Hope Held in Holy Hands

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Matthew 4

Lent 1 February 22, 2026

Pastor Horton

Are you familiar with Edward Martin Grylls, better known as Bear Grylls?  Born in northern Ireland he served in the British Special Forces and has made a name for himself as a tv reality show host and outdoor adventure enthusiast.  By that I mean he puts himself into crazy survival situations….often taking a famous person along with him.  You may remember him scaling a cliff with Shaquille O’Neil, hunting wild boar with Marshawn Lynch, or dodging bear while exploring a glacier with the then-sitting President Barak Obama.  Most times these famous people find themselves looking to Bear as a guide through all the dangers of the wild.  They have high hopes in his survivalist skills to get them safely out of the wilderness.  Admittedly, much of that show was made for tv with the danger perhaps more imagined than real.

When we find Jesus out in the wilderness, it is a very different scenario.  He is going alone.  In fact, the interaction he does have is only problematic.  It’s with the devil, described in unflattering words, “the diabolic one”, the “one who slanders God by slandering God’s truth”, and the one “who constantly tempts”.  This is who he is.  And his sights are set on Jesus.  Why?  Because of these exceptionally high stakes.  If Jesus, the chosen one of God, appointed to be our sacrificial substitute, and live under the law perfectly, and carry our sins to his cross for full payment, if this Jesus were to be tempted to sin just once, he would be disqualified as our needed Savior and we, along with every soul that’s ever lived, would be lost to hell forever.  The stakes were exceptionally high. 

And yet, did you notice that into the wilderness Jesus will go!  “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil.”  He wasn’t lost or in this situation by accident.  This is a divine strategy to guide him into battle.  Jesus is going to face and to overcome temptation.  The Second Adam is going to go into the arena of the First Adam…and win.  Jesus is more than a really good example.  He is our Substitute.  He has told us as much in the gospels that he is here to “Finish the work of his Father who sent him.”  During this battle our hope for heaven is held in his holy hands.

And here comes the temptor, “After he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.  The Tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become bread.”  But Jesus answered, “It is written: Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes out of the mouth of God.”  It’s hard for me to wrap my head around exactly how weak, weary, and worn Jesus is during these 40 days of temptation – especially hearing that he had been fasting.  I know that I get hangry in the late afternoon if I’m not eating that day, add in a headache, and it doesn’t take long before I am in a miserable mindset.  Jesus is focused and determined in spite of the devil targeting his mission to be our perfect substitute.

What is at the heart of the first temptation we have listed?  “Prove that God is who he says he is: both you, Jesus, and your heavenly Father who provides for all your needs.”  Especially during this time when Jesus was operating without, the temptation was to take matters into his own hands and fix the problem.  This temptation is a call back to the Garden of Eden, to imply Jesus is not given enough from his Father, and to act out of line with the Father’s will.  

Jesus’ response?  He quotes Deuteronomy 8:3, proving that God’s Word fills more fully than any earthly bread.  And that he has complete trust in his Father to extend his earthly life – even if it meant a bit more suffering in the moment by way of human hunger.  His Father would see him through.  And the Father would make a far better wilderness companion than Bear Grylls.

The next temptation?  To the top of the temple they went – either to the tippy top of the main structure, or some have speculated to the southeastern corner with its 450 foot drop into the Kidron valley – we don’t know.  We do know the challenge,  “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down.  For it is written: He will command his angels concerning you.  And they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.”  Jesus said to him, “Again, it is written: You shall not test the Lord your God.”  And so moving from the temptation of distrust, Satan twists God’s Word to the other extreme that he might incite false trust.  “Oh you have this wonderful relationship with your Father?  Let’s see it in action.  You want to quote the Scripture?  Here’s one from the psalms.”  Only if you know Psalm 91 by heart, you know that the devil purposely left out “concerning you…in all your ways.”  But again, our Savior properly responds using the great gift of God’s Word.  This temptation would not push him over the edge, so to speak, and he would continue to embrace, not exploit, his day of grace with God.  He would not test God, but be a caretaker of the blessings that were his –  including that gift of his life and breath.

