Happy Birthday to my son David! David is 22 years old today! And yes, he was born on a Sunday. And yes, I did miss church that day he was born. In fact, the only time I ever went to bed on a Saturday night without a word being written for my sermon the next day was that night before he was born. He saved me from a really bad Sunday.
Anyway, since it is David’s birthday our Psalm seems very appropriate for a birthday. “Shout for joy to God, all the earth, sing the glory of His name.” We have so many reasons for giving thanks to God. Some say that one way to help battle depression is to think of three reasons to be thankful to God each and every day. The author of the Psalm lists one, “He turned the sea into dry land; they passed through the river on foot.” This refers to the Israelites crossing the Red Sea. And actually, the Israelites didn’t cross the Red Sea. The Hebrew is translated the Sea of Reeds, which does exist. But since everyone grew up with the Red Sea, translators keep it that way. Oh well, what are we supposed to do.
Have you ever met that person who believe everything? My grandmother was like that. I used to tease her to no end. Well, our Proverbs mention that person, “The simple believes everything, but the prudent gives thought to his steps.” My grandmother was far from simple. But she would believe almost anything I said.
Then we have verse 20, “The poor is disliked even by his neighbor, but the rich has many friends.” But are they true friends? Do they like you just for your money? That’s an interesting question. But it’s true! How many times do you see wealthy people with lots of people around them? People want to get close so that they can have some of that wealth. But once again, are they true friends.
Ah yes, it’s gardening time and we have Jesus using the analogy of vine and branches. I was out in my yard today turning over some dirt. I’m tired of constant weeding so I’m putting some sod in an area next to the house that we had some plants but the weeds would get larger than the plants. With 30 people coming for Jan’s folks 50th wedding anniversary, it has to get done this week. But it’s amazing, you seperate a plant from the root and it doesn’t last long. You seperate us from the Word and the Sacraments and our faith won’t last long either. Yes, we can lose our faith. Read below…
Q. Can you lose your salvation and if you can, what do you need to do to regain it again?
A. The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod believes and teaches that it is possible for a true believer to fall from faith, as Scripture itself soberly and repeatedly warns us (1 Cor. 10:12; 1 Pet. 5:8; 2 Pet. 3:17; Heb. 2:1-3; 3:12-19; 6:4-8, etc.). Such warnings are intended for Christians who appear to be lacking a right understanding of the seriousness of their sin and of God’s judgment against sin, and who, therefore, are in danger of developing a false and proud “security” based not on God’s grace, but on their own works, self-righteousness, or freedom to “do as they please.”
By the same token, the LCMS affirms and treasures all of the wonderful passages in Scripture in which God promises that He will never forsake those who trust in Christ Jesus alone for salvation (John 10:27-29; Romans 8; Heb. 13: 5-6, etc.). To those who are truly repentant and recognize their need for God’s grace and forgiveness, such passages are powerful reminders of the true security that is ours through sincere and humble faith in Christ alone for our salvation.
A person may be restored to faith in the same way he or she came to faith in the first place: by repenting of his or her sin and unbelief and trusting completely in the life, death and resurrection of Christ alone for forgiveness and salvation.
Whenever a person does repent and believe, this always takes place by the grace of God alone and by the power of the Holy Spirit working through God’s Word in a person’s heart.
A person can fall away from faith on his own, but requires the Holy Spirit to come to faith. In the Bible there are times when God hardens someone’s heart so he cannot believe. Did this happen because those people were not truly repentant? We receive the Holy Spirit through word and sacrament, though many people who have heard the word still do not believe. Is this because the Holy Spirit did not enter them, or because the Holy Spirit did come to them and they rejected him?
Yes, we are sinful people. It’s good to read a Psalm like this to put us in our place every once and a while. this Psalm is very familiar to us. The end of the Psalm is the basis of the old Offertory in the page 5 and 15 service from TLH. And, this is the Psalm David wrote after being confronted with his sin with Bathsheba. He had committed adultery with her and tried to cover up the pregnancy by having her husband put at the front of the battle lines, resulting in his murder. The Prophet Nathan confronts David and he admits his sin and writes this Psalm. The Psalm is much more meaningful when you know why it was written. It would be wonderful if we knew the background of all the Psalms. Oh well.
Our very first Proverb is so true. One of the things a professor at the Seminary beat into our heads during a counseling class was to speak “soft and slow.” The more sensitive the situation, the softer and slower you need to talk. He said that 70% of communication is nonverbal and so you need to speak softly and slowly. This proverb supports that.
