Amazing Grace - Weekday Lenten Service 4, Psa 27:14,

The Fourth Sunday in Lent, March 21, 2004

St. John's Lutheran Church, Howard, SD

¹⁴Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord! Psalm 27:14 (ESV)

Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Wait for the Lord. I struggled a great deal with exactly what that means. Wait for the Lord. We don’t like to wait for anything. I get impatient when my family is suppose to get ready to leave the house, it seems as if there is always one more thing to do, one more trip to the bathroom. I’m ready to go and there I stand waiting. I know better than to go out to the car, I’ll be sitting and waiting twice as long. Waiting isn’t something I do very well. Aren’t we all conditioned by that light emitting box in our living rooms? Rarely do we ever have to wait more than an hour (or even a half) for any story to unfold. Oh, I know that lots of the programs now have story lines that continue from week to week. The networks have figured out that you’ll come back if they drag you along with a continuing story. But, that story line is always a part of a complete story for today’s episode. And just look at the popularity of DVD sets for a whole year of your favorites. Now you don’t even have to wait for that, but you can sit down and in marathon session get the whole season’s story line. How many of you have a bottle of wine sitting at home you are letting age to the appropriate age? Probably not many. In America, the wine experts complain, the typical aging of wine takes place on the car seat home from the store. Well, that’s typical of our waiting.

We don’t wait for anything. We don’t wait for marriage to have sex. We don’t wait 10 min for a hamburger (We should put salt and pepper shakers in the steering wheel.) We don’t want to wait for the traffic light to change, or for our tax refund. How long can you wait? Everything in our lives is designed to minimize the wait. Losing weight isn’t just talking about getting lighter on the bathroom scale. And here in this little text, at the tail end of a rather short Psalm, King David tells us to “Wait for the Lord.” Now of all the things we have to wait for, most of all we don’t want to wait on God.

“I’ve been that route,” you say. “I waited for God and my mother died anyway. I waited for God and the promotion I wanted passed me by. I waited for God and my girl friend started dating someone else. I waited for God and the pain in my body turned into chemotherapy. Waiting for God doesn’t mean that I’ll get what I want.” And that’s true. God never promises that he’ll give us whatever we want, and waiting on him doesn’t mean we’ll get what we want just because we wait.

We’ve all been taught that God answers our prayers with three different ways: “Yes, no, and wait.” I think we’d rather have “no” then “wait.” In fact, I think when the answer is “wait,” we most often go out and find our own answer. We lie ourselves into believing that if it makes me happy it must be God’s answer to my prayers. “After all,” we lie, “what God wants most is for me is to be happy.” The god that tells you that you can have it all, without waiting, is Satan. The god that tells you that what you want right now is what’s best for you is the world. The god that gives you whatever you want right now, in spite of the consequences, is yourself. Not wanting to wait on God is really all about rejecting him. It’s about refusing to let him be in control of our life. Wanting to be our own god.

On Sunday we heard about a parable that Jesus told. In it we hear about some folks who weren’t very good at waiting. There was a man who had two sons. The younger one told him he wished he were dead. Give me the money that is mine when you die, I can’t wait for that day. The father divided his property between the sons. The younger son couldn’t wait to get out from under the thumb of his old man. Within a few days he had gathered up all that was now his and went as far away as he could go. He partied. He laughed. He loved. He spent it all, every single dime. And when it was gone, every single dime, a famine came over the land, and since he had nothing left, he was trouble. He found a menial and degrading job, where he worked just to have a little bit to eat. And even that wasn’t worth anything. No one there offered to help him in any way. When he was at his lowest point he came to his senses. He thought about his father and decided he could get back in his father’s god graces if he returned home and told him he was sorry. “Even the workers on my father’s farm are treated better than this. Maybe I can talk my father into letting me work for him. I’ll go back to him and tell him, “Dad, I’ve sinned against heaven and against you. I can’t be your son anymore, but could I work for you as a hired hand?” Again he wouldn’t have to wait or work for himself to make things better. So he set out on his way home.

Since the day the son had left the father had been looking out and waiting with eager expectation for his son to come home. Every day he would stand looking out on the road for the first glimpse of his son. So when the son was still a long way off, the father saw him and ran out to meet him. He had been waiting. He ran to meet him with open arms to welcome him home again.

“Father, I’ve sinned against heaven and against you. I’m not worthy to be a member of this family anymore…” but the father, who had been waiting, didn’t allow him to finish. He called to the hired hands and told them to do everything necessary to welcome the son back into the family. He put the best robe upon him. He forgave him for all that he had done. The days of waiting were over. His lost son had come home again.

