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“Justice for All”

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“Justice for All” (2 Thessalonians 1:5-10)

Pastor Nate Walther

Sunday, November 16th, 2025

How do you like it when they get away with it?  Maybe it’s an “open and shut” court case where everyone knows who did it, but there’s a technicality and a key piece of evidence is rendered inadmissible, so the judge throws the case out. Or perhaps it’s at the scene of a grisly crime, but it’s a matter of “he said, she said” with no concrete evidence, so the police can’t arrest anyone.  In either case the end result is the same: a crime was committed and nobody pays the price…  It’s the kind of outcome that leaves us outraged!  It’s why crime series like Law & Order or documentaries like Making a Murderer suck us in.  We want justice.  It’s just how we’re wired.  And do you realize we want this because God has hardwired this into our hearts?  In fact, he wants it so much that he promises in our epistle reading there will be JUSTICE FOR ALL.

Before we dig into our sermon text, let’s make sure we’re on the same page with the difficult topic God has placed before us today.  As we think about things like justice and punishment for sin: hell is a real place, where real people will go, including some people we know.  And maybe that needs to be said.  Perhaps you struggle with that thought, even though you know it’s what our churches teach; or even if you agree with it, perhaps you just don’t like to think about it!   But regardless of how any one of us may feel, God clearly says hell it is real, and he clearly puts it before us to think about.  Today’s readings mentioned hell in a couple of different ways.  There are even times where Jesus talks about it more directly. So, if we want to dispute what Jesus himself says or don’t want to think about something God certainly wants us to think about, we may as well throw the whole book away, we obviously aren’t interested in what it has to say!… On the other hand, if we’re not ready to do that, can we take it a step further with our theme of justice and see that hell is a necessary, even sensible teaching?  Again, we live in a world of justice!  Actions matters. Everyone feels there should be consequences for sin!  Finally, we all know deep down, that must mean hell.  When pressed, who wouldn’t agree that a serial killer, or a child rapist, or a genocidal racist dictator like Hitler should go to hell?  If not, we are really making the case that these horrible crimes don’t really matter – not in the grand scheme of things, not if you could just get away with them and there are no lasting consequences for them.  If you believe in any kind of afterlife, that will just never sit right with you. And the God who created our eternal souls agrees.  He wants JUSTICE FOR ALL!

With that in mind, consider what we heard earlier.  In verse 6 when God talks about justice, he clearly describes it as something that is earned by evil deeds.  It’s not just something God arbitrarily dishes out.  Rather, to use the example of the Thessalonian congregation, those who troubled these Christians would earn trouble for themselves.  However, verse 7 talks about such justice being handed out on Judgment Day.  We miss that sometimes.  We crave justice, and when we don’t see it we figure something must be wrong!  But God doesn’t promise justice today.  Instead, he promises it will be “when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his powerful angels.”  That’s when, verse 8, He will exercise vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. That’s critical to our understanding of hell.  Hell is earned as retribution for things done wrong, but that’s not the only reason God says some people will go there.  What other reason is there?  God doesn’t say it will be because the people here persecuted Christians of all people, or because their sin was bad enough.  Instead, God says they would suffer hell because they didn’t follow the instructions of the gospel, which is to believe in Jesus; and they didn’t have a relationship with God the Father where they really knew him and what he wanted: namely, the salvation of their souls. 

Moving ahead to verse 9, we are given a definition for hell.  This just penalty, as it is called here, is ETERNAL destruction away from the PRESENCE of the Lord and from his glorious strength.  First of all, hell is a place of destruction.  But we see some destruction already in our world, so it has to be more than just that.  What sets hell apart is that it is everlasting destruction, and everlasting destruction where you no longer have the presence of God with his glorious strength to curb sin.  Under those circumstances, what will prevent sin from getting worse and worse?…  Finally, verse 10, God describes people who will avoid this fate – people like the Thessalonians, and by extension, you and me! – and why do we avoid it?  Again, notice what God doesn’t say.  He doesn’t say it’s because they avoided particularly bad sins.  In fact, he doesn’t talk at all about their deeds.   He doesn’t even talk about them being wronged more than others.  Really, the only difference?  They believed.  They believed the Apostles’ message, whom Jesus had sent out to testify about him.

Some of this lines up well with our sense of justice, but there’s one thing that doesn’t line up: how can this be justice for all? Isn’t it a double standard if some can just believe and receive a “get out of hell free”-card, no matter what they’ve done?  Except, whom are they believing in? It’s Jesus. Jesus who already paid the fiery penalty of everlasting destruction that God requires for sin.  It’s why there is justice for all.  This is no double standard. God agrees in his Word that sin must be punished.  The only question? Will you believe in Jesus so that he may receive that punishment for you?  Or will you take punishment for yourself?…

What we so often fail to see is that JUSTICE FOR ALL does not just mean justice for others and their sin in hell… what it should also mean is justice for me and my sin in hell.  And that’s exactly where we try to find the same loopholes we hate that others find when they try to get away with it.  “My sin is not so bad.  I had a good reason for what I did!  I didn’t know it would turn out like that…  I didn’t mean to hurt anyone, and at least I didn’t kill anyone, others have done so much worse!”  As we think this way, we think our sins don’t warrant hell.  But what we cannot deny is that we still have sin, and what happens if that sin remains unchecked? 

The thing about sin is that it only makes things worse, even if it doesn’t seem so bad at first.  I’m just getting to know you as my new congregation, and I don’t know what sins each of you struggles with.  But one example I can imagine from 11 years of ministry experience is that some of you have struggled with sexual sin.  Think of how that one works. It only gets worse.  Lust leads to pornography, which is such an ugly addiction, it can take even a blessing like sex within marriage and destroy it!  In other cases this particular sin can lead to sex outside of marriage, which people may excuse as “consenting adults” or (a slightly more “sanctified” viewpoint) “trying things out” before you make such an important decision, but what these loopholes actually do is devalue the blessings God wants to give to bind husband and wife together, or they even make marriage based on something other than an unconditional promise.  Studies even show this mindset can make divorce or adultery more likely.

Granted, maybe you don’t struggle with that particular sin, but where do we see this sin in our lives?  Is it laziness, which may not seem like a big deal until it destroys a job and a means of providing for a family? Is it drunkenness, where “it’s only a few beers!”, but we’ve all seen how the bottle can ruin people themselves or destroy their relationships with others?  Is it in greed, whichis never content, and the pursuit of which can prevent people from being around for their families when they need them even more than the money they are providing?… Whatever sin that is for you and for me, perhaps we still think, “Yeah, but I’ve got my sin in check, it hasn’t turned out so bad!” Even if that is true, why is that?  Isn’t it only because God graciously stepped in?  Maybe he led you to repentance and new life in Christ so that your marriage, your addiction, your vice – whatever may be! – wouldn’t turn out so bad.  Or, maybe he simply had pity on you and spared you these consequences without the repentance! In other words, it’s kind of like a governor on an engine that prevents it from going too fast or too hard.  So also, God only lets our sin spin so fast and go so far in this world.

Consider the alternative.  What if God just let that engine go until it overheated, until we threw a rod, until our soul was destroyed?  Do you realize, that’s hell?  That’s exactly what we heard in our sermon text! Hell is the removal of God’s gracious presence and power, which means there’s nothing to keep our sin in check.  Hell is not God unfairly punishing people, gleefully throwing the book at them as some people imagine.  If anything it’s the opposite: it’s God saying, “If you don’t believe in me and you reject me, then I’ll give you what you want: I’ll leave you alone so that I won’t help you with your sin at all… though, I will have justice for that sin.” In other words, hell is simply our soul with sin, on a trajectory that goes into eternity.  And that will only get worse and worse. No one with sin – which by its very nature only grows and consumes and destroys – is somehow immune from this. 

But God tells us a solution. We heard it in our sermon text: the difference faith in Jesus makes.  Not as a loophole or a code; just real justice, really met. The only question is where and when?  Will justice have been met for you on a cross on a dark Friday afternoon 2,000 years ago, where a man at Golgotha died for your sin?  Or will it be on another day to come at some point in the future, when that same man returns to bring judgment on those who rejected the brand of justice that he wanted to offer them all along?… Dear fellow sinner, see it today: our day of Judgment has already passed.  Jesus has suffered your hell already.  That’s no exaggeration, just everything sin would do to you and to me and for all eternity, only crammed into three miserable, wretched, unfathomable hours on the cross.  No governor on it for Jesus, just God turning his gracious presence away from him.  “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”, and do you know the answer to that question?  It was so that God wouldn’t ever have to ever remove his gracious presence from YOU.  That’s how much God loves YOU. He made sure justice was met for all people, so that he would save YOU too. 

Now, since there is JUSTICE FOR ALL, how can we settle for having it when others don’t?  Whether it’s those we know and love dearly, or others we don’t know at all (but they don’t know Christ), we must do whatever we can to bring the good news of Jesus to others.  Then, they can find justice already met for them on Judgment Day as well, just like us.  May that always guide what we do as Christians and as a church!… And after we do that, if people still persecute us, if we are still wronged, if this world still lacks justice, God tells us today what he tells the Thessalonian, “Be at peace…  Judgment Day is still coming.”  Because this isn’t like one of those situations where a cold case doesn’t get resolved.  Rather, this is like one of those situations where the murderer is caught, and he’s brought to justice, and the family finds peace in that.  Even better, this is the only situation where your dead family member will be returned to you alive in the end, or your destroyed property will be fully restored, or whatever wrong you could possibly incur will be made right – in fact, it will be better than you had before. That’s God’s idea of justice.  And is it fair?  No!  It’s actually, completely unfair that God would give us so much more than we ever deserve.  So don’t ever look at hell, see the justice there, and let anyone tell you God is being unfair. But do look to the cross, see the justice there, and tell everyone how unfair God is as he brings JUSTICE FOR ALL.   Amen. 

