Today’s Scripture

Psalm 119-25-32         Jeremiah 11:18-20      James 3:16-4:6

Mark 9:30-37

 

            There is a project to do.  You show up ready and willing to help.  But no one steps aside for a moment to greet you, instruct you on what is going on at the moment, nor lets you how you can help.  You just stand there watching and feeling rather helpless. 

            You like to have a sense of purpose and a sense of worth.  You want to know what your purpose is.  You want to know the direction of the project.  You want to know what is needed to get to the finished result.

            Next to knowing salvation in Jesus Christ, what is your purpose as a Christian; in being a Christian?  What is your purpose here at Immanuel?  What is your purpose between today and the day our Lord comes and takes you into his loving arms forever?  What is the purpose of Immanuel besides being here for you in your walk in faith to that day eternity begins?  Look around at everyone seated here.  What is the purpose of this group of people unlikely to be together anywhere other than because of this faith we share here?

            Paul writes in Colossians:  “…the word of God in its fullness - the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints.  To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.  We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.  To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.” [Colossians 1:26-29]

            You and I are the “saints” Paul is speaking of and to in this letter.  Not only to you and I here at Immanuel, but to Christians everywhere and of every generation.  The Gentiles are those who do not know the salvation God gives in and through Jesus Christ to them.  They live next door to you and me.  They work with you and me.  They wait on us in places of business.  They drive down the same streets and highways.  Many do not know heaven and hell as those two places really are.  Many are complacent and just do not care about those things in the affluence even modest people live in our society.

            How many of us, next to knowing and trusting the salvation we have in Christ, make telling someone else about Jesus the 2^nd priority in our lives in faith? 

            Alan Klass, a good Lutheran scholar, surveyed 4,371 Lutherans in the pew, and 886 Lutheran pastors.  In this study, Evangelism is not one of the top six priorities of their life in faith by 99% of the lay members and 94% of the clergy.  Bringing in new members to their congregation was not in the top six church priorities of 70% of the lay members and 58% of the clergy.  What do you think about that?  Now, what do you really think about that?

            In today’s Old Testament reading, Jeremiah has just found out his enemies’ plot to kill him.  By killing Jeremiah, the end result would be that God’s word would no longer be proclaimed.  His enemies did not like what God had to say.  Jeremiah’s real enemy is Satan.  It is the devil who wants to thwart every activity that would tell an unsaved soul the name Jesus Christ.  It is the devil who heaps up on believers the sense of unimportance, the sense of not being capable, of inadequacy to tell another the truth of the Gospel, we are all sinners who need a Savior, and that Savior is Jesus Christ.  And what it really means to rest in the peace that God gives believers in Jesus.

 

            How did each one of us here today come to know God’s love to us in Jesus Christ?  It is because someone along the line personally shared that message to us.  In many instances it was our parents.  Was it an aunt or uncle, grandmother or grandfather, classmate, neighbor, good friend, a colleague at work?  Some people came to hear God’s word because of radio or television.  For some it was a devotional tract that they picked up and read.  In all of these ways, it is because God caused one or more individuals to bring his word to another person.  God uses his people this way.

            Jesus speaks in Matthew 5, “Let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven,” [v. 16].  Your light is the Gospel news of Jesus.  Jesus is the light in this dark world of sin.  How do you let your light shine?  As you attend worship and Bible Studies faithfully, others see this example, God’s light through you.  As you follow in your life of discipleship, learning from and following Jesus in how you live in this world, others see this light in you.  In the ministries, the various avenues of fellowship with other Christians, and in supporting mission projects of the church, you are letting that light shine before others.

            Today’s Gospel also alerts us that our timing is not the same as God’s.  Jesus told the disciples what was going to happen with his suffering and death.  The disciples just did not understand it at that moment.  They had to wait until after the resurrection.  Likewise today, your witness may not result in an immediate turn, but may be the seed that the Holy Spirit uses in its own time to bring a person to conversion. 

            Meanwhile we are here to do as Paul writes, to proclaim Christ, to use his word for admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom.  When hearers turn in faith to God, they are presented perfect in Christ, just as happened to each one here at one time or another.

            The Critical Event

            When one Lutheran Christian gives witness about Jesus of the hope that is within him or her to another person so that person may encounter Christ!  What does this mean?  What does this mean to you?  What does this mean to someone you know?

 

            As God protected Jeremiah so his word would be heard, he protects Christians today so that his word is proclaimed throughout the world.  As God enabled the disciples to go out and proclaim Christ crucified and risen again, he has made you disciples to let that light shine among men too.  As the early church grew, the church today continues to grow as the Gospel of Jesus is witnessed from one person to another.

            As we look around this congregation today, the greatest growth has happened when one member speaks to another person about his or her life in faith and/or the preaching, teaching and fellowship in Christ that goes on here.  It occurs when one person who has eternal hope and joy in Jesus Christ shares what that hope and joy is, and as Peter writes, “…with gentleness and respect.”

 

 

1 Peter 3:15 But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,