God our Father cares for us. It’s very similar. The LORD carries us. The LORD supports us. He even catches us when we fall. But there are still times when the LORD stretches us. He tests us.[3]

 Sometimes the LORD will strip everything else away from us just so that we know that we have nothing but Him. If we have Him, and Him alone, will that be enough? The LORD does not give us our trials because He knows we can handle them on our own. He gives us trials so that we turn to Him because we can’t handle them on our own. Realizing this, my friends, is faith!

When they realized their idols weren’t helping, Israel cried to the LORD for deliverance. It says, “For the LORD was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who afflicted and oppressed them.” (Judges 2:18) He was ready to hear their prayers; He was ready to save them. Despite their rebellion, Israel was still His people. He had brought them out of Egypt and given them this land. He wasn’t about to let them be destroyed.

And so, we do the same. We cry to the LORD in our trouble. God has compassion on us because we are His people. Through the waters of Baptism, we have been united with Christ in His death and resurrection. We have been made part of God’s people!

The people cry to the LORD and the LORD sends them a savior who saves them, that’s what saviors do. God called different people, placed His Spirit on them, and they went out and did wonderful things. They led the people of God into battle and the LORD won stunning victory after victory for them.

Enemies who had plundered God’s people were plundered. Idols which led Israel astray were torn down. Evil kings were killed. People saw the mighty deeds that the LORD had done for their ancestors in their own lives. Faith was rekindled and hope was renewed.

We cry out to the LORD because the LORD has already sent us a savior who saved us. That’s what our Savior did! God the Father sent Jesus and put the Holy Spirit on Him. He went out and did wonderful things!

Enemies like sickness and disability had to yield when Jesus stepped into people’s lives. Idols like our ego and money are powerless because Jesus gives free forgiveness. Death and the Devil lost their cruel grip over God’s people as Jesus went to the cross for you.

“For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.” (Romans 5:10)

Who would die for people who had rejected Him? Who would die for someone who had replaced him with someone else? Who would die for people who couldn’t care less? Jesus would. Jesus did.

Israel was faithful to the LORD as long as the Judges lived but then fell back into their old ways. Actually, each generation was worse than the last. Again and again people failed to walk in the LORD’s ways. The cycle would start all over again.

                   The cycle throughout the book of Judges is really a downward spiral. You start off with some really great Judges: Othniel, Ehud, Shamgar (there’s one verse about him “After him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who killed 600 of the Philistines with an oxgoad, and he also saved Israel”), and Deborah. You move to guys to who make some bad decisions like Gideon (later in his life), Jephthah (who made a horrible rash vow), and Sampson (who could never get away from foreign women). Then you get to the last five chapters where everything is just an absolute mess! The book ends say, “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”

                   No human Judge or King would be able to bring what the people needed. What we need is Jesus. Those Judges died—every last one of them. Our Savior lives! He lives forever! This is where the cycle is broken for us because Christ is risen from the dead. That’s why we walk in His commands. We have no excuse for falling away if we do. Our leader lives and loves us. Walk in His ways and watch for His coming. Just as our hymn says:

He comes to judge the nations, a terror to His foes,

A light and consolations and blessed hope to those

Who love the Lord’s appearing. O glorious Son now come

Send forth Your beams so cheering, and guide us safely home.[4]

Amen

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[1] Longman III, Tremper and Raymond Dillard. An Introduction to the Old Testament: Second Edition. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2006 p. 133

[2] Franke, John R. Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, Old Testament Volume IV: Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1-2 Samuel. Origen “Knowing and Doing” p. 104 Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 2005.

[3] Franke, Ancient Christian Commentary. John Cassian “Didactic Grace Works Through the Will” p. 108

[4] Gerhardt, Paul “Oh Lord, How Shall I Meet You” verse 7. Lutheran Service Book 334 

“We Thank God for You”

Mrs. Debra Lange celebrated twenty five years of teaching on October 23, 2016 at St. John’s Lutheran Church, New Minden, Illinois. All of those years have been at Trinity-Saint John Lutheran School in Nashville, Illinois. I was her student in fourth grade for the 1995-1996 school year and was asked to come back and preach for the occasion. My goal with this sermon was not to make it about Mrs. Lange, but about Jesus and why Christian education is so important. Mrs. Lange’s service has been a good example to explain this.

