Genesis 1:14-16, Psalm 147:4, Psalm 8:3-4

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Genesis chapter one, verse 14

And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. (Genesis 1:14-16)

I’m Pastor Pittenger from Bethany Lutheran Church out in Port Orchard, Washington. And I want to talk to you a little bit about those stars. Nowadays scientists, astronomers, they estimate, it’s an estimate because they can’t count, that there are about one septillion stars in the universe. That’s so number one with 24 zeros after it.

1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000

So that’s a septillion. Whole lot of stars out there. And stars have been important throughout the history of God’s creation, we use them to navigate both on land and at sea. Because of the stars, people were able to sail over the horizon and find their way to where they’re going or find their way back home. But man, one with 24 zeros after it, we can’t even count that high. We can only estimate that high.

Let me share something else with you. Here’s something I think equally or even more amazing. Psalm 147, verse four, speaking about God. Praise the Lord. The psalm begins, but verse four,

He determines the number of the stars;
he gives to all of them their names. (Psalm 147:4)

We can’t even count that high. And yet God has got names for all of them, which is absolutely amazing. And but why should we really care about all this? Now flip over to Psalm eight. Psalm eight, verse three.

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
what is man that you are mindful of him,
and the son of man that you care for him? (Psalm 8:3-4)

When you go outside and look up at the stars, and you see how many there are. And if you look up in a book and find out how big they are. Well, who am I? What am I that God should care about me? I am so small. I am so insignificant. Add my sin to that equation. I’m so unworthy of God’s attention, let alone anything good from him.

Well, the answer to that is found in that phrase the Son of Man. That’s reference to Jesus. Hebrews chapter two makes it clear that Psalm eight is talking about Jesus, who was made, as it says, a little lower than the angels, who that is, who humbled himself. God. God the Son became one of us. He didn’t become a star to save the stars from eventual decay and running out of fuel. He didn’t become a bird to save the birds. He didn’t become an angel to save the angels. But he became man, the Son of Man in order to save us.

So next time you’re outside on a nice, clear night and you look up at those stars, marvel at how many of them there actually are or may be. And when you consider yourself in comparison to them and the seeming insignificance that you might feel. Remember the Son of Man has come to save you. God, who numbers the stars, even names those stars, knows your name. And he’s even given you a new name. A name, the name Christian. You’re named after his son, in whom we have eternal salvation, forgiveness of sins, redemption.

John 6:38-40

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Dear friends, if you’re ever like me, you’re probably notorious for losing things. I tend to set something down and then totally forget where I put it. Where are my keys? Where did I leave my coffee mug? I probably have like, ten coffee mugs scattered throughout this church that I’ve forgotten about that no doubt someone will find. We forget about a lot of things, don’t we? As human beings, we lose things rather easily.

One of the wonderful comforts that we have, in the Bible is God tells us that he does not forget or lose things like we do. He is not careless and forgetful like we human beings. These beautiful words from John chapter six Jesus says to us,

For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” (John 6:38-40)

Such comforting words. God never loses us. He doesn’t forget where he places us in life. He’s with us at all times. He knows about what’s going on in our life. And most importantly, he doesn’t lose us to death. Sometimes it may seem that way. When we look at death, it can be a really scary, sad thing. We lose a friend. We feel like in our hearts, if we go to a funeral of a dear friend or family member, we maybe are worried that we ourselves are going to be lost and buried in that earth. And that can be a terrifying thought. But God promises us that he will not forget us. Jesus says that he’s going to raise us up on the last day. Jesus, by his cross has taken away all of our sins, brought us peace with God, and by his resurrection on Easter morning, he’s destroyed the power of death for us.

And so he promises us that he’s not going to forget about us. He’s not going to lose us somewhere in the earth. He’s not going to forget about us, but rather he’s going to take our souls to be with him in heaven when we die. And on the last day, he’s going to raise up our bodies to be perfect and whole forever. He’s not going to forget about us. Like we forget about our keys in the couch. This is a wonderful comfort for us, friends. So we rejoice in our Lord Jesus, who never forgets us but is always with us and always remembers us in our lives.

