God Takes Us Back!

Sermon preached at Our Savior on 3/14/10 for the 4th Sunday in Lent. Sermon text: Judges 10:6-16


God Takes Us Back!


If there's one thing we have a lot of here in Springville, it's pizza places. They're everywhere here! But I want you to imagine this morning that, against all odds, another pizza place is opening. The owner of this new place is a nice man who is looking forward to serving the best pizza possible to the community.

Of course he has to hire all new workers to staff the restaurant. And there's one worker in particular that the owner really works with. This worker didn't really have any experience, but the owner hired him anyway, taught him the ins and outs of the job, and gave him a position of trust at the latest and greatest pizza joint in town.

Then the problems started coming. First, the worker was late. Then, he was caught stealing money out of the register. The owner, understandably, is angry. "How could you do this?! You're fired!" But the worker begs him to let him keep his job. And the owner listens; he takes him back.

It Could Happen to You

Sermon preached at Our Savior on 3/7/10 for the 3rd Sunday in Lent. Sermon text: Numbers 16:23-40

It Could Happen to You

"Fairy tales can come true, it can happen to you, if you're young at heart." We live in a time and place here in our nation where we think anything is possible. Any success, any reward, any blessing, can be ours if we just try hard enough or are fortunate enough or just keep at it.

We know the lottery has astronomical odds. Yet people keep playing. Why? Well, maybe they'll win! The New York lottery's slogan is "Hey, you never know." And people spend millions on something with almost impossible odds. The same goes for being a professional athlete or professional musician. It's very long odds to actually be able to make a good living doing those things. But so many dream, and so many keep after their goal. Maybe it could happen!

I'm not sure why, but it seems that many people have the opposite thought when it comes to bad or undesirable things happening to them. All the blessings we enjoy in our lives probably contribute to this idea. A horrible, incurable disease? It could never happen to me! After all, we have doctors who know so much advanced medicine all around us. Getting in a car accident? It could never happen to me! I've been driving for years without so much as a scratch! Having my money stolen in some sort of scam? It could never happen to me! I'm very smart about such things; I'm too careful about what I do with my money.

Famous last words, right? So many people think it could never happen to them. But these things do happen. And sometimes we need to prepare for these things to happen, or take steps to make sure they don't.

And the same danger is there for us spiritually. Look at the blessings we have! We are Christians! We believe in the one true God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We believe that the  Bible is the true, inerrant and infallible Word of God. We belong to a church and church body that believes these things. We've got our names on the membership registry. What blessings we have! How good God has been to us! So the idea of falling away from our faith? It could never happen to me!

Ah, but it could! It could happen to you. We live in a world that's dangerous to our faith, a world where the devil prowls around like a roaring lion just waiting for someone to devour. (1 Pet. 5:8) We walk in danger all the way. Satan and all his evil, sinful forces have flaming arrows aimed directly for us. (Eph. 6:16) The odds, if you want to think of it that way, probably aren't in our favor. Our faith is in constant danger. If you think you're standing firm, be careful that you don't fall. (1 Cor. 10:12) Yes, it could happen to you.

Just look at our text. It picks up right in the middle of the action: "The Lord said to Moses, "Say to the assembly, 'Move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.'" (Num. 16:23) This is the dramatic end to an event in Israel's history known as Korah's rebellion. It all happened during the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness that the people had to do because of their disobedience to God.

As you can imagine, pointless wandering for 40 years can get people in a bad mood. That's probably what had happened here. Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, along with about 250 others, rebelled against Moses and his brother Aaron. They thought Moses and Aaron were lording it over all the other people in the nation (Num. 16:3), and they blamed Moses for the problems the nation was having wandering in the desert. (Num. 16:13-14)

So to solve this fight, Moses suggested letting God pick the winner. He told Korah to get a bunch of his men to light censers (which were incense burners) and burn them before the Lord at the tabernacle. God would then decide who was right. (Num. 16:5-7)

Now, it doesn't seem that Korah and the rest of these men had always been constant troublemakers. They were well known leaders in their community. (Num. 16:2) People liked and respected them. They probably hadn't been planning a rebellion all their lives.

In fact, look how God had blessed them! God had chosen these people to be his own nation as Israelites. He had rescued them from slavery in Egypt. He had brought them through the waters of the Red Sea. He had fed them with manna on the ground and quail from the sky. He had allowed them to be respected community leaders with positions of importance in the nation. They probably would have never guessed that they'd be rebelling against their God-given leaders, against God himself. But that's what they did. It happened.

