Sermon in Outlook 24.11.2007

Comfort them in their place of watching. And remember those on the outside of your kingdom who are yet walking in the ways of unbelief and darkness. Grant unto them a seeking and searching heart that they could find this greatest treasure here on this earth which is found in your kingdom, in your congregation, Zion, here on earth.

We also remember this morning or this afternoon those in faraway places, brothers and sisters in faith in different lands, especially remembering those this day there in those younger congregations there in Ecuador and Togo. Bless their congregation. Bless their congregations, Father. Grant unto them that same peace and joy, that unity of the Spirit which is found in the midst of your kingdom.

We pray yet as your Son has taught us. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.

For our study this afternoon, I will read God's Word, which is found in the book of Deuteronomy. In the thirtieth chapter, the last two verses, 19 and 20. And the words are in Jesus' name as follows. I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live, that thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him. For he is thy life and the length of thy days, that thou mayest dwell in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them. Amen.

The first words which we read here in this portion of God's Word, in the first verse, speak of a call to heaven and earth. This call is one that has gone out to mankind from the beginning of time. We recall when Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden, when they were tempted of the enemy and they did fall into sin, ate of that forbidden fruit. They were able to see their own sinfulness, their own nakedness. They covered themselves and they hid. They tried to hide from God. But God sees all and He knows all.

We understand through faith that God is everywhere, all the time. He sees us. He knows what we are doing. He even knows what we are thinking. We cannot hide from God. And He also knows that through that fall in the Garden, when Adam and Eve fell into sin, that corruption or sin fell on all of us. Every person born into this world except for the Lord and Savior Jesus has been a corrupt being. We are sinners and we do sin.

Or would I ask this afternoon, are there any sinless ones gathered here today? I know from my own portion that I have to say that sin does so easily beset me. And there are many temptations. And there is that threefold enemy that we always battle against, which is the world, which is the enemy of souls, which is our own flesh, and which is God.

And the Bible teaches even in this way that if we in our own thoughts are angry or upset with our neighbor, we have already committed murder in our heart. That sin has occurred. We don't actually have to strike our brother or sister or speak angry words to them. But already when it has been there in our mind and in our heart, we have sinned before God.

So God understands how our temporal portion, this earthly portion that we have, is so easily able to fall into sin. As many times as we make those new promises to be obedient to God's Word. And it is a good matter, I think, that even in these services of God's children, that call is sounded out. I call. I call unto you.

God is calling each and every one of us here this afternoon. And even those who perhaps are not immediately in our midst here in the church. But as I understand, many of these services are broadcast over the internet. And perhaps there is one listening there, at the computer. Perhaps many, many miles from here in another country, in a distant land.

Through this kind of technology, God is able to sound that call to all corners of the earth in these last times that we live. And so also, if there would be such a wonderful, if there would be such a one listening there by the computer, this call also sounds forth to you today. And it is a call of love.

That kind of a call that we remember, for example, with the sinful woman who had been caught in the very act of adultery. And the Pharisees brought this woman to Jesus. And they said, now here this woman has been found in the very act of adultery. And according to the laws of Moses of that day, this woman should be brought outside of the city and she should be stoned to death.

But the Pharisees, they wanted to have Jesus make that condemnation of her life. So they brought this woman to Jesus. And they said, here this is the matter that has happened. What do you say now? And Jesus simply answered in this way, that he who is without sin, let him cast the first stone.

This was an interesting instruction that Jesus gave for these Pharisees. They were very self-righteous. They were very law-minded. And they attempted in an outward way to live a very good life. A very good and pious life, we could say. That to the people around them, it would maybe appear that there was no sin there.

But Jesus used that moment to call unto those Pharisees and mankind to examine their own heart. And he said then that the one who is without sin, he should cast the first stone. And then he simply knelt down on the ground and began to write.

And these scriptures record that as those men stood there, I think it was from the oldest perhaps to the youngest, they began one by one to leave from that throng that was gathered around Jesus. When they searched their own hearts, when that light of God's word shone into their heart, they were not able to say that they were sinless. But they had committed sin. And so they left from there, one by one.

And when Jesus looked up, there was only the sinful woman standing there. And Jesus said, where are your accusers? And she answered in that way that there is no man that condemns me. And Jesus simply answered, neither do I. Go and sin no more. Your sins are forgiven you.

Jesus came to free us from our sins. And what a precious matter that is. And how important it is then that when the call sounds forth, that we hearken to that call. It is a good matter that there is this kind of a loving call unto our undying soul.