“Better is a little with the fear of the Lord, than great treasure and trouble with it.” Hey, this is so true. I’d rather have little with the Lord, than lots without Him. The Lord is such a blessing to us.
Verse 22 goes against the common saying, “Too many cooks spoil the broth,” when it says, “but with many advisers they succeed.” Same thing isn’t it? But I guess when you get into a rouch situation, it is good to have many advisers. They don’t all need to be in the same place at the same time and ultimately we need to make up our own minds, but having advice from a number of sources is good.
Jesus continues His sermon before He is arrested. This is a long session in John. And you have to remember that John isn’t always one to follow chronological order. Some of what he writes here may have been from sermons at other times, but fit the themes here.
Jesus has two basis themes here, “love one another,” and “the world hates you.” As Christians, we are to love one another. We are his friends. And he loves us. But because of our connection with Jesus, the world hates us. We don’t join the world in the world’s sin, so the world hates us because of Jesus.
Oh well, the clock is telling me to get in the shower so I can get to Jury Duty. Let’s see if I get picked this time.
Good morning. Before I get to today’s writings, I’m going to answer Darcy’s questions from Sunday (I didn’t see them until last night). To be sure, there were times in the Old Testament when God hardened someone’s heart. Pharoah is the big example of this. Basically, I think, Pharoah wasn’t going to let the Israelites go anyway, but just so God could make His point, He made it so that Pharoah really wasn’t going to let the people go until after the Passover plague so that God could show the world that He was the one true God. So yes, those people who had their hearts hardened, weren’t going to convert any way.
To be sure, there are people who hear the Word of God and may even have been baptized and yet to not believe. This is not God’s fault. This is that persons fault. We are stuck between a rock and a hard place. If we become Christian, we don’t get the credit, God does, because we become Christians through the Holy Spirit. If we fall away or never become Christians, it’s our fault for rejecting the Holy Spirit. So, no matter what, we never get credit because it’s God’s work in us.
2 Peter 3:9 says, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, now wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” We believe in universal grace. God offers His grace to everyone through the Holy Spirit working through Word and Sacrament. He wants EVERYONE to come to repentance. If they don’t become Christian, it’s their fault.
Praise the Lord! What can one say but that? Praise the Lord. We got up this morning. We were able to take in nourishment. We are breathing. It’s a good day. Praise the Lord.
God does so many things. The author of the Psalm beings with praising God and then lists the reasons for praising God. He builds up Jerusalem. He heals the brokenhearted. He determines the number of stars. He does all this and for that He is to be praised.
What makes God happy? “but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him in those who hope in his steadfast love.” Our respect for God is what makes God happy. And this is actually a good transition to the Proverbs section. Look at verse six. “and my the fear of the Lord one turns away from evil.” Now, this isn’t like when we were kids and when we got in trouble in school we knew we would get in trouble at home, no questions asked. So we didn’t act up at school because we were afraid of what was going to happen at home. That’s not the fear of the Lord.
The fear of the Lord is awe and respect. We respect God’s power. We respect His majesty. We respect His Office as God. No matter whether you respect a certain president or voted for him, you still have to respect the office of the presidency because it’s the presidency. That’s how it is with God. We respect Him and so we do turn away from evil just because He’s God.
But verse three is good too. “Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.” My dad was a custodian for the school district where I grew up. It was the perfect job for my dad. He was good at cleaning. He liked his job and did a great job of it. And basically at the root of it all was that he was cleaning toilets for the Lord. You don’t have to be a pastor to work for the Lord. You can be a custodian, or work in a library, or a doctor’s office, or construction, or whatever and do the best you can at that job because you are doing it for the Lord who gave you the job in the first place.
In the Gospel lesson we get a little lesson on the Holy Spirit and also of the Trinity. Once Jesus dies and is resurrected, He returns to the Father to send the Holy Spirit. Now, we know the disciples already had the Holy Spirit. One cannot say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit. But Jesus was going to send the Holy Spirit to the disciples to reveal more of God’s working to them. The Holy Spirit helps them understand more of what Jesus was telling them while He was with them. Why the Spirit couldn’t just come, is beyond me. That’s up to God. I don’t understand those things. I just leave it up to the Word. Jesus says the Spirit won’t come until Jesus ascends, and I take His word at that.
