Opening the Books

Opening the Books
Daniel 7:9–10, 13–14
Last Sunday
November 25, 2018

Philippians 1:2 (ESV) 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Today is the Last Sunday of the Church Year. Next week we will turn our attention to Advent and preparations for the celebration of Christ’s incarnation. But as we prepare to celebrate Christ’s first coming, we also anticipate His second coming. Christ’s return in glory is the focus of this service. In Daniel 7 here we see the Last Day so to speak, when Christ comes again, with the opening of the book of life.

Same may say this sounds like Santa Clause, who is checking his list to find out who been naughty or nice. But Christ isn’t just Santa Claus on steroids, from toys to paradise and lump of coal to eternal fire in hell.

Our view of Santa Claus puts the focus on our behavior with the end result being what is in it for me? What do I get?

But notice where Daniel focuses our attention, not to us, but to Christ.

Who is the one who is the son of man, that is Jesus? Who is the Ancient of Days, God the Father? Where are you? You may not really want to know the answer, you are the gifts for the Son of Man, His reward.

And this Son of Man receives the gifts

Daniel 7:14 (ESV) 14 And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, (Gospel Reading) that all peoples, (You are part of that Gift) nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.

Book of Life, list of names, not who is going to receive gifts (i.e. Santa Clause) but who are the gift for Christ. For we belong to Him!!!

Consider

Isaiah 40:10 (ESV) 10 Behold, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.

His reward, His Recompense that is His compensation for His atoning death on the cross.

Yes, Christ receives the Kingdom, sitting at the right hand of the throne of God. He is the one who died on the cross, and we are the reward so to speak for Christ’s actions upon the cross.

Sure we benefit from this arrangement, from eternal death to eternal life, but it is not about us getting gifts, it is about us being the gift of Christ. Since Christ receives the kingdom, and we are connected to Christ, so we enjoy the benefits of Christ’s atoning work on the cross.

Again it isn’t our kingdom, but Christ’s.

Notice the connection to rejection of Christ, to removal from the book.

Exodus 32:33 (ESV) 33 But the Lord said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me, I will blot out of my book.

So if we have sinned against Christ, if we have pushed Christ completely out of our life, then we are no longer connected to Christ, no longer going to join Christ in His Kingdom.

Revelation 20:15 (ESV) 15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

Are we in Christ or not. We have nothing to fear, but when we hear words like

Romans 14:10–12 (ESV) 10b For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; 11 for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” 12 So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.

We hear the words of give an account to God. Do we worry about the last day?

As the book of Life opens on the last day, we see the power, we see the angels as

Daniel 7:10 (ESV) 10 A stream of fire issued and came out from before him; a thousand thousands served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him; (then we see )the court sat in judgment, and the books were opened.

Do we fear? Depends, did you earn enough for a place in heaven? No.

Luther Reminds us in the 3rd Article of the Apostles Creed.

I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith.

The opening of the Book is not Santa Clauses’ list of who been naughty or nice. The Book of Life is where the baptized name are written.

We don’t come to the last Sunday of the Church year with fear, but in Joy, that the spirit has called us by the Gospel, enlighten me with His Gifts.

Luther ends his explanation of the 3rd article with On the Last Day He will raise me and all the dead, and give eternal life to me and all believers in

Christ. This is most certainly true.

Our Joy is in Christ, as He the Son of Man is presented to the Ancient of Days, the Father, and to Christ who as the creed notes is at the right hand of the God the Father Almighty.

And we are presented to Christ, because the Holy Spirit has kept us in the faith.

In His Holy Name, Amen.

Philippians 4:7 (ESV) 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Being Thankful

Being Thankful
Psalm 136:1
Eve of Thanksgiving
November 21, 2018

Philippians 1:2(ESV) 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

As our Nation gather to remember the Day of Thanksgiving, we typically are thankful people like friends and family, health, job and lack of a better term stuff. It is ok to be thankful for all the above including the stuff, because God gives us extra stuff especially so that we can share with others. Not only do we share, but we receive our stuff with the realization that God is the giver of all good things, as St. Paul reminds us in:

1 Timothy 4:4(ESV) 4 For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving,

Tonight, we also remember that our relationship with God is not only focused upon stuff?

