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The Gateway to God

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Easter 4

John 10:1-10

Pastor Horton

The next time you are in Berlin, Germany, take a trip to the Pergamon Museum and marvel at the Ishtar Gate.  What is the Ishtar Gate?  It was one of eight gates that surrounded the ancient city of Babylon.  Even though it’s only the lower half of the gate, it stands about 50 feet high, and is made out of this glazed blue brick with gold trim, designed to make the gate and the giant walled entrance appear like shimmering jewels.  Lions, bulls, and dragons ordain its walls.  And the Ishtar gate protected a powerful city with its palace, temples, fortress, and famous Hanging Gardens (one of the 7 wonders of the world).  Can you picture this imposing gate in your head?  It would have been built during Israel’s 70 years in Babylon, and God’s people would have lived and worked in captivity under its shadow.  

Gates were critical points of access.  In Bible times they served as focal areas of trade and commerce.  Even kings would rule and administer justice at city gates.  And yet this morning we are introduced to a living gate, in the form of a shepherd.  Just as gates protected life, this shepherd protected his sheep.  And it was far from glorious work.  Here’s how a shepherd was described by a visitor to the Holy Land some 100 years ago.  “In such a landscape as Judea, where a day’s pasture is thinly scattered over an unfenced tract of country, covered with [misleading] paths, frequented by wild beasts, and rolling off into the desert, the shepherd and his character are indispensable. On some high moor, across which at night the hyenas howl, when you meet him, sleepless, far-sighted, weather-beaten, armed, leaning on his staff, and looking out over his scattered sheep, every one of them on his heart, you understand why… Christ took him as the type of self-sacrifice.”

So much for the warm and fuzzy Good Shepherd painting so many of us gazed upon in the Sunday School rooms of our youth.  This dedicated and determined shepherd is, in some ways, a more accurate description of Jesus and his work.  It is certainly true as we find Jesus in action in John chapter 9, right before our reading begins. 

John chapter 9 tells us about Jesus healing a man who was born blind – an incredible miracle.  And, this miracle was super frustrating to Jesus’ enemies, the Pharisees.  They had wanted to slander our Lord as some fraudulent madman….“but then how”, they wondered, “could he do miracles like that?”  So the Pharisees, this pack of wolves, hounded, not Jesus, but the newly-healed blind man.  They kicked him out of the Jewish synagogue for being made well.  And like a Good Shepherd, Jesus searched for and found this man.  Jesus announces that he is the promised Messiah.  And the former blind man bows and worships his Lord.  And then, at this tender moment, the Pharisees start chirping again in criticism of Jesus.  Jesus begins our reading with a double “Amen Amen,” calling attention to the sure and eternal truth he is about to say. 

Our verses: “I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber.  The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep.. and the sheep listen to his voice.  He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out…and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.  But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”  We are told that Jesus had some confused stares and that he clarified, hearkening back to God’s name for himself given to Moses at the burning bush.  The great “I am” is speaking.  Again and again in the gospel of John, Jesus calls attention to his connection with his heavenly Father and his role in our salvation (“I am the Light of the World, I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, I am the Resurrection and the Life, I am the Good Shepherd”).  And now?  ‘I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep.”  

How could Jesus call himself both Shepherd and Gate?  Go back to the picture of the giant Ishatar gate preserving life behind its door.  That is more accurate when it comes to the world of sheep.  Shepherds with their flocks in Bible times would be a literal gate.  In the evening they would funnel their flock inside a cave, or through a crack in a wallface and then they themselves would lay out as the physical gate.  They would often turn themselves into a living wall as the only point of entry or exit.  And little sheep prone to wondering and wandering would bump into their shepherd at the door before getting themselves lost.  Any wolf or lion prowling around would have to cross the protecting shepherd before doing damage to the flock.  

Jesus emphasizes his eternal purpose in verse 9, “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved,”  What a difference from the characters in verse 1: “The man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber.”  Jesus is being very clear, not only before the enemies of souls then in the Pharisees, but calling out all false teachers of all time.  Jesus is announcing that he alone is the only way to God.  There is no salvation apart from faith in him.  Any teaching apart from this leads only to spiritual and eternal damage.  

And frankly our world disagrees with him.  “Well!”  The world objects, and you can almost hear the outpouring of disdain!  “But Jesus, aren’t there all these other worlds religions?  Who do you think you are!”  You can almost hear the current cascading objections from the world out there.  The devil also certainly lures us away from Jesus with his sweet sounding siren songs – temptations to follow our own desires instead of God’s will.  And our Old Adam, our sinful flesh, is intrigued by the false teaching of “my wants first”.  All others who lure do so at the expense of truth.  They come to do what they want, not what God wants.  You and I might even find them appealing in the way they dress or talk or sell, but they come to steal, to slaughter, to destroy.  Their teachings might even really appeal to my reasoning, but the devil’s lies hide in their words.

Jesus is unfazed and resolute.  He does not waver.  He does not flinch.  With tremendous care for the truth, and with boundless love to protect and save life, his answer remains the same “I am the Gateway of God.  If you want to live – you live eternally through me.  There is no other way.  I am here for you.”  

And what message from our Savior!  Jesus’s words stand out.  We long to hear him speak.  We wandering sheep are often like a lost child in a big crowd, and how good it is to hear that parent’s voice call us by name, “I’m right here.  Let’s go this way together.”  We long for the relief that comes from Jesus’ words.  And knowing what he says, we hear and recognize in false shepherds that which is not true.  

And how much more when it comes to our families as well?  God is compassionate in keeping his sheep and his little lambs close to their Savior.  It is a wild and wicked world out there.  Many messages fill the ears of our children and grandchildren with a devilish design to take them away from Christ.  How can we best help them in their walk of faith?  What messages are they hearing?  What is their world being filled with?  There is no way to keep all evil away from them…and so our job (the most important job we can do for the next generation of Jesus’ church) is to teach our family to hear, and to recognize Jesus’s voice.  We want them to know him by faith, and to long for his Word and to be in his Word, because there they will have what is true.  We want them to cherish Jesus as their own shepherd who loves them so much he even laid down his life for them.

Because we now get to have a special relationship with Jesus forever (so keep the warm picture of the Good Shepherd hanging up)!  By nature we should have been left outside in the cold.  Your sin and mine placed us there for eternity.  Instead, in great mercy, Jesus has gone to the cross to pay for each sin, including our wayward wants and the many times we turned to other sinful fleeting fancies.  He took his life back up as promised and has secured for you, God’s elect, a place inside the gates of heaven.  You get to be part of his flock forever.  He is the gateway to God.  And heaven is open to you through him.

