Midweek Message from the Mount – June 20, 2012

 “Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked. ³⁴ Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! ³⁵ Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.” (Mark 3:33-35)

Have you ever thought about how amazing it is that Jesus calls us his brothers and sisters?  Have you considered how remarkable it is that we have been made the sons and daughters of the Heavenly Father? 

Through Jesus, God has taken us, bitter enemies of himself because of our choice of straying instead of obeying, and he has reconciled us to himself.  We were sons and daughters of the Father of Lies, but he has declared us to be the sons and daughters of himself, the Father of Life.  This is nothing we have earned or deserved.  There’s nothing we have done that God should look at us and think we were worth adopting.  But he did it because of his love.  How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! (1 John 3:1)  And because we are his children we find peace and security in his faithful promises, we find comfort in his loving and protecting arms, and we are happy to obey his commands and to do his will.

And have you ever considered how this relationship with our heavenly Father makes us brothers and sisters of each other?  Not by our blood, but by Jesus’ blood, are we family.  And that’s something that is stronger than any other relationship we have on this earth, because it lasts for eternity.  The brothers and sisters in faith that you have here will be your family forever.  So we care for one another.  We look out for one another.  We help each other when we are hurting.  We rejoice with one another when we have reason to rejoice.  And we love one another.  Not just in words, but in actions and in truth.  We love one another as Christ our brother first loved us.

Thank God that he has made us his family, and he has made us into a family!

Prayer:  Heavenly Father, We thank and praise you for making us your dear children through the merits of Jesus.  Lead us to place our trust in you as you supply us with all our needs. Strengthen us as we live together as a family of believers that we might exhibit our love for you in our relationships.  May we glorify you in all that we say and do together as a family in faith.  We pray in the name of Jesus, our brother.  Amen.

Midweek Message from the Mount – June 13, 2012

Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day. (Deuteronomy 5:15)

God blessed his people with the gift of the Sabbath Day so that they could find rest for their bodies and their souls.  Here, through Moses, God tells his people that he brought them out of slavery in Egypt and brought them into the Promised Land, which was accomplished only by his almighty power.  Because of that, they were to observe the Sabbath to remember just how much God loved and cared for them, both physically and spiritually.

You and I have been freed from the slavery of our sin.  We were locked away in the prison of our sinful flesh with Satan as our master. But God has broken that yoke of slavery through the life and death of our Savior and our Substitute who took the punishment for us.  We have been forgiven of our debt, we have been freed, and it’s all by God’s mighty hand and outstretched arm, and not by anything we have done or ever could do.  And so we too eagerly desire to remember just how much God loves and cares for us. 

 

But there is no longer that command to observe a certain day of rest.  Christ has cancelled the written code and all the observances and festivals (Col. 2:13-17). We have been set free and we are able worship and find rest whenever we want.  We worship not because we have to, but because we cannot help not to, knowing the grace and mercy God has showered on us through Christ.  That yoke of slavery to sin has been crushed by Christ, and he now gives us a blessed invitation:  “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matt. 11:28-30).

 

It’s in Christ that God’s commandment to keep the Sabbath Day was fulfilled.  It’s in Christ that we find rest from our sin and this sinful world.  It’s in Christ that we have the hope of eternal rest. 

 

Prayer:  Dear Jesus, Thank you for keeping the Law perfectly in my place and dying for my disobedience to the Law, so that I might be set free to serve you in faith.  Continue to lead me to eagerly seek you in Word and Sacrament where I find true rest for my soul.  Amen.

Midweek Message from the Mount – June 6, 2012

  In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. ² Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. ³ And they were calling to one another:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty;

the whole earth is full of his glory.”

⁴ At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.

⁵ “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”

⁶ Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. ⁷ With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”

⁸ Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”

And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” (Isaiah 6:1-8)

The first lesson for Trinity Sunday that we read this past Sunday is filled with beautiful truths and imagery.  Look at what brings Isaiah to his eager desire to be sent by the Lord.  It’s what the Triune God does for him that compels him.

He knows who he is before a holy God.  A man of unclean lips.  Ruined.  Woe is upon him.  He knows he does not deserve to be in the presence of the almighty God and he honestly admits he should be destroyed for it.

But notice how God responds.  He does not destroy Isaiah the sinner.  He declares Isaiah to be a saint, he takes his sins away, it’s atoned for, his guilt is vanquished.  And for no other reason than God’s great grace and mercy. 

Then comes the call.  “Whom shall I send?  And who will go for us?”  And Isaiah, knowing what his loving, Triune God has done for him, bringing him from ruin to life, from guilt to a pure heart, can’t help but raise his hand high and shout, “Here am I.  Send me!”

God has forgiven your sins and taken your guilt away by the blood of Christ.  Now he calls out to his sinners declared to be saints, “Who will go for us?”  How will you respond to the call?  How can you not see God’s love for you and raise your hand high and shout, “Here am I.  Send me!  Use me for your purposes!  Let me share this love with others!  Let me be the servant of the Triune God!”  The holy God has declared you, a sinner, to be holy.  And now he even calls you into his service.  How awesome is that!  What a privilege you have!

Prayer:  Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I thank you for so perfectly providing for all of my needs, especially for making me your child now and forever.  Lead me to hear your call into a life of service to you and to answer cheerfully, “Here am I.  Send me!”  May I be a light to the world that reflects your great love for all people.  May I give glory to you in everything I say and do.  Forgive me when I fail, restore me with your forgiveness, and give me your strength to live for you.  Amen.