Our reading challenge for the day is Deuteronomy 31-34. I’ll hit a few highlights. You make comments too and fill in the gaps. What strikes you as specially significant?
Deuteronomy 31-32 - God knows the depth of our distrust and rebellion against him. He calls us to repentance and faith using means which are hard to forget. Will we hear his call?
Deuteronomy 33 - The different tribes of Israel receive their blessings from God. He blesses each in a special and different way. All of Christ’s people are different but there is one Holy Spirit working in all to bring his kingdom to bear. May we have grace so we never despise our Lord’s gifts or think we are inferior because we have different gifts from others.
Deuteronomy 34 - Though Moses died he appeared with Elijah speaking with Jesus at the Transfiguration. Certainly we see Jesus as the Lord of resurrection.
Showing posts with label Deuteronomy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Deuteronomy. Show all posts
Monday, March 26, 2012
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Sermon for 3/25/12 "Jesus the New Prophet"
Sermon “Jesus the New Prophet” Deuteronomy 18
Lord, let us see you, the Master of all, Savior of the nations, the one who has come as the true revelation of God, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
I'd like us to take just a moment to think about the scariest thing we can imagine. Most of our minds will turn to something we dislike or something we had a bad experience with. Maybe it's something we are irrationally afraid of. For instance, there are few animals which scare me, but there is one of which I'm intensely afraid, though it is one which probably doesn't scare most of you. I know some people who are afraid of clowns. Some people are especially afraid of certain diseases. Some are afraid of drowning or choking. There are real and imagined terrors all around us.
But how terrifying is the presence of God? Often we think of God's presence as a very comforting thing, and God in his love for us through Jesus is our fortress, our strength, our confidence and hope. There's no doubt about it. For that matter, whenever I give a funeral address if possible it focuses on the fact that the departed is not really departed, but rather comforted in the arms of the Savior. There's great comfort in God with us. But what of the power and glory of God? Who can stand before the Lord and live? His presence is terrifying enough to kill us all. Even when his less powerful little servants, angels, appear to people, they always say “Don't be afraid.” What does that say about those angels? As they are sent by the Lord they reflect just a little of his majesty and glory, and they are able to terrify us!
When we think about the presence of God we can come up with a lot of adjectives to describe him. We might consider him as the holy one, the one who is entirely righteous, the one who is pure. These are attributes of God. And as our Lord influences his surroundings, there's this holy, righteous, pure environment around him. Nothing that is impure can dare to approach. This is why when Moses was called to approach God on Mount Sinai he was told a certain way to prepare. This is why not just everyone was allowed to go onto the mountain, and why those who went with Moses were to prepare themselves in a certain way. If they approached God in his holiness they could well be consumed by him, destroyed on the spot. Nothing impure can approach our Lord.
So how is it we will speak with God? How do we hear from God? He's too terrifying to imagine. What will we do? The response to that problem in the time of the Exodus was simple. Just two little words. SEND MOSES! But what do we do when Moses, God's servant, is gone? We need a revelation from God. We need to hear what our Lord says to us. And in Deuteronomy chapter 18 God gave Moses a promise. He said that he would raise up a prophet like Moses, one who would see him face to face and be able to bring God's word to the people. In these last days, God has revealed himself in the person and work of Jesus, the new prophet, the one who not only speaks from God but has fulfilled all the commands of God.
On this day of the Church year we celebrate the very real presence of Jesus, the new prophet. We see today, March 25, nine months before Christmas, that God's angel came to Mary and spoke to her of her future. He came and announced to her that she would bear a child, that new prophet, the one whom Israel had hoped for all those years. And this is the great good news which we get to proclaim. Jesus has come to redeem the world to God. Jesus has come to carry our sins away. Jesus has come to live a perfect life on our behalf, to die a perfect death on our behalf, and to show himself to be the God of resurrection. We celebrate the fact that even before he was born, Jesus, the Son of God and the Son of Man, was living on our behalf. He was going through the same kind of trials that we face. He was living for us without sin. He was truly the child of promise we have heard about throughout the Scriptures.