For how is it, as we have said, we battle that threefold enemy. And I'm sure for many of you it is similar to my journey. That we often hear the call of the enemy of souls, drawing us into the things of this world. Enticing us to fall into sin. Preaching that sermon of unbelief. That do not continue to battle as a child of God. Do not continue fighting that good fight of faith. It is not worthwhile. There is no hope for you to reach that heavenly shore.

These are the kinds of calls that we so often hear from the enemy of souls. They are the kind of calls that in some sense perhaps appeal to our flesh. But in other senses cause our flesh to tremble and to be fearful.

And so it is good and reassuring when we are able to hear the call from God's kingdom. That come unto me. And to call that where art thou? Are you hiding yourself from God? Are you covering your matters like Adam and Eve did in the garden? Are you traveling as some of those did on that wilderness journey? Traveling with the children of God? But not having that treasure in your heart? Rather only traveling there to give the appearance of a child of God? And perhaps even when you are away from God's children living a much different life of sin and freedom of the flesh.

It is a good matter that we have a call from God to remind us. For we need God's love in our lives. And here Moses was given God's word to speak to the people of that day. That I call heaven and earth to record this day against you. That I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing.

There are only these two choices at the end of the journey. Life or death. Eternal life in heaven. Or eternal death and damnation in hell. Deuteronomy speaks of this in several different places. And calls to us to accept that better, better situation. That eternal life in heaven.

And how is that attained? It is by putting away sin as it attaches us on the journey. Endeavoring to be obedient to God's word. Certainly we cannot be perfect in these matters. But God knows the condition of our heart and that desire that is in our heart. And He will not leave us. He will continue to call us. He will continue to give strength to us to go to that grace altar wherein we can ask for the gospel and we can believe our sins forgiven.

I have set before you a blessing and a cursing. That blessing when we think of it perhaps reminds us of that example of Esau and Jacob. We remember how Esau had the blessing. He was the firstborn. He was to receive that blessing from his father. But Esau's matters were not well. Sin had begun to attach onto him on the way and the journey.

And his mother was able to see through eyes of faith, through that instruction that God had given to her, that Esau's matters were not well. That he was not acceptable to God. And God knew that Jacob's matters were as a little child. And that he would be the one to receive that blessing.

And so, as we recall from the Scriptures, it happened in that way that Jacob received the blessing of his father. Esau had traded that blessing to Jacob for a meal of lentils, if I recall. It seemed like perhaps a small or insignificant thing for us.

But how is it? Are the offerings of this world similar to us in our day? They perhaps seem like simple things. It could be the love of money, for example, where our life endeavor circles around gaining more money, filling our bins with more goods.

This high standard of living that we experience in our country is not the standard of living that we have today. And the life does not need to be this high a standard for us. But God has blessed it in this way.

And we have seen in other times in our own countries, we have seen in other countries where the standard of living is not this high. And there are children of God dwelling there, in those countries.

And in previous times when our nations were going through depressions and there was famine in the land, the times were difficult, and yet they had living faith. And that was the greatest blessing. And there were many who clung to that faith, many who were able to reach the destination. And this was the greatest blessing. Not the temporal blessings which we have been given today.

I heard an interesting explanation of the standard of living one time on the radio. Somebody had done a study on the standard of living and they were comparing the times 50 years ago to the times today. And they had, through this study, come to this realization that the goods and the standards of this time are, as we can see, much higher than they were even 50 years ago.

But the study found that many people are not nearly as happy today as they were back then. That life is busier, life is more hectic, people are more stressed, there's more issues that people are dealing with as a result of our higher standard of living.

But the conclusion of the whole matter I found to be very interesting. And that was this, that our happiness was not dependent so much upon what we had in our life, but what we had compared to our neighbors in life.

And it said that they had found that happiness is found in people so often when they compare to their neighbors. And if they feel they have more, they are happy. And if they feel they have less, they are less happy.

And I think that might be true from one of my own experiences one time as a supervisor in a work situation. Having the responsibility to handle out the annual wage increases to the workers.

And early in my career I had this experience where I handed out the wage increases. And I remember how this one man left from the meeting and he was so happy with his increase and he was so thankful and so nice to me.

And then later I had a meeting with another one of the coworkers and that worker was more diligent and had better quality work and they had given him a slightly higher increase.

And that first man found out that he received less than the other. And he came storming back into my office and he was very, very upset with his wage increase.

