Today’s Scripture

Psalm 34:15-22           Joshua 24:1-2a, 14-18            Ephesians 5:21-31      John 6:60-69

 

Summary

 

In the daily walk in life in this world, we often seek out what appears to be an easy path that falls back on the ways of the world around us and the seemingly popular values of society.  God continues to give us his word, his promises, and Jesus as our guide, that by the power of the Holy Spirit we do find strength and comfort in following his truth.  He is the one true God whose commitment is to give us eternal life.

 

Grace, mercy and peace to all of you from God our heavenly Father and Jesus Christ who is our risen and ascended Lord and Savior.  Amen.

 

            “We too will serve the Lord, because He is our God.”  [Joshua 24:18]

 

            Let’s think about how many times the instructions for putting something together, the recipe in the cookbook, or the directions on the map looked not quite right to you.  “There must be another way,” you say.  Or someone looking over your shoulder suggests a way that certainly sounds easier or quicker.  Let’s think about how many of those times you then found yourself having to take the thing apart a revisit the directions, go back to the beginning of the recipe, or follow the original map and directions.  There certainly are tempting “short-cuts” or routes that look more attractive. But how true and trustworthy are they?

 

            The Israelite people had completed the long years in the wilderness, and now they had occupied the Promised Land.  Throughout these years and the experiences they faced, God never let them down, not even for a moment.  But these were real people.  They were like you and I are.  They kept looking for shortcuts and falling back on what they thought looked good for them.  They grumbled about the food.  They grumbled that God was not answering them fast enough or the way they thought he should.  God’s commands and instructions for them did not always look as easy or suitable as the world’s ways looked to them.

 

            God remained faithful.  He kept Moses and Joshua faithful as his leaders to these people through all things.  Now, before Joshua is called from this earth, God has him assemble the leaders of the Israelite nation to remind them again of their faithful God.  Joshua then gives them a choice to follow other gods of their past or of the Amorites in the land, or to remain faithful to the one true God who had always been faithful to them and would be throughout all eternity.  In concert they replied, “We too will serve the Lord, because He is our God.” 

 

            It seemed so right and so easy.  All of them were together and God’s faithfulness and his words held them together.  That is until the next tough decision or temptation to go another route came along.

 

            When we gather together as Christians, hearing God’s word, singing the hymns of thanksgivings, hymns for his mercies, and hymns of praise for his wonders, it is not so hard to pledge ourselves to follow his ways and remain faithful to him.

 

            But how about when you go back out into the world around you?  What is it like when you face the anxieties of work, the frustrations of your health and being alone, the envies and angers and passions that well up inside of you, or the loved one who is encountering difficult health or other circumstances.  Do you remain faithful to God during routine and difficult times alike?  Both when you are alone or when you are with others, how easy is it to fall back on the ways of the world with anger, following the short cuts, following the leads of gossip, blaming God for the evils that are from Satan instead of thanking and praising him for his blessings to you and looking to him for the earthly blessings and the eternal things that only the one true God brings.

 

            Psalm 121 starts, “I look to the hills, where does my help come from?”  It is so easy to look for the glittery-looking things of the earth for the answers.  “My help comes from the Lord.”  God made you to be his dear child and gives you all of his creation to take care of you.  God redeemed you.  He bought you back from sin, death and the devil, with Jesus’ precious blood on Calvary.  God leads you day in and day out with his commands of love and his unending love for you.  God provides for every situation you are in as Paul writes, “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it, [1 Corinthians 10:13].  Remember Gods’ invitation and great promise in Psalm 50:15, “Call upon me in the day of trouble,  I will deliver you…”

 

            In John’s Gospel, Jesus speaks to the people and to his disciples who were complaining that Jesus’ teaching is too difficult to follow.  We too find ourselves not comfortable leaving the common ways of the world to step forward trusting God at his word.  He daily brings us earthly sustenance and joys.  In Jesus he also gives us the blessing of eternal life with him in heaven.  When God created you, he already provided for your every need.  When God redeemed you, he gave you eternity with him in heaven.  “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us,” [Romans 5:8].

 

For Immanuel Lutheran Church

 

            Today is a day that many churches hold Rally Day, the beginning of the fall-winter-spring Sunday School season.  We celebrate the most wonderful gift God gives, his love in Jesus Christ to adults and the youngest of children alike.  We pledge to be faithful in worship and teaching the children the good news of our Savior.  We pledge ourselves to be faithful living lives in Jesus’ love, humbly receiving the forgiveness he won for us and sharing that love with others, forgiving them as God forgives us.  In that way we carry his witness to others who will then come to hear this good news too.

 

            God loves you.  He wants you to be his own today and for all eternity.  He promises and has already given his heavenly kingdom to be yours.  In baptism, he removed the stain of sin from you and has given you the righteousness of Jesus in its place.  As he has brought you through all things so far in your life, God remains committed to you. 

 

Paragraph for “Worship for Shut-Ins”

 

            Your health and your physical abilities may not be what you would desire.  You may question, “Am I useful?  Am I worth anything?”  To that God says, “YES!” giving you the opportunities to tell others his love for you as they may visit you or as you visit with others over the phone.  God invites you to come to him in prayer for others as well as with your own cares and concerns and thanksgivings.  Residents in care facilities have the joy of sharing God’s love in Jesus with those who eat with you.  You may share devotions and Bible readings with each other.  The same God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, is your God.  He never changes.  His love for you never changes.

 

For Immanuel Lutheran Church

 

            Christians of all walks of life often ask, “Am I really useful to God in this world?”  “How can I be the one to tell another about God’s love in Jesus?  Isn’t it better for someone who knows the Bible far better than I?”  “What if I make a mistake?” 

 

            God has put you for that very reason, to be his witness to others of his love to you, how that love sustains you in times of success and times that are really tough.  You are here to reassure others how much God provides for our daily lives, even when we seem to have nothing, and how he has provided completely for eternal life, completing all things through Jesus Christ whose earthly life, suffering, death and resurrection are all that one needs.

 

            The popular gods of his world include those subtle gods in each of our hearts, the things that we fall back on instead of remaining faithful to our one true God.  Again and again we find that there really is no one to turn to except the Triune God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  And why not?  It is because God continues to keep his commitment to you.  He has given you his only son, Jesus Christ, who has the words of eternal life [John 6:68].  This Jesus is “…the way, the truth and the life.”  We come to the Father only through him [John 14:6].  And for that you can be confident continuing to trust him to provide for you today, tomorrow, and forever because Jesus will come again to take you to be where he prepares your place for you in his father’s house forever [John 14:3].

 

In Jesus undying love.  Amen.