God’s Word For You

This book I'm holding is not an easy one to read. In fact, it can be very difficult to understand. For one thing, it was written thousands of years ago in ancient cultures very different from ours. Their popular songs, their well-known stories, their familiar sayings are all unfamiliar to us. In addition, it was written in languages that none of us speak. So most people can only read it in an English translation, which means we have to trust that the translator is reliable.

Not only that, but this book is a hodgepodge of literary forms. Within its pages we have history, poetry, songs, wisdom literature, prophetic writing, biographies, letters, parables, and lists of who-begat-whom. Understanding what you're reading depends—in large part—on understanding which of those forms it is. In other words, the way you interpret a poem is different than the way you interpret a personal letter from the Apostle Paul, and you can come up with some pretty strange ideas if you don't know what you're dealing with—the book of Revelation is a perfect example.

So in light of all that, why read the Bible? Why put forth the effort trying to understand this document? Here's why: If you really want to know God, the path of your spiritual journey goes through this book. Bottom line. The Bible is where God can be found. He chose to reveal Himself to us, in all of his complexity, through words. There's so much that could be said about that: God created the world by speaking words; the disciple John describes Jesus as "the Word made flesh," the whole idea of God using words to do His work is incredibly important. It's so important that I'm confident in saying this: if you don't know the Bible that well, if you aren't touching the Bible and its words aren't touching you, you're starving. You're spiritually starving. If you're not on a steady diet of God's Word, then there's a reason why you feel withered and weak in your soul. You're not eating.

Knowing God; knowing His Son Jesus doesn't just "happen." This is not information that is just downloaded into your brain automatically. It takes more than just good intentions. It takes concrete actions and regular habits. It takes carving out time from your schedule, sitting down with a devotional book or your Bible or listening to a Bible-based broadcast of some kind; whatever it is, you've got to do it. And when you resolve to do it, and then do it, do you know what you're doing? You're letting God talk to you. You're allowing the life-changing power of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to come into your life and minister to your needs.

Listen again to what God said through the prophet Isaiah: "As the rain and snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish…so is my word that goes out of my mouth. It will not return to me void, or empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it."

Do you hear what God is saying? Every time you hear His Word, there is a purpose for it. God wants to achieve something in you, and He does that by sending out His words. You hear them or read them and they immediately go to work—God's creative and powerful words strengthen your faith, give you understanding, open your eyes to the truth, draw you closer to God in love so that you will trust and rely on Him more fully. By God's own promise, his words will not come back to Him empty. God always has something just for you in His Word when you choose to listen.

Now sometimes that means His Words will expose what's in your heart. Those words penetrate deeply into your heart until they get to the truth. They reveal your hidden thoughts and attitudes. What you see there can be uncomfortable. It can be disturbing. It's no fun to come face to face with my own sin. But it is necessary. God's Word must convict me before I can be set free. I have to realize just how much trouble I'm in on my own, or the whole idea of being saved will ring hollow. But once we are convinced that we do, in fact, deserve "temporal," here-and-now punishment, not to mention eternal punishment for our sin; once you face your sin and weakness and admit that it's there; then you can truly receive the rescue God has given through his Son. His words of forgiveness, strength, and change give what they promise.

Do you understand? God's Word searches our hearts and shows us what's there, and it isn't pretty. But His Word also has the power to change you, to renew you, to transform you. The more time you give God's Word, the more you will think like God thinks. The more time you spend listening to God, the more you will love what He loves and hate what He hates. The more you let God's Word in, the more you will be able to distinguish between truth and lies, good and evil. The one thing that you've been chasing after, but never quite able to get your hands on; the love that you have always craved, is right there for you…if you will just let God talk to you through the Bible. He's written you this letter; He's backed up everything He says with action; but you have to read it and take it to heart and do something with it.

Imagine this scenario with me: let's pretend that you work for me. You are my executive assistant in a company that is growing rapidly. I'm interested in expanding overseas. To pull this off, I make plans to go to Europe and stay there until a new branch office is established. I make the arrangements to leave for six to eight months, and I leave you in charge of stateside operations. Before I go, I tell you that I will be emailing you regularly to give direction and instruction. Then, I leave and you stay. Months pass. Every few days I email you and you receive them at the national headquarters. I spell out all my expectations—and my concern for you—in those emails. Finally, the day comes for me to return.