Philippians 2:3-8

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In the United States, we have a kind of specific idea about what constitutes a hero. Who might we look to for as like a great example of an American hero, somebody like Abraham Lincoln, right? Abraham Lincoln starts at the bottom. He’s born in a log cabin. But through sheer grit and determination, he becomes president of the United States. And, of course, then the union collapses around him. He fights his way through the Civil war, comes out on the other side. The slaves are freed. The Union is preserved. That is the story of an American hero. Somebody who starts at the bottom and crawls their way up to the top.

It’s inspiring. We like that sort of story. What is a Christian hero, though? The Christian hero kind of goes the opposite direction. Let’s take a look at these verses in Philippians.

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:3-8)

These verses are describing Jesus in his state of humiliation. That is, a man who started at the top, right? He started off not even a man. The second person of the Trinity, God himself. And he becomes confined in a human being’s womb and is born of a human being. Even just the process of being born is suffering. He spends his whole life crawling down, becoming a servant, even to the people who are supposed to be serving him. He started on top and through sheer grit, determination and love for us, spent his whole life crawling downward.

We imitate Jesus Christ in His state of humiliation. It’s a challenging teaching of Scripture and we try to insulate ourselves from it. In fact, I hear Christians try to find ways to get out of this particular kind of obedience. You’ll hear things like, won’t people take advantage of me if I do this?

Yep. Yes. People are definitely going to take advantage of you.

Won’t that be really, really hard? Won’t that be painful? Yes, yes, that will be hard. That will be painful.

Well, what about me? When do I take care of myself? Who’s supposed to take care of me? Nope. That’s, that’s not your concern. God gave you the concern of looking after other people. He’ll send other people to look out for you. Your job is to think about other people as better than yourself. Put other people first.

This particular teaching of Scripture shatters any illusions of self-righteousness that we might have. This is not the way that we live. As soon as we start thinking about the life that we’re supposed to be living, it leads us really quickly into despair. And it leaves us with very few recourses except to turn to Jesus. This is the beauty of Theology of the Cross. Me carrying my cross directs me to Jesus on His cross. The devil might be able to torment me and say to me, you don’t deserve heaven. You have failed completely in this regard, and the only thing I have to say to the devil is “you’re right.”

You are right. I have not done what I needed to do. I’m not doing what I need to do now. And no matter how hard I try, I can’t even begin to approach what’s necessary of me for heaven. And yet, clinging to and leaning on my Savior, bracing myself against his cross, I have the assurances of his heaven. It’s the antidote to my self-righteousness to look at and compare what my righteousness is able to achieve, which is literally nothing against what Jesus’ righteousness has accomplished for me. This is how we are ultimately the beneficiaries of the true Christian hero, that he carried our self-righteousness and replaced it with his actual righteousness, that he carried our despair at everything that we deserved and paid the penalty for it, giving us instead the reward that he earned.

John 15:4-5

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Dear friends, today I’d like to share with you words from Saint John’s Gospel, chapter 15, where our Lord Jesus speaks these comforting words to us. He says,

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

This time of year it’s summer. It’s beautiful to see all the plants growing outside right now. And if you have a garden like me, you probably have some vining plants, maybe some squash or cucumbers or pumpkins that are growing. And it’s always amazing to see those vines grow out. They start with just that little seed. You can just see the amazing wonder that is God’s creation there in nature. How God designs this world to be so beautiful and just the power that’s in that little seed as it grows out. Of course, if you have a garden too, there’s a good chance that you’ve accidentally stepped on one of those vining plants before. When that happens, you know that everything on the other end of that vine where you’ve stepped is gone. It’s not coming back.