“Christ With Us”

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Series:  “Christ Through Us” (WELS 175th Anniversary)

Theme: “Christ With Us” (Revelation 3:7-13)

Pastor Nate Walther – Sunday, October 26th, 2025

Eastside Lutheran Church – Madison, WI

            Christ with us.  It’s a fitting theme today as we celebrate the Lutheran Reformation and as we conclude our celebration of our synod’s anniversary.  Christ has certainly been with the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod over the past 175 years, just as he has been with all true confessional Lutheran churches over the past 500 years – as we look back on the past, there’s just so much to be thankful for in connection to this theme… but we’re not going to be focusing on the past in this sermon.  Instead, as we live in the present and as we look at the future, do you appreciate what this means for you dear WELS Lutheran, dear believing Christian, dear precious soul bought back from the fires of hell by the blood of a Savior who loves you dearly?  Christ is with you.

            That may have been true in the past, that may be true for others, that may even be how we comfort people who are hurting in our lives, but what about me?  Do I always believe it’s true for me? What about when people ridicule you for agreeing with the Bible’s Creation account: “you don’t believe in science”, even though you do believe in science – that is, real science, not empty hypotheses about things long ago that no one observed? Or, what about when people attack you for calling something a sin: “you’re so unloving”, even though you do believe in love – that is, real love, which starts with God’s unconditional love for us no matter how we sin, and you’re always ready to share that with anyone who confesses their sin, as a fellow lost & redeemed sinner yourself?… Are we OK when that happens?  Are we certain we’re right?  Do we feel Christ is with us in those moments?  Or, if things aren’t going so well, do we wonder what we’re doing wrong?

            Let’s up the ante a little bit.  Do any of you know what it’s like to have your life in danger?  Do you know what it’s like to live in fear of death because of some serious illness, or fast-spreading infection, or a cancer you’re battling? Do you know what it’s like to have a loved one go through that?  Or, do you know what it’s like to worry that someone close to you with mental illness or a substance abuse problems will come busting through that door, because you know what they’re capable of? Do you even know what it’s like to live like our soldiers who have survived warzones and threats to their lives?  Have you had the experience of falling asleep with a loaded pistol in your hand, and every noise outside or in the house at night wakes you up in a cold sweat with your finger on the trigger?… When this becomes our lives, when we experience the evils of this world, when our suffering gets so severe, where is Christ in all of it?  What are we doing wrong?!

            You’re not alone… these fundamental matters of faith & doubt (ultimately, of life & death) are what our spiritual forefathers faced throughout the past.   For our Lutheran forefathers in America 175 years ago, did you know that, more than anything, they came here from Europe because of persecution.  The government was forcing them to unite with Reformed Christians, even though the two groups believed different things!Meanwhile, for our Lutheran forefathers in Germany 500 years ago, you may already know the story: when told to renounce his teachings that agreed with Scripture if not with the Church of his day, Luther took his stand against the Holy Roman Emperor at the Diet of Worms and refused to compromise on a biblically-bound conscience… so what did the Holy Roman Emperor decree as the most powerful man in the world at his time? He basically had a “hit” put out on Luther.  For the remainder of Luther’s life he lived with the distinct threat that any one of his enemies could simply kill him as an outlaw, and there would be no legal ramifications to dissuade them. Finally, it’s the same thing true believers have always faced, going back to our Christian forefathers in the “O.G. city of brotherly love”, ancient Philadelphia from 2,000 years ago.  As we heard earlier, the first audience from our sermon text was being persecuted for their faith.  Bitterly so.  By this point Christians were being killed for what they believed.  It had happened in nearby Pergamum, to which this letter of Revelation was also written.  It would happen in Philadelphia as well.  And in all of this… seriously, was Christ still with them? 

            Listen again to what we God told them in our sermon text.  “8Look, I have set before you an open door, which no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.”So, in the following verses,the Apostle John (who wrote these words to them) goes on to explain how God would work all things for their good as they continued to place their faith in him… which is great, but it’s in the future, it’s not reality yet.  Instead, for the time being, he simply says “11Hold on to what you have so that no one takes your crown. 12 The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will never leave it again…” What we have here is not a message of immediate gratification, but it is a certain message of hope.  Whatever you face in life, however evil has assaulted you, now matter how it causes you to question and worry and doubt, God’s message is crystal clear: “Hold on to what you have.”  Why?  Because if you are with Christ, God says this is doorway.  It will simply get you where you need to go.  That’s why you want to stay on that path. 

Finally, I can’t share an answer with you that will make all the challenging moments in your life easy.  I can just share the answer that’s always worked for God’s people.  It’s what worked for the founders of our church body.  Just think of how their situation turned out: how blessed are we now as Lutherans in America with the religious freedom we enjoy!  It’s what worked our namesake as Lutheranism also.  Despite how dark his things looked at one point – where Luther even had to go into hiding, holed up in a castle while he translated the Bible – still, Luther had a happy and productive life, he even got married and had kids, he died several decades later as an old man surrounded by friends and family. God worked that situation out for good.  It’s even what worked for those Philadelphian Christians.  Yes, including those of them who were killed for their faith!  Because they immediately got to heaven to be with Christ.  No one could shut that door.  In fact, if anything death only allowed them to pass through that door faster.

In a broken world where sin invites such difficult situations, such challenging problems, such pain into our lives, Jesus provides a different kind of solution.  Not searching for something else that still won’t put an end to the bad.  Not trying harder when our efforts are less than perfect and will still yield less than perfect results. Not treating the symptoms, all while ignoring the cause.  No, in fact, where do we find Jesus in all of it?  There, himself in the midst, of it.  He faced that darkness too.  He encountered those threats as well.  He was even killed by them on the cross… And God says, “Hold on to that,” which he has already given you: a substitute who died for your sin and a Savior who conquered your death, a God whose love for you is never in question and whose future for you is never in doubt.  That’s what will work, even if it doesn’t currently seem to be working! 

What else can we say when, in this very last book of the Bible that was written, this is what God says?  His final message through the Apostle John here isn’t to try this new spiritual craze when things don’t seem to be working out for you, nor is it to make new changes in your life. It’s simply to “Hold on to what you have!…”  That may be so hard to do at times, but it doesn’t make it the wrong answer.  Granted, when you’re persecuted or threatened, when you’re sick or suffering, when those questions or doubts creep in, the hardest thing to do is to do nothing.  We want to take matters into our own hands and fix it!  But sometimes there’s just nothing else to do.  Not when you are on the right path.  Because the door is open in front of us, even if the path is hard.  Other paths may be easier along the way, but how often do we fail to raise our eyes and see: there is no open door at the end of those paths, only dead ends!  It’s why – like the difficult daily exercise that eventually gets you to your fitness goals – we need to stay on this path, the same path Christ went on himself.  And he’ll get you through it;  somehow he’ll even spare you even worse trials, just like he promised in our sermon text.  That’s what he’s done for the past 175 years for our synod.  That’s what he’s done for the past 500 years for all true Lutherans.  That’s what he’s done for the past 2,000 years for all true Christians in every congregation.  That’s what he’s done for the past 6,000+ for all believers in the one true God of Israel who always made this the center of his promises: Christ with us. From the beginning of the Bible – as we heard two weeks ago in Genesis 3 – to the end of the Bible – as we hear in Revelation 3 today – that has always been God’s answer.  He’s not going to stop now.  Dear fellow brother or sister in Christ, whatever you face, know that this is true for you.  Christ is with you.  Be comforted by that always and in all things.  Amen.

October 19, 2025 Sermon

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Pastor Horton

175th Synod Anniversary #2

What does success look like?  For the young entrepreneur, it might be creating a product that goes viral in popularity and finding instant global success and establishing their business as a household name and into a legacy.  For the garage band (or college band), it might involve a few lessons learned at the school of hard knocks and maybe some heartbreak to put together a raw and relatable album and in a few years finding their fanbase now filling concert arenas.  Or for the NFL QB plagued by injuries, it might mean having that one bounce-back year where the team comes together and he leads them to a Super Bowl win with great appreciation and joy.  These are the kids of stories, docuseries, and ESPN specials we like to see – because they lift us up.  They encourage us.  They inspire and motivate us.  Stories of success fill us with hope that anything is possible.

I wonder how a fisherman on the Sea of Galilee (aka the Lake of Gennesaret) might define success?  Because what Jesus accomplished in our Bible reading for today was probably more than a success story – it was a downright dream come true.  Retelling what happened would be hard to believe and passed off as just another fisherman’s tall tale.  And yet with the backdrop of this miracle, as we find Jesus calling ordinary fishermen for an extraordinary purpose.  And we are reminded that Christ still calls and works Through Us.

That is our focal theme this Sunday as we consider the 175th anniversary of the Wisconsin Synod.  Last Week we pondered the important truth of: “Christ FOR Us”.  This week?  “Christ THROUGH Us”.  And does that ever give us relief!  Think back to the lowly beginnings of our synod and to the German missionaries who arrive in this state.  In the eyes of the world, our synod’s beginning was far from a glorious chapter of human history.  But there was God’s glory present in his gifts of Word and Sacraments.  The synod did not start with glamor, but it had God’s grace.  And through the years God grew this collection of believers: from one world mission in 1893 to world missions today in 45 countries, from 800 congregations in 1965 to 1200 congregations today.  Such accomplishments are only to the credit and honor and work of our God.  We are reminded in our own history of the Father’s plan to save souls, the Holy Spirit’s guiding work and oversight of his church, and in Jesus a willingness to do the extraordinary through what seems to be the very ordinary.  Just take a look at our reading.