And it could happen to you. As I mentioned earlier, you have been greatly blessed. We live in a prosperous, safe country, where we can worship God freely. We have his Word widely available; we can read it, we can listen to it on cd, we can access it on the computer or even on our phone. We belong to a church and church body that takes God at his Word. We have the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's supper being administered right here. We have a beautiful church building and still relatively new addition. We have many different members with many different gifts helping each other and working together. We have our Lord's forgiveness for our sins and the comfort of salvation in heaven.

We've got it made! So we have nothing to worry about, right? Drifting away from the Bible? Falling away from the faith? Nah. Couldn't happen!

But it could. It could happen to you. Our lives feel like wandering in the wilderness sometimes. We wonder what the point of our lives is supposed to be. We get frustrated at the problems that come up. We struggle in relationships with others. We get angry when we don't get what we want. We sin and don't think it's a big deal at all.

You see how easy it is? We're in a good situation! God has chosen us! What could possibly happen? So we let our guard down. Reading the Bible becomes less important. The Lord's Supper becomes more about routine, or more about our preparation, and less about Jesus' gift. Church services become just something you do, just because, when you get a chance. Prayer becomes just something you talk about. And Jesus' forgiveness? Instead of our comfort and only hope, it becomes an excuse to do what we want.

Falling from faith happens to people. You probably know some of them. And no matter what you might think, it could happen to you. And the results are disastrous.

Look what happened in our text. God picked who was right, and it wasn't Korah and the others who rebelled. We read that "the ground under them split apart and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed th, with their households and all Korah's men and all their possessions. They went down alive into the grave, with everything they owned; the earth closed over them, and they perished and were gone from the community. (Num. 16:31-33) How horrific! How awful! It's like a scene from some horror movie. And those people offering the incense to the Lord who had rebelled didn't escape either. "Fire came out from the Lord and consumed the 250 men who were offering the incense." (Num. 16:35) I don't think anyone who saw those scenes would've forgotten them anytime soon. Blessed people, people who had it all going for them -- they rebelled, and they lost it all.

Of course, when people lose their faith today, it's a lot less dramatic. No earthquakes. No fiery attacks from the Lord. People look normal. They go about their everyday lives. But really, what is happening is no less horrific, no less destructive. Loss of faith -- because that is the final result of these sins that go too far -- loss of faith means loss of salvation. Loss of eternal life. No horror movie can come close to that scene.

And I'm not trying to scare people here, but it could happen to you! That's the exact point that God made in our text, too. When those people offering incense had been burned up in the fire, it seems that all that was left of them was a pile of ashes and their bronze censers. So God commanded that the bronze from those censers be hammered and put on top of the altar in the tabernacle. (Num. 16:39) Why would he do this? "This was to remind the Israelites that no one except a descendant of Aaron should come to burn incense before the Lord." (Num. 16:40) Or, to put it another way, "It could happen to you."

Funny that the reminder was put right on the altar, though. Because that altar was meant to be a reminder of something else. Usually, it was blood that went on the altar, the blood of sacrifices. The message there was similar -- this blood could have been yours, but God is taking the blood of an animal in place of yours. God used his altar to teach his people how he forgave sins.

God uses that altar to remind us of another sacrifice. Jesus' blood was poured out on the altar of the cross. His life met the full force of God's wrath. And you know what, it could have been you meeting that wrath, paying with your life -- but it was Jesus. It could have been you paying the consequence of all your sins, but it was Jesus. It could have been you, suffering and dying. But it was Jesus.

If you think your sins are too great, if you think you will fall away because of all the wrong you've done, because of the rebellion you have committed, if you think, "God's love and forgiveness could never happen to me!" Look at Jesus. Look at that cross. Look at that empty tomb. It has happened to you. God's love happened to you in Christ.

He is your hope. He is your forgiveness. He is your not-guilty verdict when your rebellion should've made you guilty. Jesus is the life when you should have death. Fix your eyes on him! Run to his Word for the comfort of his forgiveness. Fall to your knees for his free mercy. Hunger and thirst for the comfort of his body and blood in the sacrament. He has heard you! No one who takes refuge in him is ever put to shame.