Jesus gives us an admonition that we are to stay connected to him, the vine, so that we can be alive and grow in our faith. There’s always the danger that we can be cut off from our faith. And so the way that we stay connected to Jesus is to stay connected to him and His word and his sacraments. And we have the comfort there as we do that we have life in Jesus where we’ve been grafted into him. We have new life in him. We’re true living vines. Jesus also says that we’ll produce fruit naturally as we stay connected to him and keep receiving that sap of word and sacrament. We’ll do good works of love for him and for our neighbor.

But it’s so important for us to stay connected to Jesus, who is our vine. He has completely taken away our sin, canceled our guilt before God. He’s destroyed the power of death and the devil over us. We don’t want to be disconnected from him in any way. There’s always that danger for us to be distracted and to not focus on our faith, and maybe even to forget about our faith, to not come to church, ever. Jesus lovingly invites us to come to him and to receive that sap that we that is, that comes from him, the vines that we can grow and live in him.

And if you go to church this time of year, you’ll even notice that the colors on the altar and on pastor stoles are green. And that’s the color of growth. It was something we focus on this time of year. Matches nature outside in many ways. We want to grow in our faith and the way to do that is to stay connected to Jesus, who is our vine. What wonderful joy and comfort it is to know that we are connected to him who loves us. That wonderful forgiveness and peace and love flows into our life as we draw from him who is our vine.

So stay connected to Jesus the vine, friends in Word and Sacrament in the means of grace, and know that the Holy Spirit will work in you and cause you to grow in your faith and help you to do good works of love too, for him and for those around you.

Isaiah 46:10-11

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Here in Mankato the congregations of our Evangelical Lutheran Synod have been working together the past few months to establish an association with the idea that we might be able to serve many more children in a larger Christian day school setting here. And those who have been involved in this very ambitious and complicated project have followed a slogan that someone expressed early on in their meetings. And that slogan is this “I don’t know the plan, but I know the planner.” And what a comfort that is for us, as we consider that God is the one who brings about the things that we can only hope will happen.

I’d like to just read a verse from the prophet Isaiah that speaks to this. God says,

I am the one who announces the final outcome already in the beginning.
I announce ahead of time things that have not yet been done.
I am the one who says, “My plan will stand,
and I will do everything I want to do.” (Isaiah 46:10)

And going on there in Isaiah chapter 46, he says,

Yes, I have spoken. I will certainly bring it to pass.
I have formed a plan, and I will certainly carry it out. (Isaiah 46:11)

Our gracious planner, our loving God, has done everything necessary for us, both for our lives here, as we naturally wonder and worry about our next doctor appointment, or our finances, or our national security, our society, and the upheaval we face, we wonder, how will this all end? We’re not sure. There are times it’s sort of thrilling not to know if we’re attending a sporting event and our favorite team is playing in an important game. That’s part of the fun that we don’t know the outcome, but we don’t like that uncertainty when it comes to, especially the eternal things pertaining to our soul. For we know that we’ve all sinned against God and not obeyed him and loved him as we should and as he deserves. And we wonder, what will things be like for me after I’ve died? Will I be in the joy of heaven with my dear Lord, or will I be separated from him?

I think it’s only natural, as honest Christians, that we are concerned about that question. How great that our planner assures us in no uncertain terms, about what he has in mind for us to fulfill his loving plan for each one of us. We know that God sent his only begotten son and assures us that all who believe in him have eternal life, for he gave his life for the sins of the whole world. Our dear Lord Jesus lived for each of us and died paying for our sins, the sins of the world, that we may have eternal life in heaven. And the Apostle Paul said, all things work together for good to those who love God. And he said, the gift of God, not something we earned, is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

And he promises again through Paul in Romans eight, there’s no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. You and I don’t always know the plan. Thankfully, we know the planner, and we know of his love for us and the certainty that the things he promises will be fulfilled as we repent of our sins and as we trust in the solution, our Savior, Jesus Christ.