Then the final temptation we have listed (out of the countless ones Jesus faced during these days of testing), verses 8-10, “Again the Devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.  He said to him, “I will give you all of these things, if you will bow down and worship me.”  Then Jesus said to him, “Go away, Satan!  For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.”  I don’t know how the devil did this, but God permitted him to present before Jesus all the kingdoms of the world.  And what would he have seen?   Those Chinese dynasties and their armies?  The grandeur of Rome?  The freedoms earned and found here in the United States?  “Look, Jesus, you came to win the world – here it is!”  And with an alluring shortcut!  Why go through all that suffering, agony, and death?  Here is a far easier way!  

And yet Jesus recognized that the devil’s promises – glimmering and shining as they so often do – are empty and on the inside reek of sin and death.  Ultimate glory, comfort, and control are not the devil’s to give.  Jesus returns again to God’s Word, that full of armour of God, (which is yours and mine as well!).  He goes to the top of the list and quotes the first commandment.  Jesus would remain faithful to his heavenly Father and committed to his heavenly Father’s plan for our salvation.  This Lent we find Jesus remaining on that gruesome path to fix the fall of Adam, to pay for all our sin, and to resolve that echoing chorus of death brought about by Adam in our lesson moments ago from Genesis.

And we needed such a Savior.  Think for a moment if our salvation was left up to us!  Imagine if it was you out there in the desert!  We so often act like we can walk in step with our perfect Savior – as if his work maybe isn’t all that important – as if we could do something too.  But what would that look like if your salvation was left in your hands?  How quickly would you fall into temptation?  There have been plenty of times when we face immediate challenges in the physical world and do what?  Despair, complain, worry, fear and doubt our Father in heaven.  Even if you are a life-long believer, how often do you stand at the edge and break to the temptations to play loose and free with sin?  Maybe jumping off the temple isn’t something you face, but being reckless with God’s grace and jumping headfirst into various evil wants – that is our regular problem!  And then I probably don’t have to ask how often, how constantly do our hearts bow to other things of this world and we find ourselves so often chasing the deep desire for glory, for comfort, and for control?  Sadly if our salvation was left in our hands we would quickly fumble it all away.

But this Lent, behold again the Lamb of God, once again in Christ Jesus!  He is out there in the wilderness for you and for me.  His holiness and his heart are on display.  He goes forward to cross and through the grave for you.  He holds us in his hands through Word and Sacrament.  There we are reassured of our personal forgiveness with God.  And Jesus remains committed to us, helping guide us through our many constant daily temptations.  Jesus is with you in the wilderness of this world and he will bring you home to heaven – he has made you that promise.  Because Jesus stands, we stand.  Because Jesus wins, we win.  Because Jesus holds our salvation in his holy hands, we have heaven forever with him.  Amen.

“Trust Your Eyes” (2 Peter 1:16-21)

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Series: Identity Revealed

by Pastor Nate Walther

The Festival of Transfiguration (2/15/2026)

As Peter looked back on his life now at the end, it had been tough.  Growing up with his brother Andrew on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, those were good memories.  But life never remains as simple as it was when you were a kid.  Sure, he had his brother’s company as they grew older and got into the local fishing trade, but problems came along with age: bills to pay, issues with coworkers, dying relatives … that’s life.

But then he met Jesus, and everything changed. Miracles that offered a glimpse of something far bigger: Jesus curing diseases, providing for those in need, even raising the dead – even Peter was able to walk on waters of the Sea around which he grew up, just like Jesus had!  Was this finally the one God had promised?  Yet at other times, Jesus appeared to be so human. He talked about his death as if it was inevitable.  How could the Messiah—who was supposed to rescue them from sin—succumb to sin?  But then, there was the Mount of Transfiguration, that indescribable scene! Surely this was the Son of God!!! But then, there was Jesus’ arrest, trial, and crucifixion.  For three days Peter could interpret nothing good in this mess, and all hope seemed lost.  Except… Jesus rose from the dead!  Hope was restored when Jesus appeared to Peter alive again on that first East morning!!!  Except… it had now been a generation since Jesus went back to heaven.  Since then, other Disciples had been killed for the faith, including his own brother. Peter’s life was constantly under threat also, and looked like this would take his life soon too… So what was Peter supposed to think here at the end? 