Now there's a debate in Christianity that I'm afraid I have to bring up. And that's how we view the heart and center of the Christian life. It's one of those issues that separates Lutherans from much of the rest of Christianity, especially in this country. What is at the heart of the Christian faith? You know that I am a strong advocate for reading the Scripture. When I became a Christian that was literally the first thing I was taught. Because Christians believe in Jesus, the Son of God as revealed in the Bible, we need to learn what the Bible says. And there's no doubt about that. This is why Christians read the Bible, most of them trying to read several chapters daily, throughout their lives, learning more and more about what God has told them. The Scripture is very important. When we ignore what our Lord has told us through his servants who wrote his word we do so at our own peril. We need to know what God has said. And most of Protestantism would describe itself as “Bible-centered.” That's a good thing, at least as a start.
But let me ask you this. Can you know the Bible backwards and forwards and not know Jesus? Can you know what the Bible says and not see that Jesus is living his life for you? Can you learn all that the Bible says and still think it's just for other people? Yes, you can. And this is the failing of a “Bible-centered” Christianity. Don't get me wrong. We need to be reading the Bible. Yet Christianity is not about the Bible. It's about Jesus. This view of the Christian life being centered on the incarnation of Christ, God in the flesh, living, dying, and rising again for you and for me – that's where the Lutherans held firm when the more radical members of the Reformation went astray. We focus on the life and work of Jesus for you and for me, every day of our lives, forever and ever. The Bible isn't our master. Jesus is our master. The Bible points us to Jesus. The Bible informs us about Jesus. But the Bible will never save us. It will never deliver us from death. Only Jesus will do so. Jesus, the living word of God, the word “incarnate” - given to us in the flesh – he is the one by whose name we are saved. While much of American Christianity is diligent about being faithful to the Scripture, many groups never end up looking beyond what Jesus says to what Jesus is doing. Many of them never look beyond Jesus' promise to be with them to see that Jesus really is with them, bodily present in communion. Many of them look at baptism as a symbol of God's cleansing from sin but never see the reality that he is actually washing us when he baptizes us. Many in American Christianity just want to see the shadow of Jesus' work. We want to see Jesus, working in and through us. That's what we call “incarnational” ministry. We focus on Jesus, God with us, the one who came into the flesh when the Holy Spirit came to Mary.
We need that new prophet. We need him walking around with us. We need him talking with us. We need him to bring us to life. We need him to wash us from sin, to feed our faith with his real body and his real blood, we need him to die for us, to rise from the dead for us, and when we die to raise us to life from the dead. We need the new prophet. And thanks be to God, he has come.
Are you facing trials? Are you facing circumstances that may even be terrifying? We won't try to comfort you by throwing a book at you, telling you to read about how God is able to overcome those fears. No. Though it's all in there, we know that the time of trial is not the time to study God's providence. The time of trial is the time when we need that new prophet. The time of trial is when we look to Jesus. God has revealed himself in these last days in Jesus, and he is the one who is here to share our struggles, to hear our confession, to forgive us from sins, to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, to make us walk in his paths, even the path he took through death into the resurrection. We may be in the time of Lent, a time of mourning. But the time of the resurrection is not far ahead of us. We will look to Jesus, the risen Lord, who is with us.
Now may the love of Jesus, our Lord and Savior, be perfected in you, casting out all fear, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Lord, let us see you, the Master of all, Savior of the nations, the one who has come as the true revelation of God, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
I'd like us to take just a moment to think about the scariest thing we can imagine. Most of our minds will turn to something we dislike or something we had a bad experience with. Maybe it's something we are irrationally afraid of. For instance, there are few animals which scare me, but there is one of which I'm intensely afraid, though it is one which probably doesn't scare most of you. I know some people who are afraid of clowns. Some people are especially afraid of certain diseases. Some are afraid of drowning or choking. There are real and imagined terrors all around us.
