New Year’s Resolution?

Well, it’s New Year’s Eve! You know what that means…time to make your resolutions for the New Year!

Except…I don’t do those. Maybe you don’t either. So why are you reading this?

You’re reading this because I want you to make a life-resolution: Read your Bible more! There God tells us about his Son, our Savior, he strengthens our faith, he helps us apply his will for our lives. What is keeping us from reading the Bible more?

Maybe you shouldn’t answer that. There are lots of things you might think are keeping you from reading the Bible more, but the fact is, they’re just excuses. I want you to stop making those excuses and start making plans for reading God’s Word on a regular basis.

This is the first in what will (eventually) be several posts on plans that will help you read the Bible more. I hope they help! Through the Bible in 3 years

One of the excuses often brought up to Bible reading is “I don’t have the time.” Well, you probably don’t have time to sit and read the entire Bible in one sitting. But you likely do have time to read a little bit. The WELS website has a nice plan set up to get through the entire Bible in 3 years. The site is http://www.wels.net/spiritual-help/through-my-bible . Every day the site is updated with the current reading to get through the Bible in 3 years. If you don’t get to it and want to see past readings, you can find them in the archive link on that same page. You can even download a file with the entire 3-year schedule of readings if you’d rather.

These are not long readings. They’re probably as long as this post. You have time to do this if you use the internet regularly. How long do you spend on other websites? You have enough time to read the Bible!

As I mentioned before, I hope this and the eventual future posts help you to read God’s Word more. If you have any other ideas or plans that work for you, feel free to leave them in the comments.  God’s blessings to you in 2010!

Why So Harsh?

In my Bible reading a couple days ago, I came across something that made my stomach turn. I had read these verses before in the past, but for whatever reason they hit me especially hard now.

“Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself am against you, Jerusalem, and I will inflict punishment on you in the sight of the nations. Because of all your detestable idols, I will do to you what I have never done before and will never do again. Therefore in your midst fathers will eat their children, and children will eat their fathers. I will inflict punishment on you and will scatter all your survivors to the winds.” (Ezekiel 5:8-10)

The situation described here is the siege of Jerusalem before the city finally fell to the Babylonians in 587 BC. The idea of someone so  desperate that they would become a cannibal and eat their own child or parent makes us sick. But even more amazing in these verses is that this was God’s punishment. He drove them to this.

And we think, “Why?” How could God be so harsh and so severe with his punishment? In some ways it just doesn’t seem fair.

God explains exactly why he was so harsh in the next verse: “Therefore, as I live, declares the Lord God, surely, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your detestable things and with all your abominations, therefore I will withdraw. My eye will not spare, and I will have no pity.” (Ezekiel 5:11) The people had put up idols in God’s temple, repeatedly breaking his first commandment. That’s why he punished them.

But still, we think, “Why so harsh?”

The thing is, though, that God’s law is always harsh. Even when God doesn’t drive people to cannibalism because of their sinful situation, his law is unrelentingly harsh: “The wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23) Every sin deserves death, and not just physical death, eternal death in hell. Nothing could be “harsher” than that.

But the Bible also gives us another teaching: the Gospel. The Gospel is the Good News that God did something about our sins by sending his Son (John 3:16). He sent Jesus to pay the punishment of hell our  sins deserved (2 Cor. 5:21). The faith that God gives us to trust in Jesus is how we get the eternal life that Jesus’ perfect life won. “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom. 6:23)

This distinction of the teachings of “law” and “Gospel” is something the Lutheran church is especially known for. It also just happens to be the two main teachings of the Bible. Every time we squirm at how harsh God seems toward sin, we need to remember that as harsh as he is in his law, his love shines forth in his Gospel. In fact, it’s the law’s very harshness that helps us appreciate the Gospel’s sweet comfort.

The edition of Luther’s Catechism that I use to teach young people the basic truths of the Bible has a helpful diagram on these two main teachings:

(Luther’s Catechism,p. 38 Northwestern Publishing House, 1998)

The harshness of God’s law leads to the beauty of his Gospel in Christ. As you read the Bible, never forget this!

Attend To and Abide With the Word

Sometimes people mistakenly think that Lutherans worship Martin Luther, or that Luther somehow spoke like an oracle whose words must be prized above all others. That’s not how it works, though. Luther pointed, not to his own words, but to God’s Word. In the same way, we use Luther’s writings today, not because they are Luther’s words, but because they expound on and point to God’s Word, which hold out Jesus Christ and his life and death as the only way of salvation.