Peter and the disciples witnessed his desire to work “through us” from their first calling.  In fact, Peter would get an eternal-life-lesson on who Jesus was and he worked.  Early on in his ministry, we find Jesus being surrounded.  The Word works and the people get pushy – feeding on Jesus’ message of life.  And yet the crowd wouldn’t turn into a frenzy.  Jesus taps Simon on the shoulder for a little help as he gets into his boat.  And Simon was willing to help since he had already met Jesus – previously Jesus had healed his mother-in-law.  The least he could do would be to return a favor.  But after teaching the crowds from the boat, Jesus makes a unique request, vrs 4”When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water, and let down your nets for a catch.”  According to those who know the Sea of Galilee well, this body of water could at times yield larger amounts of fish, but at night and in the shallows off the coastline.  Professional fisherman, like these disciples, knew that fishing in the heat of the day in the deep waters sounded like a bad decision.  Add into the mix the human element of these guys probably being exhausted and frustrated after a failed 3rd shift of fishing and they were probably not excited to go back out.

And yet…5 Simon answered him, “Master, we worked hard all through the night and caught nothing.  But at your word I will let down the nets.”  In humble faith there is no objection or complaint.  Even if Peter’s reasoning expects the exact opposite result – he goes.  And listen again to what happened!

6 When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their nets were about to tear apart. Wow!  7 They signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. They came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink.  The Lord God was able to act in awesome and miraculous ways to provide for his servant.  The Lord God still acts in awesome and miraculous ways to provide for his servants.  Through ordinary resources and ordinary people God does the extraordinary to catch and to save.  The nets packed with fish are a picture of the great catch of souls Jesus wants in heaven one day.  Behold the heart of God in this miracle.

And he gives people like you and me his gospel and uses us in his kingdom!  And isn’t that incredible!  Because who are we?  Peter had a realization as he stood face-to-face with the author of life and salvation.  8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, because I am a sinful man, Lord.”  9 For Peter and all those with him were amazed at the number of fish they had caught.  I appreciate that the inspired author uses his full name here, “Simor Peter”.  Whenever I heard my full name I was in trouble or at the least being called to account.  You get the sense of that here, only it’s Peter by faith calling himself out and admitting his rightful standing before Jesus, the living God.  “Who am I, Lord?  “I am a sinful man.”  

Jesus has an answer abounding mercy and grace and peace for his servant.  Jesus said to Simon, “Have no fear. From now on you will be catching people.”  Christ will be working THROUGH you.  And how much did that mean to this fisherman dependent on this profession for his livelihood?  They left everything and followed him.  Life was different now with Jesus.  Success wasn’t the way the world described it, but rather success would be found in those nets of souls filled for heaven.  And Simon Peter would be one who would get to cast Jesus’ kingdom-nets to the nations.  We find Peter preaching on the day of Pentecost as 3000 were baptised, and writing as an inspired author letters which still encourage us today in our walk of faith.  Oh he was not perfect and like us would still need teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness through Scripture.  But his ministry would be marked by Christ THROUGH Us.  He would be sustained by Jesus and forgiven, encouraged, and equipped by his words. 

What does Christ THROUGH you look like?  Sometimes it’s Christ through us…in spite of us.  May we like Peter be brought through the clear teaching of the law to lay our sins at the cross of Jesus.  May God the Holy Spirit help us see and repent of our wrong.  Because our stubborn hearts find offense in Jesus.  We turn a deaf ear to his calling.  We don’t like to admit our sinful state.  We object and complain when he tells us what to do.  We would rather point a finger and blame other kingdom-things around us.  “That synod of yours won’t let me do this” “or that church or that pastor won’t let me do that.”  But it is God’s law that calls out our Old Adam by full name and we often don’t want to look Jesus in the eye or confess that we are sinful and need his help.  

And yet the same Lord there for Peter and the same Lord there for the previous generations of our synod remains the same Lord today who is a compassionate God at work on our hearts and intent on saving our souls and getting us fish caught up to heaven with him.  Christ paid our way with his dying on the cross.  Christ gave eternal life to us by rising, and through his word gives spiritual life to the lifeless.  That priceless gospel of salvation is ours today as it continues to be proclaimed in truth and purity.  

So what now does Christ THROUGH you look like?  It looks like reconciliation with our heavenly Father through Jesus.  Our reading from 2 Corinthians reminded us of that.  It looks like casting those nets out again because Jesus calls us to do so, and forgiving even if we don’t want to or praying again even if we think it’s not that fruitful.  It looks like embracing the Means of Grace, being students of the Word, so that we might be better equipped to fish.  And it means casting nets and trusting Christ even if it’s in deep waters and away from our comfortable shoreline.   And some of those nets, as our reading from Deuteronomy reminds us, are to extend even into the future generations of your family line so that our homes may thrive in the love of God in Christ Jesus.  Christ THROUGH Us has been seen for 175 years of kingdom work in our churches, school, and missions.  God works through his word to call us fish to faith, providing us with opportunity to serve in the work, and blessing the efforts.  Who will Christ catch through you and through our congregation as we cast the gospel?  Let’s find out – in fact, let’s pray that Jesus continues to grant success and make his future catch great until we’re home with the Lord.  Amen.

“Christ For Us”

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Genesis 3:8-15

Pastor Nate Walther

            Last month we celebrated the 100th anniversary of this congregation.  This month we are celebrating another anniversary, an even lengthier one at that: the Dodransbicentennial of our Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod – i.e. the 175th Anniversary of our Lutheran Church body here in America. That’s kind of remarkable, and it gets me thinking about why our collection of churches has lasted.  Is it truly phenomenal preaching?  (All us pastors think we’re good preachers… but such longevity makes me wonder whether I’d make the cut!)  Or is it having a good, Christian day schools?  (Historically, that’s been a staple of our church body, and we are certainly no exception.)  Or what kinds of programs and ministries does a church offer?  Or what kind of a difference are churches actually making in the lives of their parishioners? 

            Initially, our sermon text may not seem to answer those questions or have anything to do with the topic, but it really does get at the heart of the matter. You may know the background.  When God first created Adam & Eve and placed them in the Garden of Eden, he gave them one command, “Don’t eat from the tree of knowledge of good & evil.”  Yet they ate from it.  And it may not seem like a big deal, it’s just one tiny act of disobedience.  Yet there’s no denying the results

            8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they HID from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.  Immediately it’s clear something is wrong.  Never before did Adam & Eve have reason to hide from God, but now something has separated them from God.  So,  9 The Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”  As if God didn’t know!  10 (Adam) answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was NAKED; so I hid.”  That’s a sign that something is wrong also. God made Adam and Eve perfectly in his image, and how could anything that ourperfect Lordcreates elicit shame?  Unless, Adam & Eve’s bodies somehow had been corrupted and changed into something less…  and they were. 11 (God) said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”  That would be disobedience to God’s expressed will.  That, by its very definition in the Bible, is sin.  Sadly, it’s not hard to see their sin in what follows: 12 The man said, “The WOMAN you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”  Instead of accepting responsibility for his action, Adam deflected blame to his wife and even to God, if you noticed!  Likewise, Eve followed her husband’s lead: 13 The Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”  As they point the finger at each other, it’s just an ugly attitude, it’s never what God intended…

            And that’s just the start of it.  In the verses immediately after these God shares that their sin would result in pain: 1) physical pain, like a woman’s pain in childbirth or a man’s painful labor; 2) emotional pain too, of the sort you see that divides families and destroys relationships; 3) finally, there’s the pain of mortality, there’s just nothing as bad as what you find at a gravesite… Speaking of which, in the chapter immediately after this we meet the world’s very first children, Cain & Abel.  What happens to them?  One of them kills his brother!  How serious was their problem with sin if this is what was happening only one generation after God made everything perfectly!?… But the worst part? These aren’t just empty threats or idle warning for us.  This is real for us too.  This is exactly what we see in our world also.  This is sin we are complicit in as well.

            We may try to tell ourselves this story doesn’t really apply to our lives: “Some of what the Bible says is old fashioned!”  Or we may try to rationalize our sin: “A little disobedience isn’t a big deal, it didn’t hurt anyone!” Or we may point the finger: “It’s the people around me who made me to do this, and they’ve done much worse!…”  What we cannot deny is that sin is simply alive & active in our lives.  It’s there in every awful word we let slip out of our mouths that we immediately wish we could take back.  It’s there in the terrible things we’ve done that we wish we could just scrub from the pasts.  It’s there in the pain we suffer in our own bodies, more and more so every year. It’s there in the horrible ways that people have treated us, that we just can’t forget.  It’s there in the depravity we all see on the news or on social media, there’s always something worse!  Even when we try our best to live a good life and do what’s right and push through all of this, still we mess up, still bad things happen to us, still we die… Yet how often do we go to church for something less?  “Don’t actually fix my sins, Lord, or the sins of others! Don’t concern yourself with this eternal chasm that would forever separate us from the good and perfect things you want us to have!… Don’t worry about it because I don’t really want to address this dreary topic, not when it would mean actually confronting my sins, and confessing them, and repenting of them, and changing my life.  Instead, just give me a little less pain on this earth, a little more money in my bank account, a few less problems to deal with – a little more recognition for my (mostly) good deeds – that’s all I’m asking!…” As if that’s gonna cut it in the end! We’re as shallow as Adam & Eve pointing the finger at each other.