But once again, our faith is so tied up in that Spirit. And that Spirit works through the Word and Sacrament. Can the Spirit work directly in a person, absolutely. He is God. He can do what He wants. But we focus on the Word and Sacrament because we have the Promise that the Spirit Works through Word and Sacrament, so we might as well trust in the promise.
Anyway, it looks like another beautiful day. Enjoy these blessings from the Lord.
Another day (though it may be raining) another day to give thanks to the Lord. First thing this morning, I get a message from someone who lost their job yesterday. It just keeps getting worse and worse. But, we continue to give thanks to the Lord just the same. No matter what happens here, we are going to heaven.
From the north, south, east and west, we give thanks to the Lord. Our Lord is Lord over all. When we get into trouble, we call on the Lord and He hears us and answer us and then we know that He is the Lord. He may not answer us today. He may not answer us tomorrow. But He will answer. He will help us. He will listen to us. “For He satisfies the longing soul.” That’s what He does.
Have you ever noticed, as you get older, your patience for noise in the house gets lower and lower (unless it’s from a surround sound movie). So, verse one of our Proverb is very meaningful to me. I don’t want a house full of feasting with strife. I want the quiet. And what about verse five? “Whoever mocks the poor insults his Maker.” Why is that? (He asks knowing the answer) First, our Lord created us. If you insult what He creates, you are insulting Him. Second, it is our Lord who distributes the wealth. If you insult someone for being poor, and God is the one who distributed what little he has, you are again insulting the Lord. So in essence, you insult the Lord twice. Solomon was indeed wise.
Then there is verse ten, “A rebuke goes deeper into a man of understanding than a hundred blows into a fool.” Meaning: if I make a mistake and you correct me (assuming I am a man of understanding), I’m going to take it to heart and make corrections. But with a fool, you can talk until you are blue in the face and it is not going to do any good. He just don’t get it.
Finally, verse 28, “Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.” What do we say today, “Open mouth, insert foot.” Silence is smart. Better not to say something than to say something dumb or wrong. If you want to appear wise, be silent.
Jesus gets arrested Saturday. So until then, He continues to instruct His disciples. Today, He triest to let them know that the next few days are going to be rough, but then, it will be okay. “A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me.” In other words, “I’m going to die. But I’m going to rise from the dead.” Even if He did say it that clearly, they would not have understood. They are just in a tough situation.
Of key importance is the promise, “whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.” Lord, just give these people here in Racine some jobs. Give those poor autoworkers in Detroit some jobs. It’s not fun out there. But as I said yesterday, we have breathing. We are able to take in nourishment. We have reason to thank God.
If you read through the Bible, you will find many signs that our Lord gives us about the end of the world. When it comes down to it, all those signs have been fulfilled except one, that the Gospel be preached to all nations of the world. This is one big accomplishment, yet it is an important one. I bring this up because of verse nine of our Psalm, “All the nations you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord.” See those three words, “All the nations.” In heaven, there will be representatives of all nations, tribes, people and languages. That’s how important evangelism is.
Unity seems to be another theme for today. “Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name.” It is our Lord, specifically, the Holy Spirit who teaches us about God and His ways. Adam and Eve were perfectly untied to God. They thought, felt, wanted everything that God thought, felt and wanted. The Holy Spirit has to teach us what they just knew. Again, this is very important work.
There are a few interesting proverbs today. Verse thirteen, “Love not sleep, lest you come to poverty.” Is this the Bible’s version of the early bird gets the worm? I don’t have to worry about this one. I woke up this morning with the oven beeping. We did a self cleaning cycle last night and aparently, once it finishes it beeps until you turn it off. How stupid since almost everyone does a self clean over night. Then, our bathroom clock decided to sound its alarm too. Even thought I had taped the alarm down so it wouldn’t go off. For some reason, I was meant to be up early today.
“Bread gained by deceit is sweet to a man, but afterward his mouth will be full of gravel.” This is a graphic proverb. Can you imagine a mouth full of gravel? At first glance, the sweetness of stealing bread by deceit seems cool. But afterward, it’s all gravel.
Can you say, “prodigal son?” “An inheritance gained hastily in the beginning will not be blessed in the end.” For that son to ask for his inheritance before his father dies was basically saying that he was already dead to him. And then to waste the inheritance, that was just terrible. Proverbs does contain much wisdom.
