Is Living Your Faith Really Worth It?

Sermon preached at Our Savior on June 27, 2010 for the 5th Sunday after Pentecost. Sermon text: Genesis 39:6b-12,16-23  

"No good deed goes unpunished." That's a phrase that's often used to explain the strange way that this sinful world often works. Good deeds, of course, are supposed to be rewarded. When you do something good, when you do what's right, things are supposed to go your way.

But sin came into this world and sure made a mess of things. Sin, going against God's commands, has turned everything we would expect to happen upside-down. No, good deeds are not a guarantee of a good outcome or reward. Sometimes, that good deed done with the best of intentions, ends up costing you -- and hurting you -- big time.

Think of a time when you did something nice for someone. A little favor here, a little help there. And instead of getting thanked for it, the person got mad at you. And now, when you started out trying to be nice, trying to do something good for someone -- this is the thanks you get! It turned into a big fight. And it's enough to make you think that maybe doing nice things for others isn't really worth it.

No good deed goes unpunished. That phrase sometimes rings true even as we look at our life of faith, even as we look at our relationship with our God. As Christians who rejoice in having a Savior, we try to withstand temptation. We try not to sin. And sometimes when we stand up to temptations in that way it works out really well. Maybe you were tempted to drive too fast on the 219, but you resisted, knowing that it's right to obey the law. And as you rounded the next curve, there was a police officer who would've pulled you over for speeding. But you weren't speeding, and because you resisted temptation, things went better for you.

That's not how it always works, though. Quite often, it works in the opposite way. You live out your faith, you let your light shine, and your life just gets miserable because of it. That's what happened to Joseph in our text from Genesis. Joseph's case is going to remind us of the  problems we encounter. We'll be reminded of the crosses we are called on to bear as Christians. It makes us ask ourselves the question I'm asking you all today: Is living your faith really worth it? 

The Perfect Gift

Sermon preached on June 20, 2010 for the 4th Sunday after Pentecost at Our Savior. Sermon text: 2 Chronicles 33:1-6,10-18  Note: the sermon was preached on Father’s Day.

The Perfect Gift

In case you hadn't realized it, today is Father's Day. Now, you don't need to give your dad a gift to show your love and appreciation for him, but some families have that tradition. Those that give gifts their to dads on this day run into a common problem: what do you get him?

Sure, there's always the cliché gift of a new tie. But some people like to try a little harder. They want to get dad "the perfect gift." I suppose this might be an easy thing to do for some dads. Everyone might know what your dad wants, so getting him the perfect gift is no trouble at all.

But for others, it's not so easy. Your dad might be one of those notoriously hard people to buy a gift for. For a gift to be "the perfect gift" it needs to be something that dad really wants. It needs to be something that he'll actually use and not leave sitting on a shelf somewhere collecting dust. And of course, to really be "the perfect gift," your gift has to show in a meaningful way the love you have for your dad. That's not always easy to do.

I can't help you with picking out the perfect gift for your dad, but I would like to help you see the perfect gift that every one of us has already received on this Father's Day whether you're a dad or not. I'm talking about the perfect gift from our heavenly Father to all of us: the forgiveness of sins. This is a gift that our heavenly Father has given us in the person and work of his one and only Son, our Savior Jesus Christ.

This morning I want to remind you why this is the perfect gift for all of us. I want you to remember how much you need this gift. I want you to give thanks for how this gift has become yours. And I want you to see how this gift changes your life. You see, this is no necktie. The forgiveness of our sins is the most precious gift that has ever been given in the history of time. And this gift, the perfect gift, is yours.

Our text from 2 Chronicles takes us to the time of King Manasseh of Judah. In the spirit of Father's Day, though, I think it's worth looking a little bit at Manasseh's dad, King Hezekiah. When you think of great kings from the Old Testament, it's not a very long list. You've got David, Solomon, maybe Josiah, and very few others. But one of those others has to be King Hezekiah.

Hezekiah's father had worshiped false gods and had practically shut down the temple. But Hezekiah changed things. He reopened the temple. He got rid of false gods and their altars all through the land. He restarted the celebration of the Passover again, which had basically stopped happening for years. Hezekiah did everything he could to turn an entire nation back to the true God. The Bible has high praise for him. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. He held fast to the Lord and did not cease to follow him. (2 Kings 18:5-6)

And we think, wow! With such a great dad, his son Manasseh is bound to be great, too! But that's not how it went. Actually, Manasseh couldn't have been less like his dad. The things that he did during his 55-year reign as king are enough to make you sick to your stomach. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, following the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites. He rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah had demolished; he also erected altars to the Baals and made Asherah poles. He bowed down to all the starry hosts and worshiped them. He built altars in the temple of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “My Name will remain in Jerusalem forever.” In both courts of the temple of the Lord, he built altars to all the starry hosts. He sacrificed his sons in the fire in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, practiced sorcery, divination and witchcraft, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the eyes of the Lord, provoking him to anger. (2 Chron. 33:2-6)

You can see why King Manasseh needed the perfect gift, can't you? He did some awful things, even sacrificing his own sons to false gods. And he was leading an entire nation away from the true God. Manasseh couldn't make up for this. He needed the forgiveness that only God can give.