John 16:19-20

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If you go see an orchestra, you might walk into the orchestra hall a few minutes before the beginning of the music, and you might hear this horrific noise. What is this terrible sound? The screeching violins and discordant brass and woodwind. And if you didn’t know that a beautiful piece of music was about to be played, you might go running from that orchestra hall. What is this?

But we know that those musicians are simply tuning their instruments. They’re getting ready to join together in harmony, to play something magnificent and beautiful. So we wait it out. We stay put. Even through that, that awful noise that lasts for just a little while.

Before Jesus was arrested, he was with his disciples in the upper room on Maundy Thursday. He was preparing them for what was about to happen to him. And so he was speaking very bluntly with them. And even though they didn’t quite grasp or understand what was going to be happening to Jesus in the following hours, and the following day, his words were very meaningful to them and would later be recalled. And these are words that Jesus spoke to his disciples, that he also means for you and me. Specifically these words from John 16.

Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him about this [what he had said], so he said to them, “Are you trying to determine with one another what I meant by saying, ‘In a little while you are not going to see me, and again in a little while you will see me’? Amen, Amen, I tell you: You will weep and wail, but the world will rejoice. You will become sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy. (John 16:19-20)

Jesus was preparing them for that little while that would soon come of real sorrow and heartache and grief, as they would watch their Savior be arrested, be tortured, be killed upon the cross. This was a time when our spiritual enemies were rejoicing. The sinful world, satan, they were thinking that they had won. God, Jesus, dead upon the cross. The disciples themselves, they were thrown into despair. They were fearful, We’re told that the following days they were back in that upper room where they had been with Jesus, only this time they were in hiding. They were fearful for their own lives. They thought they would be crucified next.

You and I, we faced little whiles of despair and trouble in our lives as well. I don’t know what it might be for you. Could be a diagnosis from the doctor. It might be a financial crisis or a loss of a job. It might be a close one who is dying or recently has departed. There are these little whiles of life where we feel great despair and we feel the hurt of trouble. Jesus puts it in perspective, though, and he was doing there that night in the upper room with his disciples. It’s a little while, and yes, the world will rejoice and you will have sorrow. But here’s good news for you your sorrow will turn into joy. And that’s true. That happened for the disciples. Think of the open and empty tomb. Jesus who went to the cross, and there he paid for our sins. He didn’t abandon his disciples. He appeared before them and said, it is me. Peace be with you. And their grief turned to joy.

And so too does our Savior and the fact that he has risen from the dead, bring us joy even as we are facing sorrow and trouble and grief. Jesus lives. He’s risen from the dead. And that means our greatest enemy. The thing that people fear the most in this world. It’s nothing to him. He’s broken death. He’s defeated it. And he is for you. He loves you, and he promises that you too will defeat death. Because he lives, we too will live. This gives us such joy.

There’s an ugly noise of trouble that may surround us. But God says, hold on, there’s something beautiful in store for you. So wait out this little while and know that the master conductor is about to take the stage. And something glorious and beautiful is about to be played for you.

Romans 11:33-36

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Does it bother you when there are things about God and His Word that you can’t understand or comprehend? I know I’ve run into people that this really bothers, and so they use that as a reason why they can’t believe in God. There’s too many things that I just don’t understand, that I can’t comprehend too many things that the Bible asks of me that I can’t even fathom.

For us as Christians, we have the ability, though, to say, I don’t know. I don’t know. There are things about God that remain mysteries to us. There are things that God reveals to us in His Word, that we simply have to throw up our hands and say, I’m not sure how that happens, but I do believe that God makes it happen, even though I can’t understand it or scientifically explain it. Is this something that should bother us? The scriptures themselves point out that this is something that should not bother us. Saint Paul specifically talks about this in Romans chapter 11, he brings up a really interesting point.