Finally, in John we are at the High Priestly Prayer. This is the prayer Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane before his arrest. The first thing He prays for is the Father’s glory. The Father is to be glorified by Jesus’ death. For us, that seems odd. Crucifixion was intended to humiliate. That’s why they were crucified nude (except for Jews – they had a huge problem with nudity). But, because God’s plan of salvation was accomplished in the crucifixion, the Father is glorified.
Then Jesus prays for the disciples, the 11 (12, minus Judas). He prayes that they be kept safe and in the faith. That they be kept one as Jesus and the Father are one. See, again, the prayer is for unity. We were one in the beginning before sin and the crucifixion is meant to create that unity between God and man again. Atonement is at – one – ment.
Well, I need to get ready for the day. Have a blessed one.
PSALM 31:9-10, 14-19
PROVERBS 22:1-21
JOHN 18:1-14
Ever feel like the Psalmist, in distress, eyes puffy from so my crying, your body just wasting away? We’ve all had times when we have felt like that. And after a while, we run to God for help and He helps. Too bad we don’t learn to run to Him right away.
This is one of David’s Psalms and yes, he knows how miserable life can be. He spent years fleeing from King Saul. Yet, he understands that his “strength fails because of my iniquity.” It was his sin that got him in trouble. But still, his trust is in God. He knows that he will be forgiven.
Memorize Proverbs 22:6 and teach it to your children, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” Children need to know that they are children and that parents are parents and parents need to train and discipline and parent their children and stop being their friends and buddys. Ok, enough of that sermon.
That’s all I have to say about the proverbs today.
Jesus’ last long day begins. He’s arrested in the Garden. They come to Him and He seems to take control and asks twice, “whom do you seek.” When Peter takes out his sword, Jesus is the one who controls him and tells him to put it away. One would think that the guards would pounce on him and kill him for that, but that doesn’t happen. Jesus heals up the ear and they all go along their merry way (ok, maybe not so merry).
They take Him to Annas for His first trial. And the whole terrible story begins. But we know where this is going to go and it’s going to be a happy ending.
Days come and days go, but God will be God forever. Governments come and go, but God has been God over them all. Forget the ivory palaces and the gold and the silver, God is God forever. Because we are God’s people, He gives us what is really important, love, forgiveness, His Son and His Spirit, His Word and Sacraments and Eternal life. That’s all that we need.
Here is some good advice, “Make no friendship with a man given to anger, nor go with a wrathful man, lest you learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare.” We have to becareful of who we associate with.
And in these tough economic times, maybe we should put this Proverb on a billboard on Wall Street, “Do not toil to acquire wealth; be discerning enough to desist. When your eyes light on it, it is gone, for suddenly it sprouts wings, flying like an eagle toward heaven.” Isn’t that what we have seen in the last couple years?
So, Peter denies knowing Jesus. Is that any different from Judas betraying Him? Both had warnings. Both did the nasty deed. Both were sorry for what they did. What’s the difference? Throw St. Paul into the discussion as well. He arrested members of the church to be put to death. All three of these men did terrible things. Two repented. Two saw the resurrected Jesus and went on the receive forgiveness and eternal life. Judas took his own life, never repented, never saw the resurrected Jesus and never received that forgiveness. That’s why he is in hell.
Jesus stands before Annas and is questioned by him. Jesus is right, He preached openly in the temple, why be questioned in private. They really didn’t get anywhere questioning Him here. Jesus might be in handcuffs, but He wins the argument. Since Annas can’t get anywhere with Him, they send Him to Caiaphas to see if he can get anywhere. For some reason, John doesn’t record the meeting with Caiaphas. Maybe it was because he wasn’t there to see it. Does he wait outside and then follow everyone over to Pilate’s place? That would almost be my guess.
So Jesus goes before Pilate and guess what? Pilate wants to let Him go. “I find no guilt in him.” Pilate talks to Him and the crowd a number of times and continually finds Him not guity. He even tries to let Jesus go free by offering up Barabbas, but we know where that goes.
When it comes down to it, this was all part of God’s plan to forgive our sins and win eternal life for us. Thank you Lord Jesus.
SUNDAY, JUNE 14, 2009
Psalm 66:1-8
Proverbs 14:1-27
John 15:1-11
Happy Birthday to my son David! David is 22 years old today! And yes, he was born on a Sunday. And yes, I did miss church that day he was born. In fact, the only time I ever went to bed on a Saturday night without a word being written for my sermon the next day was that night before he was born. He saved me from a really bad Sunday.