Amazing grace how sweet the sound,

That waited for a wretch like me,

I once was lost, but now am found,

Was blind but now I see.

That’s looking and waiting with eager expectation. The father stood at the road, looking out, waiting to forgive.

God, the Father, has already forgiven you. You have already been restored to the family. He was waiting for you with eager expectation at the baptismal font. There he embraced you and kissed you. He put His best robe, the robe of the perfect life of Jesus. It isn’t what you should receive from God. Instead you should be turned away. That’s what happens on the cross of Jesus. Jesus is turned away. He receives the punishment for your sins and you receive the life that he lived perfectly. God’s love for you is so great that he allows Jesus to die in your place. There is no waiting for forgiveness for you. It is done even before you ask. “Most Merciful God, we confess that we are by nature sinful and unclean. We have sinned against you in thought, word and deed…” and he interrupts and says, “I forgive you because of Jesus.” He forgives even your sin of not wanting to wait. He forgives even the sin of worshipping your own desires. It is all forgiven for the sake of Jesus.

Where guilt is great and sin abounds,

There God’s great grace is poured,

And fervent prayer form saints resounds:

“I wait for you, O Lord”

“I wait for you, O Lord.” It seems impossible. We hate to wait. But we do wait on the Lord. We do it because we know he has our best interest at heart. It’s not like waiting for a hamburger at the drive through. We don’t have a relationship with the clerk. We have a relationship with God. Our relationship is based on what he has done for us. Through baptism into the life, death and resurrection of Jesus we are a part of God’s family. That is sure, not because of anything we have done but because of everything He has done. He has shown us that he is faithful. Jesus death on the cross didn’t end in his death. He defeated death by rising from the grave alive again. That’s why the psalmist can say, “be strong, and let your heart take courage.” We are connected to Jesus resurrection through faith in him. What is his is ours, his robe of perfection, his living again. Our sin is paid for and our death isn’t the end. We will live forever with the Lord.

By grace we’re saved, through faith alone;

That mercy contemplate.

Bring all your needs before his throne

As for the Lord you wait.

The God who sacrificed his only son to make us his sons and daughters sometimes asks us to wait. We have God’s promises that no matter what happens it all happens for our good. (Ro 8:28)

³¹but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:31 (ESV)

And that’s God’s promise, too.

Wait for the Lord. Be strong and let your heart take courage, wait for the Lord.

Amen.

The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Amazing Grace - Weekday Lenten Service 3, Psalm 25:6

Psa25v6

Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me.

I once was lost but now am found,

Was blind but now I see.

“I once was lost…”, left behind, ignored, abandoned, forgotten. I’m not sure that’s what the hymn writer had in his mind when he penned those words, but that’s how it seems to fit with the Psalm verse we read with it at the beginning of the service. “Remember me! O Lord.” It says.

"Remember your mercy, O Lord, and your steadfast love, for they have been from of old." (Ps 25:6, ESV)

Have you ever felt forgotten? A birthday that came and went without a card or letter, or phone call or even an eMail? Sitting and longing for that phone to ring bringing news from a living-away-from-home child? Wanting someone, anyone to visit you after an absence from church? It happens all the time. People get forgotten. People feel lost and alone. There is no fear like being forgotten.

There is a movie that’s a few years old now, called “Toy Story.” It’s about toys that live in the room of a child named Andy. In the movie, Andy and his family are moving. The toys are all very concerned about being forgotten and left behind when the family leaves. So to prevent the worst thing that can happen to a toy, they pair up into “moving buddies.” “The last thing I want is for a toy to be forgotten,” one of the toys says. No toy wants to be ignored by a child.

Human beings do lots of things to try to prevent being forgotten. Some donate money to hospitals, Sanford Health was Sioux Valley. Some donate money to the church. Others build networks of friends and colleagues, the more the merrier. The idea is that the more people you know the less likely it is that you’ll be forgotten. But no matter what people do there is still the risk of being forgotten; there is the risk of being alone and lost.

But the Psalmist is asking for something more than just to not be forgotten. The toys didn’t want to be lost because they didn’t want to be ignored. That’s really what the Psalm is saying, too. “Pay attention, God. Don’t forget your mercy and love for me. Look on me.” It’s like that last phrase we use every worship service here. The “Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face shine on you…. Turn your face toward me,” we say. “Don’t ignore me God. Remember me!” And we say it to remind us that God promises to pay attention to us; to remind us that we are not alone; to remember that we are remembered by Him.

