"What, In This Life, Is
Ever Just Right?"
Text: 1 Peter 1:10-16
"To those who
reside as aliens
who are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the
Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, that you may obey Jesus Christ
and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in fullest
measure." Amen. (1 Peter 1:1-2 NAS)
Dear Fellow Christians:
What a blessing our God offers us here each week as
we gather around His Word to regain some sense and sensibility before we face
another week of worldly madness. This is one of our most important "sacred
times" during which we are realigned according to the Word and Will of our
Creator; a time to gain some perspective in the midst of a very perverse and
misguided world. After a week or more "out in the world," it would be
most unusual if we didn't need such realignment.
Part of the way we regain our sense of godly perspective
and realignment occurs when we compare what is important to the world with what
is important to God, and then seek to ally ourselves with the latter.
Our world tends to be all about fluffy, silly things
Emmys, Oscars, free agency, the draft, the Final Four, sales at the mall. Do
you suppose the angels are interested in such things? Those holy beings who stand in the presence of Almighty God, do you suppose
they long to witness the world honoring its own for that which, for the most
part, is repulsive to their holy God? Do they revel in the vainglory of modern
sports? Are they really interested in the ridiculous salaries of grown men who
play a game for a living at the rate of $15,000 per minute? We hardly need to
grace the question with an answer. Angels are serious beings. They know right
from wrong; they know good from evil; and they know
important from trivial.
What is it then that interests God's Holy angels? What,
in turn, ought to be of primary importance to you and me our focus and that
which occupies the chief place in our hearts? For answers we turn to that Word
of God chosen for our study this morning. The text that will guide and direct
us in the search for God's answers is found in Peter's First Epistle, the First
Chapter:
1 Peter 1:10-16 Of this salvation the prophets have inquired
and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, 11
searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them
was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the
glories that would follow. 12
To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering
the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached
the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven -- things which angels
desire to look into. 13 Ά
Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that
is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 14 as obedient children, not
conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; 15
but as He who called you is holy,
you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 because it is written, "Be
holy, for I am holy."
These are
God's Words. With complete confidence that God the Holy Spirit can and will
bless us through the study of these holy words, so we pray, Sanctify
us through your truth, O Lord. Your word is truth. Amen.
Dear Servants of the Lord Jesus Christ - "who
was delivered up for our offenses and raised again for our justification,"
- what comes to mind when you hear those two words found also in the title of
the sermon for this morning: "Just
Right"? Baby Bear's porridge, chair, and bed, right?
Since we don't generally spend much time on Goldilocks and the Three Bears
during our precious sermon time, it is pretty safe to assume that something
else is intended. The point here is not so much what came to mind for each of
you as what probably did not come to
mind. My guess is nothing at all came to mind. If that was indeed the case, it
is undoubtedly because in our minds fairy tales notwithstanding it is hard
to think of anything in our lives that is "just right." Everything is
tainted, flawed, and impure. It is genuinely difficult, if not downright
impossible, to come up with anything that is so good that it cannot be
improved.
Stop for just a moment and back up here. Think about
the assertion we just made "There
is nothing, or almost nothing, in this life that is just right." Since
we are taught from little on that the world is an evil place that we are not to
love, we naturally tend to regard such thoughts as reality-based and
spiritually sound, and in many areas of our lives such sentiments are wholesome
and accurate. The problem here is that we tend to go too far; we tend to
overlook shining jewels in our lives that are
just right. That is what we intend to do this morning to humbly acknowledge
what in our lives is, in fact, just right. We are obviously are dangerous
ground here, but it is an area that needs to be explored.
To reach some kind of understanding in this area, we
should first ask ourselves if we have a general problem with negativity in the
Christian Church. The answer is probably yes and no. We tend to be positive
about whatever is from God and negative about whatever is from us. The problem
comes when the two meet and interact. That is when our natural negativity can
begin to cast dark shadows over what is really very bright and pure.
So it is that we have little trouble accepting our
first example as just right because it is from God alone: the plan for man's
salvation outlined by our God in his Holy Word. Listen with thanksgiving and
awe to this plan as Peter outlined it in the verses preceding our text: "Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant
mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that
does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of
God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this
you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been
grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more
precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to
praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not
seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with
joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith; the
salvation of your souls." (1 Peter 1:3-9)
We humbly acknowledge this plan of salvation to be
just right because, as we said, we have no trouble crediting God with
perfection. From first to last his plan is magnificent, in every way. Our
contributions to the plan include sin, rebellion, doubt, and unworthiness.