Anyway, since it is David’s birthday our Psalm seems very appropriate for a birthday. “Shout for joy to God, all the earth, sing the glory of His name.” We have so many reasons for giving thanks to God. Some say that one way to help battle depression is to think of three reasons to be thankful to God each and every day. The author of the Psalm lists one, “He turned the sea into dry land; they passed through the river on foot.” This refers to the Israelites crossing the Red Sea. And actually, the Israelites didn’t cross the Red Sea. The Hebrew is translated the Sea of Reeds, which does exist. But since everyone grew up with the Red Sea, translators keep it that way. Oh well, what are we supposed to do.
Have you ever met that person who believe everything? My grandmother was like that. I used to tease her to no end. Well, our Proverbs mention that person, “The simple believes everything, but the prudent gives thought to his steps.” My grandmother was far from simple. But she would believe almost anything I said.
Then we have verse 20, “The poor is disliked even by his neighbor, but the rich has many friends.” But are they true friends? Do they like you just for your money? That’s an interesting question. But it’s true! How many times do you see wealthy people with lots of people around them? People want to get close so that they can have some of that wealth. But once again, are they true friends.
Ah yes, it’s gardening time and we have Jesus using the analogy of vine and branches. I was out in my yard today turning over some dirt. I’m tired of constant weeding so I’m putting some sod in an area next to the house that we had some plants but the weeds would get larger than the plants. With 30 people coming for Jan’s folks 50th wedding anniversary, it has to get done this week. But it’s amazing, you seperate a plant from the root and it doesn’t last long. You seperate us from the Word and the Sacraments and our faith won’t last long either. Yes, we can lose our faith. Read below…
Q. Can you lose your salvation and if you can, what do you need to do to regain it again?
A. The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod believes and teaches that it is possible for a true believer to fall from faith, as Scripture itself soberly and repeatedly warns us (1 Cor. 10:12; 1 Pet. 5:8; 2 Pet. 3:17; Heb. 2:1-3; 3:12-19; 6:4-8, etc.). Such warnings are intended for Christians who appear to be lacking a right understanding of the seriousness of their sin and of God’s judgment against sin, and who, therefore, are in danger of developing a false and proud “security” based not on God’s grace, but on their own works, self-righteousness, or freedom to “do as they please.”
By the same token, the LCMS affirms and treasures all of the wonderful passages in Scripture in which God promises that He will never forsake those who trust in Christ Jesus alone for salvation (John 10:27-29; Romans 8; Heb. 13: 5-6, etc.). To those who are truly repentant and recognize their need for God’s grace and forgiveness, such passages are powerful reminders of the true security that is ours through sincere and humble faith in Christ alone for our salvation.
A person may be restored to faith in the same way he or she came to faith in the first place: by repenting of his or her sin and unbelief and trusting completely in the life, death and resurrection of Christ alone for forgiveness and salvation.
Whenever a person does repent and believe, this always takes place by the grace of God alone and by the power of the Holy Spirit working through God’s Word in a person’s heart.
A person can fall away from faith on his own, but requires the Holy Spirit to come to faith. In the Bible there are times when God hardens someone’s heart so he cannot believe. Did this happen because those people were not truly repentant? We receive the Holy Spirit through word and sacrament, though many people who have heard the word still do not believe. Is this because the Holy Spirit did not enter them, or because the Holy Spirit did come to them and they rejected him?
MONDAY, JUNE 15, 2009
Psalm 51:1-12
Proverbs 15:1-29
John 15:12-27
Yes, we are sinful people. It’s good to read a Psalm like this to put us in our place every once and a while. this Psalm is very familiar to us. The end of the Psalm is the basis of the old Offertory in the page 5 and 15 service from TLH. And, this is the Psalm David wrote after being confronted with his sin with Bathsheba. He had committed adultery with her and tried to cover up the pregnancy by having her husband put at the front of the battle lines, resulting in his murder. The Prophet Nathan confronts David and he admits his sin and writes this Psalm. The Psalm is much more meaningful when you know why it was written. It would be wonderful if we knew the background of all the Psalms. Oh well.
Our very first Proverb is so true. One of the things a professor at the Seminary beat into our heads during a counseling class was to speak “soft and slow.” The more sensitive the situation, the softer and slower you need to talk. He said that 70% of communication is nonverbal and so you need to speak softly and slowly. This proverb supports that.
“Better is a little with the fear of the Lord, than great treasure and trouble with it.” Hey, this is so true. I’d rather have little with the Lord, than lots without Him. The Lord is such a blessing to us.