Soon after my arrival, I drive down to the office, and I am stunned to find grass and weeds growing up high. A few windows along the street are broken. I walk into the building and notice the wastebaskets are overflowing, the carpet hasn't been vacuumed in a long time, and no one seems concerned about anything. I ask for you, and someone in the lounge area mumbles something about you being somewhere down the hall. I bump into you as you're finishing a game of checkers with our sales manager. I ask to have a word with you.

"What in the world is going on?" I ask.

"What do you mean?" you reply.

"Well, look at this place! Didn't you get any of my emails?"

"Emails? Oh yeah, sure. Got every one of them. In fact, we have an email study once a week since you left. Some of those things you wrote were really interesting. Some of us have even committed the stuff you wrote to memory! Really thought-provoking!"

"Okay, you got my emails—you studied them and talked about them and even memorized them—but what did you do about them?"

"Do? You mean, we were supposed to do all that stuff? Sorry!"

God's Word can change you from the inside out and take your life in a whole new direction, but it takes discipline and determination. More than that, you have to do what the words say. But once you push yourself, it starts to snowball. The more you read and hear, the more the God of your imagination is replaced by the true God, who loves you so much it killed Him. He tells you this in His own words. And what words they are.

These are the words that created the world. These are the words that stilled storms, healed the sick and raised the dead. These are the words that announced that the due bill for our sin has been paid in full. There are the words that clam your fears; that forgive you when the guilt is piling up; the words that assure you of healing power when you are sick and that reassure you of God's presence in your loneliness. Jesus speaks to you through the pages of the Bible and promises that he will always be there, walking through life with you. There is more life beyond that he can't wait to show you. Just hold His hand and listen.

"As the rain and snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish…so is my word that goes out of my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it."

What might that purpose be for you? There's only one way to find out. Amen.

Philippians Bible Study: Chapter 3

Rejoice in the Lord: The Letter to the Philippians

CHAPTER THREE: Pressing On Toward the Goal

Paul restates his theme at the beginning of chapter three. The word translated as "Finally" (loipos, Gk) can have many possible related meanings, such as "still," "moreover," or "last." The verb form for "rejoice" is an imperative, which carries the meaning of a command.

Next, Paul touches on a subject that threatened the unity of the early Church. The "dogs" of which he speaks are those who insisted that converts to Christianity had to be circumcised in addition to being baptized. Dogs were fairly despised animals in Biblical times, because they often preyed on the sick, dying, or dead. Paul is being uncomplimentary to these false teachers, because their insistence on following Old Testament practices obscured the saving grace of Jesus Christ alone. In other words, circumcision was being taught as a work that was necessary for salvation.

He goes on to "boast" (for the sake of making a forceful point) that if life with God was really about human performance, he would be well off. But it all leads up to verses seven through eleven, where he admits that all of his good qualities and achievements actually get in the way of knowing Jesus as his Lord. He counts his achievements as "loss" (zemia, Gk) which can be translated as "damage" or "disadvantage." Paul realized that confidence in his heritage and works interfered with knowing God. The message that Paul sends with brilliant clarity is this: the foundation of a life with God is the shift away from self to a life that centers on Christ.

FOR DISCUSSION: In what ways can confidence in heritage and works get in the way of knowing Jesus as Lord?

Paul uses interesting language to talk about Christian living, with the word "dioko" meaning "pressing on," "striving," or "pursuing," to "make it (life with God and resurrection) my own" or to "win it" because Christ Jesus has "won me." This takes the motivation for doing "good works" in a different direction. Paul's line of thinking could be summarized this way: Jesus has won me (or made me his own); Jesus has given me His own righteousness; now I want to live up to what Jesus has made me. (Verse sixteen: "But let us hold to/agree with/live in what we have attained/reached/come to." Basically, the thought is "Let us be who we are (in Christ).")

In a sense, this is athletic language. The flavor of this passage can be understood as this: "Jesus is the Champion. You could not earn the championship yourself; but He shares His championship with you; so run (conduct yourself) like a champion."

FOR DISCUSSION: Paul repeatedly uses a word that means "pressing on," striving," or "pursuing" to describe his life with God. Would you use those words to describe your life with God? Why or why not?