So, I was excited recently to get the newest volume of the American Edition of Luther’s Works.  The entire book is sermons relating to John 17-20. I’ve just started reading it, but it has been excellent so far. The following quote shows Luther’s attitude from and about God’s Word.

I have given this admonition already and must repeat it often, for we see that Christ sets such importance on it that He constantly repeats the same thing, showing abundantly how supremely necessary it is that above all else we attend to and abide with the Word…Whatever shame may accordingly fall upon us, we will have the injury abundantly made good by this treasure. For this is what crushes Satan’s head [Gen. 3:15], that is, what destroys his kingdom and all his might…In short, no holy life, righteousness, or wisdom avails against his power and might, but only this Word. Therefore, it should be our greatest concern that we not let ourselves be torn away from it. For that is what [Satan] strives for and seeks with all his thoughts and powers. Whoever perseveres in [the Word], takes thought for it, and prays for it has the comfort here through Christ’s prayer [in John 17:8] that he will remain steadfast in it, and no power will accomplish anything against it.

(Luther’s Works, Volume 69, Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis. 2009, p. 66)

This quote reminds me of Peter’s description of the devil: “Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith” (1 Peter 5:8-9, ESV).

Thankfully, God gives us something to keep us firm in our faith in Christ. Lord, keep us steadfast in your Word!

The Joy of the Lord is Your Strength

I thought I’d include my sermons on this blog, because they are one of the main ways I feed the sheep of my congregation. This sermon from last Sunday on Nehemiah 8:1-12 also seemed to fit the main subject of this blog well. The text for this sermon came from the Sunday school lesson that the children of our church learned last Sunday.

The Joy of the Lord is Your Strength

What do you think heaven will be like?  You might picture clouds and angels.  You might think of the joyful reunion of friends and loved ones who died with faith in Jesus.  You might remember how the Bible tells us we'll be perfect in heaven and have glorified bodies (1 Cor. 15), and the effects of sin will be gone forever.  You might think of the streets of gold that Revelation mentions (Rev. 21:21) or how we will get to see God.  You might think of how God will wipe away every tear from our eyes, and there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain ever again. (Rev. 21:4)

But every once in a while, someone asks me a question about heaven.  Maybe it's a question that you have had, too.  "Pastor, heaven won't be like one big church service, will it?"  We know we will worship our God and Savior forever in heaven.  But then we think, "How can I make it through eternity if I can't make it through an hour church service without checking my watch every two minutes?"  It's no surprise that some churches turn their services into big variety shows designed to entertain people.

This morning, though, we're going to remember that there is something special that we do here in church, and it has everything to do with our eternal life in heaven.  To help us see that, we're going to have to look at something that happened to the people of Israel in the time of Ezra.  Ezra was a scribe, someone who copied manuscripts of the Old Testament, and he was also a priest.  When the Israelites first came back to the promised land from their exile in Babylon, Ezra got everything for the religious life up and running again.  He made sure there were priests and that people could worship in Jerusalem again.

Well, our text takes us to a time when Ezra was called out to help the people understand something critical to their spiritual lives: God's Word.  "All the people assembled as one man in the square before the Water Gate. They told Ezra the scribe to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded for Israel." (Neh. 8:1) God had commanded the people to hear the Law of Moses, which is another name for the first five books of the Bible.  So, it made sense for their religious leader Ezra to read it. 

Here's how the reading worked.  "So on the first day of the seventh month Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand.  He read it aloud from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate in the presence of the men, women and others who could understand. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law." (Neh. 8:2-3)

A couple of things stand out about this.  First of all, there were some parts of the worship of the Israelites that only the men would do.  This wasn't one of them.  Out there on this day to hear the Bible read are men, women, and children -- everyone who would be able to understand it.  But I wonder if this is the line that caught your attention: He read it aloud from daybreak till noon. We're talking six or seven hours of a worship service here.  So what were they doing with all that time?

They were doing pretty much what we do.  Hearing God's Word.  Just about every part of our worship service revolve around the Bible in some way.  We have Scripture readings, we have hymns that give the Bible's message, the order of service all points to God's Word.
But look how the people reacted to it.  We had heard that "All the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law." (Neh. 8:3). 