But there is a danger in having God remember us. When God turns His face toward us He sees everything. He sees all the good we do, and He sees all the bad we do. He hears all the good things we say, and all the lies we tell. He even knows the good things we think about, and the awful things in our mind. And in fact, God is the one who sees everything we do in relationship to himself. He sees straight into our hearts and sees that in reality everything we do is sinful.

We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. (Isaiah 64:6, ESV)

John Newton understood what that means. “‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear…” He wrote in beloved hymn. When we consider God paying attention to us, and our sin, we realize that we have good reason too fear. King David was a man who struggled with sin. He was boastful and proud. He was led astray by adultery. He paid the price for his sinful nature with the death of his beloved children. When David thought about God remembering him and his sin he said:

"For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight." (Ps 51:3-4a, ESV)

And our text has that in mind too, because it goes on to say, "Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions." (Ps 25:7, ESV) “Remember instead, your mercy. Pay attention to me in mercy.”

God has a track record of doing just that. When the Noah, his family and all the animals were loaded into the ark and God had closed the door. They were afloat in the water of the flood for 150 days. The bible tells us that “God remembered Noah and all the animals in the ark.” (Gen 8:1) He paid attention to them, cared for them and had mercy on them. While He destroyed every other living thing on the earth, because of sin, He had mercy on the eight humans and the animals. It’s not just that He thought about the from time to time He protected and directed and cared for them.

Where guilt is great and sin abounds,

There God’s great grace is poured,

And fervent prayer from saints resounds,

“Remember me, O Lord.”

So, how do you know that God remembers you, in mercy, instead of seeing your sin?

In the movie “Toy Story” one of the toys that is almost lost comes to his senses and remembers that he belongs to Andy because Andy has written his name on him. The toy remembers who he belongs to because a big “A N D Y” had been scribbled on his foot in big bold letters.

And you have God’s name scribbled on you in big bold and wet letters. That’s how God promises to remember you. A little over a week ago we gathered together to begin our Lenten journey at this rail by receiving a sign in ashes. Those ashes weren’t only a sign of our sinfulness, but they were put on us in the shape of a cross. That cross was just the same as the sign of the cross made upon your forehead and upon your heart to mark you as one redeemed by Christ the Crucified. That’s the same sign of the cross given to you in baptism, and it’s shorthand for the name of God.

“But that’s too simple to be sure, it’s too ordinary. I’d really like God to do something really spiritual. Like a glowing face, or lightning or thunder or a warm fuzzy feeling deep in my heart. Water in a man’s hand is too simple to really be God remembering me.”

That’s one of the great things about Baptism. It just doesn’t leave any doubt about who God is dealing with. Do you want to know if God remembers you, if God is paying attention to you, and looking upon you? Ask yourself this: Did make me promises in Holy Baptism? Was it water connected to God’s Word that made my head wet? Was God’s name spoken over me? You can’t get any more specific than that. In Baptism God is working through His Name and water. And were God puts His name He promises to be. He put His name on you and He promises to be with you, and look upon you and remember you.

And what about those sins? That’s what the water reminds us of. They are washed away because of Jesus. When God puts His name on you He gives you everything Jesus earned for you. He remembers you in mercy and love because He turned away from Jesus and allowed Him to suffer and die on the cross in your place. It was a very real and physical death, a very real and physical punishment for sin. It’s God’s name on you that makes that punishment yours. It’s simple really. His death in your place. His name on you makes it yours. Oh yeah, don’t forget that He didn’t stay dead. Not only did Jesus die a real physical death He also rose again in a real physical body. And when the time comes, when Jesus comes again, He will transform your lowly body to be like His glorious body (Phil 3:21). And that’s yours through Baptism, too!

It’s simple and easy to identify because God knows how simple and easy we need it. Just think, God uses water and His word to make you His, and remind you that He remembers you and because of Jesus He has taken away your sin. He has used water to put His name on you. Every day you turn on the tap to get a drink of water, you can say “Remember me, O Lord.” Every day as you wash in the shower as and see that dirty water going down the drain, you can say, “Remember me, O Lord.” When you wash the dog and you pour the dirty water out on the ground, or you wash the dirt from your hands in the sink, you can say, “Remember me, O Lord.”

God remembers you. He has put His name on you, and with His name comes everything Jesus Christ did for you.