And I asked him that question that I thought when you left, you were happy with your wage increase. And I thought your happiness was sincere and thankful. But sadly, that thankfulness disappeared when he felt his neighbor got more.

And so this is not a good place to base our happiness on. But rather, godliness with contentment is great gain as the Apostle Paul reminds Timothy. And all of us. That we can be content and happy with what God has given us.

And we have that greatest blessing, that gift of living faith. This is the greatest treasure in our lives. That the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is dwelling there in our earthen vessel. That he is our treasure. And that this is the most important thing to us.

That we would preserve living faith. That when we have this choice of a blessing or a cursing, that we would want to treasure that blessing, that gift of living faith, which we have been given.

We remember what happened with Esau. When he realized that the blessing had been given to Jacob, he also asked the father that, is there not another blessing for me? And the scriptures record that even though he sought it bitterly with tears, he did not receive that blessing.

The doors of grace had been closed unto him. And so, it is good instruction and a good lesson to us to not let some other treasure gather in our heart. But to keep God first place. And to cling to God. To cling to that word of God. And to pray to Him to preserve us in living faith.

There are many dangers in this world. I don't need to go into all of these. I'm sure many of you have your own places of watching. But it seems to me that it would be good even at this time to speak on one matter. Especially now, concerning the sports and the temptations of this world.

We know that the home team here is in the championship game. And it is on many minds. And having lived here, I know how that closeness can be to your football team here.

But yet, would we remember yet this weekend to keep these matters in perspective. That faith would be the greatest treasure. That we would not become caught up as the world is caught up in idolizing these players and these sports players wherever they may be.

Not just here, but in any area. Sports is so big nowadays. And the salaries are so high. As we see, especially in the United States, where some of these athletes are paid millions of dollars.

But I see the same sort of idol worship here in the local area as there are in our areas. Every day when I have picked up the paper, there has been some profile of some player saying how good they were and how good they were. And how special they were and how talented they were.

And nowhere in those articles have I seen that the honor and glory going to God. But rather these players have taken this even on themselves and have felt their own greatness if we could say.

And we see how the people worship these idols. And not only that, but the lifestyle which comes with this celebration or this big game. I have seen many, many articles talking about the big party where there will be much alcohol and much sin.

This is not the place for a child of God. This is not the activity that we would want to associate ourselves with. But rather, that our faith would remain the greatest treasure.

Be emboldened and encouraged even at this time, dear travelers, to cling to that faith and to not be caught up in the temptations of this world even during this weekend now and always.

It is a place of watching in our day. And in this portion that we read, God instructs us to love the Lord thy God, that thou mayest obey His voice and that thou mayest cleave unto Him, for He is thy life and the length of thy days.

Is this not a good instruction for us to be obedient to God and to love Him? Jesus, when He was called, when He was speaking with the disciples, He said that a new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another as I have loved you. Love one another. Love your neighbor.

So what did we learn from Jesus? Well, we remember how He freed that sinful woman who had fallen into the sin of adultery. But we remember much more about His life. How He endeavored to teach matters of faith.

How He called the poor, the sick, the lame, the halt, the blind, those who seemed too low and poor for the self-righteous Pharisees to even consider calling into God's kingdom. These were the ones that Jesus approached. These are the ones that Jesus cared for.

He taught of this through that parable of the Good Samaritan. How many of the churches passed by that wounded man on that road to Jericho. But the Good Samaritan, he had that love of God in his heart. He stopped there. He cared for that wounded man.

He poured that oil into his wounds. In other words, it was a gospel of the forgiveness of sins. And He bound them up with those bandages, those robes of righteousness which our Lord and Savior provides.

And then He brought this man to the inn. In other words, into God's congregation. And there, the Good Samaritan or the Good Shepherd, we could say, left with the innkeeper those two pence, grace and truth, that he would be cared for all his days.

And he even said in this way that if those two pence were not enough he would come back to give more. He has never needed to give more. This is the same two pence that cares for us today as wounded travelers in that inn. Grace and truth.

Grace is always first. Grace washes away that sin that so easily besets us. And truth then follows that obedience to God's Word. Those fruits of faith which we read of in the book of Galatians or the letter to the Galatians there of love and peace and joy and meekness.

These are the fruits of faith. This is the heart of the child of God. This is that heart and that love that God gives that we would care for our neighbors. And we would even be willing to give our life for our neighbor.