There's definitely something for all of us to learn there. Then later we hear that "Ezra opened the book. All the people could see him because he was standing above them; and as he opened it, the people all stood up.  Ezra praised the Lord, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded, “Amen! Amen!” Then they bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. " (Neh. 8:5-6)

You can see again that they really didn't do things so differently than we do.  They stood up when the Word was read, like how we stood during the gospel earlier.  This kind of thing is meant to show a respect for what's being spoken.  Remember, this is God's own Word!  When the Gospel is read, those are the words and actions of our only Savior.  We stand to symbolically show him the honor he deserves.

But later on in our text, things start happening that don't usually happen in our church services.  Nehemiah, who was the governor of the people at this time, had to speak up.  " “This day is sacred to the Lord your God. Do not mourn or weep.”  Then it explains why he had to say that. "For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law." (Neh. 8:9)

Unless it was a funeral, I've never heard people break into sobs at a worship service.  People in that culture might have been more free with their emotions than we tend to be, but still, you've got to wonder why.  Why would they feel the need to cry and grieve at just hearing the Bible read?

But then you think of some of the things in those first five books of the Bible.  Words of God like "be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy." (Lev. 19:2)  The words don't sound like much until you really think about them.  Holy means perfect -- in thought, word, and deed.  When we really think about it, we realize how not holy we really are.  It's a scary thought.

Also in those first five books are the 10 commandments.  And there it is again.  We've heard the commandments before, but when you really think about them, we might as well call them the "10 ways you've failed."  We've coveted things that aren't ours.  We've lied.  We've taken things from others.  We'd had impure thoughts. We've hurt others or hated them.  We haven't listened to our parents.  We have treated worship and God's Word like they're no big deal.  We have treated God's name like it's nothing, we've used it to curse and swear thoughtlessly.  And in all of this, we haven't put God first, we haven't served him only, we haven't feared, loved, and trusted him above all things.

Maybe we should cry!  Because when you're God is holy, and you've done absolutely everything against what he commands, that's a problem.  That's a problem that God punishes with death.  Not just physical death, either.  Eternal death is what comes with sin.  It's what comes with your sin.

But then how could we hear in our text that "The Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be still, for this is a sacred day. Do not grieve.”? (Neh. 8:11)  How could Nehemiah go and say to the people, "This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”? (Neh. 8:10) How could they be comforted when they knew that they had sinned against God?  How can we be comforted in our sins?

The answer is the same.  Remember what Jesus said in our gospel reading for today.  In talking about the Bible, he said, "These are the Scriptures that testify about me." (Jn. 5:39) All of the Bible, even our reading from Nehemiah, is really pointing to Jesus.  And we can see that!  They comforted people by telling them that it was a "sacred day."  The word "sacred" means holy.  The people could stop their crying because God had made them holy in their worship that day. 

That points us to Jesus, because it is he who makes us holy today!  He has come to us in his Word and proclaimed that we are holy!  We're holy and perfect in God's eyes because Jesus took God's punishment in our place.  We're holy and perfect because Jesus lived a perfect life in our place.  When we hear that message of the Word, proclaimed so  many different ways in our worship services, we're being told again and again how Jesus has made us holy.  How he has rescued us from our sins, paid the ransom of hell that we owed, and opened eternal life in heaven for us by faith!  That is the greatest message there is, and that is the main message of the Bible!

That's why we here that the people in our text "went away to eat and drink...and to celebrate with great joy, because they now understood the words that had been made known to them." (Neh. 8:12)  They rejoiced in the God who made them holy.  The joy of the Lord was their strength.

And the joy of the Lord is your strength, too!  That joy comes from his Word.  It comes as you taste and see that the Lord is good in Jesus' body and blood in the Lord's Supper.  It comes as you hear the proclamation that your sins are forgiven, your punishment is canceled, your place in heaven is reserved, all because of God's love.
When we know what the Bible is really about, when the Holy Spirit opens that meaning to us, then we can rejoice in the strength that we have in the Lord.  Then we can look for opportunities to worship him.  We can look for times to read and study his Word and grow in our faith. 

I'd like you all to consider reading more of the Bible than you do now.  God will bless it!  I've put a schedule of Bible readings in our latest newsletter for you to try if you'd like, and I've given you some other ideas, too. Use them!  Get in the Word!  God will strengthen you!  He is the source of your faith.  The joy of the Lord is your strength!

We may not know what heaven will be like exactly. But we know when we get there, we won't be bogged down by our sinful attitudes and thoughts.  We won't have our pains and troubles.  We'll only have the love of our God.  We will see our Savior, the Lamb, the Word, face to face.  And we will rejoice in his strength that brought us there!