But now think about your life. Do you need the perfect gift of God's forgiveness like King Manasseh did? Maybe you're thinking, "Yes, I need forgiveness. I'm not perfect. But I don't need it like King Manasseh needed it. I haven't been as bad as him." And you might just have a point. There's a lot of things that Manasseh has done that you have never done. I don't think any of you have sacrificed any sons to a false god. I don't think any of you have ever led an entire nation away from the true God. That's a good thing!

But what have you done? Sure, you've never sacrificed any children, but have you ever been unkind to a family member? Ever said hateful words to someone who is supposed to be important to you, to someone that God has given you for your good? I'm sure you have. Maybe you've never bowed down before an actual idol. But have you put something, anything, as first place in your heart instead of God? Have you ever, even for a moment, put God and what he wants aside so you could focus on yourself and what you want? The answer is yes. So God's answer is guilty.

Yes, you are guilty of sin. Maybe they're different sins than King Manasseh committed, but your sins make you no less guilty than he was. You are no less deserving of eternal death than he was. See, it's easy to agree that Manasseh was evil and deserved eternal punishment, but you and me? Yes. We were conceived and born in sin, we are by nature sinful and unclean, and we sin every day in thought, word, and deed. We are guilty, just like Manasseh.

And just like Manasseh, we have a heavenly Father who does not treat us as we deserve. Rather, the most loving Father of all gave his Son, his only Son, so that rebellious, guilty sinners could live. To give them forgiveness. To give them eternal life. That's what God the Father did for us by sending his Son. That's what Jesus did for us by living perfectly and dying in my place and yours, to turn our guilty into not-guilty. So that our sins would be forgiven, covered, gone forever.

There was a problem in King Manasseh's case, though. God had all those blessings in mind for him, but he wasn't interested. The Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention. (2 Chron. 33:10) The forgiveness was there, but Manasseh rejected it.

That's a problem you can run into when buying a gift, too. Getting the perfect gift that someone really needs doesn't really matter in the end if that person doesn't use it. I don't care how nice the tie is; if dad doesn't wear it, he misses out on that gift.

Our God gave the whole world the perfect gift when Jesus came and won us forgiveness of sins. But if we don't use that gift, we lose the benefit. How do we use the gift, you ask? We believe it! The forgiveness is ours by faith. And our faith grows as we continue in the Word and Sacrament as the Holy Spirit continues to feed and strengthen that faith.

But sometimes we wander away from that. Maybe going to church becomes less important, or maybe we go but we don't really listen. Maybe we don't get to take the Lord's Supper very often. Maybe we haven't cracked open our Bible for a long time. Slowly but surely, we walk the path of rejecting the perfect gift that Jesus won for us.

So sometimes our heavenly Father does the most loving thing he can do: he calls us back to him. That's what he did to Manasseh in our text. After Manasseh had rejected God and his forgiveness, God showed his love for him. The Lord brought against them the commanders of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh prisoner, put a hook in his nose, bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon. (2 Chron. 33:11)

Yikes! This does not seem loving at all! But it was. It was the most loving thing that God could have done. It was a wake up call that brought Manasseh back to God. His horrible situation helped him realize his sin. It helped him to turn to the Lord in repentance. He prayed to God for forgiveness. Then our text tells us, When he prayed to him, the Lord was moved by his entreaty and listened to his plea; so he brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord is God. (2 Chron. 33:13)

Sometimes God does the same thing to us. No, he probably won't send you to prison in ancient Babylon. But he might allow some very unpleasant things to come into your life. We might not always know why God does this. But the next time he does, ask yourself: Is God trying to wake me up? Is he trying to remind  me that I've neglected him. Is he calling me back to him in love to recognize the perfect gift that he's already given me?

Because yes, that gift is yours! Forgiveness is yours! Eternal life is yours! Jesus did it all! Believe it. Trust it. And then live it. When you get a gift that you love, you use that gift, it's always with you. It doesn't sit on the shelf. And we want to be living in thanks for the perfect gift that we've received as God's forgiven children.