For all my sins Christ did atone,

That I might ransomed be.

Now leave me not, my God alone;

In love remember me. Amen.

Amazing Grace? Yes, not lost but found, not forgotten but remembered. Amen.

The Peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Amazing Grace - Lent 2, Weekday Service, Joel 2:13

Joel.2.13 – Amazing Grace

First Sunday in Lent, February 25, 2007

St. John’s, Howard, SD

Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound

That saved a wretch like me.

I once was lost, but now am found,

Was blind, but now I see.

It’s a well known hymn to all of us. And a greatly loved one, for many a favorite. You may know the story behind its beginning. John Newton composed it about himself sometime between 1760 and 1770. His tomb stone tells the story. “John Newton, clerk, once an infidel and Libertine, a servant of slavers in Africa, was, by the rich mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, preserved, restored, pardoned, and appointed to preach the faith he had so long labored to destroy.” And preach it he did, until he was 82 years old with failing sight and memory. When someone suggested he retire he is reported to have said, “My memory is gone but I remember two things: that I am a great sinner, and that Christ is a great Savior.” I think it is true that those who most feel the burden of sin can most appreciate the grace of God, found in His forgiveness.

When I read a passage like ^13bReturn to the Lord, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love. Joel 2:13b (ESV) I often find myself saying “Return? But I’ve never left. I’ve been a Christian all my life. Saved through the work of Jesus, given to me in baptism when I was so small I can’t even remember it.” In fact, as often as I’ve sung the words “a wretch like me,” I don’t think I’ve ever really taken it to heart. I don’t think I’ve ever really felt wretched. Not like John Newton, slave trader anyway. Or like the woman who came to the Pharisee’s house where Jesus had been invited to eat. She poured very expensive oil on Jesus feet and wiped it up with her hair. The other guests were appalled because she was a ‘sinner.’ Maybe she was a prostitute or something like that. “If this man were really a prophet he wouldn’t let a woman like that touch him.” Simon, the owner of the house, thought to himself. Jesus said, ⁴¹“A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. ⁴²When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” (Luke 7:41-42 ESV) “Well, the one who had the large debt cancelled, I guess.” Was answered. “Yes you are right.” Jesus said. And then looking at the woman he said, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. ⁴⁵You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. ⁴⁶You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. ⁴⁷Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” (44-47) And Jesus forgave her, not because she had washed his feet but because she had come to him in faith asking for forgiveness. “Your faith has saved you.” Jesus told her. She would have understood the hymn and the words “saved a wretch like me.”

So, have you been forgiven much? Do you really think of yourself as “a poor miserable sinner,” like we confess most Sundays here? When I say to you “Return to the Lord, your God,” do you say to yourself, “Return? from where? from what?”

Oh sure, it’s easy to point to John Newton, or the woman at Simon’s house and say they needed to return. But have you ever heard yourself saying something like this: “Return? Me? But, I’ve been church attender all my life. I’ve always believed.

I come every Sunday, weather I feel like it or not. I’m actually here on Wed night, too! And I’m pretty generous with the collection plate, too. Never mind that my heart isn’t always here with me, or that my mind has wandered off to this afternoon. (It’s not my fault if Pastor’s sermon is boring.) Never mind that lots of times I leave church feeling like I’ve wasted my time, because all I accomplished was ‘going through the motions.’ At least I’m here. I know other folks who need to “return” here. People who haven’t pressed a pew in months, or even years. Or how about those folks who use church attendance as a way to get what they want. I’m not the one who needs to return.”

Or if I said “Return to the Lord your God.” Would you be likely to say something like this: “God is first in my life… well mostly anyway. He knows how busy I am with school and sports and work and family. What’s a missed church meeting here and there. What are a few absences from worship or bible study? My family is my priority. God did give me all these blessings (or at least he knows how hard I worked to get them) I’m sure He’d want me to enjoy them. If God’s really my friend and my buddy He won’t mind being put on the back burner for a while.”

“Return to the Lord your God…” Jesus told this story. There were to men who went to church to pray. One said, “Lord, I’m glad I’m not like other folks. I attend church. I give my money. I put you mostly first. Thank you for making me a good believer.” The other wouldn’t enter the sanctuary. He knelt in the janitor’s closet. “Lord, I’m a sinful person… help me to Return to you.” It’s hard not to be the first guy. We’ve been so blessed to have been given the faith. We’ve been so blest to have a church where God’s Word has been preached clearly for so long. And yet our old sinful nature swells up with pride so easily. It doesn’t take much to compare ourselves to the likes of the woman at the party or the previous life of John Newton and think that we come out ahead. The truth is we’ll never come out on top of sin. It’s in our hearts to stay and leads us to places we don’t want to go.