Will it happen to you? Can it happen to you? We might think we know the odds to lots of things in our lives. And we might be right and we might be wrong. But here are odds we can be sure of. On our own, we will fall away from our Savior. On our own, the devil, the world, and our sinful flesh, will be too much for us. So let's never try it on our own. Let's stay with our Savior. Let's stay with Jesus and his Word. With him, forgiveness, life, and salvation aren't something that could happen to you. With Jesus, they're already yours.

Faith Stands Out

Sermon preached on 2/28/10 at Our Savior for the 3rd Sunday in Lent. Sermon text: Jeremiah 26:8-15

Faith Stands Out

Have you ever stuck out like a sore thumb? Have you ever had attention put on yourself because you were different from those around you? Sometimes people crave that attention. Sometimes people can't stand it. Sometimes it can even put you in danger. But whatever the case, it can certainly be an uncomfortable feeling to stand out from the crowd and have everyone notice you.

Let me give you an example from my own life. Several years ago I went to the country of Ecuador for a little over a month to learn Spanish better. Now, bear in mind, here in the US, I'm no minority. I can blend in to the crowd if I really want to; I don't look all that different than everybody else. Not so in Ecuador. There was no hiding the big, tall, blond white guy. I looked different than most people. I talked different. Because of this, I'd occasionally get looks from people. I could tell that I was getting a different kind of attention than I was used to. I was standing out.

Really, that's a feeling that we should all be able to relate to, no matter what we look like. That's because we're all Christians. We all have faith in Jesus as our Savior from sin. And faith stands out. It makes us act differently than other people. It makes us speak differently too. That's because we live out our faith. We don't want to follow the sinful ways and words and attitudes of this world; we want to follow our Savior.

And when we live and act and talk differently, it's bound to bring some attention. And that attention won't always be positive. In fact, sometimes it will be downright hostile. We shouldn't be surprised if most people hate us because we're Christians. But at the same time, as Christians we have good news. We're saved! We have a God who loves us personally and immeasurably! Yes, whether we always like it or not, faith stands out. Our faith brings opposition, but it comes with the best news there is.

Standing out like a sore thumb because you're a believer in the one true God is definitely not a new thing. It's been going on since the beginning. (You might remember that Abel's faith stood out from Cain's. Let's just say Cain didn't react well to that.) But in our text, it's Jeremiah the prophet. He definitely stood out for his faith.

If you picture the Old Testament prophets like Jeremiah as always having big crowds of polite, adoring followers, think again. They often had very hostile audiences, probably because they often had very bad news to bring. Prophets spoke for God to the people.

Jeremiah was no different. Just before our text, God told Jeremiah the message he wanted to get to the people, and he specifically told Jeremiah to "tell them everything I command you; do not omit a word." (Jer. 26:2) He wanted to make sure they got the message.

What was the message? The people had to start listening. They had to start following God's laws, obeying the commandments, and listening to the prophets. And if they didn't, God said, they were going down hard. The people, along with their precious city of Jerusalem, would be wiped out. (Jer. 26:4-6)

How do you think they took that message? Not well. Our text tells us that as soon as he'd told them, they shouted at him, "You must die! Why do you prophesy in the Lord's name...?" (Jer. 26:8-9) Jeremiah simply speaks God's message, and a mob scene develops. Jeremiah was living his faith by obeying God and speaking his message, and his faith definitely stood out.

Faith stands out. Your faith is no exception. Like Jeremiah, the words you speak will be guided by your faith. Your faith tells you that you don't go around gossiping about others, you don't tell lies, you don't join in with the offensive language and dirty jokes of others. No, you are a believer and you want your words to reflect that. Besides not saying all those bad things, you'll also show your faith by the good things you speak: your words of encouragement and forgiveness, and the times you specifically share your faith and tell others about Jesus. Your faith stands out with your words.

Your actions are no different. The way you treat others, the way you do your job faithfully, the way you live out your role as husband or wife or parent or child or worker or boss all serve as a testimony of your faith. When you take the time to read the Bible or come to church, people see that. When you help someone else not because of what you'll get in return, but selflessly -- people will see your faith. When you refuse to go along with the sins of this world -- even ones the world doesn't think are wrong -- living together outside of marriage, homosexuality, abortion, your opposition to those things makes your faith stand out. In fact, everything you do is meant to be an expression of your faith in Christ. (1 Cor. 10:31)

Because your faith stands out in your words and actions, that is going to cause a reaction from the people around you. And if you expect that reaction to always be positive, if you expect people to say, "way to go!" when they see your faith...then you're in for a surprise. Our lesson from Philippians today reminded us that there are a lot of enemies of the cross. (Philip. 3:18) A lot of people not only won't agree with your faith; it will make them angry. And they could turn that anger on you.