It’s the quintessential picture of faith: always ebbing and flowing, like light which grows brighter in the darkness of this world and then wanes some too. But a key thought?  Throughout all the darkness of sin, we still keep seeing that light… That’s what Peter goes back to in this letter, which effectively serves as his last will and testament, and he tells his readers the same: TRUST YOUR EYES, eyes which see Jesus.  In our sermon text, Peter makes that clear right away.  How can we be sure Jesus is the answer?  He says it’s as simple as eyewitness testimony.  Jesus was the answer for those who saw him.  And among the many things Peter must have saw in his life, it’s interesting how Jesus’ transfiguration stood out, which we are celebrating today.  Again, 17 He received honor and glory from God the Father, when the voice came to him from within the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” 18 We heard this voice, which came out of heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain.  Peter still remembered hearing the Father’s own voice and seeing Jesus in all of his glory, which would serve as a source of light for the rest of his life. 

But notice that it didn’t immediately solve everything.  In verse 19 notice how Peter talks about a lamp in a dark place, waiting until the day dawns, and a morning star rising (which only rises when it is still dark). It calls to mind the fact that there is still darkness!  Life will still be hard!  But Peter just keeps going back to this message, and he tells his listeners to do the same.  Why?  Because it is reliable.  Because it offers precisely light for those situations of darkness.  That’s because it comes from the source of all light.  Peter reminds us this comes from God, it’s not just some human interpretation of things.  In fact, in the Greek language and in the word order in which this was first written, people are actually the last thought of the last sentence of our sermon text.  Literally in verse 21, Peter wraps up this entire section by saying, “by the Holy Spirit were carried, as they spoke from God, men…”  

It’s been said before in our world, “don’t trust your lying eyes”, but ironically so.  It’s actually meant to demonstrate the opposite: when things get messy in this world – as they tend to do in politics, for example, where the phrase originates – what else are you supposed to believe other than what you can see right before you? 

So also, trust what you see. First of all, trust the darkness you see around you.  When you see death in the news, when you see pain in your body, when you see trouble in your family, when you see chaos in this world…  trust that sin is real, that it’s serious, and it needs to be fixed.  Along with it, trust that no manmade solution will do.  We’ve had thousands of years to get it right and it’s not getting better, we need something else!  Then trust the light you see in Scripture.  Trust what no man has ever come up with on his own (indeed, no other religion has ever conceived of anything like it): full forgiveness from sin & guilt that is not earned, and hope that has no business being in the room when what you see is evil. You’re at your parents’ or your friends’ or your child’s funeral, and yet this hope says you will see them again even after you die – with your own eyes in their own bodies…  Trust that there something different here, because you’ve seen everything else in this world and you realize, there is something different here.

In other words, like Peter see the morning star, even if morning itself hasn’t yet dawned.  Because despite the darkness we do see around us, we also see Christ.  He’s dawned on our hearts already, and he will dawn on our risen bodies someday when they are glorified to be like his transfigured body.  We can be sure of it because this message of Jesus is reliable.  It’s reliable in the eyewitnesses who saw his glory, then saw Jesus crucified for sin, then saw him raised to life for our justification.  It’s as reliable as any other historical event anyone saw.  Maybe it feels different when we see dark things and we haven’t seen Jesus personally, but this is based on the same eyewitness testimony that all of history is based on.  It is no fiction.  

Finally, if that’s not enough, trust what you see because it’s exactly what we need.  Look, sometimes there is just trouble in this world.  Even after the glorious sight he saw on the Mount of Transfiguration, Peter still experienced that.  Shortly after our Gospel account Peter would live through the darkest, gloomiest period of his life.  Jesus was not only arrested and killed, but Peter had a hand in betraying him.  Can you imagine the suffocating guilt Peter felt without a Savior (at least, as he thought of it).  We’ll hear all of that again soon during Lent… So could that be why Jesus wanted Peter to be one of three men to see the transfiguration?  So that he would have something, anything to hang onto and not lose his faith in the end?  So that he could provide the same meaningful testimony to others who find themselves in such hopeless darkness?

How might God be doing the same for you?  Life is just hard sometimes in a dark world, so he gives you just the right kind of light for it.  Could your family life be good because he’s got some challenges in store for you at work?  Or does he make you love what you find at church because you’ve got extended family that’s hell-bent against it?  Maybe he’s given you sickness preciously because you have a strong faith and can witness to it?…  I know, maybe you’re thinking, “Pastor, you don’t get it, that doesn’t really explain what I’m going through…” And you’re right. I don’t know.  As our sermon text reminded us, our interpretation & our understanding is the absolute end of the equation!  I don’t know any better than the next guy… But God does.  So what could God be doing right now to give you light where you need it, or make it so that you can shine that light for others in a meaningful way precisely because of what you have experienced?    