He says that was his very purpose, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”  That is also a reality for you and me today.  In full and free ways our Good Shepherd comes to us and forgives hurting souls inflicted with guilt.  We are equipped in full and free ways with the saving message of the gospel – and are given a full and free life to live without fear, made “Dead to sins and alive to righteousness” in Jesus.  We are given a full and freeing faith through the Sacraments.  And we have a Shepherd who cares for us individually – fully and freely meeting our needs now and eternally.  Now with one foot in paradise we live as sheep of the Good Shepherd.  In Christ we have freedom, and we have purpose, and we have direction – looking forward to the eternal pastures of heavenly life.  Just as God promised and delivered his people from the Babylonian Ishtar Gate, God promised and will deliver us through Jesus, the Gateway of God.  Heaven is open through Christ.  New and eternal life is ours today.  Let’s go tell a future sheep of Jesus’ pasture about the great things our God has done in Jesus.  Amen.

The One Place God Isn’t

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“The One Place God Isn’t” (Matthew 28:1-10)

Series: What Difference Does It Make?

by Pastor Nate Walther

The Festival of Easter (4/5/2026)

            Have you ever been in a situation where you wondered, “Where is God?”  If so, you’re not alone.  Even us pastors feel like that at times.  We’ll look difficult situation or a difficult home, and we think, “There is no God in this place.”  And you can understand that if it’s a situation where someone has rejected God and done what is wrong. But what if you haven’t?  What if you do everything right in your career, but others end up ahead?  What if you do your due diligence on your car purchase and keep up with the preventative maintenance, and you still have a catastrophic engine failure?  What if you go to church and try to follow what the Bible says, yet you still come down with that cancer diagnosis. What if it’s your mom or your dad who always went to church and they were so good to others, and they died way too young?  It’s those times where we may be tempted to think, “WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES MAKE?” if, in fact, our faith does not seem to be making any difference where it matters the most.

            Well, there is ONE PLACE GOD DOESN’T EXIST, but it’s not in these places where our fears dwell.  The one place God doesn’t exist is in the grave.   Because the only thing worse than not being able to see God is working in a situation would be if he were truly dead himself, unable to help us with these situations.  But the great meaning of Easter is that Jesus lives, and that means our faith in him can always make a difference.

            As we look back on our sermon text, a few thoughts really stand out in connection with this theme. First of all, did you notice that fear is a repetitive thought throughout?  From the soldiers to the women it is mentioned again & again, and the women’s fear even persists after they get good news from the angel.  Granted, godly fear can be a good thing – you may recall that this Bible word even has the connotation of respect – but when the angel & then Jesus himself both tell the women “do not fear”, it tells us this is not healthy fear but bad fear.  And of course they were afraid.  They thought the one they had identified as their God was dead!  They just saw him buried in the tomb at the end of the previous chapter of Matthew. Now, it would have seemed their faith would make no difference for them. And the fact is that Jesus was indeed dead for a time, the angel’s word don’t hide that truth.  He had clearly been killed before their eyes by crucifixion (vs 4), and (vs. 6) when the angel describes Jesus lying in the tomb, the tense in the first language conveys the sense that he was lying there for some time.

            Wouldn’t we have drawn the same conclusion?  As we face trouble in this fallen world – as we encounter pain and confusion and loss – fear often gets the best of us and threatens to undermine all God would give to us.  You ever notice how fear subtly shapes our lives for the worst?  You go through something bad, so you fear it happening again.  You don’t trust someone because you don’t want to get hurt again, or you assume the worst of situations that hold any resemblance to a bad chapter from your past, or you anticipate that a medical test will only end poorly long before you know the results or how it will actually play out in the future. It’s PTSD, or rather PSTD, Post-Sin-Traumatic-Disorder.  The more we’re affected by the consequences of sin in our world – worse yet, the more we’re affected by the consequences of our own sinful actions and see the damage it causes – the more it wears on us… 

            And that may be where we think we’re missing something in our faith, or (even wors) that God isn’t actually there.  But do you realize what’s going on?  There’s a very simple explanation for this that has nothing to do with any deficiency in our faith; or rather, any deficiency the object of our faith.  It’s our sinful nature’s last-ditch effort to get us away from the right answer. It’s our wounded nemesis Satan trying to drag us down with him before God crushes him.  You see, faith was never meant to solve all our problems in a terminally-ill world.  That may be the world’s delirious idea of faith as it lies on its deathbed, but it’s not God’s idea of faith.  In fact, faith will always mean a struggle in a world dying with sin.  The Bible says that faith is certainty of what we cannot see, which assumes that life won’t always be problem-free!   That’s precisely what we hear from God today: faith may not eliminate every cause of fear in our lives. But what it will do is help lead us through these fears to something better. 

            Case in point, consider the women once more from our sermon text.  They were clearly living in fear before the events of the first Easter Sunday.  I even wonder if they had some PTSD as they walked to the tomb and felt that earthquake, harkening back to a few days earlier to that wretched earthquake when Jesus died and their hopes died with him.  And we’re even told they continued to have some fear after they heard the good news from the angels!… but also that there was joy mixed in.  Why?  It wasn’t because Jesus hadn’t died.  It wasn’tbecause they were able to erase every concern.  It was because there was one place their Savior could not be found. As the angel said: “He is not here.  He is risen!”  The tomb was empty.  Though the angel reminded them that Jesus spent time in that tomb just like we will, the angel also told them that Jesus hadn’t stayed there. 

            So also, dear friends in Christ, “He is not here. He is risen!” Our Savior exists everywhere except in death.   That means Jesus lives to drive away our fears.  So whatever it is that you face – whatever irrational fears have a grip on your heart, whatever health concerns you have for you or those you love, whatever hopelessness you see in a grave whether it’s a dying relative or you just think about the terror that awaits you someday – Jesus lives to deal with it and Jesus lives to bring us back from it!  As we saw with the women, those fears may not be removed right away, but there is joy to be found if we face these fears with a Savior who offers certain victory in the future.  And it’s not just for the future.  As you look to him in faith, Christ may calm those fears sooner than you realize.  Consider the rest of his disciples.  The angel said Jesus would see his disciples in Galilee some time later. (It had to be a few days later at least, since it would take them some time to travel from Jerusalem.)  Then, Jesus repeated that he would see his disciples in Galilee.  But, whether it was because of their fears or their lack of faith, Jesus actually appeared to them that same evening in Jerusalem. (That’s actually our Gospel next week in church.  Make sure to come back for that, don’t let Easter just be a “one and done”, this message is too good!)

            That’s just it, our faith provides such good news that it’s an immediate call to action.  Back to the women: think of how they responded.  There was no waiting around.  No lingering at the greatest memorial in human history.  After all, what good was this empty tomb if others didn’t know their Savior lived also?  Similarly, the good news of Jesus’ resurrection is yours to share.  You heard that right.  Don’t think for a moment you have nothing to offer if you’re not a pastor or a teacher.  Think about this: if at this most pivotal moment in all of human history, God chose women to be the first witnesses of the resurrection with all the challenges they faced back in that culture – women whose testimony wouldn’t have been admissible in a court of law back then, women who weren’t even looking for this task themselves – then this is a job for all of us even if you think nobody will believe you or if you’re not looking for this task. Like them, the only thing we need to be qualified is simply to have heard the message that changes everything…  and you just heard it.  And besides, why wouldn’t we want to have such meaningful purpose in our lives? Souls saved forever.  That’s what’s at stake. Forever is a very long time. Nothing else we do could matter as much as that! Don’t let fear stop you from experiencing such joy.  Get it in your mind that this is for you to share, to live out, to bring to the world around you. (We’ll hear more about that also in the weeks to come.) 