In the name of Jesus, who made all things and will complete all things, dear fellow redeemed, especially you, Deb,            

I’m sorry, there’s a nine year old screaming inside of me who still has to call you Mrs. Lange. Today he’s going to win a lot.

            Without thinking of it, we probably use something that we learned from each of our elementary school teachers each day. Fourth grade is kind of a sweet spot. On the one hand, you’ve got kids who are still at least a little interested in school. On the other hand you’ve got kids who have learned enough to start asking some really interesting questions.

You learn a lot in fourth grade. It’s one of the first times you really start taking a look at history. You’ve moved beyond just writing sentences. For us it was the first time we started putting sentences together into paragraphs for essays. I remember that paragraphs had to be at least four sentences long and have an introduction sentence. It’s an important step—the move from grammar to logic. I know I use that skill several times a week. To this day, as I’m writing sermons, I still sometimes look at paragraphs and wonder if they would pass muster for Mrs. Lange.

For all of this and so much more, we thank God for you. That’s what Paul says as he begins his letter to the church at Philippi. As we walk through this text together, we’ll see that we thank God for you for many of the same reasons that Paul thanked God for his friends at Philippi.

“I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.” (Philippians 1:3-5)

            Teaching in a Lutheran School is all about partnership in the Gospel. We heard in Deuteronomy[1] that it is parent’s responsibility to teach their children the faith. Do it when you get up in the morning, when you lie down at night, when you’re driving down the road, and when you’re sitting at the dinner table. Make it a part of you and your home. Kids will consider what you teach them (or don’t teach them) by word and example to be true.

If it is the parent’s job to teach the faith, why do we have Lutheran Schools? We do it because the church, parents, and teachers have something in common. The thing we have in common is very simple. We want people to have faith in Jesus. We know that faith comes by hearing His word. We know that He doesn’t want a day to go by when we don’t have the Holy Spirit using His Word to work on our lives. We just heard[2] that Jesus invites even babies to come and be with Him. So, the church is comes along side families and multiply the work that parents are doing.

Paul touches on why this is so important in the next verse:

“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6)

            God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has sent us the Holy Spirit so that we received faith, either in the water of Holy Baptism or by hearing the word when we were older. Either way, it was all God’s action. He sent Jesus to live for you. He sent Jesus to die for you. He raised Jesus from the dead for you. He started working on us. Faith is the good work God began in us.

            God is going bring our faith to completion when Jesus comes again. That’s “the day of Jesus Christ”. When Jesus comes again faith will no longer be necessary. Instead of believing without seeing, we will both see and believe. Faith will be brought to completion when all of God’s promises are fulfilled when Jesus changes our lowly bodies to be like His glorious body, as Paul would say a few chapters later.

            All through this life, God helps us along. We are baptized. We hear His Word. We receive the Lord’s Supper. We receive encouragement from fellow Christians. Mrs. Lange, for all of us, you have helped us learn God’s Word. You have encouraged us as a sister in Christ.

For most of us you weren’t the first to tell us about Jesus. For most of us you weren’t the last to tell us about Jesus. God has already started working in us and He is far from complete by the time we’re in fourth grade. But we thank you for your work in our life of faith.

As Paul continues, he tells us the main reason why you have been such a help to so many: 

“It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.” (Philippians 1:7)

We are “partakers with you of grace”. You were able to tell us about God’s love because you’ve known that it is true for yourself. Since you have known this in your own life, you are able to share it with others. Let me explain how this works.

Fourth graders have to deal with sin. I’m sure this is something you deal with just about every day. Two boys start squabbling. It quickly turns from shouts, to shoves, to blows. Two girls exclude another girl from their games and then their friendship. Who’s there to stop it, but Mrs. Lange? The beauty of working in a Christian school is that you not only stop the fight, but you care that the kids involved forgive each other.

It’s a good thing we learn this in grade school because we haven’t changed much. As adults we still shout at people and exclude them from our friendships. But this isn’t the playground at TSJ anymore. We don’t have a teacher to stop our fights and heal our friendships. We need to, with the help of the Holy Spirit, do that without a teacher prompting us.

            You are able to help kids with this because you know that you are a sinner. It’s a good thing you’re not perfect, otherwise you would be no help to kids at all when they mess up. But as a fellow sinner, you can share God’s grace with them as someone who has received God’s grace. Grace is more meaningful that way.