Light & sight are interesting things.  You can be in absolutely, pitch-black darkness, but even the tiniest, most minute light will inevitably draw your eye to it.  It’s why they charge double to put those tiny little indicators on light switches: you’ll see it from across a dark room, and you can find more light.  That’s our faith too, and always go back to it.  Christ is light, and in his transfiguration today we remember just how much light he has as the son of God.  In the darkness of the things we don’t understand or guilt of sin that smothers us, see that.  In fact, see more than that.  See Jesus somehow shining out even more brightly on another mount: on a cross where he pierced through the darkest clouds of hell.  Then see Jesus somehow shining out even more brightly than that from the gloom of a grave for you…  Dear Christian, TRUST YOUR EYES, eyes of faith that see Jesus.  Amen.

Identity: Lost & Found

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February 8, 2026

Epiphany 5

Pastor Horton

Have you ever looked around in the lost and found, and happened to find something that belongs to you?  If so, there is a certain sense of joy in what was lost now being found.  Was this introduction inspired (perhaps) by our lost and found now outside the church in the entryway, and a longing for you to look over and take your things home?  Yes.  But the joy in discovering what was lost remains.  This happened in a more remarkable way to a college professor.  Years earlier, she had lost a book and gave up her search.  Years later, she bought a used copy online, and would you believe it?  The very book she purchased was her book once lost.  The inside cover had her name in her handwriting with the date she placed there all those years ago!  She had to share her joyful story with others!  

As human beings we understand this in a more profound way.  We too like to find our place.  We don’t want to feel lost.  Be it in the family, in the community, at school or in our career, we are more settled when we find our footing and often tend to project our identity and define it based upon who we are, what we do, and how we think.  Identity is by definition, “the fact of who or what a person or thing is.” And we kind of like to have those known facts about ourselves solidified and secure.  I hold this job and get paid that salary.  I have these political beliefs and have that outlook.  I live in this community and have that hobby.  I am known for this sense of style, I have achieved that accomplishment.  Switch up those reliable facts about ourselves, and we go through a phase of “identity crisis.”  If you have moved away from home, or are retired after years in the workforce, or have graduated from school and are looking to the future, or come home from a war, or have faced personal tragedy, you know how your projected identity can be challenged.  You know how you can feel a bit lost in life.  Maybe you know what that is like right now – maybe you have been wrestling this feeling of being lost for most of your life.  

God gives to us today something more sure and certain than our vantage point from wherever we are at in life.  He gives us a God-given identity in Jesus that raises our eyes of faith no matter what we are going through.  He speaks reassurance to our troubled hearts, and the inspired writer Peter had an audience filled with suffering believers, who certainly had their own doubts soon to follow.  We, like those early Christians, often wonder about God’s guiding hand in our life.  Is he even there?  And does he even care?  Most reassuringly “yes” we are told today in our reading.  For your God has revealed your salvation accomplished through Jesus – and here is what your identity now looks like in Christ – for we are found thanks to the mercy of God.  

Listen, dear child of God, reborn through Jesus, and given a living faith to believe, to verses 9-10,  “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, the people who are God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.  At one time you were not a people, but now you are the people of God.  At one time you were not shown mercy, but now you have been shown mercy.”  That verse 10 simply shouts both law and gospel!  The law is blunt.  More than identity confusion or crisis, we were utterly lost.  “One time you were not a people!”  This was our identity upon entrance into this world: “sinful” at our conception.  David is clear on that in Psalm 51.  Walk it back further and we find Adam and Eve, desiring to be like God, doubting his steadfast love poured out in abundance, and wondering if they needed to take matters into their own hands to improve upon what they were….as if they could improve upon their own identity.  “Hang on to what you said there, God, we see a chance to better ourselves.”  And they were wrong.  Dead wrong.  Sin and death went spilling through the ages.  That was our status by birth: lost.  What’s more is this phrase, “At one time you were not shown mercy.”  A tough talk for any and every one of us who try, as we so often do, that we can by our own thinking and choosing do something to earn God’s favor, maybe just a smile from the Almighty, be it ever so small.  A tough talk for the religious peoples…in the words leading up to our verses, many in Israel would stumble at salvation through Jesus alone.  And the temptation still exists for us.  You and I know the extreme excuses we tell ourselves to try and quell our guilty consciences.  And yet our handmade badges of honor and good deeds earn us nothing before the Lord.  Apart from his acting to save, we have nothing.  He should turn his back to us, and close the door on our eternity forever.  We should be lost to hell for good.  But that is not what he has done.