But how terrifying is the presence of God? Often we think of God's presence as a very comforting thing, and God in his love for us through Jesus is our fortress, our strength, our confidence and hope. There's no doubt about it. For that matter, whenever I give a funeral address if possible it focuses on the fact that the departed is not really departed, but rather comforted in the arms of the Savior. There's great comfort in God with us. But what of the power and glory of God? Who can stand before the Lord and live? His presence is terrifying enough to kill us all. Even when his less powerful little servants, angels, appear to people, they always say “Don't be afraid.” What does that say about those angels? As they are sent by the Lord they reflect just a little of his majesty and glory, and they are able to terrify us!
When we think about the presence of God we can come up with a lot of adjectives to describe him. We might consider him as the holy one, the one who is entirely righteous, the one who is pure. These are attributes of God. And as our Lord influences his surroundings, there's this holy, righteous, pure environment around him. Nothing that is impure can dare to approach. This is why when Moses was called to approach God on Mount Sinai he was told a certain way to prepare. This is why not just everyone was allowed to go onto the mountain, and why those who went with Moses were to prepare themselves in a certain way. If they approached God in his holiness they could well be consumed by him, destroyed on the spot. Nothing impure can approach our Lord.
So how is it we will speak with God? How do we hear from God? He's too terrifying to imagine. What will we do? The response to that problem in the time of the Exodus was simple. Just two little words. SEND MOSES! But what do we do when Moses, God's servant, is gone? We need a revelation from God. We need to hear what our Lord says to us. And in Deuteronomy chapter 18 God gave Moses a promise. He said that he would raise up a prophet like Moses, one who would see him face to face and be able to bring God's word to the people. In these last days, God has revealed himself in the person and work of Jesus, the new prophet, the one who not only speaks from God but has fulfilled all the commands of God.
On this day of the Church year we celebrate the very real presence of Jesus, the new prophet. We see today, March 25, nine months before Christmas, that God's angel came to Mary and spoke to her of her future. He came and announced to her that she would bear a child, that new prophet, the one whom Israel had hoped for all those years. And this is the great good news which we get to proclaim. Jesus has come to redeem the world to God. Jesus has come to carry our sins away. Jesus has come to live a perfect life on our behalf, to die a perfect death on our behalf, and to show himself to be the God of resurrection. We celebrate the fact that even before he was born, Jesus, the Son of God and the Son of Man, was living on our behalf. He was going through the same kind of trials that we face. He was living for us without sin. He was truly the child of promise we have heard about throughout the Scriptures.
Now there's a debate in Christianity that I'm afraid I have to bring up. And that's how we view the heart and center of the Christian life. It's one of those issues that separates Lutherans from much of the rest of Christianity, especially in this country. What is at the heart of the Christian faith? You know that I am a strong advocate for reading the Scripture. When I became a Christian that was literally the first thing I was taught. Because Christians believe in Jesus, the Son of God as revealed in the Bible, we need to learn what the Bible says. And there's no doubt about that. This is why Christians read the Bible, most of them trying to read several chapters daily, throughout their lives, learning more and more about what God has told them. The Scripture is very important. When we ignore what our Lord has told us through his servants who wrote his word we do so at our own peril. We need to know what God has said. And most of Protestantism would describe itself as “Bible-centered.” That's a good thing, at least as a start.
But let me ask you this. Can you know the Bible backwards and forwards and not know Jesus? Can you know what the Bible says and not see that Jesus is living his life for you? Can you learn all that the Bible says and still think it's just for other people? Yes, you can. And this is the failing of a “Bible-centered” Christianity. Don't get me wrong. We need to be reading the Bible. Yet Christianity is not about the Bible. It's about Jesus. This view of the Christian life being centered on the incarnation of Christ, God in the flesh, living, dying, and rising again for you and for me – that's where the Lutherans held firm when the more radical members of the Reformation went astray. We focus on the life and work of Jesus for you and for me, every day of our lives, forever and ever. The Bible isn't our master. Jesus is our master. The Bible points us to Jesus. The Bible informs us about Jesus. But the Bible will never save us. It will never deliver us from death. Only Jesus will do so. Jesus, the living word of God, the word “incarnate” - given to us in the flesh – he is the one by whose name we are saved. While much of American Christianity is diligent about being faithful to the Scripture, many groups never end up looking beyond what Jesus says to what Jesus is doing. Many of them never look beyond Jesus' promise to be with them to see that Jesus really is with them, bodily present in communion. Many of them look at baptism as a symbol of God's cleansing from sin but never see the reality that he is actually washing us when he baptizes us. Many in American Christianity just want to see the shadow of Jesus' work. We want to see Jesus, working in and through us. That's what we call “incarnational” ministry. We focus on Jesus, God with us, the one who came into the flesh when the Holy Spirit came to Mary.