God's contributions in Jesus Christ include love, mercy, self-sacrifice, and
perfect consistency. God's perfect plan was to send his own Son, Jesus Christ,
to fulfill all of the demands of the Law in our place the very demands we
would not and could not keep perfectly. God's plan then called for his own Son
to offer his perfect life in a holy, innocent death. That payment, according to
God's plan, would satisfy every demand and condemnation of the Law that stood
against us for our countless transgressions. That is God's plan. Man is not
saved by the good he tries to do; he is saved by the good Jesus Christ did in our
place. That is the gospel plan of our merciful God, and it truly is "just right."
However, as we said, God's perfection at some point
interacts with us, sinful human beings. It comes into our lives and hearts, and
the result is always a reaction of some kind. Here is where God's perfection
slams into the Christian's natural negativity. What is the result? For the most
part, God is magnified in our hearts, and we humbly acknowledge our own sin and
imperfection. That is not a bad thing. What we don't want to miss this morning,
however, is the unique and amazing fact that in God's eyes we Christians are just right
a fact declared by God himself that is, in every conceivable way, absolutely
amazing. We all know what we are really like because we have two things going
for us: we have God's Holy Law to tell us what we ought to be like and we have
an unobstructed front-row seat from which we can observe just what we are
really like on the inside. In other
words, we know what our God wants ("Be holy, for I am holy")
and we know full well that our behavior is anything but holy.
So we know what our God expects from
his children, and we know how far off our thoughts and actions are from what
they ought to be. Yet because of what Jesus did, our Heavenly Father sees every
single believing Christian as just right.
We are, in his eyes, as perfect and as holy as was and is his Son, Jesus
Christ. And there can be no doubt that Jesus was and is just right. There was,
you will recall, a test of that fact. The test was very simple. Jesus was to
offer his life on the cross. If God the Father raised him from the dead on the
third day, then we can know with certainty that the Father has declared both
Jesus and his work of redemption to be just right. Jesus passed the test. Our
sins are forgiven. And not just some
sins, all sins. We have not been
washed somewhat clean as though we
walk about with bits of sin clinging to us like spattered mud that needs to be
brushed off occasionally. When faith is present, we live in a state of constant
perfection in the eyes of our God. In God's sight, a believer is always just
right in Christ.
After such a statement one hates to add a
"but" or a "however."
However... as we said earlier, we have a problem with the concept of
"just right" whenever we
are involved in any way. So we find ourselves in a rather peculiar position.
Our Old Adam is constantly pushing us toward false pride and self-centeredness
(which we know to be wrong) and our natural tendency is most often toward
negativity. The result is that we at times seem bound and determined to toss
out, disparage, or ignore also what is truly good and right in our lives as
though we (rather than God) are the ones who made it good and right.
Have you ever, for example, looked at the numbers and
experienced doubts about your faith or your Church? Have you ever asked
yourself, "How can we be right and
all those others wrong - millions of Muslims, Hindus, Mormons, and all others
who reject salvation by grace through faith alone in Jesus Christ?" We
find it hard to accept what we have been given to know, and to rejoice in the
fact that by the grace of God our feet are indeed on the path to Life Eternal. We
Christians do indeed have it just right. We know Jesus Christ as the one path
to eternal life. Rather than doubt this incredible blessing, we ought to lavish
thanks and praise upon the One who set our feet upon this rare and wonderful "just
right" path.
This is what Peter was talking about in our text and
in the verses just before our text. He talked of the prophets of old longing to
see the fulfillment of what stands fulfilled today things that we take for
granted and know today as accomplished facts. He talked of the intense interest
of the angels in the plan for salvation that has now been revealed to us in the
Word of God and carried out by Jesus Christ. To this end the Holy Spirit
through Peter wrote: "To (the prophets) it was revealed
that, not to themselves, but to us they were
ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who
have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven; things
which angels desire to look into."