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable are his judgments
and how untraceable his ways!
“For who has known the mind of the Lord,
or who has been his adviser?”
“Or who has first given to God
that he will be repaid?”
For from him and through him and to him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen. (Romans 11:33-36)

Saint Paul points out that God’s wisdom surpasses ours. His judgment surpasses ours. And really, shouldn’t that make sense? If we have a God who’s bigger and smarter than we are, should he be able to understand and know and fathom things that go beyond our understanding? If everything about God was something that could fit inside of our heads, inside of our brains, if it’s something that we could come to understand, well, then wouldn’t that make us as smart as God is? And if that’s the case, do you want to have a God like that? Or would you rather have a God who’s far smarter, far more powerful, far more knowledgeable, with greater insight to things than you are?

I want a God who is bigger than I am, and that’s the God that we have in Scripture. Should it bother us that there are things that that we can’t fathom, that we can’t understand? No. Instead we simply say, I don’t know, but God knows. God is smarter than I am. And that’s the very nature of God. That’s what makes him God. But what we do need to know about God is what he proclaims to us in His word. And he says, trust me on these things. What you need to know is that I love you, that I care for you. That in Jesus Christ, my son, I forgive you all of your sins, that you are right with me by simply repenting of your sins and turning to me with faith. And I will take care of the rest.

Maybe you’ve heard this before. There was a small child who brought his remote control to the TV to his dad and handed it to his dad and asked, how does this work? Now that dad could have peeled off the back and explained infrared technology to his son, the small toddler, but he realized that would go way over the child’s head. So he takes the remote and he says, how does this work? You push this button and the TV will come on. And so it is sometimes with God. If he were to reveal the whole plan and system and wisdom to us, it would go flying way over our head. And so he tells us what we need to know. And he does that in his word. And he tells us about the love that he has for us. And he opens up all sorts of different understandings and knowledge to us that we can continue to explore. And that’s a good thing. But should it ever be an excuse to doubt God or to not put our faith in him, no. We should rejoice in the fact that we do have a God who’s bigger, smarter, more powerful than we are. And may that God’s peace be with you.

Revelation 21:1-2

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Brides are really careful with their dress. If you’ve ever watched a bride on the day of her wedding, she is watching like a hawk to make sure no little kids, no one, stains her dress. She wants that dress to remain pure and white. She wants to look her best for the bridegroom. John saw an image coming down out of heaven in the book of revelation, chapter 21.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, because the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. And the sea no longer existed. 2 And I saw the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. (Revelation 21:1-2)

John saw a fantastic representation of the church, this new Jerusalem, that’s all who believe in Jesus the Savior. And he specifically saw that she was adorned, dressed, as a bride for her husband. So that image of the bride dressed in a white dress is very fitting for Christians to consider. If you then are a bride, figuratively dress for Jesus the bridegroom, how careful have you been with your dress?

I know that I have often rolled around in the mud of sin with my lies, my laziness, my greed, and smeared myself with the mud of those sins. It’s just like Isaiah said, all of us have become like one who is unclean.

Notice in the image, though, that John saw the bride is adorned for her husband. Something has happened. If we were to read more of the book of Revelation, we would see that this New Jerusalem, the people that belong to the church, have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb.

The bridegroom sacrificed himself, shed his blood to cleanse the bride of all of her sins. That’s what Jesus was doing on the cross. He was taking the grime of your sins and actually claiming it as his own. Suffering and pouring out his blood in payment to cleanse you from all your sins.

So now God has a challenge for you. And that challenge is not to dwell on your sins, not to see yourself with all of your guilt, but to keep your eyes fixed on the bridegroom, Jesus the Christ. To see yourself as he sees you. Washed clean in his purifying blood.

Then you can be confident that you are part of this new Jerusalem. You are the bride adorned for the husband.

Your sins are forgiven because Jesus has washed them away in the flood of his blood. May God bless you and increase your faith so that you live out your life as the Bride of Jesus, the Christ in His name. Amen.