            Finally, all this rings true because there’s one place God isn’t: dead and in a tomb.  If he were, our faith would contain no call to action; in fact our faith wouldn’t make any difference in our lives, we’d simply be at the mercy of what happens to us.  But Jesus lives.  Throughout this Easter season, we’re going to see all the difference this can make in our lives.  For today, if you just remember one thingn remember that this single fact has changed your outlook on eternity.  You and I know where we are going. That makes all the difference.  We know we’re going to see our loved ones raised in the flesh someday, because Jesus was raised in the flesh first, and we’ll see them with our own eyes as we too are raised in the flesh. … So, if Jesus lives to make such a difference for death, somehow-someway he can make a difference for everything else along the way.  Amen.

“God’s Light, Our Lives”

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“God’s Light, Our Lives” (1 John 2:3-11)

Series: Identity Revealed

by Pastor Nate Walther

Third Sunday of Epiphany – Jan. 25th, 2026

            These days I’m not so much missing the cold winters we used to experience when living out in the Dakotas, but if there’s one thing I do miss it’s the night skies.  There’s nothing like being out on the wide-open, high-northern plains without any light pollution so you can truly experience the milky way or the northern lights streaming overhead in their full glory. And one thing you would immediately notice out there?  Those points of light, sometimes 20 or 30 miles away on the horizon, yet somehow you could still see them clearly in a sea of darkness, where even something as small as a tiny family homestead with its one yard light could not be missed.

            It’s kind of daunting when we consider that God tells us to be such light in a world of darkness, doing what is right and letting our faith shine for all to see.  But that is what God tells us today.  Go back to our sermon text again… Verse 3, do we keep God’s commandments as he wants us to – like how we should use our money, our bodies, or our speech – or are we liars that only pretend that what God wants is important to us?…  Verse 5, do we appreciate what God says is true inhis Word – like how he must choose us to come to faith to him (we can’t choose that), or how all sexual acts outside of marriage are wrong (not just those of the homosexual or transexual variety), or how he wants us to help the poor & less fortunate (yes, even if they’ve made some bad decisions along the way)  – or are we bothered when God disagrees with our sensibilities?… Verse 6, do we remain in the Lord – by regularly gathering with God’s people, or readily reading our Bibles, or routinely taking our concerns to God in prayer – or does our walk look quite a bit different than Jesus’ walk, who always delighted in doing all these things?  Skipping ahead a few verses to verse 9, do we love it when God places others into our lives to serve – a needy next door neighbor, a hurting co-worker, even our own children – or do we actually hate this, and we see them more as burdens that get in the way of what we want to do ourselves?

Do I need to go on?  As I think of my own sin, I don’t want to go on!  Yet in words such as these, God shows the damning difference between light & darkness – between doing right & wrong –

which leads to a warning for us in that last example: “The one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes…”   Do I live with that pressing reality?  Or am I blind to the fact that darkness is so close to me and it could truly overcome me!  After all, John is warning Christians here just like me, his audience is not some hopelessly lost heathens!

So also dear fellow sinner, see the darkness in your heart that I see in mine this morning, repent of this sin before it overcomes you… then see the light of the Gospel which shines even more brilliantly for it!  (The darker the night on those Dakota prairies, the more those lights stood out, especially the few cities out there that you would come across.)

Because notice that right here in the middle of our text – in the middle of all this darkness – God places a light which cannot be missed.  “(All this is) true in Jesus… and (therefore) in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining.” In no uncertain terms, this is God telling us that Jesus can produce the light we cannot produce.  It’s the same thing we heard in our Old Testament reading earlier (Isaiah 9), which Jesus repeated in our Gospel reading (Matthew 4).  “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light.  For those living in the land of the shadow of death, the light has dawned.”

Fellow redeemed, whenever you feel lost in darkness without any way out, God tells us today that we don’t have to pull ourselves out of this hopeless gloom of sin on our own.  Anybody can have light dawn on them, and it has dawned on us too.  Christ was born into this world. Christ already walked in that perfection; yes, for you too.  Christ shines a bright light into this world that cannot be unseen.  It’s light that even managed to pierce through all the darkness and gloominess of hell.  Even after the sun ceased to shine over a cross on Good Friday, when all hope seemed lost and our Savior died, still it rose again over an empty tomb on Easter Sunday, and all hope returned when our Savior rose.

That’s finally what explains our theme. In the light of Christ, listen again to the end of our sermon text when God talks about us living in this light, “The one who says he is in the light and yet hates his brother is still in the darkness.  The one who loves his brother remains in the light… and nothing causes him to stumble.”  Again, Jesus already came to be the light, we don’t have to produce it. But now to change OUR LIVES, God stresses the importance of being in HIS LIGHT. 

To put it all in another way, God is telling you and me to be the moon.  The full moon is 10,000 times brighter than the next brightest star, you can even navigate outside in the dark just by its light.   Yet think of how passive the moon really is – just a dead hunk of rock, incapable of producing any light of its own!  So how do we see it?  It’s all about the sun, which shine s400,000 times brighter than the moon. If the sun is not shining on it, the moon reflects no light and its surface remains at a frigid -200 degrees F. But if the sun is shining on it, the moon reflects that light and its surface skyrockets to above 200 degrees F, above boiling!  In other words, the moon is really just a big mirror, it is impossible for it to produce light on its own.

            That’s you and me also. By ourselves we are cold, dead bodies who can produce no light on our own.  God’s Word tells us that: Ephesians 2 says we are born dead in sin, and Hebrews 11that without faith it is impossible to please God.  It mirrors the language of 1 John 2: in the darkness of this world we cannot see and we cannot produce any light on our own… but then came the one about whom the prophet Malachi once said “he is the sun that rises with healing in his rays.”  And when that bright light 400,000 times brighter than us (really, more than that) shines on us?  Well, just the slightest ray from the sun extending past the curvature of the earth will reflect itself on the moon as the thinnest, yet most unmistakable crescent.  So also, if there is any light of Christ on us, we will reflect it.  We go from cold and dead to alive and warm, but not because of anything that is in us.  Rather, the warmth we feel in our hearts and the good we produce with our lives is all a reflection of Jesus’ warmth & goodness.  We shine nowhere near as brightly, but neither are we shining like those stars, cold & distant human traditions and beliefs where you must produce the light on your own and at best can flicker feebly and ultimately uselessly.  The light produced doesn’t help anyone see.  But the more fully we reflect Jesus light, the more we become like a full moon that can make a difference in the night of this world.  We do not light things up entirely, only Jesus can do that.  But we can still make a difference and show a better way, all as we borrow his light.