Nor is this the only area where we belittle and
criticize what is truly good among us. Rather than disparage God's plans for
fellowship, why not thank him for giving us this "spiritual immune
system." It is all but forgotten in the vast majority of the rest of the
Christian Church, and they are most certainly paying the awful price for
getting it so wrong. Rather than doubt our Bible-based stand on God's roles for
men and women in the Church, why not thank God for preserving this truth in our
midst. God gives nothing but the best to his children. Rather than lament the
occasional discomfort from practicing close communion, or the looks of shock
for condemning the work-righteousness element of certain social organizations,
why not thank and praise God for preserving us from such sins in a day and age
where the truth is rare, and for providing us a church family that still stands
on the whole truth of God's Word. Our church body is, of course, far from
perfect. But our God is both perfect and holy. He is the One who has given us
all of these blessings - and so many more.
In view of such things it is truly baffling how we
Christians could ever feel "unlucky" or "less fortunate"
during our time of grace here on this earth. Through no merit in ourselves we
were chosen by God from eternity to spend eternity with him in heaven. We have
been given to know and believe the facts of spiritual Life the very truths we
could only reject and scorn had not the Holy Spirit worked faith in our hearts.
God now regards us as perfect and holy saints, for he has forgiven all of our
sins in Christ. Every single believer will inherit heaven HEAVEN where we
will experience the ultimate "just right."
How these facts ought to delight and humble us. How
they ought to serve to elevate our appreciation for our calling and position in
this world as we go about sharing what we now know. So also Peter summarized
our attitude from this point forward: "Therefore gird up the loins of your
mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought
to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming
yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance." This is our
desire. May God the Holy Spirit carry it to completion in every one of us. Amen.
Scripture Readings and
Sunday Bulletin for March 2, 2008
NKJ Isaiah 42:14-21 " I have held My
peace a long time, I have been still and restrained Myself. Now I will
cry like a woman in labor, I will pant and gasp at once. 15 I will lay
waste the mountains and hills, and dry up all their vegetation; I will make the
rivers coastlands, And I will dry up the pools.
16 I will bring the blind by a way they did not know; I will
lead them in paths they have not known. I will make darkness light before them,
and crooked places straight. These things I will do for them, and not forsake
them. 17 They shall be turned
back, they shall be greatly ashamed, who trust in carved images, who say to the
molded images, 'You are our gods.'
18 " Hear, you deaf; and look, you blind, that you may
see. 19 Who is blind
but My servant, or deaf as My messenger whom I
send? Who is blind as he who is perfect, and blind as the LORD's servant? 20
Seeing many things, but you do not observe; opening the ears, but he does not
hear." 21 The LORD is
well pleased for His righteousness' sake; He will exalt the law and make it honorable.
NKJ Ephesians 5:8-14 For you were once
darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9
(for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and
truth), 10 finding out what
is acceptable to the Lord. 11
And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose
them. 12 For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by
them in secret. 13 But all
things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes
manifest is light. 14
Therefore He says: "Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ
will give you light."
NKJ 1 Peter 1:10-16 Of this salvation the prophets have inquired
and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to
you, 11 searching what, or
what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when
He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would
follow. 12To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us
they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through
those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven
-- things which angels desire to look into. 13 Therefore gird
up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the
grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 14
as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in
your ignorance; 15 but as He who called you is holy, you also
be holy in all your conduct, 16 because it is written,
"Be holy, for I am holy."
ST. PAUL
EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH
2510 E. Divide Ave.
Bismarck, ND 58501 (701) 223-4885 Cell: (701) 425-5483
Website www.bismarcklutheran.org
Mr. Mark Johnson, President (222-1855)
Mrs. Eileen McEnroe, Organist
Michael Roehl, Pastor
The Fourth Sunday in Lent March 2, 2008
|
The Opening Prayer by the Pastor
The Opening
Hymn ‑#421- (Red Hymnal)
"Come Follow Me, the Savior Spake"
The Order
of Service Supplement page 12ff. (Brown Hymnal)
The
Scripture Lessons: (Printed on the back page of this bulletin)
The Old Testament
Lesson:
(Isaiah 42:14-21) This reading is a
lament for the fallen people of Israel. The Lord himself is speaking in verses
14-18; Isaiah speaks in verses 18-21. We are here taught that although the
message and the promise that were given to the Jews was
good and right, they themselves rejected that message, and Isaiah describes the
result as utter tragedy.