It might be as small as some eye-rolling over the things you say. It might be calling you a prude or "goody two-shoes" for doing what's right. Of course, it can go farther than that. Speaking out against abortion or homosexuality, for example, can get you labeled an intolerant bigot, or worse. Saying that Christ alone is the only way to heaven might make people think of you as some sort of close-minded religious extremist. In some places, faith in Christ will get you killed.

Friends, we can all be so thankful to our merciful God that we are not under the constant threat of death or imprisonment because of our faith in this country today. God has been very good to us. But the conditions of this sinful world might not always stay so good. And even though we don't face death or imprisonment, we do face attacks on our faith. We have crosses to bear. In fact, when our faith stands out, it is bound to cause a negative reaction to some.

And it hurts. It hurts to be rejected because you believe the truth of the Bible. It hurts to be called names for sticking with what God's Word actually says. It hurts to have friends, or even members of our family shake their heads as they walk away from us and refuse to listen to the truth. It hurts.

You see the temptation we face, right? If showing our faith hurts, we're tempted to hide it. If doing what's right can bring pain and rejection, well then why not do what's wrong? If speaking up for what we believe will cause us problems with those we care about, we're tempted to shut our mouths. We're tempted to cover the light of our faith with a bowl, to try to blend in to that sinful world around us so that, if we're lucky, no one even knows we're a Christian.

The only problem is that hiding our faith is a sin. Living in step with the sinful world only destroys faith and brings God's wrath. Using words that hurt God and others only, in the end, hurts yourself, because it eats away at your faith. That and all sins slowly destroys your faith and throws away your salvation.

I'm sure you can think of examples when you hid your faith, when you tried to blend in to the world. I'm sure you remember taking the easy way out, when speaking the truth of God's Word would've brought pain. I'm sure you remember times when you did not follow your Savior's example, but lived like you were ashamed of him.

Those are serious sins. But we have a God who is seriously merciful. When we see the dirt of those sins on our conscience, and smell their stench on our soul, we look to God for mercy. And you know what, he gives us that mercy!

Jeremiah mentioned God's mercy to the people in our text. He told them, "Reform your ways and your actions and obey the Lord your God. Then the Lord will relent and not bring the disaster he has pronounced against you." (Jer. 26:13) God did not want to destroy his chosen people like he had threatened. He wanted to save them. Like Jesus in our gospel mentioned he wanted to take the people of Jerusalem and hold onto them like a mother hen with her chicks. (Lk. 13:34) God loves us! He doesn't want us to die in our sins!

That's why Jesus came. Jesus stood out from the crowd of all people of all time, because he was sinless. Jesus' life faced great opposition, as he was hated, arrested, tortured, and killed on a cross. But what mercy of God that he would use the horrible punishment on Jesus to bring wonderful blessings to us. What a merciful God who would trade our sins for Jesus perfection. What a merciful God who would use his Son's death to give us life forever!

And that's what he's done! And that also makes our faith stand out: the good news! The fact that people oppose us and persecute us because we're Christians shouldn't leave us moping around. No! We have reason to rejoice! Let the world rage at us all it wants; it can't touch us! Jesus has wrapped his loving arms around us.

Our sins, our slip-ups, our failure to let our faith stand out -- Jesus and his loving arms and pierced hands and feet are there, ready to forgive. Those times we struggle with temptations -- Jesus' strength was poured out on us in our baptism to stand up against them. Our death, which is the worst thing that any enemy of the cross could ever do to us -- even death means nothing to us, because Jesus rose and gives us eternal life!

Don't you see what great news we have as Christians? Isn't a message you want to share?! God loves you! He's been merciful to you! He's given you life forever! That's why our faith stands out. Our faith reflects God's love for us to those around us. Think about the people in your life, maybe even the people who have opposed you because of your faith. Do they need God's love any less than you do? Of course not! So show it to them! Let your life be a witness. Let your words and actions and all you do point to Christ who has forgiven all your sinful words and actions. Let your life reflect Christ who has rescued you from death.

Your faith stands out. Like it or not, people will not always take kindly to your Christianity. But you've got a Savior who makes every trouble worth it. You've got Jesus who took those troubles onto himself. You've got a Lord who took sin and death away forever. He alone has given you true life. Live it for him.