            It’s why the pressure’s off!  You don’t have to worry about doing enough good things or producing more light, that’s not what our faith is about.  But if we do see that we are lacking that light, the answer is to get back into that light.  To put it simply, today God is telling us to be in Church more, to be studying our Bibles more, to be in prayer more.  Because this is where we find Christ’s light, and the more we have it the more we will reflect it, just like the moon can’t help but reflect the light of the sun…  So what does that look like in a church of 500-600 such as ours?  Well, how can we have about 300 more people in worship every week?  And how can we have about 400-500 more people in Bible Study every week?  And how can we have all 500-600 of us be praying more or reading our Bibles every day?  If that sounds crazy, I’m not kidding.  What else am I supposed to tell you if that’s where GOD says the light is found?… And how can we make that happen?  Let’s start having those conversations among church leadership, among each other, and among our family & friends. If you’re already doing this personally, great – do it even more!  Because only in the Gospel message of Jesus we find eternal life itself and walk in the light of God’s presence.  And as we see differently, that’s what will also change our lives on earth too. 

Dear Christian, from miles away in this dark world God wants people to see you… but not you.  He wants them to see HIS LIGHT reflected in OUR LIVES.  And if people aren’t seeing that when they look at us, the first and last question we ask should not be “what must I do?” or “how can I produce this light?”, but “how can I get back into God’s light?”  Fortunately, it’s easy to find again.  We just need to lift our eyes where we see it shining brightly on the horizon; in fact, it’s already dawned on us, brighter and more brilliant than anything else we’ve ever seen.  It’s right there in Word and Sacrament.  It’s right there in the cross and empty tomb.  It’s right there in Jesus…  Dear Christian, do you want to be a better person?…  Be in Christ more.  It’s all about Jesus and what he does.  Amen.

May Newsletter

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“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing. ” – Revelation 5:12

Worthy is the Lamb!

This time of year has been called many things as the spring warms into the summer.  Graduation Season.  Wedding Season.  Cake Season.  Road Construction Season.  Mosquito Season.  But at this time of year we could add one more: Sheep Season.  

We are familiar with the picture of the sheep.  Every spring, on the fourth Sunday after Easter, congregations across our fellowship celebrate Jesus, the Great Shepherd, who tends to and who cares for you and I, his sheep.  The words and hymns of praise that flow from this Biblical imagery are of the greatest comfort to a believer.  We hear Jesus speak in John 10 of the close relationship he has with each of us as he leads us home to the perfect pastures of heavenly contentment.  Psalm 23 resonates in our worship as we know our Shepherd keeps us close to him through life’s troubling valleys.  We hear God declare it in Ezekiel 30:31, “You are my flock of sheep, the sheep of my pasture, and you are my people, and I am your God, declares the Lord God.”

We are familiar with sheep from Israel’s Old Testament worship life.  Essentially a form of currency, Scriptures tell us that the altars of Israel received numerous sheep, rams, and ewes over the years as sacrifices.  According to the ceremonial laws given at Mt. Sinai, these animals were sacrificed regularly as part of the burnt offerings, peace offerings, and sin offerings.  Their innocent blood shed was a shadow of things to come – pointing ahead to the sacrifice made by Christ Jesus once and for all on the cross.

Another focal point is one that often gets less attention in our worship life. That is the picture of the Lamb from Revelation.  But it is one that is important as our faith looks forward to eternity.  This Lamb appears slain in Revelation 5:6.  Hebrews 10:10 tells us more when it says “by this (God’s) will, we have been sanctified once and for all, through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ.”  Our Savior’s sacrifice as the Lamb of God gives us forgiveness and reconciliation with our Father in heaven.  The Lamb’s saving work is evident throughout the book of Revelation.  Through this Lamb we have been given victory over the devil (Rev 12:11).  Through this Lamb we will have a heavenly home and all we need for eternity (Rev 21:23).  Through this Lamb our names have been written in his Book of Life (Rev 21:27).

Go ahead and celebrate this season, for it is also the Season of the Sheep!  Worthy is the Lamb!

Seeing does not equal believing

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Passage: John 20:24-29 (EHV)

Pastor Souksamay

Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come. – Rev. 1:4

Dear fellow believers as we continue in the Easter season,

The world has done a big disservice to Thomas. What I mean is this. When you think of the apostle Thomas, what is the first thing you remember? Probably this account from John, and the nickname that Thomas now has: “Doubting Thomas.” We even use that name for anybody who refuses to believe anything to be true unless they see it for themselves. But there is more to Thomas’ life and even more to this account than just the doubting. Now we can’t justify everything that Thomas did here, but the one thing that I want us to take away from this gospel account today is this: seeing does not equal believing.

I.

Where we are in Scripture is the evening of that very first Easter evening. The apostles were behind locked doors that evening. They had seen the Jewish leaders kill their leader on the cross, just three days ago. They were probably afraid that they would be the next to die. But also that whole day, they had heard rumors and accounts from other followers of Jesus. These reports told the apostles that Jesus was alive and had even appeared to some other believers. But the apostles did not believe them. In fact, when some of the women, who had gone to the tomb and had seen Jesus, reported what they saw, we are told this about the apostles, “Yet these words seemed to them like nonsense, and they did not believe them.” (Lk 24:11) But then Jesus appeared to the apostles personally, and they did believe. But we are told that one of the apostles was not there: Thomas (v.24) Thomas means “twin” so most people assume he was a twin. 

But in any case, since he was not there, the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” (v.25a) Can you imagine their excitement?! The entire emotional roller coaster they had been on since the previous Thursday when Jesus had been arrested and they had all fled. Think about all those events. Jesus dying on the cross. Them fearing for their own lives. All the rumors and reports of his resurrection. Then Jesus appears to them too. Everything was alright again. They tell that to Thomas, to help him through his own emotional roller coaster and what does he say? “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands, and put my finger into the mark of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will never believe.” (v.25b) Can you imagine the let down the other apostles had at this reaction? 

But then we are told that one week has passed. Maybe during that whole time, the other apostles kept telling Thomas it was true: Jesus had arisen. Maybe Thomas kept insisting he wanted personal proof. But anyways, a week later, they are all together again, including Thomas. (v.26a) And again, although the doors were locked, Jesus again entered the place where they were at. (v.26b) And he says, “Peace be with you!” (v.26c) The common way of saying “hello” among the Jewish people, and also what Jesus gave to his apostles because of his death and resurrection: peace between God and us.

But the thing that Jesus says next is even more shocking than him entering a room through locked doors. For Jesus then turns to Thomas and says, “Put your finger here and look at my hands. Take your hand and put it into my side. Do not continue to doubt, but believe.” (v.27) Why is that shocking? Jesus was not in the room when Thomas said similar words one week earlier. But Jesus still knew what Thomas had asked for and he actually tells Thomas to do what he asked. He wants Thomas to place his finger into Jesus’ side, see the nail marks on his hands. Jesus wants to have Thomas stop doubting that he has actually arisen and … believe. 