Rather, he looks upon us and shows us “mercy,” he undertook the great plan to save you and to “bring you into his marvelous light.”  He saved you and claimed you as his very own that you know with confidence that “you are the people of God.”  This has been accomplished through Jesus.  This is Jesus’ identity revealed.  Our God has FOUND you lost ones.  Why would God do such great things for us?  Entirely because of mercy!  Out of mercy his plan was created from before time and he knew and chose you to be found as his own.  Out of mercy Jesus lived, died, and rose to remove your curse of our sin and throw off death so that you might have a future in heaven.  Out of mercy God has revealed to you the saving message of the gospel and helps you live with your new identity, not lost but found and secure in Jesus. 

And what does your identity look like to God?  It’s shockingly different from the viewpoint of the surrounding world.  How would the world view those persecuted and mistreated early believers?  How does the world often ID you and me?  As a people who are embarrassingly optimistic? Seeking self-help? Foolish individuals with misplaced hope?  Lowly?  Downtrodden?  Listen instead to how God describes you: “But (rather) you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, the people who are God’s own possession.”  Chosen to be part of the royal priesthood!  Look around the church and find royalty all around you – those whom God has highly valued, sacrificed for, those whom we can respect and serve.  For they, and you, now have a place next to Jesus upon his royal throne in heaven.  You are part of God’s dearly loved family, and cared for by the Almighty himself.  You are also a royal priest, having full access to the Father through Jesus in prayer.  Your life includes selfless, sacrificial acts of service to God.  You may not be an ordained pastor, but carry the gospel of salvation in Jesus with you wherever God directs you.  You have your identity there in the cross of Jesus – and in his mercy.  As people cleansed by the blood of Jesus, we have been gifted a kingdom ID badge.  And our identification is shared with our brothers and sisters in the faith alongside us.  View each other as part of the holy nation, unified by faith in Jesus, richly sharing the gifts and abilities God the Holy Spirit has given to his church.  Moved by God’s great mercy, that impacts the way we think and speak about our brothers and sisters around us.  Now we will want to encourage, support, and build each other up with prayer and thanksgiving – operating within the bonds of Jesus’ love.

And we are also given purpose, “so that you may proclaim the praises of him” who accomplished such great acts of salvation for us!   Moved by that mercy God has given you, many more still are in need of the saving message of the cross.  It is with this perspective, Peter writes an inspired plea, “Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and temporary residents in the world, to abstain from the desires of the sinful flesh, which war against your soul.  Live an honorable life among the Gentiles so that even though they slander you as evildoers, when they observe your noble deeds, they may glorify God on the day he visits us.”  Dear friends keep yourselves always in this message of Christ Jesus.  And God will help you keep your eyes and hearts upon your Savior.  The big picture is important!  Eternity is coming.  Don’t launch yourself back into the box of “Lost souls.”  Watch out for those sins which blemish your ID in Jesus.  Be careful not to dishonor his name, and worse, be careful you do not become that stumbling block to another soul in need of knowing about the gift of eternal life through Christ.  

Once lost, we have been found and saved by our God.  What an incredible comfort to find our identity not in how we think about ourselves, or in the current facts we know to be true about ourselves, but rather we find comfort in finding our ID in Jesus.  We are his and he is ours.  What great perspective we now have as a people belonging to God!  What great acts of service with which he now includes us for the salvation of souls!  Thank you Lord Jesus, for your great acts of mercy to us!  Thank you for finding us, equipping us with your gospel, and helping us show mercy.  May your kingdom continue to be revealed as you seek and save the lost that many more may be found in you!  Amen.

And Through the Starting Gate We Go!

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“How blessed is the man who does not walk in the advice of the wicked, who does not stand on the path with sinners, and who does not sit in a meeting with mockers.  But his delight is in the teaching of the Lord, and on his teaching he meditates day and night.  He is like a tree planted beside streams of water, which yields its fruit in season, and its leaves do not wither.  Everything he does prospers.” – Psalm 1:1-3

And Through the Starting Gate We Go!