            But God wasn’t shallow.  Think about God’s immediate reaction to sin. It wasn’t just to smite Adam & Eve (or you & me) for ruining his perfect plans.  Nor was it to give us all the things we’d like to distract us from the real problems in our soul, but which wouldn’t matter when we’re gone in 175 years (if they even matter next year).  It wasn’t even to spell out all the consequences for their actions (that was important and it needed to be dealt with, but that would come later, only after our sermon text).  Instead, immediately,

14 the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, “Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals!—That being Satan, who had taken the form of a snake. You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. 15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your offspring—that being unbelievers—and hers… HE—that being an individual among Eve’s offspring—will CRUSH your head, and you will crush his heel…” 

With anniversaries, we sometimes use Latin phrases to highlight their significance.  In a similar manner, theologians call this promise from God the protoevangelium – “the first promise” – first because this great promise that would be repeated many times.  Just as the Bible highlights man’s sin one generation after another, God promised this same solution to sin again and again: A descendant from Eve’s own line to crush Satan’s head.  It’s a picture of totally destroying the evil work of sin that the devil helped introduce into the world.  In the process this figure would be wounded – his heel would be crushed – but of course, that’s not a mortal blow… It’s exactly what we see in the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who also took on human flesh as a descendant of Eve, who lived a perfect life without sin as our substitute, who could therefore overcome this work of the devil on the cross.  Granted, Jesus was killed in the process, but it would be no mortal wound.  Jesus rose on Easter morning, and he promises the same final victory for us over sin’s worst consequence.

It’s the last thing Satan wants us to know, so with one last lie he tries to get even Christians distracted, and he succeeds in many churches! Oh, he’ll give us Christ, sure, he knows he can’t take that from Christians… but it’s not as we really need Jesus: as a Savior from sin.  Instead, Satan will give us Jesus as a cheerleader, or Jesus as an example for us to follow as we do our best, or Jesus as someone who will make your life better on earth as you follow him – all without pressing on the more pressing matters of sin and salvation. 

But God doesn’t get distracted.  Right from the start, God was ready with something better: CHRIST FOR US. Christ taking our place as a man himself, but doing what we could not do ourselves: a life of perfect obedience without sin, then his work on the cross to crush this work of Satan.  That’s what our brand of Lutheranism is all about.  Not empty promises that can never be certain in a fallen world, nor happy thoughts that simply ignore the reality of sin, just a real Savior with a real solution to the very real effect of sin that we see around us. Thank God for 175 years of that message, and 100 years of it personally as a congregation.  Finally, that’s what truly phenomenal preaching, and a truly good Christian school, and truly fantastic programs boil down to: not distractions, just the cross.  It’s not about what we do, but about what Jesus has already done.

So if you happen to be new here, if you’re looking for a church home to truly settle into, if you’re not sure who would do your funeral when you die… this is what we’re about and this is what we offer.  Talk to us pastors about how we can get you more connected to Christ.  No, I can’t fix all the problems in your life, but I can point you to the one who fixes your soul, and that will help with everything else.  On the other hand, if you have been here a long time, if this was your grandparents’ church, if you’ll be in that pew until you die… don’t forget this is what we’re still about and this is what we always offer.  Finally, Eastside Lutheran isn’t about this building or that school; it’s not defined by an excellent June Jumble Days or an Arts & Craft Fair; we don’t go here because our family has always gone here or our friends go here now.  There may be blessings in these things, but in a far greater way Eastside Lutheran is about CHRIST FOR US.  As we enter our second hundred years as a congregation, and as we march toward two hundred years as a synod, we should keep asking what we can do to further that mission.  You’ll hear more about that next week as we continue this celebration and see that Christ doesn’t just work for us… he works for others too.  But as he does so, that’s where he graciously chooses to work THROUGH us. Amen.

October 5, 2025 Sermon

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Pastor Horton

The 17th Sunday of Pentecost

Travel with me into a church called the Notre Dame in Paris, France, back to December 2, 1804.  Inside that majestic cathedral we’d find Napoleon Bonaparte and his wife Josephine draped in white satin as the soon-to-be-crowned emperor and empress of the French.  Pope Pius VII was also in attendance, and as was customary, he would place the crown onto the new emperor’s head.  But that’s not what happened.  When the time came, Napoleon removed the laurel wreath he had begun the ceremony with and set that down, took the crown from out of the pope’s hands and placed it on his own head, and then crowned his wife.  It was a pointed and symbolic move.  Napoleon wanted it to be known through his actions, that he had gained this kingdom through his own power and to his own credit and was not subject to the Church or tradition or divine rite.  He made a statement.

Travel back now if you will once more to Jerusalem, approximately 1000 years before the coming Christ.  King David is nearing the end of his reign and he gathered all of the leadership there before him in Jerusalem: the military generals, palace officials, and the strong men of the nation.  David had been informed by God that although he had a heart for the Lord and a desire to build the great temple in Jerusalem, David would not be given that opportunity.  He was a man of war and had blood on his hands.  The temple-building privilege would be given to his son Solomon.  What would King David do?  Would he act like Napoleon and make the moment about himself and his kingdom? 

I mean he had a case, didn’t he?  He was the youngest of his brothers and yet God handpicked him to be king – you may remember his anointing by the prophet Samuel.  He was the man who had that legendary victory one v. one against the giant Goliath.  He claimed numerous battlefield victories, keeping the Philistines back, capturing Jerusalem, and bringing the ark back to the city of God with dancing.  And he would have his name connected to the everlasting throne of the Messiah.  It would have been easy for David to make a case before the leaders, take the crown into his own hands so to speak, and say, “I know God told me to do something but I’m going to do what I want instead and build the temple anyways.”

But what did David actually do?  We’re told in our chapter for today. “King David said this to the whole assembly: My son Solomon, the one God has chosen, is young and inexperienced. The work is great because this citadel is not for a man.  It is for the Lord God.  According to all my strength, I have provided these things for the house of my God: gold…silver…bronze…iron…wood…onyx stones…antimony (a mineral that looks like a mix between silver metal & diamonds)…every kind of precious stone, and alabaster in abundance.”  He then, in the next verse, offers to go above and beyond, and fund this building project with his own wealth.  To help us better understand this offering, kings back in this day and age would keep a personal treasury which served more than as a rainy-day-fund, it was to help raise and pay for an army if their crown and their kingdom was in danger of attack.  What David is offering is the security of his own throne to build a worship space where God would be enthroned before the people.  And then he goes above and beyond even that, by challenging Israel’s leadership to give generously as well and set an example.  David’s words and actions reflected his heart, and he set the crown not on himself, but upon the altar of our God.  

And the people responded in abundance.  Our verses skip down to David’s awe-struck response at the outpouring of their gifts.  And yet the king looks to the heavens and says thank you to God for his kingdom reign.  Let’s walk through a few of these verses picking back up at verse 10, “David blessed the Lord in the presence of the entire assembly.  He said: Blessed are you, Lord, the God of Israel, our father, from eternity to eternity.”  Remember that Jacob was renamed Israel.  The same God who was there and acted on behalf of those previous generations of believers – is here today continuing to fulfill what he promised!  “To you, O Lord, belong greatness, power, glory, victory, and majesty, because everything in the heavens and on the earth belongs to you.”  What can we give you that is not already yours!  “You, Lord, are exalted as head above everything.  The kingdom belongs to you. Riches and honor come from you. You are ruling over everything….Who am I?  Who are my people that we are able to offer willingly like this? For everything comes from you. What we have given to you came from your hand.”  What an incredible understanding from his heart of faith!  All things I can give you you have given me first!  All good blessings come from you!  All things in heaven and on earth, all the achievements you have graced me with serve you, and your good plan, to ultimately save souls.  David’s life was a living testimony to the mercy and might of our loving God in heaven.  This episode from the Bible models a believer’s heart when it comes to freely giving not just of our treasure, but of our time, talent, and daily opportunity today in the kingdom of the Lord. 

I need such a perspective found in the word of God, because I am often missing that viewpoint – and I’d guess that you are often missing out on that perspective as well.  Because we like the attention and the glory when it comes to the might of our hands.  You might say we stumble and fall and are not thinking in Davidic ways (when it comes to these verses) but Napoleonic ways.  We want our kingdom our way.  We want to be the ones to chisel out for ourselves a nice little palace of comfort and live by our own rules and take the crown off the altar and crown ourselves and celebrate our own coronation.  But minds and hearts and actions that are not moved by the freedom of the gospel and the joy of salvation are minds and hearts and actions that are driven by vanity and delusion, and by fear and worry.  If we ignore the kingdom of our God and the eternal providence he provides through his wondrous word, we waddle around and obsess over earthly consumptions of popularity, money, and prideful achievements.  At no time while traipsing about this globe will we ever have enough or be enough for long enough.

Napoleon’s personal reign?  He found himself facing more war (with Waterloo yet to come), more exile, and death.  Napoleon’s kingdom of the French?  They’d keep fighting with folks until well into the next century.  King David reminds us of something better.  

Through his own line and from his own throne, God would provide salvation through Christ Jesus.  His kingdom is an eternal one.  His redemption is a personal one.  Through the saving work at his cross Jesus would pay for each and every sin – even the ones that involve our death grip on his crown.  Thanks to his rising, we will have life with him forever.  We pray for this message of his kingdom to continue to come and to extend to our hearts and lives through Word and Sacraments (all of which is ours this weekend).  Come Lord Jesus indeed, and by the works of your hands bring us home to your heavenly kingdom! 