But my counting this would be the 3rd miracle that Jesus performed that evening. First he entered through locked doors. Second, he appears before all of them again, showing he had risen from the dead. And third, he talks to Thomas and knows exactly what he had said and wanted to do, even before Thomas says it again. With all of those miracles, Jesus was again showing Thomas and the other disciples who he is. 

That is why Thomas then makes that glorious confession, “My Lord and my God!” (v.28) He saw the proof. He saw all he needed to see. He calls Jesus who he actually is: the only Lord and God. His only Lord and God. He calls Jesus the two most common names for the true God in the Bible: the Lord, reminding us that he is faithful; and God, reminding us that he is powerful.

And then Jesus has the last word, “Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (v.29) He has a subtle rebuke of Thomas’ doubting, but I also always loved this one verse because it is one where Jesus is actually and directly talking about you and me. We are the ones who have not seen him and yet have believed. Unlike Thomas: seeing does not equal believing for you and me.

II.

Like I mentioned at the beginning, I think the world has done a disservice to Thomas. He is only remembered for his doubting in this gospel account, but he also has one of the best confessions of any of the apostles’ or any other believer in the Bible. He says to Jesus: My Lord and my God. Those words of his, recorded for the rest of time, in God’s Word, tell us exactly who Jesus is: the true Lord and God. What a legacy for this apostle!

The world has also done Thomas a disservice by nicknaming him: “Doubting Thomas.” Remember Thomas was not the only doubter. At first, the other apostles doubted that Jesus was alive when the women told them. They only stopped doubting when Jesus appeared to them, and they saw him personally. Same with Thomas. 

But even those apostles are not the only doubters when it comes to Jesus. So were all of us. I mean just think about it logically for a moment. What would it take for you to believe something is true, anything? What would it have taken for us to believe that Jesus was actually alive, if we had seen him die on a cross? What does it take today for people to believe that Jesus is the true Lord and God? What did it take for you?

If it was left to us, why would any of us believe that Jesus is the true Lord and God? What did it take for you to believe that the Bible’s account of the world is true and not the Big Bang Theory? What did it take for you to believe that Adam and Eve brought sin into the world and no other reason? What did it take for you to believe that God destroyed the world with a worldwide Flood and not believe the world that denies a worldwide flood? What did it take for you to believe that God himself was born in a manger in Bethlehem 2000 years ago and not just another baby? What did it take for you to believe that Jesus lived a perfect life for you and not just for himself? What did it take for you to believe that Jesus actually died on a cross and didn’t just faint or something like that? What did it take for you to believe that his death was for our sins and for no other reason? What did it take for you to believe that Jesus actually rose again from the dead, no matter what the world thinks or says? What did all of this take for you to believe all of it?

It took the only true Lord and God to create that faith in you, that belief that he is who he says he is. That just goes to show you the truth of Jesus’ words in the last verse today. None of us have ever seen Jesus, but we still believe. That just goes to show you that Jesus is the only true Lord and God. He is our Lord and God too. For who else could overcome our doubts and make us his believers!? Who else could make us believers, indeed, people who have not seen, but yet have believed!? 

Jesus overcame Thomas’ doubts and he continued to be a faithful disciple of the only true Lord and God. And if tradition is correct, he even carried the message of Jesus all the way to India and died there for his faith in his Lord. What a way for a man to live his confession that he made here. What a way for Jesus to still use this former doubter in his kingdom. Just like Jesus does with all his believers, with you and me as well. AMEN.

The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. AMEN.

It is Hidden Even in the Savior’s Triumph

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Date: April 20, 2025

Passage: Matthew 28:1-10

Pastor Horton

CHRIST IS RISEN!  HE IS RISEN INDEED!  Listen to the angelic report, see Jesus alive through the gospel, and let your hearts be filled with joy!  A few verses from Matthew: “The angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.  He is not here; he has risen, just as he said.  Come and see the place where he lay.”  So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples.  Suddenly Jesus met them.  “Greetings,” he said.  They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid.”

Could there be a more glorious day than this?  What could compare?  Maybe that first day of creation, when God simply spoke and created time and space and all matter out of nothing?  Or, maybe the fourth day was more glorious, that day on which God, just by his Word, created the sun, the moon, and the stars and flung them into the vast universe with their positions and courses that they hold to this very day?  Was that day more glorious?  Well, no!  A thousand times no!  For as glorious as that was, such actions for God were as easy as you taking off an Easter coat on this chilly morning and throwing it down on the pew!  Ah, but this day!  This day will shine forever and ever in its glory and in its importance.  Now wait, what about the Last Day, the day when Christ will come again with all the saints and angels, the day on which all will rise from the dead and face the judgment seat of God?  Is that day more glorious than this one?  Oh, no!  Again, a thousand times no!  For if not for this day, that future day would not be glorious to us at all.  If not for Jesus’ resurrection, that Last Day would only be filled with horror and terror unimaginable as we stood before God’s proclamation of condemnation.  No, this day, the day of Christ’s resurrection, is by far the most glorious day in all of time and in all of eternity.

May you grow to love and treasure this day as the greatest day – a day more glorious than your birthday, your wedding day, the day of your child’s birth, and even than that of your own entrance into heavenly glory.  All through Lent we have been looking for the glory hidden on the cross.  And now on this day, that glory reaches a pinnacle! 

And yet, even on this most glorious of days, the glory of Christ remains hidden.  Did you catch it?  Who appears as glorious in the gospel lesson?  It isn’t Jesus!  It’s an angel.  The angel descends from heaven, knocks open the grave, and sits on the stone.  Where is Jesus?  He has already done his great works hidden from sight!  On Easter Sunday his body and soul were reunited in the grave.  No one saw it.  On Easter Sunday, as St. Peter reports in his epistle, the risen Christ descended into hell and proclaimed there his great victory over sin, death, and Satan.  No one on earth heard the shrieks of rage and the vain howlings of the devils that day.  That glory was hidden.

The only one that appears glorious in Matthew’s gospel is the angel who rolled away the stone.  His appearance was like lightning, and his face, white as snow.  And the glory of the angel made an impression!  Those tough soldiers who knew how to stare death in the face were no match for the glory of the angel.  Stunned and terrified, they fell to the ground like dead men.  When the women arrive at the tomb, the soldiers have apparently recovered and run into the city to report to the chief priests.  The angel is still there, but it is his message that is far more glorious than his appearance. “Go in and look,” he tells them. “See, he is not here in the house of the dead.  He has risen, just as he said he would.  Go and tell the disciples.”

Now, truth be told, in all of this great excitement, maybe we might feel a tinge of disappointment?  Don’t we want to see Jesus front and center on this day of days?  Don’t we want to see him shining brighter than the angel?  Trouncing the powers of hell before us and making those Romans run?  Don’t we kinda want to see him looking the way he will look on the Last Day and as John saw him in the opening chapter of the book of Revelation with blazing eyes and roaring voice?