“And through the starting gate they go” will be a phrase we will hear often in just a few days.  The 2026 Winter Olympic Games will soon be underway in the mountains of northern Italy.  Olympians who compete in downhill skiing, bobsled, speed skating, and luge will all begin from starting points and race at furious speeds to the finish line.  It is what they have spent years, if not lifetimes, training to do.  It is their dream to win a medal at the games. 

It would also be a strange thing to see your favorite American olympian suddenly slow in their intensity, stop in their race entirely, or even had the audacity to sit down and chit-chat with the spectators.  We might wonder, what is going on?  What about all their training?  What happened to their focus?  Where is their heart?   What a disappointing spectacle that would be!

Through the starting gate we go this year into the book of Psalms!  And Psalm 1 begins with warning and encouragement.  For the people of God, both then and now, a danger existed to slow down, stop, and even sit in judgement upon God and his word.  Especially for those trained to follow in Jesus’ footsteps, we are not immune to the temptation of slowing to a stop in our race of faith.  Such danger to our souls exists when we fill ourselves up with the values of the world.  If we drink from its vain reason and indulge in its destructive sins we may also find our pace towards heaven slowing down with deadly distractions.  We get bogged down with doubt, stand in defiance to our God, or even sit in criticism of God’s word.  Be on guard, dear believer, in your life of faith!  

As temptations abound, let’s continue to remain focused with the help of God the Holy Spirit to remain in his word!  Here there is a clear proclamation of forgiveness for the times we have been woefully negligent – even those times we have made a downright mockery out of what God has said.  Here there is payment for all of our sins in the ugly, yet necessary, cross of Jesus.  Here in the word we have the opportunity to cherish, meditate, and apply God’s will to our hearts.  Here we are rejuvenated by his grace in all areas of our life.  Here we are planted by God with a specific purpose in his kingdom.  Here our roots are deeply connected to Jesus and are nourished with his message of salvation.  And here we flourish with our Savior, bearing his name with fruit “that will endure”. 

As we begin this year, through the starting gate we go into the book of Psalms!  Even better than a medal, our end goal is to be home with the Lord in heaven.  God has made our end goal clear and accessible entirely through our Savior.  Knowing this, we can rejoice in the instruction, training, and hope given to our souls in his word.  Consider yourself blessed!  On into 2026 we go with Jesus!    

-Pastor David Horton

“Boast in Blessings” (1 Corinthians 1:26-31)

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Series: Identity Revealed

by Pastor Nate Walther

Fourth Sunday of Epiphany, 02/01/2026

            “No one likes a braggart… but everyone likes to brag.”  That’s not to say you will brag – again, we know people don’t like that! – but who doesn’t bristle when you don’t get credit for something you did well?  If others are praised for a job you know you could have done better?    If they get the raise, or the award, or the promotion that should have been yours?

            Here’s something interesting: do you know what God doesn’t tell us today in his Word?  God doesn’t say, “don’t boast!” Isn’t that something?  It shows us there can actually be something godly in boasting, something good in ascribing credit to what is useful, virtuous, and productive.  Granted, like all good things in the world, Sata & sin quickly attempt to twist boasting into a matter of selfishness & arrogance, but there’s a reason why the Bible writer Paul speaks positively of boasting.  The key question is when & where should we boast? 

            Today we answer that by saying BOAST IN BLESSINGS.  Since blessing comes from God, that means we should boast in what God has done.  Our sermon text makes that point.  The Apostle Paul wrote these words to the Christian congregation in Corinth, which may have been the most gifted church he served.  They spoke in tongues, they had received prophecies from the Lord, and they possessed wisdom and intelligence.  And you never would have expected all of that from this group.  Listen again to what we heard in our sermon text,

“26 Consider your call, brothers. Not many of you were wise from a human point of view—literally, what Paul says is, “you were not wise according to the flesh”—inthings our world looks at that affect flesh and blood, the Corinthians seemed to have nothing to contribute!  “Not many (of you) were powerful—that’s a word for them that would have suggested a political kind of power, which mean tthese weren’t the movers and shakers in their society.    “Not many were born with high status”—no Kennedys or Clintons among them, nor Schroeders or Gurgels if we want to think of it in terms of big WELS families…  However, “27God chose the foolish things of the world… the weak things of the world… the lowly things, the despised things, and the things that are not… to do away with the things that are…”   Why was that?    If God is perfect, why not at least start with those who are less imperfect then others? It was “29 so that no one may boast before God.” 