Manasseh used his gift. He was so thrilled that he was forgiven, that he had come back to the one true God, that he showed it. He got rid of the idols. He broke down the false altars. He restored the true temple again, and he told the people of Judah to turn back to the Lord. (2 Chron. 33:15-16)

You'll show that forgiveness in your life, too. It will be different for everyone, but you will show it. You'll show it in your relationships with others, as you reflect the forgiveness Christ won for you, as you show and tell of God's amazing love that forgave you when you were unforgivable. You'll show it as you forgive others as in Christ God forgave you. (Eph. 4:32)

So, today, on Father's day. Give thanks for your dad. Give thanks that God gave you that gift. But even more importantly, today and every day after, give thanks for the perfect gift that your heavenly Father gave you. Rejoice in your forgiveness. Believe it in faith and joy for what Jesus has done. Then live that forgiveness as you show your faith in everything. Your forgiveness is real! It's the one gift you need! It's the gift that's yours in Christ alone.

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.

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!

What Have You Done?

This sermon was preached at Our Savior on 10/4/09. Text: Psalm 51:1-9. It was the 18th Sunday after Pentecost, but the sermon text is from a series of sermons on the Sunday school lesson for the week.

What Have You Done?

A little boy looks up at his dad. Shattered bits of glass from what used to be a vase lie on the floor next to him. His dad says, "What have you done?" A mom walks up to her daughter and points at a new dent on the back of the car. "What have you done?" she asks. A husband gets home from a few days away on a trip to find that all the rooms of the house have been painted hot pink. With a sigh he says to his wife, "What have you done?"

That phrase can be enough to make us uncomfortable just hearing it. "What have you done?" Every one of you are probably already thinking of times from your past when you were in trouble, and someone called you on it. Answering that question is usually hard for us, because it usually means admitting to something we might not want to admit to.  It can make us ashamed. It can make us feel guilty. It can make us angry that we got caught, depressed at what we have allowed ourselves to do, or sad at the hurt we've caused others. Because it can be so uncomfortable, because we don't like to admit our faults, because there might be negative consequences involved with our actions, we don't usually like to answer that question, "What have you done?"

But now imagine that the next time you did something wrong, God himself asked you that question. You do something wrong, you commit some sin -- whatever it is -- and the heavens are opened! A light shines down directly on you and the voice of God himself thunders down at you: "What have you done?!" Not a comfortable situation. Nowhere to run or hide. Your choices are either to think of some excuses (which God would see right through anyway), or to 'fess up and lay it all out on the table, then hope for the best.

This is pretty much what happened to David. No, the heavens didn't open, and God's voice didn't thunder down, but David had the next best thing. The prophet Nathan showed up on God's command and confronted David with his sins of coveting, adultery, deception, and murder.  David had nowhere to run or hide. He had to answer for his actions.

Psalm 51, our text for this morning, was written by David after this incident. It not only tells about his experiences from his sins, it speaks to all of us who still sin today. What is your attitude toward the sins you commit? What is your status or relationship with God because of those sins?

The first words of this psalm can give you chills. "Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin." (Ps. 51:1-2) You picture David on his knees with his hands stretched out, pleading. "Have mercy on me, Lord! You got me! I'm guilty! Transgressions, iniquities, sins, whatever you want to call them, I've done plenty. I can make no other plea than guilty. I have no excuse to bring before you. All I can do is plead for your mercy. Please don't punish me like I deserve!"

These words of David just sound right, don't they? They should sound pretty familiar, too. After all, we say them constantly here in our services. In our confession today we said, "I am truly sorry for my sins, and trusting in my Savior, I pray: Lord have mercy on me, a sinner." We sang those familiar words, "Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us. Lord, have mercy on us." A little later we sang something similar, "O Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father, you take away the sin of the world; have mercy on us."

This must be something important if we've said it or sung it so many times already today. But sometimes I have to wonder. Do we mean it anymore? Are we really being like David and getting on our knees, pleading to God? Are we really admitting that there's nothing good in us, that we've failed in every way before God, that we have no excuse, nothing to help our case on our own, that all we can do is plead God for his mercy? Or are we so used to hearing about forgiveness that we don't even think about needing mercy anymore? "Sins? Well, yeah, I guess I do them, but I'm forgiven so it's not really a big deal."

How easy for those words, "Lord, have mercy on me!" to be just that, words.  Just sounds our mouths make. Just our way of participating in the service. But are our hearts far away from our mouths? Has the fact that Jesus forgives our sins lead us to use Jesus' forgiveness as an excuse for those sins? "You can't really be mad at me, God! We both know these sins aren't all that serious! Oh, yes, have mercy! Wink, wink! We all know sins are no big deal." That attitude, even if we never express it in words, can easily clunk around in our hearts.