Notice where the direction the Psalmist takes us which is our text for tonight:

Psalm 136:1(ESV) 1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.

A beautiful verse to commit to memory especially during this time of Thanksgiving. So lets carve up this psalm verse, so that it may fill our soul.

Give thanks to the Lord. We need to be a bit careful with this one. You may think, why, how can anyone mess up giving thanks to God.

Well consider what Jesus says in Luke 18

Luke 18:11–14(ESV) 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’

The Pharisee was thankful to God, and even a giver of his stuff back to God, what more can one ask for? Let me read the next two verses

13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

So even though we use the words Thank you, Jesus reminds us there is much more in this relationship with God. Notice the Tax Collector was only confessing His sins, but that was exactly the point that Jesus makes. So everyone who says thank you to God during this National Day of Thanksgiving. may not be right with God.

Next lets look at how and when our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ gave thanks. Yes, eve Jesus gave thanks, we hear these words at every service.

Matthew 26:26–28(ESV) 26 Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.”27 And he took a cup, and when he had given thankshe gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you,28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

The connecting point here we need to receive from Jesus. The Giving of Thanks, the Greek word is Eucharist, on the terms we use for the Lord’s Supper. Why is the thanksgiving word attached here by our Savior, because it is in the forgiveness of sins that we receive through this Thanksgiving of the Lord’s Supper is where Jesus wants to focus our attention. So we give thanks to the Lord, with the most important gift being the forgiveness of our sins.

Psalm 136:1(ESV) 1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.

For He is Good. God is Good, notice in English the difference between God and Good is the letter o as St Mark tells us in

Mark 10:17–18(ESV) 17 And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before [Jesus] and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.

Implied in Jesus response is that the man may not have believed Jesus to be God, but only a teacher. So during this National Day of Thanksgiving, when you see the many posts on social media , TV commercials, announcers of the game referencing Thanksgiving, are they really directing their Thanks to Jesus Christ their savior from sin? Which begs the question, do you?

The Bible helps us make this connection, consider elsewhere is the Psalms

Psalm 86:5(ESV) 5 For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.

So lets go to the last part of this verse:

Psalm 136:1(ESV) 1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.

Steadfast loves God’s mercy and forgiveness, and notice that it endures forever. This is so important that the Psalmist includes it at the end of the each verse of this psalm. Our living is completely based on God’s steadfast love enduring forever.

So as we gather celebrate this National Day of Thanksgiving, we realize all good gifts come from God, for God is the good gift giver. But also remember, as St. Paul notes Ephesians 2:8–9 (ESV) 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Let us remember to give thanks to God for this gift of faith, the forgiveness of sins, and let us never grow tired of publicly thanking God for this Gift. Amen.

Philippians 4:7(ESV) 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Always Enough

Always Enough
1 Kings 17:8-16
Pentecost 25
November 11 ,2018

Philippians 1:2 (ESV) 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

With 36 million dying of hunger each year and 1 out of 6 people are hungry, should we be surprised that 1 out of 5 people are obese. The good news is that there is a downward trend for for those hungry, but an upward trend of obesity. Is there enough food, yes, because some estimates puts the amount of food lost to spoilage at 50%.

We need to keep this in mind as we look our reading from 1 Kings, where Elijah was sent to a widow in Zarephath during the time of a great famine. God allowed the famine so that the people would realize that He is God. We may struggle with the how and why God allowed this to occur.

Jesus Himself names this in Luke 4:24–26(ESV) 24 And he said, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown.25 But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land,26 and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.

The response of the people when they hear Jesus say these words.

Luke 4:28–30(ESV) 28 When they heard these things, all in the synagogue (God’s people who were gathered) were filled with wrath. 29 And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. 30 But passing through their midst, he went away.

Wow, they wanted to kill God, because of their wrath.

So what is Jesus trying to teach us? To answer, let me use the words of Luther from the Small catechism:

The First Article: Creation

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.

What does this mean?

I believe that God has made me and all creatures; that He has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my reason and all my senses, and still takes care of them.

He also gives me clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home, wife and children, land, animals, and all I have. He richly and daily provides me with all that I need to support this body and life.

He defends me against all danger and guards and protects me from all evil.

All this He does only out of fatherly, divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in me. For all this it is my duty to thank and praise, serve and obey Him.