Isaiah 43:1-3

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I grew up in Southern California, and a lot of people have asked me if I ever tried surfing. It really wasn’t my thing. I tried to go surfing one time with some friends who really enjoyed surfing, and so we went out. And of course, because they were good surfers, we had to go out on a day where the waves were really big. They loaned me a board, they loaned me a wetsuit. They thought I was going to be good. I remember trying to paddle out past those incoming waves that were so big, so scary, and you’re paddling out and you’re going up the face of a wave. And I thought I was going to make it, I didn’t. Went tumbling backwards. Crashed on my back. You get sucked under the water. You’re so completely disoriented you have no idea which way is up. Meanwhile, you’re panicking and you’re losing your air. You’re thinking, I’m about to drown. I’m going to die. And then your foot, your foot touches the bottom and you know I can jump up and you do it. It’s such a great feeling. You jump up, you take a huge gasp of air. You open your eyes. And then for me, I saw another wave. Come and do it all over again. It was terrifying. Three times in a row I got tumbled between those waves. I nearly drowned. I said, nope. This is not for me. It was a scary experience.

There’s a Bible verse that reminds me of this, Isaiah chapter 43, verses one and two. When in life we feel like we’re getting sucked down and we’re getting knocked down by one thing or the next, and maybe, maybe you’re in a season of life where you feel that all these terrible things keep coming at you. We face these things. We face these, these troubles, and it feels like we’re not going to get out. It feels like we’re about to drown and we’re about to perish at any time. Well, God has these words for us. Isaiah 43, verses one and two.

Do not be afraid, because I have redeemed you.
I have called you by name. You are mine.
When you cross through the waters, I will be with you.
When you cross the rivers, they will not sweep you away.
When you walk through fire, you will not be burned,
and the flame will not set you on fire.
Because I am the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior, (Isaiah 43:1-3)

When we feel like we’re getting sucked under the waves of life, God says, cling to me. Trust me, I’m here for you. God has made a promise to never leave us or abandon us. And he’s given us this promise. He renews this promise to us through His Word and through his sacraments. When you’re feeling down and out, return to your baptism. Remember those waters that washed over your head, those comforting waters that proclaim to you that you are God’s own child, that he loves you, that you belong to him, that he is promised to always forgive you, to be at peace with you. When you’re feeling overwhelmed by all those waves of life, and you feel those anxieties and troubles of life coming your way, come to the Lord’s altar and turn to him. Hear his invitation to come and receive Jesus.

And for us we have that wonderful blessing of coming forward to receive the body and blood of Christ Himself in the Lord’s Supper, and with that the forgiveness of all of our sins. We are right with God. We are at peace with God. Turn to his word. Turn to God in prayer. Know that he is for you, especially in these troublesome, difficult moments of life you can have confidence in God your Savior. Do not be afraid, he says, because I have redeemed you. I have called you by name. You are mine.

Don’t let those waves of life bowl you over, cause you to drown. Don’t drown in the despair of this world. Know that you belong to God and have peace. The peace that comes to you through the forgiveness of sins won for you by your Savior Jesus. Peace be with you.

Genesis 24:1-6,9

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The patriarch Abraham was very concerned about the influences on his son Isaac. And you should be very concerned about the influences on your children, too. We read from Genesis chapter 24.

Now Abraham was old, well advanced in years. And the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things. And Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his household, who had charge of all that he had, “Put your hand under my thigh, that I may make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell, but will go to my country and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son Isaac.” The servant said to him, “Perhaps the woman may not be willing to follow me to this land. Must I then take your son back to the land from which you came?” Abraham said to him, “See to it that you do not take my son back there. So the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master and swore to him concerning this matter. (Genesis 24:1-6,9)

Abraham is very concerned about who his son marries, and you should be too.

Our culture prioritizes youth in all kinds of ways. We appreciate youth style, youth culture, youth music. But that’s not a given in all cultures, and definitely not in the past. Yes, there is a certain youthfulness and optimism and freshness that older people can benefit from, but by far the weight is generally on what is old and what is established and what is proven. And that past tradition is embodied in elders. People who are older, who have gone through the experiences of youth and are able to help those who are younger, learn to control their passions, learn to temper some of that optimism with a realism that will make them truly effective people in the world.