Homecoming!  This weekend was homecoming for both high schools we support as a church: Lakeside Lutheran (go Warriors) and Luther Prep in Watertown (which both of your pastors graduated from).  I happened to get to a Prep volleyball game and definitely understood the homecoming feeling.  My step daughter and mother were talking next to a pastor and his wife I served with in MN.  My dad was down by the court jibberjabbering with new friends.  In the row in front of me was my cousin, her husband, and next to me his parents who had served in the world mission fields.  In walked my former professors, Pastor Boggs, and former classmates with both their children and parents.  Memories and multigenerations were there under the same room.  It was homecoming.  How much better will be heaven!  Maybe you experienced this sliver on Thursday morning as grandparents and grandkids sang hymns side by side in the pews – what a special moment!  Just a peak at the kingdom!  Or last Sunday at our 100th as former church leaders, school staff, and friends joined us as we fixed our eyes on the cross of Christ and life eternal to come through him.  Such homecoming events give us but a momentary reminder, a tiny twinkle, a fleeting glimpse at the neverending glory that is far beyond our understanding in the throne room of heaven.  Where believers and angels sing in resounding triumph to the Lamb on the throne!  And you will get to come home and be home in God’s kingdom forever!  We can’t wait for that unending celebration that Jesus has made possible!Napoleon in all his pomp and celebration at the Notre Dame will pale in comparison.  For there in heaven our victorious king, who served us as the sacrificial Lamb will reign over us in perfect love, providing for all our needs forevermore.  It is why David could say in verse 18, “Lord, the God of our fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, preserve forever this purpose and way of thinking in the heart of your people. Direct their heart to you.”  Your kingdom, o Lord, on heaven and on earth, is built by your hands.  Amen.

“Money: A Means, Not A Master”

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Passage: Ecclesiastes 5:10-20

Pastor Nate Walther

September 21, 2025

            Which financial gurus do you trust?  Maybe you have a particular financial podcast or personal financial guy you always listen to. Perhaps it’s someone like Dave Ramsey – He’s a popular one, and he has some good things to say.  Myself, I thank God for my dad – who learned these lessons from his dad, a banker – so also, he taught me life lessons about saving money, living within my means, and giving richly with my offerings and trusting that God will provide. 

            Today God gives us an even better financial guru to listen to: King Solomon.  I say that because Solomon spoke from experience; he was the wealthiest man of his times!  But even more importantly, Solomon spoke from God; he wrote the words of our sermon text under inspiration of the Holy Spirit!  And today he (God!) shows us that we should think of MONEY AS A MEANS, NOT AS A MASTER.

            As we go back to what we heard earlier in our first reading in Ecclesiastes, Solomon clears up a misconception we can easily get as Christians.  Namely, is money a bad thing?  Solomon’s answer definitively is, “no!”  While Solomon speaks poorly about money at the beginning of our sermon text, he speaks highly of it by the end…  which goes to show, money is neither good nor bad in itself; rather, it’s a question of how we look at it.  And verse 19 hints at how we can properly look at money: “Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be happy in their toil—this is a gift of God.” Just like Jesus warned in our Gospel reading today, money is not to be our master… God is!  As Solomon says here, God is the one who “gives wealth and possessions” in the first place. 

            That builds on a second important point.  We need it to be this way because money is a really poor master.  Solomon explains that for us too.  Verse 15 gives us the most significant proof “Everyone comes naked from their mother’s womb, and as everyone comes so they depart.  They take nothing from their toil that they can carry in their hands.  Finally, what good is a master who leaves you with nothing in the end?  Spiritually speaking, then, money does nothing for us…  And Physically speaking, it’s not much different!  Verses 10 & 11, “Whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income…  As goods increase, so do those who consume them.”  That’s true!  With more money comes more stress, it doesn’t just fix everything!  Or, how about verses 13 & 14, which talks about how “wealth (can be) hoarded… (then) lost.” It’s not just when we die that we lose money, there are many ways we can lose it here as well!   Likewise, verses 16 & 17, “what do they gain, since they toil for the wind? All their days they eat in darkness, with great frustration, affliction and anger.”  Money can truly affect your ability to enjoy life, such as when you’re up late slaving for it instead of letting it serve you.  Then it’s no longer a means to enjoy God’s other blessings, like Solomon describes in verse 18 & following…

            As Christians we don’t need statistics to prove what the Bible says… but those exist too.  They once did a study of which social class was happiest, and do you know what they found?  If you run a chart with one axis being how happy people are, and the other axis being how much money people make, what does the graph look like?  You might think that the more money you make the happier you will be, and that’s true!… to an extent.  However, they found that once you make enough money to get by comfortably – i.e. you’re not worried about where your next meal is coming from or how you’ll pay your bills; and you have a little money saved up and you’re sort of in that middle class region – after that it’s all downhill.  Of course, that’s speaking generally. There are exceptions to these statistics, and maybe you are an exception to this.  But there’s a lot of truth in this also!  As they say, “Mo money, mo problems.” No, I’m not talking about the rappers who popularized that phrase in the 90s.  Rather, as we just heard in our sermon text, 3,000 years ago Solomon knew this was true by virtue of his experiences – God knew it was true too by his omniscience.  

            Money is not the answer our world thinks it is.  I imagine we’d all agree with that sentiment.  But would the amount we spend on vacations, or restaurants, or clothes tell a different story?  Or what about the story our offerings would tell, or lack thereof?  As Solomon talked about in our sermon text, do concerns about money rob you of sleep, and prevent you from enjoying the blessings God has given to you? Or, as Paul said in our epistle reading, are we truly content with what we have, or do we feel like we need more – only then can I gave more in offerings, only then can I stop worrying, only then can I serve the Lord!  Finally, as Jesus himself said in today’s Gospel, do we primarily see money as something to use to gain friends for eternity, or do we primarily see it as something to waste on the breath of this life? 

            Too often – far too often! – money has instead become our master.  In our affluent society – in some way or another! – Satan has ensnared every one of us with this.  Yet again, God’s law reveals our sin.  And it will only purchase for us the wind, as Solomon vividly pictured it in Ecclesiastes: an emptiness & nothingness.  In fact, when Solomon talks about this as “meaningless” (a phrase he famously repeats throughout the book), literally translated that means, “vapor.” It’s like the breath of your mouth that you see on a cold Wisconsin morning, which disappears in an instant and never comes back.  So also, that’s what our sin leaves us with.

            There’s a better way.  A way to sleep well at night without any worry.  A way to enjoy labor & work, and to find some satisfaction & meaning in it; at least, more than you ever thought you could in a fallen world.  A way to “eat, drink, and be merry,” but not because – as it’s been said before in our world – “tomorrow we die!”; rather, it’s because we no longer fear death and being left with nothing… that way is found by having the Lord God of the Bible as our master.  And I know you know that.  But let God speak that truth to your soul this morning.  Whether it’s through money or not, God will provide.  Whether you have lots of wealth or very little, God has already provided for you his Son, Jesus, who became poor for our sake so that we through his poverty become rich. Christ purchased for us eternity through his death on the cross for our sins, regardless of what we can or cannot purpose for ourselves here on this earth.  Now, when all is said and done, through faith in Jesus as our Savior from sin, the only emptiness Christ will leave us with is an empty tomb on earth, and our cups will overflow with everything in heaven.  It’s why we no longer have to squeeze everything out of this life.  This world is not all there is.  We can simply enjoy this world for what it is, then we can enjoy so much more in the life to come. 

            Dear friends in Christ, if you & I are willing listen to other financial gurus when it comes to our money, listen to God more: money is not our master, God is; and that means we must think of money as a means to accomplish His purposes.  Finally, that’s why Jesus talked about money like he did in our Gospel reading.  He wants us to use our possessions in a way that ties into his work as the master of all.  And think about this now: what an amazing thing that we can put money in a box at the back of church, or we can press a button on our phones to conduct a financial transaction… and more people wind up in heaven forever through the work it supports, since it leads to them hearing about Jesus.  That’s incredible! Our ministry here at Eastside needs your offerings and mine – that’s the way ministry in our affluent world works! – and God has given us the ability to support it.  So, support the work of the Church as God has enabled you to.  It will be a blessing for others… and it will be a blessing for you. 

First of all, God wants you and me to have the joy of contributing to something more meaningful than the “stuff” of our homes, or the “stuff” that lasts for day.  That’s what we get in our offerings.  Secondly, that’s also how we can truly enjoy the lesser things that money purchases us.  Think of it: since money it no longer has to purchase what it could never afford – salvation, eternity, things that last forever; you already have that in Jesus! – now you can enjoy that Badgers game, you can enjoy that vacation home, you can enjoy that well-earned break, you can enjoy those nice clothes, you can enjoy that good food and drink… not because these things are your master; but because they are gifts from your master who loves you, whom you’re even more invested in, who has already given you everything in his son Jesus… In other words, these things are just the “frosting”, but who doesn’t like a little frosting, especially when you’ve already got the whole cake?… In other words, through faith in Jesus, we can have our cake and eat it too!  God is too good to us!!!  It was more than we could ever ask that God would pay the price to sacrifice his only beloved Son to save us from our sins.  But not only does he give us that, he gives us these other things we can enjoy with our money as well.  Thank God!  And give back generously to him with your offerings. Amen.

“The Gift of Empty Hands”

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Philemon 1,7-21

Sunday, September 7, 2025

Pastor Nate Walther

            When you think of a good gift, what comes to mind?  Maybe there’s that person in your life who is a gift-giving maestro – they always have the right thing picked out, and you just can’t wait to open their gifts!  Or, maybe you feel like nobody understands what you want – they never have the right thing picked out, and you always wish they got you something else instead.

            Regardless of what we think of as a good gift, I bet none of us pictures this: “the gift of empty hands”, of lacking something!  But that’s the gift God describes today in our sermon text from Philemon.  Here the Apostle Paul is writing to a man named Philemon about his servant, Onesmius, who had run away from him and come to Paul.  I’ll read the whole text since we didn’t hear it earlier with our readings, and I’ll add some commentary along the way.

Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, which was literally the case. Paul wrote this from house arrest in Rome, he was imprisoned for sharing the Gospel.  And (also) Timothy, our brother, who was with Paul at the time.  To Philemon, our dear friend and coworker…  That makes it sound like Philemon was a faithful man and a good Christian… and he was!  7 For I have received great joy and encouragement from your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed by you, brother. To put it in another way, Philemon was very much the last kind of person from whom you’d expect God to withhold a gift… but God had.  He had taken his servant from him, leaving him with empty hands!  Given how Paul describes Philemon, there’s no reason to think he had warranted that by mistreating Onesimus.  Being a slave or servant back in those days wasn’t necessarily what we may think of.  Still, Onesimus had run away.  So listen to what Paul says to Philemon:

8 For that reason, even though I have plenty of boldness in Christ to order you to do what is proper, 9 I am appealing to you, instead, on the basis of love, just as I, Paul, am an old man and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ…With these words, Paul hints at what a blessing Onesimus must have been to him while he was imprisoned.  He wouldn’t have wanted to give up Onesimus’s company!  And, if anything, Paul could have ordered Philemon what to do, including letting Onesimus stay!  As he will hint in a few verses, God had used Paul to bring Philemon to faith, which meant Philemon really owed Paul his soul!  However, 10 I am appealing to you on behalf of my child Onesimus. I became his father while I was in chains. 11 There was a time when he was useless to you, but now he is useful both to you and to me. 12 I have sent him (who is my very heart) back to you. Welcome him. 13 I wanted to keep him with me, so that he might serve me in your place while I am in chains for the gospel. 14 But I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that your kindness would not be the result of compulsion, but of willingness… 

Notice that, as Paul talks about all these things he wants Philemon to do, he models them himself.  Paul willingly lets go of Onesimus himself.  Paul models genuinely, Christian love himself.  Later, Paul will even offer to take on Onesimus’s debts… Why?  15 Perhaps this is why he was separated from you for a while: so that you would have him back forever, 16 no longer as a slave, but as more than a slave, as a dear brother. He certainly is dear to me, but he is even more of a dear brother to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord…  Isn’t that interesting?  Before, it seems Onesimus had not been a believer, or a “brother”, as they called each other back then… now he was.  And that’s why Paul did this.  Paul was all about making more believers.     

17 So if you consider me your partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. 18 And if he has wronged you in any way or owes you anything, charge it to me. 19 I, Paul, have written this with my own hand: I will repay it—not to mention that you owe me your very self. 20 Yes, brother, I am asking for a favor from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in Christ. 21 Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I ask… The Word of the Lord. 

The lesson in our sermon text is a simple one.  By losing Onesimus, Philemon would get more back – not just a servant, but a brother in Christ & a willing servant.  Likewise, by willingly letting go of Onesimus, Paul would get more back – he would be able to preach the Gospel message of Christ’s love in a more effective and powerful way.  Finally, could it be that God does the same thing when our hands are empty?  He’s freeing them up so we may receive even more back from him? 

It’s hard to see it like that.  Take the question we started with: did any one of us picture the gift of empty hands?  No, we picture gifts only in terms of what we possess or what others can give us.  Conversely, when we don’t have those things or they are taken away from us, it only seems bad.  That classic question of, “why Lord, why did you let this happen?”  It almost always involves loss or lacking something.  But do we need such loss?  Since we cling to whatever is in our hands – “you’d have to pry it from my cold, dead hands!” – is that why God must sometimes force the issue?  Not “killing” us, mind you, but gently prying back our fingers from whatever thing, whatever possession, whatever relationship we think we cannot live without – but which will only exist for this life?  Is that why God does this – not because he hates us, but because he loves us, and he wants to fill our hands with something better?

It’s kind of like a small child clutching something tightly in their hand with white-knuckles!  To them it’s the most valuable thing in the world: maybe it’s stone they found on the ground with specks of their favorite color, or it’s a candy wrapper from their favorite candy, or It’s a really cool and interesting (but, also dead) bug.  Of course, as their parent or grandparent you see something entirely different: a dumb rock that will just add to the clutter in their room, a worthless scrap of paper, an unsanitary bug – and you know that you have something better for them: a toy they’d much prefer, or their favorite treat, or a gentle hug and a safe nap… so firmly you peel back your child’s fingers from their prized possession – despite their cries, despite protests, despite inevitable explosion that occurs! – and you replace their loss with something that quickly lights up their face, something they could not have received without empty hands.

The lesson for us is simple, but before we apply it to ourselves, do we realize this is exactly what God the Father experienced on a cosmic scale… and, willingly.  He loosened his grip on the most precious thing he had, without anyone forcing his fingers.  And in his case, it was no worthless trinket.  God experienced the pain of the loss of the closest family – his only begotten Son, with whom he had a relationship for all eternity; Jesus was more a part of the Father than you and I are one even with our spouses in marriage! – yet the Father forsook his Son & let him go on the cross, leaving him with empty hands… He did this so that his hands may be filled with something more.  Not just receiving his own Son back in the resurrection, but you and me now as Jesus’ dear brothers and sisters – as God’s dearly loved children, bought back with the blood of Christ from our sins of whatever we desperately cling to (but which can never save us), claimed by the Holy Spirit through the washing waters of baptism! 

That’s why God also asks us to accept empty hands: maybe it’s that we let go of some time, or talent or treasure; maybe it’s even that we would let go of the close relationship of a friend or family member, but one which is leading us away from Christ.  It’s all so that he can fill them with more: things that last, relationships that last, a relationship with him that lasts.  That will lead to blessing for you, personally.  But it’s not just for you. When we start owning this truth in our faith life, it impacts others as well.  Take Paul.  Onesimus (evidently not a believer!) went to Paul (clearly a believer), perhaps only because of how well Paul had lived out his faith (after all, that was Onesimus’s point of contact with Paul through his master Philemon)… and after spending time with Paul, Onesimus is ready and willing to return to his master (as a believer!).  That’s stunning.  When we model the gift of empty hands, it leaves a strong impression on others.  It might even be the way God places something in their hands for all eternity.

So what’s a good gift?  That may look different for each of us. I’m sure that in a few months when Christmas approaches, you kids will have tons of ideas & long lists!… In all of this, don’t forget about the gift of empty hands.   When you let go of everything else you might grab, and you simply receive what God puts there, he’ll give you even more back. Amen.

Woe & Whoa!

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August 24, 2025

Pastor Horton

Isaiah 66:18-24

If you happen to be a lover of movies, you may be familiar with something called the ‘Spielberg face.”  It’s a look one of his characters gives at a pivotal moment as the camera may slowly zoom-in to their startled expression.  Sometimes the character is experiencing sudden shock, or remembering their past, or finding humanity in that moment within themselves or another person.  You can find this close-up filming technique in Spielberg movies such as Jurassic Park the first time the main characters see the dinosaurs, or in Saving Private Ryan as a veteran thinks back to his wartime experience, or in Indiana Jones as Indy turns and realizes a giant boulder is now rolling directly towards him.  That’s the face.  It’s a look of “Whoa.”

You can’t help but wonder if the audience Isaiah is writing to is filled with wonderment and “whoa” at these words.  God is proclaiming his will to save in a far reaching way: extending grace beyond the Jewish believers to all Gentiles and to all people.  In our verses, God is speaking about both the New Testament times in which we still live and even beyond that to eternity.  

How did we arrive at this point in the book?  Previously in Isaiah, the people were told about their coming deliverance from Babylon and about their redemption thanks to the Lord’s Servant, Jesus.  This, the final chapter in Isaiah, begins with a remarkable moment, for we are told that Zion, the holy mountain of spiritual Jerusalem, is about to give birth.  And here’s a moment to stop and say “whoa,” as right around verses 7-8 as soon as she feels labor pains she gives birth to children.  The picture is this: with great ease the Lord will deliver the New Testament church from the Old Testament church and advance his gospel of salvation.  And we have seen such moments come true in the book of Acts as 3,000 were baptized on the day of Pentecost thanks to the work of God the Holy Spirit.  Swift and effective is the work of our Lord!  And mighty is this spiritual city for God dwells within her.  Up go the banners over the city walls proclaiming: comfort and consolation, banners of pardon and peace are raised.  

Not so for those who stand opposed.  Woe, spelled “W” “O” “E” is theirs.  Listen to this leadup to our verses….verse 15, “ Look, the Lord will come like fire, and his chariots like a whirlwind, to pour out his furious anger,” verse 16, “For the Lord will bring judgment on all flesh,” verse 17, “Those who try to sanctify themselves…together they will be swept away, declares the Lord.”  Those who are unfaithful and who are not amongst the believers will be judged and will be destroyed.  They will be “thrown outside” the city of God says Jesus in our gospel reading, where there will be “weeping and gnashing of teeth” for eternity.  Listen to God in verse 24 as we are given a glimpse into hell, “They will go out, and they will see the corpses of the ones who were rebelling against me, for their worm will not die, and their fire will not be quenched, and all flesh will be horrified by them.”  Dead and yet still suffering in pain and in fire for eternity!  That is shocking “woe!”

What’s more alarming, is because of our sinful nature, you and I should be found among those corpses.  The fall into sin kicked all of humanity out of that perfect relationship with God.  Eliminated is any natural “right” you or I think we might have to the glories of heaven.  And yet we still find in ourselves that inbred notion of sanctifying ourselves: “What’s the magic key to unlock heaven that I can accomplish?  Keeping my name on the membership books?  Giving a couple of bucks to a local charity?  Maybe scaling back one or two cuss words from my often ripe vocabulary?  Surely then God should take my efforts into account!”  But the fervent works of our desperate hands, the occasional good will of our fallen minds, and the emotional wants of our selfishly polluted hearts can not ever do enough or be enough to be sanctified and be able to make ourselves holy, and pure, and spotless.  We can not be perfect as God in his righteousness demands.  