Psalm 45 (Supplement
page 32) (Brown Hymnal)
The Epistle Lesson:
(Ephesians 5:8-14) We are here once again reminded of just what it was from
which we were rescued by our God, which was slavery to sin and every sort of
evil. By God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ we have now been freed from
that tyranny, washed clean, and declared to be heirs of eternal life. We must
still, for a time, remain in the world, but now we are to be in the world, but not of the world.
The
Confession of Faith ‑
The Apostolic
Creed page 15. (Brown Hymnal)
The Pre-Sermon Hymn ‑#153- (Red Hymnal)
"Stricken, Smitten, and
Afflicted"
The Sermon Text: 1 Peter
1:10-16
"What,
In This Life, Is Ever Just Right?"
The
Offertory (Supplement
page 16 insert)
The Post-Sermon Hymn ‑#535-
(Verses 1-6 & 9) (Red Hymnal)
"Rejoice, My Heart, Be Glad and Sing"
The Offering (Hymn 572 Verses 1 & 4)
The Prayers of the Day followed by the
Lord's Prayer
The Benediction
The Closing Hymn ‑#47- (Red Hymnal)
"Savior, Again to Thy Dear Name
We Raise"
Silent Prayer
Attendance ‑ Last Sunday (56) 2008 Average (50) Wednesday (26)
This Week
at St. Paul:
Today -10:00 a.m. Worship Service
-11:00
a.m. Fellowship
Hour
Wednesday -4:30 p.m.
Confirmation
& Bible History
-7:00 p.m.
Midweek Lenten Service
Next Sunday -8:45 a.m. Sunday School and Bible Class
-10:00
a.m. Worship
Service w/ Holy Communion
-11:15 a.m. Fellowship Hour
Lenten Services
Continue Pastor Eric Libby of Jamestown is scheduled to be the
guest speaker at our Lenten Service this Wednesday. "Blessed are those who hear
the Word of God and keep it."
Confirmation Parents and
students please note that this week's Confirmation class will again be moved to
4:30 p.m. Bible History students please contact Mr. Miller for your weekly
schedule.
Special Voters'
Meeting At a congregational assembly last Sunday, the Church
Council, through President Mark Johnson, presented material on the direct/automatic
church contribution system that is currently under investigation. Such a system
would serve both for the benefit of our members and as a test program for our
Synod. Information is available on the entry table, and questions (or concerns)
can be addressed to any Council Member or to the Pastor. A special Voters'
Meeting has been scheduled for next Sunday, March 9th (following the
Fellowship Hour) to take action on this issue.
Holy Communion
Schedule for March Our schedule here at St. Paul calls for Holy Communion to
be offered next Sunday, March 9th, and then again on Maundy Thursday,
March 20th. As always, private communion is always available from
Pastor Roehl by appointment.
In Our Prayers
On Thursday of this past week, Micah Gurgel, the 30 year old son of Pastor Paul
and Barb Gurgel, was called home by his Lord when his car was struck by another
vehicle in the Minneapolis area. The driver of the other vehicle lost control
in icy conditions. Micah was married to Michelle Williams; the couple had no
children. Please remember the surviving families in your prayers as they face
the difficult days ahead. While we rejoice in the hope of eternal life for
Micah, we certainly grieve for those who must yet linger for a time here on
earth in the absence of their loved one.
AN INVITATION FROM THE BOARD OF REGENTS FOR ILC
Professor Michael Sydow has announced his retirement from the Faculty of
Immanuel Lutheran College, Eau Claire, Wisconsin, effective at the end of the
current school year. Professor Sydow served in the pastoral ministry from
his ordination in 1965 until the summer of 1996 when he was installed as a
member of the ILC Faculty. History, English, Hebrew, psychology,
education, and public speaking are among the courses taught by Professor Sydow
during the past 12 years at Immanuel. He has also served as Dean of
Students and Academic Dean. Professor Sydows
dedicated service to our church and our school will be acknowledged in part
during the Class Day-Graduation festivities on the ILC campus May 23-24, 2008.
As is our custom, we would like to present a monetary gift to Professor Sydow
as a token of our appreciation. CLC members are invited to contribute to
a retirement gift which will be presented to him in May. Please make your
checks payable to Immanuel Lutheran College, and stipulate: M. Sydow
retirement. You may drop your gift in the offering plate, or send it
directly to:
Dr. Jim Sydow, ILC business Manager
Immanuel Lutheran College
501 Grover Rd.
Eau Claire, Wisconsin 54701