While some may think that God is being unfair to the widow, please notice that the widow does not think God is being unfair. Elijah’s request that she first give Elijah a cake and may strike us as strange. But as one of the early church father notes, “He certainly did not make this request because he was hungry but to teach the widow that, through the mediation of the priests, some of the first fruits of her crops had to be offered to God.” Please remember that she already received the promise from God through the prophet that the flour and oil would not run out. Now the question, did she trust God to keep His promises? Would she see God as the good gift giver? The answer was she did.

But what about us, do we see God as the good gift giver? Do we see God providing for what we need in this life? Do we see that there is always enough? We have options, follow the example of the widow trusting in the promises of God, or the people from Nazareth the hometown of Jesus who got angry with Jesus and wanted to kill Him.

The widow as she trusted in God’s promises was fed. Probably the widow is not abuse God’s promises to the point of being obese, but enough to care for her needs. But do we follow that same path that the widow did?

Sure God gives us enough and more. What do we do with the more that God blesses us with. Well God gives us the answer to that questions.

St. Luke tells us in Luke 10:27–28(ESV) 27 And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”

The answer for the more than enough God points us to is our neighbor.

Yes, God is the good gift giver, and we continue to place our trust in God to care for all our needs. We ask Jesus to continue to send His Spirit, so that we can see God’s many blessings being given.

In His Name Amen.

Philippians 4:7 (ESV) 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Clothed in White

Clothed in White
Revelation 7:2–17
All Saints Day
4-Nov-18

Philippians 1:2(ESV) 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Today is All Saints Day, where we remember, I know it is obvious, All saints.

The word “saint” comes from the Latin word that means holy, sanctus. So, saints are the holy ones, all the holy ones, those who believe and those already asleep in Christ.

Revelation 7:9–10(ESV) 9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

The Bible consistently ascribes holiness to those who have been washed by the blood of the Lamb and calls them saints.

Revelation 7:13–14(ESV) 13 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” 14 I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

The Bible’s view of what makes a saint runs completely counter to the world’s view. To the worldly-minded saintliness is a personal attribute displayed by external works or words. When someone displays extraordinary sacrifice, we might say to them, “I can’t believe you are putting up with that person, you must be a saint.” While it is true that our often saintliness is hidden under suffering and the cross; our being a saint can only be seen by God.

Matthew 25:37–40(ESV) 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you?39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

They did not even realize what they were doing as a response of faith. However our being a saint is not self-generated, that is something we do. Saints are made by God, for God is the only source of holiness. Only God is holy. In fact, Luther calls Christ “the saint of saints.” How does God make us holy.

Leviticus 11:45(ESV) 45 For I am the Lord who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.”

The answer on how we are holy, God makes us Holy by His presence, by His deliverance.

If we are to be in that number when the saints go marching in, we will need to be numbered or named by God.

Matthew 28:19(ESV) 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,(how, by) baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

Through Baptism we receive the name of God.

Is God’s Name that important, Yes:

Leviticus 22:32–33(ESV) 32 And you shall not profane my holy name, that I may be sanctified (making you holy) among the people of Israel. I am the Lord who sanctifies you, 33 who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God: I am the Lord.”

The First Petition of the Lord’s Prayer

Hallowed be Thy name.

What does this mean?

God’s name is certainly holy in itself, but we pray in this petition that it may be kept holy among us also.

How is God’s name kept holy?

God’s name is kept holy when the Word of God is taught in its truth and purity, and we, as the children of God, also lead holy lives according to it. Help us to do this, dear Father in heaven! (We can’t do this by ourselves) But anyone who teaches or lives contrary to God’s Word profanes the name of God among us. Protect us from this, heavenly Father! (why because we can do this very well)

Those who have been named by God as Christ says in Revelation 3:5(ESV) 5 The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.

We have been baptized, as St. John puts it we are clothed in white, so we continue to gather around God’s Word and Sacraments, for we do not want to get rid of God’s name upon us, but be strengthened by God’s Holy Word. In our communion liturgy we sing the sanctus, which states that Christ makes us Holy, which is a beautiful reminder before receiving the sacrament of Lord’s Supper. So we remember what Christ is still doing for us.

In His Name Amen.

Philippians 4:7(ESV) 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.