We could speak a few words yet on that matter. This giving our life for our neighbor perhaps is something that even comes close to a married couple. We've talked about this in our couples. We've talked about this in our couple camps and times together as couples about matters of faith.

And we are so often reminded how once we are married we are one. And how important it is that we would give our life for our spouse. That we would not be so self-centered and so self-driven.

That we would continue to go our own ways and to do our own things and to worry about our own selves and not our spouse. But rather to give our life. Think of them first. How can we help them? How can we support them on the journey? How can we help them to reach home in heaven?

And there are many instructions given there at these discussions of how important it is that husband and wife are united in spirit working in that same unity and that love in rearing the children.

That as one spirit they can give that instruction to their children and in this way care for their children and show that love and also give their life for the children.

That so many times there might be things that we would want to do or places we want to go but it is more important that we would think about our children and include them in our events, include them in our visiting, take them along with us and as always continue to teach them of the ABCs of faith.

For is this not the same care that we have received? Did our parents not also desire to bring us with them? Even to the visits with the elders.

In our day especially and perhaps even yet today is that instruction to the young and that encouragement to come and visit the elders and that encouragement also to sit quietly and to listen.

Oh how I remember many times there being in the visits with the elders and listening to their discussions sometimes perhaps not even knowing exactly what they were talking about yet that seed of God's word was being planted and sown into a heart of a little child.

God gives the increase from that sowing of the seed and this is that instruction which we all have been given that we would sow that seed into our children's hearts that God may give the increase and therefore it does bring that out in this portion of scripture that therefore choose life that both thou and thy seed may live.

That we understand that faith is personal. We cannot believe for our children nor can they believe for us. But how important it is that we would endeavor to sow the seed into their hearts and to love them and to preach the gospel to them.

And you dear children also are encouraged to preach the gospel to your mother and father. They endeavor to do this work in their own weak way. But Luther instructs that even as weak and frail as they are yet we would want to honor our parents. We would want to show love for them.

And what greater love can you show than to put your arms around them and to preach the gospel of forgiveness of sins to them. This is the greatest care that we all need. And this is the good place that we are where this gospel is freely preached.

Jesus encourages us to use this daily in our life. When this gospel is used it is a calling unto us also to remember to keep faith in a good conscience.

And so it is often we hear in these instructions when we visit with our children even if perhaps they have done something that has disappointed us. And when we begin to talk about these matters that we first preach the gospel one to another that the sins can be forgiven.

Those sins which they have done and those sins that we have done for many of us as parents find how we are upset at these deeds and actions. And we also need to hear the gospel.

And from that place then that good place of a forgiven child of God with that love of God sown into our hearts we can then begin to discuss the matters and how we might help each other in future situations to keep faith in a good conscience.

And this doesn't apply only to mothers and fathers but we can freely even preach this gospel to our grandparents and grandparents to the children. And uncles and aunts, nieces and nephews, one to another, to our neighbors.

And this is that work that we have been given to do that thou mayest obey His voice and that thou mayest cleave unto Him that we want to be there in the middle of the flock not out on the edges not where the enemy of souls can tempt us and draw us away but what a good place when we can rest our head on the bosom of the Lord and Savior Jesus that we can be there at that middle cross on Golgotha having our sins forgiven and owning that name of a child of God.

This is our heart's desire and He has remembered us in our struggles. And even now He wishes to encourage and to uplift each and every one of you as you have reflected on your own matters here perhaps this day.

Perhaps have found that you have been in need of this kind of a call that where art thou? How are your matters? Even now God sees into that heart and wishes to assure you that you can uplift your hearts to be able to be a part of the church and that you can uplift your hearts to believe all sins and doubts forgiven in Jesus' name and precious blood.

Be of good cheer and be of good comfort. Believe for this day. And if there would be yet matters on your heart and conscience perhaps some named sins that are bothering you be emboldened and encouraged to speak of these.

This is a grace privilege that we have in God's kingdom. It is not a requirement but it is a privilege that God has provided for His children that they could completely free themselves and they could share those battles that they have that the other children of God might be able to lift up their hands.

Even as Aaron and Hur did for Moses there when the children of God were battling those Amalekite nations. Moses' hands became weary and he needed that help. So also we need the help of our brothers and sisters in faith when we are battling against that three-fold enemy.

And I also would like to hear that same gospel message this day. Can I believe my sins forgiven? And I desire to believe with you dear children of God in Jesus' name, Amen. Amen.