Verse 22 goes against the common saying, “Too many cooks spoil the broth,” when it says, “but with many advisers they succeed.” Same thing isn’t it? But I guess when you get into a rouch situation, it is good to have many advisers. They don’t all need to be in the same place at the same time and ultimately we need to make up our own minds, but having advice from a number of sources is good.
Jesus continues His sermon before He is arrested. This is a long session in John. And you have to remember that John isn’t always one to follow chronological order. Some of what he writes here may have been from sermons at other times, but fit the themes here.
Jesus has two basis themes here, “love one another,” and “the world hates you.” As Christians, we are to love one another. We are his friends. And he loves us. But because of our connection with Jesus, the world hates us. We don’t join the world in the world’s sin, so the world hates us because of Jesus.
Oh well, the clock is telling me to get in the shower so I can get to Jury Duty. Let’s see if I get picked this time.
Have a blessed day.
Good morning. Before I get to today’s writings, I’m going to answer Darcy’s questions from Sunday (I didn’t see them until last night). To be sure, there were times in the Old Testament when God hardened someone’s heart. Pharoah is the big example of this. Basically, I think, Pharoah wasn’t going to let the Israelites go anyway, but just so God could make His point, He made it so that Pharoah really wasn’t going to let the people go until after the Passover plague so that God could show the world that He was the one true God. So yes, those people who had their hearts hardened, weren’t going to convert any way.
To be sure, there are people who hear the Word of God and may even have been baptized and yet to not believe. This is not God’s fault. This is that persons fault. We are stuck between a rock and a hard place. If we become Christian, we don’t get the credit, God does, because we become Christians through the Holy Spirit. If we fall away or never become Christians, it’s our fault for rejecting the Holy Spirit. So, no matter what, we never get credit because it’s God’s work in us.
2 Peter 3:9 says, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, now wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” We believe in universal grace. God offers His grace to everyone through the Holy Spirit working through Word and Sacrament. He wants EVERYONE to come to repentance. If they don’t become Christian, it’s their fault.
I hope that answers the question.
TUESDAY, JUNE 16, 2009
PSALM 147:1-11
PROVERBS 16:1-24
JOHN 16:1-16
Praise the Lord! What can one say but that? Praise the Lord. We got up this morning. We were able to take in nourishment. We are breathing. It’s a good day. Praise the Lord.
God does so many things. The author of the Psalm beings with praising God and then lists the reasons for praising God. He builds up Jerusalem. He heals the brokenhearted. He determines the number of stars. He does all this and for that He is to be praised.
What makes God happy? “but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him in those who hope in his steadfast love.” Our respect for God is what makes God happy. And this is actually a good transition to the Proverbs section. Look at verse six. “and my the fear of the Lord one turns away from evil.” Now, this isn’t like when we were kids and when we got in trouble in school we knew we would get in trouble at home, no questions asked. So we didn’t act up at school because we were afraid of what was going to happen at home. That’s not the fear of the Lord.
The fear of the Lord is awe and respect. We respect God’s power. We respect His majesty. We respect His Office as God. No matter whether you respect a certain president or voted for him, you still have to respect the office of the presidency because it’s the presidency. That’s how it is with God. We respect Him and so we do turn away from evil just because He’s God.
But verse three is good too. “Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.” My dad was a custodian for the school district where I grew up. It was the perfect job for my dad. He was good at cleaning. He liked his job and did a great job of it. And basically at the root of it all was that he was cleaning toilets for the Lord. You don’t have to be a pastor to work for the Lord. You can be a custodian, or work in a library, or a doctor’s office, or construction, or whatever and do the best you can at that job because you are doing it for the Lord who gave you the job in the first place.
In the Gospel lesson we get a little lesson on the Holy Spirit and also of the Trinity. Once Jesus dies and is resurrected, He returns to the Father to send the Holy Spirit. Now, we know the disciples already had the Holy Spirit. One cannot say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit. But Jesus was going to send the Holy Spirit to the disciples to reveal more of God’s working to them. The Holy Spirit helps them understand more of what Jesus was telling them while He was with them. Why the Spirit couldn’t just come, is beyond me. That’s up to God. I don’t understand those things. I just leave it up to the Word. Jesus says the Spirit won’t come until Jesus ascends, and I take His word at that.