No!  Instead we see his glory from the vantagepoint of the women at the tomb.  Jesus appears to them – yet with his glory hidden!  And thanks God for that, if the sight of angel caused soldiers to fall down like dead men, what, then, would become of us if we would see Jesus in all his resurrection glory?  Freeze in terror?  Die of fright right on the spot?  But no.  This is a day for gladness.  Unlike mere mortals, Jesus has no need to make sure that everyone is impressed by his might and his majesty.  This day is a day of joy for our Savior to comfort our souls.  The women have no dread, no fear, no terror.  They run to him, not away from him.  They fall down before him in worship and adoration.  Their joy cannot be contained.  How they must have drenched the ground with their tears of gladness!  And yet there will be a day where he arrives in full glory, but not this day.  On Easter he hides it. 

The glory is hidden in his words.  He tells the women, “Do not be afraid.  Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”  Do not be afraid!  Even with Adam and Eve falling in the garden where we were separated from God by our sin.  And death became our lot in this life, and hell became our future in the next.  Do not be afraid, for Jesus died and has risen.  He did exactly what he said he would do already in the Garden of Eden.  He went into battle for us on the cross.  And he won.  Easter Sunday is proof of it.  Do not be afraid; he paid for our sin.  Do not be afraid; he conquered hell.  Do not be afraid; he has triumphed over the grave.

But how can I, sitting here in the pew this morning, know that he did that for me?  If you’re like me, my conscience still condemns, temptations still nag, and the thought of death still makes me uneasy.  Today we also listen to Jesus who says: “Go and tell my brothers!”  What an astonishing thing!  He calls the disciples his brothers!  Now if you remember, all they did was sleep in the Garden of Gethsemane after he warned them and told them to watch and pray.  All they did was both fight and flight, when the soldiers came to arrest Jesus.  All they did was disappear, deny, and double-cross. 

And he calls them “brothers?”  That’s exactly the point.  That’s exactly the glory of Lent and of Easter.  The disciples don’t deserve that gracious name, and neither do we.  We are no better than they.  But we are no worse either.  Their sins are gone, and our sins are gone.  They are buried in Jesus’ grave when we were baptized.  And now with our sins handled and hidden away, Jesus looks at you and calls you brother or sister with a smile.  “Don’t be afraid!”  For behold the glory of Easter, now as God’s own children!

What a message!  See your risen Savior.  Appreciate how gentle, kind, and considerate, he is with us!  He does not scare us to death or terrify us sinners.  He hides his glory in his Word.  That’s where we will find Jesus emphasizing the point of Easter.  Jesus promised that he would rise.  And he has the women “go and tell.”  He does not appear to the disciples right away – He wants them to depend on the Word.  Soon enough his visible presence will ascend into heaven on the 40th day.  But his real and abiding presence he will not take away.  He will be with them, and us, until the end of time, just as he promised: in his Word and sacraments.

Do you want to find the glory of Easter?  You’ve come to the right place!  Here is where his Word is proclaimed.  The Word declares sin forgiven.  The Word drives away fears.  “Don’t be afraid.”  Tomorrow you will still have problems and temptations.  But “Don’t be afraid.  I have died, and see, I am alive.  I will not leave you or forsake you.” Ah, but Jesus, the grave – my grave – still lies ahead.  “Don’t be afraid.  I conquered it all in my death and resurrection.  Because I live, you will live also.  Death, the last enemy, has been defeated, and the grave is now the portal to life eternal.”

Go ahead then.  Go with Jesus.  Go and depart in peace.  And remember that he always gives more than he promises—so you too will see him in splendor in heaven.  Yes, and you will even share in his glory.  For you are his brothers, his sisters.  He will hold nothing back from you.  And every step of the way, whenever you can, come to his Word and return to his sacraments, so that through the whole journey you may taste and see the glory that is hidden on the cross, the glory that is his resurrection and the promise of your own.  FOR CHRIST IS RISEN!  HE IS RISEN INDEED!  HALLELUJAH!  Amen.

One Shining Moment

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Passage: Exodus 34:29-35

Date: March 2, 2025

Pastor: Pastor Horton

Are you familiar with this song?  “The ball is tipped…And there you are…You’re running for your life…You’re a shooting star…”  Any guesses?  What if I continue: “In one shining moment, it’s all on the line…One shining moment, there frozen in time.” It’s a song, recorded by a few artists now called “One Shining Moment.”  It’s played at the end of the final March Madness college basketball tournament when the Big Dance wraps up and a musical montage recaps all the great and memorable moments in the tournament.  And yes, I did my research and rewatched the “One Shining Moment” montage from 2015 when the Badgers made that great run to the championship game beating undefeated Kentucky, making them 38-1 (done) with Sam Dekker, Frank Kaminski, and Bronson Koenig.  And no, I don’t want to talk about the last 10 minutes of the championship game.  It was a memorable basketball run.  One Shining Moment.  Who knows, maybe this weekend here in our Eastside gymnasium, one of the teams or players here today may have their one shining moment as well.

Moses did.  Literally.  His face shone so brightly he needed a veil to cover it.  Why?  Because of the moments he had before God witnessing some of the glory of God.     

Do you remember Moses?  The disciples did.  He lived at one of those major moments in Israel’s history.  God used him to lead the Israelites out of their Egyptian slavery.  It was a shining moment for them, because it marked their birth, no longer as a family or tribe of people, but as a nation.  And when they came out of Egypt, instead of God leading the Israelites directly northeast to the Promised Land, he led them south.  God wanted them to see something out in the desert, at a mountain called Sinai.  They camped at the foot of the mountain.  You may remember how it was covered with black clouds and lightning.  Out of the thunder God called Moses up the mountain.  Many days later Moses came down and proclaimed God’s laws to Israel.  And here is how the Israelites knew Moses had one shining moment with the great I AM – we’re told: “Moses did not realize that the skin of his face was shining because he had been speaking with the LORD.” (Exodus 34:29).  He was shining with God’s glory.  He spoke God’s Words, and when he was done speaking God’s Word, the glory was covered with a veil.

One might reason that it should be the other way around.  You might think that when his face was glowing, that then the veil should be on, and then when his face stopped glowing, that then one could take the veil off.  But God always does things his way, always with his reasons.  Instead, when Moses was proclaiming the words straight from God, the people had to look at his shining, unveiled face.  Then, when Moses was done speaking, the shining glory began to fade away – it was then that he covered his face.  They never saw the plain old Moses.  Their only impression of him would be that of, well, “One Shining Moses”.  Why?