You see, there may be different capabilities among people, but that doesn’t make any of us is capable or “good enough” before God.  That’s actually why God chose a lesser group with the Corinthians, so there would be no confusion: “30 Because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us the wisdom from God, namely, our righteousness and sanctification and redemption.  God did this so that, just as it is written, ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the LORD.’” The fact that good things did come out of such an unlikely group only proved it wasn’t about what they could do, but about what God could do.

It’s a picture for our lives too, if only we look for it.  Because how gifted are any one of us really?  How wise or powerful are any one of us?  For that matter, what mistakes have we made that could have turned out so much worse?  Perhaps along with me you can think of ways you’ve treated your spouse poorly, yet instead of it devolving into divorce they only showed you grace!  Or have you ever been distracted while driving, you know the danger in picking up your phone but you do it anyway, yet you’ve never gotten into an accident or hit anything or anyone!  Or what about when you’ve done the bare minimum in your calling, you’ve wasted so much time and talent through laziness or pride that could have been used to accomplish more & help more people, yet here is someone is in tears thanking you for making such a difference in their lives!…  And all you can say is, “It was nothing,” because it was nothing. 

How is it that when others look at you and me, they see is good Christians? They see well put-together families, good law-abiding citizens, people using their gifts and talents only to help people?  It’s just one example where—if we are honest about all God’s blessings to us—we may wonder how our lives ever turned out so good!… And how did they?…  In the mirror of our sin, don’t let Satan blind you of the Gospel.  God stepped in.  God chose you.  God lovingly claimed you in baptism and washed away your sin… Then God “wisened” you up with his Word.   He warmed your heart with the love a Son who died for you.  Now he manages to do some good through me and through you… Again, boasting is good when it’s about blessings, when it’s not subjective and meant only to build oneself up, but identifies things from God that are righteous and holy…  So yes, boast!  Boast in others, boast in your coworkers and friends and kids and grandkids when you see God working in their lives, and give God the glory for it!  And when others praise you, boast about what God has worked through (and indeed, in spite of!) you; and again, give him the glory. 

It’s boasting that will sound different in the ears of this world. I was reminded of that in an interview with the New England Patriots’ young star quarterback, Drake Maye.  That’s right, the Patriots are back in the Super Bowl after the shortest rebuild ever.  You’d think after six Super Bowls under Tom Brady, they wouldn’t be any good for at least a few decades, yet here they are just a few years later.  And maybe like me, that means you don’t want them to win! Except, I find it hard to root against a guy like Drake Maye.  Do you know what he said when he was asked about their success?  He boasted like all good athletes!… but not in himself or his teammates.  Rather, he boasted in the Lord.  He said, “I’m just here for the good Lord, and blessed with all that he’s given to me, and I want to live all my life through that.”  Drake Maye is a strong believer in Jesus, it’s the first thing you see on his Instagram profile!  That’s what we want our identity to be as Christians too.  Our question in everything should be, “how can I use what God has given me to bring Him glory?”  As we do so, we will be amazed at the things God produces in our lives, just as he has done for an NFL Quarterback in the 21st Century or like he did for a Corinthian Congregation in the 1st Century.

On that note, let’s just take a minute before we end this sermon to think of all the blessings God has produced in our lives.  Because it’s not just that we so often get credit for what God has done for us, there are so many other blessings God gives to us that we enjoy!  Nice vacations, great homes, delicious and plentiful food, vehicles that can transport us thousands of miles on a day’s pay, tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars (perhaps even more than that) in our savings or retirement accounts, and that’s to say nothing of our families, kids, and grandkids…  Then, on top of that, God worked eternity for us?   We will live forever in luxury better than this –even if you’re lacking some of that in this world, you’re still going to get so much better?…  And finally, wherever you & I fall into sin, and maybe things didn’t turn out so well in our lives, and we painfully realize it should disqualify us from all of God’s blessings?  For that the only one who ever had every right to boast in himself because he had no sin still humbled himself to suffer and die for our sins?  Are you kidding me?!… In a world that says, “don’t boast”, boast in your God!  Call a good thing a good thing, and let everyone know it!  Amen.