We need that new prophet. We need him walking around with us. We need him talking with us. We need him to bring us to life. We need him to wash us from sin, to feed our faith with his real body and his real blood, we need him to die for us, to rise from the dead for us, and when we die to raise us to life from the dead. We need the new prophet. And thanks be to God, he has come.
Are you facing trials? Are you facing circumstances that may even be terrifying? We won't try to comfort you by throwing a book at you, telling you to read about how God is able to overcome those fears. No. Though it's all in there, we know that the time of trial is not the time to study God's providence. The time of trial is the time when we need that new prophet. The time of trial is when we look to Jesus. God has revealed himself in these last days in Jesus, and he is the one who is here to share our struggles, to hear our confession, to forgive us from sins, to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, to make us walk in his paths, even the path he took through death into the resurrection. We may be in the time of Lent, a time of mourning. But the time of the resurrection is not far ahead of us. We will look to Jesus, the risen Lord, who is with us.
Now may the love of Jesus, our Lord and Savior, be perfected in you, casting out all fear, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Friday, March 23, 2012
Bible Reading Challenge Week 12 Day 5
Our reading challenge for the day is Deuteronomy 26-30. I’ll hit a few highlights. You make comments too and fill in the gaps. What strikes you as specially significant?
Deuteronomy 26 - The first of our increase is given by faith to the Lord who rpovides all we need. This is a testimony to God’s faithfulness.
Deuteronomy 27-28 - The people of Israel set up monuments to remember God’s faithfulness, not for their obedience. God proclaims his curse on our disobedience and his blessing on obedience. Yet it is Jesus who is obedient on our behalf. All God’s blessings are upon his people on account of Christ’s righteousness.
Deuteronomy 29-30 - God’s mercy calls his people to repentance and faith. He will never desert them. All our trials are for one purpose, to show our need to trust in the Lord.
Deuteronomy 26 - The first of our increase is given by faith to the Lord who rpovides all we need. This is a testimony to God’s faithfulness.
Deuteronomy 27-28 - The people of Israel set up monuments to remember God’s faithfulness, not for their obedience. God proclaims his curse on our disobedience and his blessing on obedience. Yet it is Jesus who is obedient on our behalf. All God’s blessings are upon his people on account of Christ’s righteousness.
Deuteronomy 29-30 - God’s mercy calls his people to repentance and faith. He will never desert them. All our trials are for one purpose, to show our need to trust in the Lord.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Bible Reading Challenge Week 12 Day 4
Our reading challenge for the day is Deuteronomy 21-25. I’ll hit a few highlights. You make comments too and fill in the gaps. What strikes you as specially significant?
Deuteronomy 21 - God is concerned about death, justice, opportunities to mourn, inheritances, and families living as upright members of society. He cares more about all this than we who have hardened selfish hearts do.
Deuteronomy 22-25 - Is this not all summed up when we are told to love our neighbors as ourselves? We strive to help, not harm.
Deuteronomy 21 - God is concerned about death, justice, opportunities to mourn, inheritances, and families living as upright members of society. He cares more about all this than we who have hardened selfish hearts do.
Deuteronomy 22-25 - Is this not all summed up when we are told to love our neighbors as ourselves? We strive to help, not harm.
Bible Reading Challenge Week 12 Day 3
Our reading challenge for the day is Deuteronomy 16-20. I’ll hit a few highlights. You make comments too and fill in the gaps. What strikes you as specially significant?
Deuteronomy 16 - The yearly calendar of Israel has observances which remind God’s people of his provision in the past and which foreshadow his work in Christ. Do we keep the work of Christ before us regularly?