The Fourth Commandment tells children to honor their father and mother that it may go well for them. Kids, this is a call for you to respect your parents, to take their counsel, even when it doesn’t totally make sense to you as a good counsel born out of love. That will be for your ultimate and long term good. Parents, this is a call for you, like Abraham, to step into that role in a way that our culture would not necessarily encourage you to do. Abraham is very meticulous about who his son marries. This doesn’t just apply to who our children marry. But of course, marriage is one of these most important decisions that will have one of the greatest impacts on their lives.

So Abraham says to his servant, who is going to go source a wife for his son, don’t take a wife from the Canaanites among whom I live. Not only do they have a different culture, but that culture is rooted in worship of false gods, and I don’t want my son going astray spiritually. Instead, go to this place which we know from the rest of scripture was Harran, where some of Abraham’s extended family lived. Go get a wife from there. But he’s also very clear. Don’t let Isaac come with. Because God had promised to Abraham’s branch of the family that not only would Abraham have descendants which would be fulfilled through Isaac, but that he would take possession of this land of Canaan. And the people in the land were for the purpose of providing a blessing to all nations.

This is a promise of Jesus, who would be born almost 2000 years later, yet from this earthly human line. Isaac’s life had a purpose that went far beyond himself and his own wishes and desires. For Abraham, there was no other option. This was the promise of a Savior by which Abraham would make it to heaven. This was the Savior who would sacrifice himself for Abraham’s sins, who in the future had already as certainly provided the righteousness that Abraham needed as God had promised it. Abraham knew this was a case of spiritual life and death, not just for himself, but for the world.

Your children are not going to be in the line of physical descent of the Savior. However, they are going to be the ones to carry the same Savior through whom alone we have peace with God, forgiveness of our sins, and heaven ahead of us. They will be the ones to bring it into the coming generation. They will be the ones to bear it into the future. Be meticulous about who they marry.

There’s the old cliché about the father sitting on the porch, maybe cleaning his shotgun as his daughter brings her first boyfriend home. Kind of a blunt form of intimidation, saying, if you don’t treat my daughter well, watch out. But maybe we need a little bit more of that. Maybe we need parents to be more hands on where the culture tells you to fulfill yourselves, we Christian parents should say, fulfill the purpose and plan of God. Which is a much greater purpose than you could ever come up with on your own. And for your Christian children, they should be inviting their spouse to participate in that purpose with them. Now, this goes far beyond marriage to your children’s friends, the music they listen to, the movies they watch, the social media they engage with. And this shouldn’t be done to stifle them, but instead to support them and help them lean in to the great purpose God has for their lives.

Isaiah 55:8-9, Romans 8:28

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Do you have myopia? I do, and it’s really bad. Myopia is the medical term for nearsightedness, so I can see things that are close up, but the further away they get, the fuzzier they get. And most people that have myopia need contacts or glasses to correct the problem. And in some cases, depending on how bad it is that they really need those to, to legally drive to, to see much of anything.

We all have spiritual myopia. We see real well what’s going on right here, right now in front of us, but we don’t know what the future holds. We don’t always understand why things go the way that they do. And it can be real easy to worry, to fret, to be concerned. You know, does God actually see me? Does he know what’s going on in my life? Does he care about me? Well, yes, he does, but his ways are higher than our ways. As we read in Isaiah 55.