But once again, our faith is so tied up in that Spirit. And that Spirit works through the Word and Sacrament. Can the Spirit work directly in a person, absolutely. He is God. He can do what He wants. But we focus on the Word and Sacrament because we have the Promise that the Spirit Works through Word and Sacrament, so we might as well trust in the promise.
Anyway, it looks like another beautiful day. Enjoy these blessings from the Lord.
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17, 2009
PSALM 107:1-9
PROVERBS 17:1-28
JOHN 16:17-33
Another day (though it may be raining) another day to give thanks to the Lord. First thing this morning, I get a message from someone who lost their job yesterday. It just keeps getting worse and worse. But, we continue to give thanks to the Lord just the same. No matter what happens here, we are going to heaven.
From the north, south, east and west, we give thanks to the Lord. Our Lord is Lord over all. When we get into trouble, we call on the Lord and He hears us and answer us and then we know that He is the Lord. He may not answer us today. He may not answer us tomorrow. But He will answer. He will help us. He will listen to us. “For He satisfies the longing soul.” That’s what He does.
Have you ever noticed, as you get older, your patience for noise in the house gets lower and lower (unless it’s from a surround sound movie). So, verse one of our Proverb is very meaningful to me. I don’t want a house full of feasting with strife. I want the quiet. And what about verse five? “Whoever mocks the poor insults his Maker.” Why is that? (He asks knowing the answer) First, our Lord created us. If you insult what He creates, you are insulting Him. Second, it is our Lord who distributes the wealth. If you insult someone for being poor, and God is the one who distributed what little he has, you are again insulting the Lord. So in essence, you insult the Lord twice. Solomon was indeed wise.
Then there is verse ten, “A rebuke goes deeper into a man of understanding than a hundred blows into a fool.” Meaning: if I make a mistake and you correct me (assuming I am a man of understanding), I’m going to take it to heart and make corrections. But with a fool, you can talk until you are blue in the face and it is not going to do any good. He just don’t get it.
Finally, verse 28, “Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.” What do we say today, “Open mouth, insert foot.” Silence is smart. Better not to say something than to say something dumb or wrong. If you want to appear wise, be silent.
Jesus gets arrested Saturday. So until then, He continues to instruct His disciples. Today, He triest to let them know that the next few days are going to be rough, but then, it will be okay. “A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me.” In other words, “I’m going to die. But I’m going to rise from the dead.” Even if He did say it that clearly, they would not have understood. They are just in a tough situation.
Of key importance is the promise, “whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.” Lord, just give these people here in Racine some jobs. Give those poor autoworkers in Detroit some jobs. It’s not fun out there. But as I said yesterday, we have breathing. We are able to take in nourishment. We have reason to thank God.
See some of you folks tonight. Have a dry day.
THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2009
PSALM 86:9-17
PROVERBS 20:5-25
JOHN 17:1-26
If you read through the Bible, you will find many signs that our Lord gives us about the end of the world. When it comes down to it, all those signs have been fulfilled except one, that the Gospel be preached to all nations of the world. This is one big accomplishment, yet it is an important one. I bring this up because of verse nine of our Psalm, “All the nations you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord.” See those three words, “All the nations.” In heaven, there will be representatives of all nations, tribes, people and languages. That’s how important evangelism is.
Unity seems to be another theme for today. “Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name.” It is our Lord, specifically, the Holy Spirit who teaches us about God and His ways. Adam and Eve were perfectly untied to God. They thought, felt, wanted everything that God thought, felt and wanted. The Holy Spirit has to teach us what they just knew. Again, this is very important work.
There are a few interesting proverbs today. Verse thirteen, “Love not sleep, lest you come to poverty.” Is this the Bible’s version of the early bird gets the worm? I don’t have to worry about this one. I woke up this morning with the oven beeping. We did a self cleaning cycle last night and aparently, once it finishes it beeps until you turn it off. How stupid since almost everyone does a self clean over night. Then, our bathroom clock decided to sound its alarm too. Even thought I had taped the alarm down so it wouldn’t go off. For some reason, I was meant to be up early today.
“Bread gained by deceit is sweet to a man, but afterward his mouth will be full of gravel.” This is a graphic proverb. Can you imagine a mouth full of gravel? At first glance, the sweetness of stealing bread by deceit seems cool. But afterward, it’s all gravel.
Can you say, “prodigal son?” “An inheritance gained hastily in the beginning will not be blessed in the end.” For that son to ask for his inheritance before his father dies was basically saying that he was already dead to him. And then to waste the inheritance, that was just terrible. Proverbs does contain much wisdom.