One Nation Under God

Polite society, we are told, welcomes neither religion nor politics in everyday conversation. Well, I guess this is going to be an impolite sermon, then, because we're going to talk about both. And how can we not? We are Christian citizens of the United States of America, and Scripture has plenty to say about navigating our way through life as both Christian and citizen.
Let's start here: God has revealed the directions for national strength in a program that is surprisingly simple. Now these words of God say nothing about imports or exports; inflation or deflation; unemployment; bailouts or campaign finance reform. They don't even mention the words Democrat or Republican. Yet these words are intensely practical. They drill down to the first cause of everything helpful and the cause of everything destructive to our nation. Here is God's direction for building a better nation, from Proverbs 14: 34: "Doing what is right makes a nation great, but sin will bring disgrace to any people." Sin destroys. Righteousness—not just believing the right things but actually doing right things— builds a nation.
When God warns that "Sin will bring disgrace to any people," this is not theory; this is not pessimism—this is history. Where is the mighty Roman Empire today? Where is the world dominion of Alexander the Great? Where is the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics? And this is more than history book stuff. We see the ugly results of greed in our own nation today. The Biblical concept of marriage and family is disintegrating before our eyes, and in the families that are together, living in relationship with God is seldom the top priority. We hear every day about environmental disaster, ballooning national debt, the erosion of lawful and representative government. Behind all this, in one form or another, is the sure consequence for every uprising against God.
Here it is again: "Sin will bring disgrace to any people," no matter how wealthy, how large, how proud, or how brilliant. Don't think that we are too strong or too resourceful to fall; if our programs and plans disregard divine truth, dethrone God, and smile on the carnivals of sin, no matter how ingenious or scientifically correct these plans may be, they must fail. Over the lost glory of every nation both the hand of God and the pen of history have written the verdict, "The disgrace of sin."
However, that is not the only word God has for us: remember, He also says, "Doing what is right makes a nation great." This is not merely idealism talking—this too is history! Wherever people have been inspired by Jesus Christ to do the right thing, they have proven themselves to be the "salt of the earth" that has prevented decay. Early Christianity changed the world of its day, exalting marriage, children and parenthood. The first Christians brought honestly and love to cultures that had never thought such a way of life was possible. Christian missionaries literally changed entire regions through the power of the Gospel message. And these things still happen when Christians are courageous enough to actually live out their faith!
Of course, Christians must vote intelligently and prayerfully. But more than this, the United States needs Christians to be Christian—to not just go to church but be the Church, so that our fellow citizens will be persuaded by our lives lived to God and attracted by the goodness of Jesus that they see in us.

Every single day, Americans are bombarded with promises of happiness and fulfillment: just buy this product; try this exercise system; go on this diet; read this book; practice these principles; take advantage of this government program and you will get what you want. And if that doesn't work, entertain yourself to death. But the Christian Church has something better for our people; the one power that can create a clean heart and a right spirit within—and that is faith in Jesus Christ, his cleansing blood and his victorious resurrection.
To overcome the disgrace of sin for you, to break the curse of death in your life, to free you from the nightmare of hell, your heavenly Father did not simply overlook sin. Instead, he sent his only Son, Jesus, to carry on the cross in his crushed and bleeding body my sins and yours. He sent His Son to stand before the bar of eternal justice and plead guilty for us, to take upon himself everything sinful and wrong in our lives, to pay the penalty for sin on our behalf, to bring us full forgiveness of that sin and to open the gate of heaven to all who believe this. This is the most vital message of all human history; this is life; this is heaven and eternal blessing. Believe it, because he did it for you. Even if you have been living like God doesn't matter and that you matter most, listen to this: Even at this moment, your heavenly Father invites you to turn around and come back to Him. His arms are open wide, and so is his heart. Reconciliation, forgiveness, and peace are real, thanks to Jesus and his suffering, death, and resurrection.
When Jesus is your Savior, the faith in your heart will show itself. You will have the gift of the Holy Spirit in the Scriptures and the Sacraments by which sinful passions are tamed, selfish desires removed and small faith enlarged. You will want to make Jesus known to people, so that they can experience this peace and new life as well.
This is what our country needs more than any Senate legislation or government program. You and I have been chosen to be ambassadors, by which people are introduced to Jesus Christ and the great gifts that He loves to give. In these critical, decisive days, we still have the freedom to speak of Jesus and to peaceably come together around His Word and Sacraments. May the Spirit make us bold to seize the opportunity our freedom affords us; to broadcast, in word and deed, the power and love of Jesus. With Jesus in more American hearts and lives, we can be a great nation, doing what is right, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Adapted from a sermon by Rev. Dr. Walter A. Maier