Certainly my plans are not your plans,
and your ways are not my ways, declares the Lord.
Just as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so my ways are higher than your ways,
and my plans are higher than your plans. (Isaiah 55:8-9)

And that makes sense, right? I mean, he’s God, we are not. And so his ways are going to be beyond our ways, beyond even our comprehension. So how do we know that his ways are for our good? Well, because he promises that they are. We read in Romans 8:28,

We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose, (Romans 8:28)

And then he gives us the proof. The proof is in the gift of His Son. A few verses later we read,

Indeed, he who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also graciously give us all things along with him? (Romans 8:32)

The proof is in the fact that he saw your sinfulness and he saw your brokenness. He saw the brokenness of the world. And so what did he do to correct that? He sent his one and only Son to live here among us, to die for us. He sent his Son to die for you so that you might be forgiven. So you might, through faith in him, be a member of his family. So you might have an eternity in heaven with him. If he didn’t withhold his only Son. He’ll give you whatever you need, he’ll do for you, whatever needs being done.

But it can be easy to forget that. So how do we correct our spiritual myopia? Are there glasses? Are there contacts? Yeah, it’s his word. This is where he shows us his love. This is where he keeps our eyes on the big picture. This is where he promises that he will work all things for your good. And this is the record of his perfect faithfulness to those promises.

So put on the glasses. Stay in the word. Fix your eyes on Jesus and know that he’s working all things for your good as he leads you to your heavenly home.

Amen.

Joshua 5:13-14, Romans 5:8-10, 2 Corinthians 5:18

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Whose side are you on? There’s a scene in Joshua that I always find so fascinating when Joshua is leading God’s people into the Promised Land. And so they’re going, they’re getting ready for battle and for what’s ahead of them. We’re told that when Joshua’s by Jericho,

When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?” And he said, “No; but I am the commander of the army of the Lord. Now I have come.” (Joshua 5:13-14)

Such an intriguing scene, because Joshua is leading the people of God. It would seem like if Joshua is saying, oh, hey, whose side are you on that it would be a pretty clear answer. Well, I’m with you guys, but the answer isn’t that the answer is no. I am the commander of the Army of the Lord. It’s not about being on the people’s side. It’s about being on God’s side. And for us, it’s not about trying to get God onto our side. It’s about being on God’s side. What is God doing? What is God up to? What does God want?

That’s something really worth pondering today in our world where people are so quick to take sides. Are you a Democrat or a Republican? Are you for this or against this? On Facebook, if there’s a post, are you liking it? Are you hating it? Are you commenting this or commenting that? Are you for this thing at church? Or are you anti this thing at church? Or are you a yes vote? Are you a no vote? We’re so quick to take sides, but as a Christian there’s only really one side to take and it’s the Lord’s, the Lord’s side.

When we get off thinking about, okay, my opinion, my side versus their side or what they think versus what what I think, we so quickly go down a wrong path. And perhaps that’s a big part of why there’s just so much hostility and hate in our world today. And social media definitely doesn’t help with that.

So what do we do when we realize we’ve taken the wrong side? Well, first of all, we lay that before the cross and then we remember this in Romans chapter five, verses 8 to 10. It says,

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. (Romans 5:8-10)

Let’s think about that. We were enemies of God. We were naturally a sinful people. We didn’t do things God’s way. We did things our own way. And that went against God. And yet God, God is so for us that Jesus came into this world. God the Son became human and then lay down his life and died, absorbing all the justice that your sins and mine deserve. He took the death that we deserve, and he rose again so that God can now see us through him, so that through faith in Jesus, by the power of the Spirit, now we are new people. We are new creations. We are children of God.

We are no longer enemies of God. You are now on God’s side and now, by the Spirit, you are free to live as someone who is on God’s side. How different might we approach things? How different might we look? How much of a light might we be in this world if we approach things and go towards things, not thinking about what side I want to be on. What’s God up to in this? What does God want to do in this? What would the Lord’s army, if you will, what would their mission, God’s mission, be in this situation?

One thing I know that God’s mission would be in second Corinthians 5:18, we’re told that

All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; (2 Corinthians 5:18)

So much as we think about the gospel and our role in this world, is to be people who are now sharing the good news, sharing forgiveness and people of reconciliation, where people are brought together around the cross through Christ and united in him. When we were his enemies, he died for us. We are now on the Lord’s side. And what is his side up to today?

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