            Fourth graders deal with the effects of sin. I’m sure this is something you have to deal with more than you would like. How many kids have come into your class with families and lives broken by divorce? How many kids have dealt with awful diseases and injuries? How many kids have already lost hope? These are fourth graders. They haven’t even been on this planet for a decade! They shouldn’t go through these things. Such is life in a sinful world.

            You are able to help kids with this because you’ve have your own difficult moments in life.[3] You know that Jesus has been there for you. He has comforted you with His love. He has been present with you as you went from doctor to doctor, from one test to another and in and out of surgery. He has neither left you nor forsaken you. Deb, I know that the trials you have been through have been a blessing to us because you know that Jesus carries you through.

            Fourth graders deal with death. When I first found out about today, I thought of my memories from fourth grade. Wednesday, February 29, 1996 we were pulled out of school and drove straight to Ft. Wayne, Indiana where Grandpa Mueller was in the hospital. He would die two days later—the first time in my life anyone I had really known died.

            We missed something like a week of school. But I’m glad I was where I was. Grandpa certainly had faith in Jesus and so did I. Had I not been in a Lutheran school, that faith would still have been strengthened in church, Sunday school, and in our family devotions. But, looking back, I’m so glad that my parents, my church, and my teacher had me in a place where I was hearing about Jesus every day in religion class and doing memory work.

            You’d be surprised, but last year when I was going into surgery for cancer, the words that came to my mind as I went into the operating room to give me comfort where words that I had for memory work for the first time in fourth grade:

I believe that Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the virgin Mary, is MY Lord. Who has redeemed ME, a lost and condemned person, purchased and won ME from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil; now with gold or silver, but with HIS holy precious blood and with HIS innocent suffering and death, that I may be HIS own and live under Him in His kingdom and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, just as He is risen from the dead, lives and reigns to all eternity, This is most certainly true.

            So, kids out there today, that’s why we have you learn memory work. Mrs. Lange has several students, who are already there with the Lord. What they learned from her strengthened their faith and now God has taken them to Himself.

            Paul continues:

 “For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:8)

I don’t know if anyone yearning to go back to fourth grade. Yes, things were simpler then. The biggest thing you had to worry about was the spelling test at the end of the week or maybe some multiplication tables. Fourth grade might not be so bad but who wants to go through middle school, high school, and college again?

Paul is writing this as a pastor. One of the biggest difference between being a pastor and teacher is the length of time you’re called to serve someone. For as pastor, it’s from the time you take the call to the time you accept another call. For a teacher, your call to that group of students mostly happens over the course of one school year. You receive them from one teacher and you get to hand them off to another teacher.

But just because the time is shorter, doesn’t mean your work is less important. Consider this, if the school year is about 180 days, then at six hours a day, you have about 1,080 hours with these kids. Do you know how long it takes to spend 1,080 hours in church? That’s going to church every Sunday for twenty years.

So, if kids are in church every Sunday, by the time they finish fourth grade, they have spent half as much time in church on Sunday morning as they have in the class room in just that one year of school. That’s probably going to be more contact time with you, then with their pastor. A lot of pastors don’t stay for twenty years--Dad. For a lot of your kids they will have more time with you then they ever will have with any one pastor. That’s quite an impact you’re able to make and have made on us. 

            And so Paul concludes:            

 “And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.” (Philippians 1:9-11)

Mrs. Lange, our prayer is the same for you. May your love for your kids and for Jesus abound more and more. May your knowledge of Christ overflow so that you and your students stand together, forgiven and blameless when Jesus comes again. May everything that happens in your classroom and in all our classrooms be to the glory and praise of God.

For twenty-five years you’ve been there for us—giving us Jesus every day. We give thanks for your work among us not just because you’re a great teacher, but because you show us the greatest teacher, Jesus. In His name, Amen.

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[1] The Old Testament reading was Deuteronomy 6:4-9 “You shall teach them [these commands] diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” (Deuteronomy 6:6-9)

[2] The Gospel reading and text for the children’s sermon was Luke 18:15-17. “Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them. And when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called them to him, saying, ‘Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.’”

[3] Mrs. Lange was born with a heart condition and has been blessed to serve in spite of it.