And yet today, do not despair, for you and I can look at this text and still say “Whoa,” “W” “H” “O” “A”.  For God has been at work through Jesus to gather all nations that many might hear and believe and see God’s glory.  We can not help but say “Whoa” as we look at our reading with a “Spielberg face” at the great and gracious saving work of our God.  Verse 19, take note as God says: “I will set up a sign among them, and I will send out survivors from among them to the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, to those who are archers, to Tubal and Javan, to the distant coastlands, who have not heard my message and have not seen my glory.  Then they will declare my glory among the nations.”  And we have seen this sign carried out even within the first generation of believers following Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension.  The gospel would go to these locations in Spain, North Africa, Asia Minor, Greece, and various Mediterranean islands just as God said it would hundreds of years prior through Isaiah.  Even though all rightly deserved to be destroyed, God would not have that happen.  His gospel message has been mobilized to save souls.

And his word does not return to him empty, but accomplishes his desires.  “Then they will bring all your brothers from all the nations as an offering…to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says the Lord, in the same way that the people of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel to the Lord’s house.”  No longer will Jewish believer look down on Gentile believer, but rather brothers and sisters from all across the globe will be converted and brought into spiritual Jerusalem according to God’s guiding hand – cleansed and found acceptable for service thanks to the blood of Jesus.  The Word of God accomplishes a return – and the thank offering of souls are placed at Jesus’ feet.  

In fact, our reading continues, “Even from among these people I will take priests and Levites, says the Lord.”  And we have seen that haven’t we?  God calling and installing leadership in his Church on earth from every continent and people group.  “Gentile priests” may have sounded strange (even offensive) to the Old Testament reader, but here is God’s promise to provide for the continued advancement of the gospel by equipping and training those very same redeemed souls for service from all over the world.  

What’s really a “Whoa” is that the continued fulfillment of this prophecy given through Isaiah has been taking place right here at Eastside.  The New Testament church has been continuing forward under the direction of God the Holy Spirit for some 2000 years.  In just over a month from now we are about to celebrate 100 of those 2000 years here at Eastside: as we have seen God’s gracious hand here in our families, in our congregation, and in our community.  100 years out of 2000 years?  That’s 1/20 or 5% of the timeline of the New Testament church (so far) finding fulfillment right here among you.  That’s 100 years of proclamation, declaring Jesus as the only way to heaven, the truth, and the life.  That’s 100 years of baptisms into God’s family.  100 years of Jesus’ body and blood distributed to us for the forgiveness of sins.  100 years of young men and women standing before God as they are confirmed in their faith and publicly declaring they will remain faithful even to death.  100 years of marriage vows before (and sustained with the help of) the Almighty.  100 years of resurrection joy while hosting Christian funerals here as we wiped away our tears and looked forward to heaven through Jesus.  And as our reading shares, 100 years of equipping pastors, teachers, and church leaders for kingdom work, educating our youth in the Word which makes them wise for salvation, and making ready our congregation for a lifetime of service to Jesus.  We have witnessed 1/20 of this prophecy has happened right here.  Whoa!  And in a month we’re going to praise God for it!  

What’s next?  Well, God gives us a peek ahead to the future in verses 22-23, “For just as the new heavens and the new earth that I am making will remain standing before me, declares the Lord, in the same way your offspring and your name will stand.  As often as one new moon follows another and one Sabbath follows another, all flesh will come to worship before me, says the Lord.”  It’s been said that “the church on earth now is but a courtyard for the glorious eternal mansions in heaven.”  The strict and rigid timeline for celebrations the Old Testament church once had will one day flow endlessly and joyfully in eternal worship and praise.  And the heart of God in Jesus?  He encourages us to continue today to share this precious gospel, for he wants others to join the many who will be home in heaven on that day.I don’t know if when you heard our reading you actually made a Spielberg face this morning and said “Whoa”.  Maybe, but probably not.  In the movies those are big, amazing moments of realization.  On our day of grace today, I’d still encourage you to consider these words and, in faith, recognize what God is sharing with us about his heart, his great ability to save, and his incredible desire to have many more (and to have you) in that eternal city of heaven all thanks to Jesus.  Amen.

“Divided We Stand”

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Passage: Luke 12:49-53

Pastor: Pastor Walther

Date: August 17, 2025

As we begin our new worship series, WOUNDS THAT HEAL, we’re talking about those words of God that cut to the heart, which seem to inflict wounds… but they are words God actually uses to heal us.  We begin with our sermon theme today: DIVIDED WE STAND. 

Maybe you’re wondering, “Did I hear that right?  Isn’t it supposed to be ‘UNITED’ we stand!?’”  That’s what people usually say, and even the Bible would seem to agree with it.  In Luke chapter 2, which we hear every Christmas, what did the angels say? “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth PEACE to men on whom his favor rests (Peace… not division!).”

            I promise I’m not just trying to stir the pot with this theme.   Because 10 chapters later in Luke – we have today’s sermon text from our Gospel reading, where Jesus himself says, “I did not come to bring peace but division…” And that’s a harder message than the message of the angels.  Maybe it’s even a passage you and I are tempted to ignore.  “I don’t get it, so I’m not going to worry about this one!” But these are words worth listening to… especially when God uses such wounds to heal us! 

            Perhaps the easiest way to understand these words is to focus on verse 50 of our sermon text, and feel free to follow along with our Gospel reading in your bulletin. Notice what Jesus says, I have a BAPTISM to undergo, and how DISTRESSED I am until it is finished!  Usually, we think of baptism as something good, but Jesus talks about this baptism as causing him distress, even as something he has yet to undergo.  Here ge cannot be talking about our water baptism, which he had already received from John the Baptist earlier in his ministry.  Instead, Jesus is talking about baptism in a different way: he’s using this word as the Bible sometimes does, in a figurative sense to picture being flooded or overwhelmed with something bad…  In this case, he’s talking about the cross, which was starting to loom over him as he set his eyes on Jerusalem near the end of his ministry.  And that would cause anyone distress: “baptism” in the fires of hell!  But that’s what Jesus was willing to go through, all because these were WOUNDS THAT HEAL.  Jesus knew that only through his perfect sacrifice as the Son of God could he save us from the fires that he talks about in verse 49!… And by the way, THAT’S the context. It’s only after that where Jesus goes on to talk about how he would bring division, even among the closest of family members.

            That really is key to understanding this whole text, because it reinforces the truth that Jesus DOES want us to have peace: in particular, peace with God, which is what that Christmas passage is all about: “glory to GOD and peace to men on whom HIS favor rests.”  But that also implies to a second, much more terrible truth: the whole reason we needed Jesus to be born in the first place is because without him we lack this peace, we have sin that would otherwise divide us from God… and ultimately, that sin will divide us from others as well.

            It’s just not how people see it.  It’s why many people started abandoning Jesus by the end of his ministry when he started to speak words like these that cut to the heart.  They didn’t want to hear about their real problem that they were sinners in need of a Savior.  It’s why some people – like the Jewish leaders – instead thought they could earn their way to heaven: “my sin isn’t so bad, I can do enough good things to balance it out!”  It’s why many more people – like the crowds who initially followed Jesus – sought to make Jesus a bread king: “my biggest problems aren’t the spiritual problems I face inside of me, but physical threats that come from the outside… Likewise, aren’t we prone to think the same? “My sin isn’t too bad, I can overcome it on my own, with enough effort!”  Or, “There are bigger problems in the world around us, that’s what the church should be focused on!…”  When we think this way, we miss the whole point. Jesus didn’t come down from heaven to earth to pat us on the back for doing such a good job, nor did he come to fix all the problems we see around us… He came to undergo a baptism of fire for us.

            With that in mind, return to our topic today and the DIVISION that Jesus talks about in the final verses of our sermon text.  It calls to mind the biblical teaching of church fellowship, which is all about how we should practice our faith with others who agree with us on ALL of Christ’s teachings.  This was once the practice of many Christian denominations, but now our church body is almost unique in following this.  And I get it, it’s hard!  “You mean we shouldn’t always pray with other Christians?  We really should have Lord’s Supper only with the members of our own church body?  But shouldn’t Christians be more UNITED!?  How can we let a few things DIVIDE us when we agree on so much!?…”  When we think that way, do you realize it’s the devil working on us?  He’s trying to get us to think that our sin isn’t so serious, and our differences (caused by sin) aren’t so divisive, so we can ignore what God says about how he wants Christians to come together; after all, we can overcome these differences on our own and maybe focus on other things!  No, to BREAK us of that –  in love, to heal us! – Jesus cuts us to the heart with words like these… He came to divide.

            After all, that’s what will happen anyway.  Think of it, for a world that preaches, “united we stand”, there sure is a lot of division!  In the news or on social media, how often do you see someone who is an “ally” to a cause – who agrees with the group think on EVERY. OTHER. THING. – but they get “cancelled” over just ONE thing?  It’s not just there where we see it, it also strikes close to home.  How quickly do you see even the closest of relationships face conflict – husbands & wives, parents & children! – and even in our own families?  That’s because sin is still there in each and every human heart, and it will always ruin that peace like it first did in the Garden, that’s just what sin does!… So, Jesus must also DIVIDE; that is, divide us FROM sin!  And because Jesus alone brings healing for our sin through his death on the cross, He must be the ultimate dividing line!… even if it comes at the expense of unity with others.