Finally, in John we are at the High Priestly Prayer. This is the prayer Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane before his arrest. The first thing He prays for is the Father’s glory. The Father is to be glorified by Jesus’ death. For us, that seems odd. Crucifixion was intended to humiliate. That’s why they were crucified nude (except for Jews – they had a huge problem with nudity). But, because God’s plan of salvation was accomplished in the crucifixion, the Father is glorified.
Then Jesus prays for the disciples, the 11 (12, minus Judas). He prayes that they be kept safe and in the faith. That they be kept one as Jesus and the Father are one. See, again, the prayer is for unity. We were one in the beginning before sin and the crucifixion is meant to create that unity between God and man again. Atonement is at – one – ment.
Well, I need to get ready for the day. Have a blessed one.
FRIDAY, JUNE 19, 2009
PSALM 31:9-10, 14-19
PROVERBS 22:1-21
JOHN 18:1-14
Ever feel like the Psalmist, in distress, eyes puffy from so my crying, your body just wasting away? We’ve all had times when we have felt like that. And after a while, we run to God for help and He helps. Too bad we don’t learn to run to Him right away.
This is one of David’s Psalms and yes, he knows how miserable life can be. He spent years fleeing from King Saul. Yet, he understands that his “strength fails because of my iniquity.” It was his sin that got him in trouble. But still, his trust is in God. He knows that he will be forgiven.
Memorize Proverbs 22:6 and teach it to your children, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” Children need to know that they are children and that parents are parents and parents need to train and discipline and parent their children and stop being their friends and buddys. Ok, enough of that sermon.
That’s all I have to say about the proverbs today.
Jesus’ last long day begins. He’s arrested in the Garden. They come to Him and He seems to take control and asks twice, “whom do you seek.” When Peter takes out his sword, Jesus is the one who controls him and tells him to put it away. One would think that the guards would pounce on him and kill him for that, but that doesn’t happen. Jesus heals up the ear and they all go along their merry way (ok, maybe not so merry).
They take Him to Annas for His first trial. And the whole terrible story begins. But we know where this is going to go and it’s going to be a happy ending.
SATURDAY, JUNE 20, 2009
PSALM 45:6-12
PROVERBS 22:22-23:12
JOHN 18:15-40
Days come and days go, but God will be God forever. Governments come and go, but God has been God over them all. Forget the ivory palaces and the gold and the silver, God is God forever. Because we are God’s people, He gives us what is really important, love, forgiveness, His Son and His Spirit, His Word and Sacraments and Eternal life. That’s all that we need.
Here is some good advice, “Make no friendship with a man given to anger, nor go with a wrathful man, lest you learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare.” We have to becareful of who we associate with.
And in these tough economic times, maybe we should put this Proverb on a billboard on Wall Street, “Do not toil to acquire wealth; be discerning enough to desist. When your eyes light on it, it is gone, for suddenly it sprouts wings, flying like an eagle toward heaven.” Isn’t that what we have seen in the last couple years?
So, Peter denies knowing Jesus. Is that any different from Judas betraying Him? Both had warnings. Both did the nasty deed. Both were sorry for what they did. What’s the difference? Throw St. Paul into the discussion as well. He arrested members of the church to be put to death. All three of these men did terrible things. Two repented. Two saw the resurrected Jesus and went on the receive forgiveness and eternal life. Judas took his own life, never repented, never saw the resurrected Jesus and never received that forgiveness. That’s why he is in hell.
Jesus stands before Annas and is questioned by him. Jesus is right, He preached openly in the temple, why be questioned in private. They really didn’t get anywhere questioning Him here. Jesus might be in handcuffs, but He wins the argument. Since Annas can’t get anywhere with Him, they send Him to Caiaphas to see if he can get anywhere. For some reason, John doesn’t record the meeting with Caiaphas. Maybe it was because he wasn’t there to see it. Does he wait outside and then follow everyone over to Pilate’s place? That would almost be my guess.
So Jesus goes before Pilate and guess what? Pilate wants to let Him go. “I find no guilt in him.” Pilate talks to Him and the crowd a number of times and continually finds Him not guity. He even tries to let Jesus go free by offering up Barabbas, but we know where that goes.
When it comes down to it, this was all part of God’s plan to forgive our sins and win eternal life for us. Thank you Lord Jesus.