So maybe it's time to really look what's in those hearts. Our psalm says, "I know my transgressions and my sin is always before me." (Ps. 51:3) Do you really know your transgressions? Is your sin right there on your mind at all times? Think about his past week. Think about the actions you have done that go against God. Think about those sins. Can't think of any? Then you're not trying. Thinking of one or two? You're still not trying.

Or, think about your words. You very likely said something during the past week that was hurtful, or misused God's name, or made something God says into a joke.  Are you thinking of any?  Do you wish you couldn't remember?

Then there's your thoughts. In the time it takes you to say the words "sinful thoughts" you can have dozens of them. They can keep going off like a fire-hose in our mind, and so often it seems like we're powerless to make them stop. We couldn't keep track of these sins if we wanted to, but can you imagine what such a record would look like? It wouldn't be pretty. Like another psalm says, "If you, O Lord, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand?" (Ps. 103:3)
Friends, your sins are real! They are real rebellions against God. They are ways that you have twisted God's intentions for your life into an ugly mess. You have crossed the line, again and again. Not only have you missed the bull's-eye of what God wants, you haven't even hit the target.

So, when the voice of God thunders at you, he's right! (Ps. 51:4) Oh, he doesn't thunder his voice out of the clouds; he thunders from his Word. "Whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it." (Jas. 2:10) "Your iniquities have separated you from  your God; your sins have hidden his face from you." (Is. 59:2)

Yes, you are Christians. Yes, you're here in church today, but your sins are no less offensive, no less damnable in God's sight. And it's been this way since you were born! As David confesses in our text, "Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me." (Ps. 51:5) These sins aren't a slight problem, a minor blemish. You have been completely corrupted by them. God wants you to know this. (Ps. 51:6) He wants you to recognize this in yourself. He wants you to see how every second of your life since conception, you have deserved nothing but hell.

Lord, have mercy on me. My sins drive me to my knees; God wants these sins to drive you to your knees spiritually. He wants you to be thinking, "Look what I've done! Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner. I plead guilty. Don't treat me as my sins deserve, Lord!"

And you know what? He doesn't. Your heavenly Father has had mercy on you. According to his unfailing love, God the Father sent God the Son. Jesus Christ lived perfectly. He didn't need mercy, because he had done nothing wrong.  But according to God's great compassion, Jesus' death blotted out all our sins. Like scrubbing a stubborn stain out of the carpet, Jesus washed us clean in his blood, shed on the cross. He washed us clean in our baptism. He has forgiven you, cleansed you of your sin!

Listen again to David's words in this psalm. "Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean." (Ps. 51:7) Hyssop was the plant that the Israelites used to paint blood on their door frames on the first passover. It was the same plant used to sprinkle blood on Old Testament worshipers to make them "clean" in God's sight. Jesus' blood has made us clean! It has taken your sins away. When Jesus comes to you with his true body and true blood in the Lord's supper, that's what he's doing! He's making you clean! He's saying, "Not only do I forgive the sins of the world; I've forgiven you. Take and eat this body given for you. Drink this blood shed for you! What grace!

And our psalm continues, "Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow." (Ps. 51:7) It won't be long until the snow is falling here in Springville. Well, you know what happens when the snow stays around for a long time without melting? It gets dirty. All the cars driving around leave the snow looking disgusting and black. But then, a fresh batch of lake-effect snow blows in. And suddenly, everything is white. Everything is clean. Christ has done that for you. He's taken the dirt, the grime of your sin, and he has made you clean.

So you can rejoice! Even though the weight of your sins were enough  to crush your very bones, you can rejoice (Ps. 51:8), because Jesus has taken that burden on himself. He bore our infirmities and carried our sorrows (Is. 53:4), he took them away, nailing them to the cross. (Col. 2:14) So now, when God looks at us, he doesn't see our sins. He doesn't see our mistakes, rebellions, and failures. He sees the perfection of Jesus Christ. By faith, God has hidden his face from our sins; he has blotted them out by Christ alone. (Ps. 51:9) Never doubt that. Believe it! Rejoice in it!

And when you hear the question, "What have you done?" Whether the question comes from a parent, a spouse, a friend, or from God himself, answer that question. Come clean before God, because Christ has made you clean in his sight. Confess to your God, "nothing in my hand I bring, only to your cross I cling." Then rejoice in his forgiveness. Through no power of your own, your sins have been taken away. Make every day of your life a day of the bottomless sorrow of confession and the limitless joy of forgiveness.