            That’s the fine line we need to walk as Christians.  We want peace and unity – of course we do, we should always want that—but it can never be at the expense of Jesus and what he teaches!  So we do what Jesus did: we sacrifice for others (at great loss to ourselves) and love them (even when the world no longer will).  Jesus never came to divide in those ways… but we uphold all of Jesus’ teachings, even when it DOES divide.  That includes teachings about fellowship and prayer and Lord’s Supper; or teachings about the law and sin, speaking up and warning others when these things rear their ugly head; and especially, teachings about the gospel, and witnessing to friends and family about God’s love.  We do all of this, and we don’t let fear of division prevent us from doing something God says or prompt us to do something differently.

            Because again, there will always be division in this world. That’s not the question, whether or not we can get rid of it.  The real question is this: will you face division with or without Christ?  Because that’s the one place where it’s truly reconciled: at his cross – in that most infinitely terrible baptism where Jesus was engulfed in all the fires of hell for you and for me, so that we could have unity with him and with each other in the resurrection of the dead.  That’s what Jesus meant when he says he came to bring division: it wasn’t to hurt us – it was never to hurt us! – it’s to heal us.  And he wants us to heal us by helping us find true peace.  When we can’t find that, he doesn’t want us to settle for a cheap replacement.  Instead, he wants us to let heaven be heaven – free of sin and division entirely – and whenever we don’t find that here on earth, don’t pretend it’s something it’s not. If it’s division, it’s division… then, long for something better someday, and look to Jesus to provide it, which he is so glad to give to us.

            So… DIVIDED WE STAND, Yes!…  Divided from sin, so that we can be united in an even better way: without sin, without the division, without the pretending and the lies that we so often put on.  Instead, we are united by Christ and his teachings, and we practice real forgiveness with others.  And when you find that kind of relationship with your loved ones and friends and other Christians, not even Satan will be able to divide you!  On the other hand, when you don’t find that, thank God for the many blessings he still provides through these people, but working towards that goal, and never compromise on Jesus.  Only with him do we stand.  Only by him are we healed.  That’s worth it, even if it leads to some division here. Amen. 

Faith Looks Forward

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Pastor: Pastor Horton

Date: August 10, 2025

Passage: Hebrews 11:1–3,8–16

Three summers ago we began to receive the first images from the James Webb telescope.  It is unique because it’s in orbit and therefore free from earth’s atmospheric interferences.  And what has this powerful telescope been able to see?  Hundreds of billions of stars both, for the lack of better terminology, being born and passing away, massive black holes, and galaxies even beyond where human science assumed to be the border of the big bang.  This telescope has allowed us to look forward through traveling light years, and see the illuminated expanses of the created universe.  We’re told today that “By faith we know that the universe was created by God’s word.”  It’s humbling to look forward through the cosmos and to be able to see what God has done. 

The people of the Hebrews were being asked to look forward as well.  They didn’t have a telescope, but rather they had the inspired word of God, which was more powerful and more useful when it came to their salvation.  They were to fix their eyes on Christ by faith, and look forward to salvation won through Jesus alone.  And yet we’re told: that came with hardships for them.  Because they had an Old Testament way of life with its regulations and cultural heritage and family traditions all attached to the past.  To look forward instead to all that they had in Jesus was a much needed reminder.

In this famous chapter from Hebrews 11, the listeners are asked to consider the founding father of their people, Abraham, as he looked forward by faith.  There must have been hardships for Abraham as well.  After all, as the reader was reminded, his family and his heritage was not that of a native believer from Israel, but rather he was the son of Terah from a place called Ur, beyond the Euphrates River.  His religion?  The family already had at least one.  Scripture tells us that his father’s house already had “other gods.”  And his wealth?  He had earthly means and didn’t need to relocate or restart or rebuild his life.  To ask Abraham to blindly go wherever God would send him and become a tent-living traveler and stranger and foreigner in the land?  That’s a big request!  I may have been tempted to say “no thank you, I’m okay right where I am.  I know what I have here and it’s a lot, but out there, who’s to say?”

And yet marvel at our words for today, “By faith Abraham obeyed.  By faith he lived as a stranger in the Promised Land, as if it did not belong to him, dwelling in tents along with Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.  For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.”  Home, as he knew it was no longer behind him, but ahead of him in heaven.  Home in heaven wasn’t going to be temporary or transient – as if it’s something one hopes for one day and gone the next.  No!  Home in heaven was secure in the promise of his coming Savior.

And did you notice that these timeless truths were passed on to the future generations in his family?  Promises echoed to Isaac and Jacob and later Joseph and beyond.  God had Abraham look forward by faith and see that his wife would conceive at an old age.  “Impossible!” shouts human reasoning, for this senior citizen and his barren wife!  But not impossible when it comes to God.  Abraham “considered him (God) faithful who made the promise.”  And from God’s faithfulness in fulfilling the fullness of that promise came a numerous people, and a spiritual Israel as vast and diverse as the galaxies in the sky (you are part of that promise fulfilled), and that promise included a Savior for the world.  That’s an impressive sequence of fulfilled events illustrating God’s faithfulness – all in that promise made to a man who was “as good as dead” and standing under the starry sky.

We find in those early patriarchs people whose faith continued to look forward to their heavenly home.  Far from perfect people they lived in a far from perfect world with sin and died.  “One by one, all of these died in faith, without having received the things that were promised, but they saw and welcomed them from a distance.  They confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth….Instead, they were longing for a better land—a heavenly one.”  We have the same God they do, and the same Word full of truth, and are given faith like they were.  But what about those days when I feel like my faith can’t compare to theirs?   

What exactly is this faith given by God?  Faith is not merely a human hope or a human feeling.  As in “I have faith that the Brewers win the World Series since they have the best record in baseball and swept the Dodgers twice.”  That kind of faith is based upon my wants and wishes.  Faith, as described in the Bible, is far better than that.  Faith is assurance in God’s Word as the Holy Spirit has converted your heart and drawn you closer to Jesus through the saving gospel.  Faith is trust and confidence that God is and will work all things out for the eternal good of his children.  And faith is based securely upon Christ Jesus, who is today risen, living, ascended, and in total control of all things and who dwells actively in your heart.  This is faith according to Scripture, a gift from God graciously given to you and to me and to Abraham.  And faith points our focus forward and to Jesus and throws wide open the promise of heaven.

There with God in heaven is that “better land” the early believers longed for.  There is the goal of our faith.  There is an eternal country beyond our best dreams.  The leader there is never corrupt or tyrannical, but selfless in serving and providing for all our needs.  There our enemies have no voice – fear and sorrow gone forever.  There in that land exists the very best health plan where we will be completely free from sin and death and all that disturbs the body, mind, and heart.  There in that heavenly land, constructed by God with you in mind, we will have perfect relief, perfect contentment, perfect stability, perfect joy, and perfect love.  This is what the believers of old, by faith, “saw and welcomed from a distance” and is ours through Jesus.

Like those Hebrew believers we need that constant reminder to look through the lens of the Word at what is coming through Christ.  How often do we try to convince ourselves that we can have that better land right here and now apart from Christ by thinking, “if only that family or financial situation was fixed, or I have that new job or new relationship, or the country improves – then everything will suddenly be better!”  Maybe sometimes better, but not perfect.  And we become so earthly minded that we forget where our true home is and where our true treasure is.  Pastor Lauersdorf, the People’s Bible commentator, wrote beautifully, “‘I’m but a stranger here, heaven is my home,’ we love to sing, but in life’s reality it is often so different. “Eyes that should be raised heavenward are riveted on earth.  Feet which should be marching toward Canaan’s shores are mired in earth’s swamps.  Hands that should be reaching for eternal treasures are wrapped around gaudy marbles.  Backs that should be straining in effort for the kingdom are bent over in valueless pursuit of earthly wealth and gain.”  And yet try as we might, this place will never be our real home.  The gift of faith in Jesus helps you and I to look forward.

By faith Abraham and the fellow believers, our brothers and sisters in the Old Testament recognized this fact. They lived in mobile tents and in earthly bodies.  These men and women passed away without receiving the Promised Land and without meeting the Savior.  Yet they died knowing he would come to earth, knowing he would die and rise for them.  Why?  Because God is faithful.  That’s why the author says, “Faith is being sure about what we hope for, being convinced about things we do not see.  For by this faith the ancients were commended in Scripture.”  And there the Bible, in both Old Testament and New, Jesus is held up, who is the foundation of our faith.

Consider all that your God-given faith sees and knows.  Faith sees Christ lying in a manger.  Faith sees Jesus living a sin-free life in your place.  Faith sees Jesus being heavenly-minded all the time – he even speaks that way: “the kingdom of heaven/God is like, I want to be with my Father, etc.”  Our heavenly-minded Savior set the wants of the world aside, he went to the cross to win forgiveness for you before God, he gave you his perfect life, he covered you in his righteousness like a glorious dress, and he rose from the grave so that heavenly land is yours one day.  That is what our faith sees and believes.  Like Abraham, faith sees a glorious heaven and looks forward to it.  Faith understands that in this day of grace, we have work to do in sharing Jesus, and yet faith also longs for that day when we will pass over the threshold of death to life, and say, “Thank you, Jesus, I’m finally home.”

Dear brothers and sisters, as you take that final summer camping trip, or find yourself under a starry sky, remember God’s promises to Abraham.  We have a God who is faithful, we can do the impossible, and who gives us a faith to hear, believe, and rejoice in his promises.  Press on, share the good news with those inside and outside your home, and keep your eyes on the coming Christ.  The good land and heavenly home awaits.  And by faith we look forward.  Amen.