You know how it is with us.  What is amazing on Sunday is the new normal on Monday and thrown in the trash on Tuesday.  God didn’t want that to happen with his words of truth.  And so the veil that covered “One Shining Moses” was a reminder that Moses had spoken God’s word.  And even though he was just a regular guy, he was still God’s spokesman.  So, the veil wasn’t to hide the glory of God, but to hide the un-glory of the imperfect man Moses.  In addition, the veil served as a reminder that the laws given through Moses were temporary.  So, the man Moses was not able to save.  And the law given by the man Moses was unable to save, but they all pointed forward to a better reality.

We would do well to stop and think about how this applies to us today.  Because the truth is we want shining moments before God.  And much like a basketball player hitting a game winning three pointer, we often think that we can create such moments through the law.  We want to shine before God when it comes to our own deeds and accomplishments.  We want to hang our hat of salvation, not upon Moses’ name but upon ourselves. 

But humans are not able to save themselves.  For God tells us that the law demands perfection.  And it probably doesn’t take very long for each of us to recognize that we have lost some of the sparkle and razzle dazzle we had hoped to find within ourselves.  Take a quick look at your life as I do mine and we and realize that we have fallen far short of what the law demands.  Our hymnals even lead us through a series of questions we can use to examine our hearts before God and help us to recognize our great need to receive forgiveness at the Lord’s Supper.  Have we always made the most of our moments in ways that honor God?  Or have we wasted some of our time of grace on mindless pursuits, pastimes, and handheld devices?  Have we been the best employer, employee, and spouse, child, parent, or friend we could be?  Or have we had some not so shining moments of pettiness, selfishness, and stubbornness?  Have we been great encouragers and prayerful in light of God’s grace?  Or have we been mean and vindictive?   Have we always loved God above all things and loved hearing from his Word?  Or have we thought at times that we’re good enough law-keepers all on our own?  Should I keep going?  Because I could – I could keep calling you and me out.  Far from perfect people, we find in ourselves a darkness of sin – something we are born with and something we need help from God to be rid of.  And God helps us look away from ourselves and towards his solution in his Son.  We need shining moments with Jesus.

God opens up his glowing gospel for us today.  The true glory of God is only seen in Christ Jesus.  Here is perfection.  In his life, in his innocent death, in accomplishing our salvation, by swiping away every last one of our sins at the cross and declaring total triumph for you over death at his now empty tomb – which now radiates victory.  Jesus blocked  – he stuffed – the devils best work to destroy us.  Jesus himself says in John 12:46, “I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.”  God’s plan to fulfill the law in Jesus was a complete success.  And now we, who have been made right before God in Jesus, we can joyfully live for him, not living in the shadow of what we have done but living for the light before us.  You know what really causes rejoicing in basketball – it’s when a player throws down a giant dunk.  The crowd gets on their feet and erupts in celebration.  We have more to rejoice over in our Savior Jesus!

And what’s more is that God gives us shining moments with Jesus, and helps our faith grow in him.  Our epistle reading tells us, “But all of us who reflect the Lord’s glory with an unveiled face are bring transformed into his own image.”  What a difference this shining moment makes for you and me!  When Moses came down the mountain after talking with God – the Israelites were afraid of him.  The law brings fear.  But the gospel of Jesus gives to us a peace that the world cannot and a peace that we cannot give to ourselves even through all our self-saving efforts to follow the law.  Jesus removes fear and helps us grow in life and in love.  Jesus changes hearts and renews souls.  That’s why today we look beyond the “one shining Moses,” we find the glory of God’s one and only Son.  

No matter if our basketball teams have the thrill of victory or the agony of defeat this weekend – we have these moments in the gospel right now with Jesus.  We see his glory on the Mount of Transfiguration.  We see it veiled at times though Lent but there shining bright again in Holy Week!  And we get to have our “one shining moments” here at church with Jesus.  We see his coming to us as our needed Savior through his same powerful message.  We hear his gospel of peace.  We have his body and blood with the bread and wine in the Supper and we get forgiveness through him as he promises you!  We know that these moments are faith-building moments because God has promised to be present and at work through such means for our salvation.

And we can rejoice.  Because one day we will get to see the glory of God with our own eyes – better than what Moses did and longer than what the disciples had.  One might say, that all thanks to Jesus, our future song may not be “one shining moment,” but something more to the tune of “Forever with the Lord…Amen so let it be” .  Thank you, Jesus.  Amen.

“Chosen!”

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Author: Pastor Horton

Passage: Jeremiah 1:4-10

Date: February 2, 2025

There was a commercial a few years ago which took place in a baseball dugout.  The team, made up of community adults were watching their at-bat play out.  The coach says, “we need a clutch hit”, and looks down the row of men on the bench and calls out a name: “Derek.”  And an average athlete with an unkept appearance jumps up  – albeit surprised that he is one called upon in this moment.  The coach clarifies, and pointing behind the man says, “Derek….Jeter.”  And the Hall of Fame Yankee shortstop, hero to some, with 14 All Star Games and 5 World Series Rings stands up behind him ready to score the needed run…and does.  Whoops.  That’s the one the coached wanted – that’s the chosen one.

It’s a short commercial but one we can relate to because we have maybe been that child on the playground wanting to get picked – or have wanted to be the one chosen for special academic recognition – or chosen for an artistic award.  And simply as social human beings we long for acceptance and want to be chosen as one of the team with equal respect among our friends, our family, and our peers.  But what about when it comes to being chosen by God? 

We may know some of the Bible stories with “chosen ones,” those heroes of faith.  We hold them in high regard, and rightly so.  The things they endured.  The crosses they carried – both figuratively and literally.  The times and places in which they served.  And, over and above all that, the confidence with which they stood . . . firm and unmoved.  Rightly, they hold the title: “hero.” 

But remember also what some of them endured as “chosen” ones of God.  Hebrews 11:36-38 tells us that, “Still others experienced mocking and lashes, in addition to chains and imprisonment.  They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were tempted; they were killed with the sword; they went around in sheepskins and goatskins, needy, afflicted, and mistreated.  The world was not worthy of them as they wandered in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground.”  And yikes!  Who would want to be chosen for any of that!?!

Even though his name doesn’t appear in that chapter, Jeremiah is for us, a deserving “hero of faith.”  His steady proclamation of God’s Word and warning took place over the reign of a number of kings who drifted with the people away from God and away from repentance before God.  For his steadfastness, Jeremiah would be threatened, imprisoned, and call a national traitor.  And this morning, our lesson takes us all the way back to his calling.  We see him as the Derek-Jeter hero type, but he may have initially been feeling like more of the bum on the bench.  How could Jeremiah serve as he did?  Where did Jeremiah’s confidence come from?  And like him, we also have been chosen by the same Lord God to speak for him and to represent him in this world.  We find an answer in this account of Jeremiah, for our confidence comes from what the LORD did, what He does, and what He will do.  Our reading highlights this.  It beings:

“The word of the Lord came to me.  Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, and before you were born, I set you apart.  I appointed you to be a prophet to the nations.”  Perhaps the first thing we need to note is that, in grace, the LORD came to Jeremiah – that’s important.  This prophet wouldn’t be chosen by his own selection.  He didn’t discover the word of the Lord by meditation and breathing exercises.  He didn’t suddenly find himself learning gospel promises while out on a walk one day in nature’s cathedral.  Nor did he empower himself to be this hero – taking a stand before the kingdom and its rulers.  Rather a quick glance and we find Jeremiah to be somewhat of an outcast at work during the Babylonian Captivity, Judah’s low-point, and, most likely, was an eye-witness to the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple.