You and I are always have the need to “return to the Lord our God.” And while it may seem like it’d be easy to remove them from our life, they aren’t. When God says “Return” He means “Return all the way. Be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect!” Jesus says. And we can’t be perfect. ¹⁴O Jerusalem, wash your heart from evil, that you may be saved. How long shall your wicked thoughts lodge within you? (Jeremiah 4:14 ESV) The place that we need to return from is right here in our hearts. We’d like to compare ourselves with other people. We like to point out their sin and their short comings. We are good a pointing the finger of guilt at other people. But we hate it when it points at us. All the things we do, the gossip, the pride, the selfishness, are only symptoms of what sin really is. The real blackness is something that you can never get rid of. In the words of Martin Luther, “we daily sin much and deserve nothing but punishment.” (Fifth Petition of the Lord’s Prayer) That’s what the Hymn means by a “wretch like me!” David had it right in Psalm 51. “Create in me a clean heart, O God.” He knew only a radical heart transplant free from sin. He knew unless his heart was changed with a new and clean one, all he could expect form God was eternal death and punishment. No matter which evil person we point to, we are just as sinful, just as guilty, just as deserving of God’s punishment. “Return to the Lord your God!”

You know there is another way to say that word “Return.” It’s a bigger word, and it even has a bigger meaning. And it’s a good word for Lent. The word is “Repentance.” Repentance means to turn away from evil and turn toward God. But there is more to it than that. It really has two parts. First, there is the acknowledgement of sin and sorrow over it (contrition). It’s knowing we are sinful, that we sin every day. It’s hearing God’s Word that cuts us to the quick; that accuses that sinful nature of it’s certain reward for sin. “It’s not the healthy who need a doctor but the sick.” If you don’t see the need for your medicine you won’t take it. If you don’t see the sin that is in your heart you won’t see the need to get rid of it. And the second part of repentance is faith. That’s turning toward God because you believe that He has is the only one who can do anything about your sin. It’s looking for Jesus on the cross and standing where the blood shed for you can wash away this in that is in you. That’s the “for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love” There’s a hymn we sing that goes like this:

Where guilt is great and sin abounds,

There God’s great grace is poured,

And fervent prayer from saints resounds:

“I call upon the Lord.”

In fact, if we didn’t believe that God has done something about our sin, that sin that lives in our hearts, what would the point be of even being here? We do turn toward God, because we know that he promises to forgive. ⁸If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ⁹If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:8-9, ESV) Those are repentance words, a lot like the words of Newton, “I am a great sinner, and that Christ is a great Savior.” Those are “returning” words. We know we are sinful and we turn to God who we know is faithful.

You know that finger pointing that we like to do. Well there is a way that we should do it. In fact, there is a way that God allows. When we are convicted by our own sin, when we see the blackness in our hearts, and we know there is nothing we can do about it, we get to point to someone else. When we feel guilty for our sin, we get to point to someone else to take the punishment. It’s like we get to say, “He did it.” And Jesus takes the blame even thought He didn’t do it. “Not me, Him.” We say when we are in trouble for our sin. Jesus became guilty of sin, even though He never sinned in His whole life. He was punished for the sins of the whole world even though He lived perfectly from the first day He was born. ²¹For our sake [God] made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV)

I don’t want you to get the impression that God is letting sin go easy. He doesn’t just sweep it under the rug. For God, sin is serious business. It is deadly serious. All through time God has shown over and over again how sin means death. It’s because sin is a matter of the heart, that only death can remove it. The shedding of blood is required to pay for sin. Jesus shed His blood in a brutal and violent death on the cross. Abounding in steadfast love? Yes. Jesus is God’s abounding love, that He endured even that kind of a death for you. Amazing Grace? Yes amazing. Not only because it comes to “wretches” like you and me, but because of what He did to show it.

That brings us back to “Return to the Lord your God.” It’s only our short sidedness, or our pride, or our selfishness that tells us that we don’t need to “return.” Sin is our constant companion. It always threatens us. And so we “Return” to God, we repent. The author of Hebrews says it this way: ²²let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. ²³Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. (Hebrews 10:22-23, ESV) We “return” because He is faithful. We “return” because He forgives. We “return” for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.

The peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.