And yet, in the midst of national turmoil and tyrants, the LORD taps an unlikely hero on the shoulder through his Word and says, “I know you.  Jeremiah, I have set you apart and I am going to use you for my purpose to accomplish my will.  Jeremiah, your confidence cannot be in yourself; but it has to be in what I’ve already done.”  God knew his past – all of it.  God knew him even as a cute little baby.  But God knew him even before that. 

What a great reminder!  You are not a cosmic accident.  You are not subject to the random events of the world and the universe.  You are not living as one adrift upon the blustery winds of life.  God knew you, like he knew Jeremiah, from well before your birth.  God cared dearly for you even back then.  God formed you as one uniquely and wonderfully made.  And God placed you into this time and place, he gave you the precious gospel of salvation, and he gives you purpose within his good will for you.  No matter your age or your issues or your hesitations: That is incredible!  And that is special!  And that is gracious!

But while we’re speaking about our hesitations about being chosen by God, hero-of-faith Jeremaih’s response: “But I said, “Ah, Lord God!  I really do not know how to speak!  I am only a child!”  (And yes, there really is a Hebrew word for the interjection “ah-hah”).  Jeremiah may have been born into a priestly line but calls himself “a child” – a word used for one young enough to not yet have a profession or fully know yet what direction they would go in life.  And now, God would give him this life at this time and in this place to these people?  “Ah-hah.”  Sounds like the response of other prophets God chose like Moses in Exodus 3 and Gideon in Judges 6.  Jeremiah’s self-concern is familiar, “I’m not quite ready for this yet.”

And perhaps, this seems to be where our similarity to Jeremiah is amplified.  As sinners, we tend to make excuses to what our God commands.  And, often times, our excuses shift the focus from His Words to our feelings.  He says to each of us, “Go and make disciples.”  We say, “well, I kind of feel like someone else is probably more qualified.”  He says, “make disciples of all nations.”  We say, “but that might make me feel pretty uncomfortable.”  He says, “baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”  We think, “maybe there’s an easier way to attract new members other than by using the Means of Grace.”  He says, “teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”  And we say, “I mean, everything?  I don’t know if I’m ready or willing to be chosen by God for this!”  Wow.  How embarrassing!  In sin, we turn inward and make it about ourselves and hide behind our feelings; and at times want to cut the rope ourselves and be adrift from the challenges which come with of God and his Word.

But look at how our God responds to our feelings of inadequacy and doubt.  “The Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a child.’  You must go to everyone to whom I send you and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, because I am with you, and I will rescue you, declares the Lord.”  God says, “It is I, the great the ‘I Am’ who makes you chosen!”  The LORD redirects Jeremiah’s focus from what the prophet can’t do to what God continues to do!  Because it is he who gives the word of salvation to us and there remain people who still need to know about Jesus.  People in Jeremiah’s day and in ours still need to understand that sin separates, sin kills, and sin condemns.  People then and now who need to know what the God of free and faithful love did and still does!

And what does he do with you and me?  He calls us off the bench and to get into the game – into this life and these times with purpose.  He says, “My child, you have nothing to fear!  I am with you.”  And then he sets your heart on the cross as proof.  For God knew you – and he knew how to save you through Christ Jesus.  He is one who wiped every sin away there at the cross.  He is the one who rules and reigns and promises to go with you and to help you.  His promises are certain in an uncertain world.  And that’s your confidence. 

Even if, as it was for those other heroes of faith, things get unpleasant or downright dangerous.  Our final verses tell us, “Then the Lord stretched out his hand and touched my mouth.  The Lord said to me: There!  I have now placed my words in your mouth.  Look, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and to tear down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.”  We fear not for we, for like Jeremiah, have been chosen to be equipped with God’s words.  And when God wields his word, it is powerful and effective – greater than the strongest of nations.  And that powerful Word he gives to you, even if we are simply unsure of ourselves. 

And since we have his words of salvation in Christ, and we therefore have life with God.  Life through the forgiveness of sins.  Life through the new creation that we are in Christ.  And life with our Lord in heaven one day.  Dear fellow heroes of faith, through his Word God has made you an all-star on his team.  You have his precious gospel to live and to share and to rejoice over – come what may.   For you have been chosen by God.  And his gospel will win more chosen souls still.  Go with God confidently every step of life’s way.  Amen.

New Year, Same Foe, but Same God

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Author: Pastor Horton

Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. “Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.” – 1 Peter 5:8-11

I can’t imagine traveling in an open air jeep on a safari, only to watch as a lion springs out in a murderous ambush upon its prey.  Lions are powerful and ferocious, but they are also sneaky.  Laying in wait for the right time to pounce is a tactic that has worked well for them.  When they are meandering out in the open they are far easier to spot as we recognize them as a clear danger.  

Just like a lion, the devil finds sneaky ways to fool believers. Look at a few of the Bible examples we find where God’s children have been subjected to a sneak attack by Satan. Adam and Eve were told they could be like God, so they ate the fruit. They were wrong. David thought no one would find out about his sin with Bathsheba. Now everyone knows. Peter didn’t think anyone knew he denied     Jesus. Jesus did. Abraham thought God needed help to give him a son. God didn’t. Sarah secretly laughed when she heard she would have a baby. God was watching her. 

Satan is still with us today! He still roams the earth searching for God’s children who can be easily deceived. The danger to our soul remains real. A favorite scheme of his is to make us doubt the Bible, so he places all kinds of difficulties in front of us like: “How do you know the Bible is really God’s Word?” “God must be really mean to send people to hell.” “All those miracles must have a practical explanation.”  And the list goes on.

However God is also still with us today and has overcome the devil!  He helps us to be alert and of sober mind, resisting Satan and his attacks while standing firm in the faith.  How does he help us?  He gives us faith through the lion-proof defense of his Word.  There we hear of our salvation in Jesus, and of the close and caring relationship God has with you.  He is our protector and will see us home to heaven.

God even helps us recognize and flee from Satan’s dangerous traps. Call on the Lord to show you when Satan is trying to mislead you. Go to God’s Word every day to learn how to fight against Satan’s lies and to become stronger in God’s Word. Don’t become like the unsuspecting antelope that heads toward the pond for a drink and is unexpectedly devoured by the crafty lion. Be ready for Satan’s attacks. They will come, but God can help you stand up against them. And when you do fall, remember what the apostle Peter wrote about how a victorious God helps you back up and encourages you, “And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.”

Gains for God

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Six weeks.  Six weeks say the experts of working out and you will at that point see physical “gains.”

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