Deuteronomy 17 - Justice includes examination of the facts and understanding of God’s Word. How often we forget both! The righteous king is a man of God’s word. Observe that the kings of Israel were generally not that faithful.
Deuteronomy 18 - See the prophet raised up like Moses - see Jesus as the fulfillment of all the Scripture.
Deuteronomy 19 Think about all the ways a city of refuge is NOT a “get out of jail free” card.
Deuteronomy 20 - Sometimes people say “one man and God is a majority.” Is it not rather that God is all?
Deuteronomy 16 - The yearly calendar of Israel has observances which remind God’s people of his provision in the past and which foreshadow his work in Christ. Do we keep the work of Christ before us regularly?
Deuteronomy 17 - Justice includes examination of the facts and understanding of God’s Word. How often we forget both! The righteous king is a man of God’s word. Observe that the kings of Israel were generally not that faithful.
Deuteronomy 18 - See the prophet raised up like Moses - see Jesus as the fulfillment of all the Scripture.
Deuteronomy 19 Think about all the ways a city of refuge is NOT a “get out of jail free” card.
Deuteronomy 20 - Sometimes people say “one man and God is a majority.” Is it not rather that God is all?
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Bible Reading Challenge Week 12 Day 2
Our reading challenge for the day is Deuteronomy 11-15. I’ll hit a few highlights. You make comments too and fill in the gaps. What strikes you as specially significant?
Deuteronomy 11 - Sometimes I hear that Christian young people should be encouraged to go to a college where they will have the opportunity to take Bible and theology courses in addition to their course of study toward another vocation. Proponents of this view ask where else they will have opportunity to talk about theology and study the Scriptures. This chapter puts that in the context of the home and community. I for one would love to recapture that. Let’s talk about Scripture.
Deuteronomy 12 - Worship of God is distinctive from the worship of the nations. Why do we try to imitate the rest of the world in what we do?
Deuteronomy 13 - Purity in worship is a matter worth fighting for. What are the implications of this in the New Testament? Jesus does not present his people as waging war and killing others for the sake of pure worship.
Deuteronomy 14 - There are many distinctions here. God’s people are to eat a special diet and engage in planned giving. People have suggested many possible reasons for the particulars of the diet. The best reason to accept, though, is that God is making a difference between his people and those who are not his people. Recall the dietary laws have passed away in the New Testament revelation.
Deuteronomy 15 - The Sabbatical year is a sign of how we labor only temporarily. In the last day God gives a true day of rest. We are not to harden our hearts against others during the time of labor knowing the time of rest will come. Rather we all do what we can. In the New Testament Jesus is presented as our Sabbath rest. This law has been fulfilled in Christ, as we who believe enter into rest from our sin and strife.
Deuteronomy 11 - Sometimes I hear that Christian young people should be encouraged to go to a college where they will have the opportunity to take Bible and theology courses in addition to their course of study toward another vocation. Proponents of this view ask where else they will have opportunity to talk about theology and study the Scriptures. This chapter puts that in the context of the home and community. I for one would love to recapture that. Let’s talk about Scripture.
Deuteronomy 12 - Worship of God is distinctive from the worship of the nations. Why do we try to imitate the rest of the world in what we do?
Deuteronomy 13 - Purity in worship is a matter worth fighting for. What are the implications of this in the New Testament? Jesus does not present his people as waging war and killing others for the sake of pure worship.
Deuteronomy 14 - There are many distinctions here. God’s people are to eat a special diet and engage in planned giving. People have suggested many possible reasons for the particulars of the diet. The best reason to accept, though, is that God is making a difference between his people and those who are not his people. Recall the dietary laws have passed away in the New Testament revelation.
Deuteronomy 15 - The Sabbatical year is a sign of how we labor only temporarily. In the last day God gives a true day of rest. We are not to harden our hearts against others during the time of labor knowing the time of rest will come. Rather we all do what we can. In the New Testament Jesus is presented as our Sabbath rest. This law has been fulfilled in Christ, as we who believe enter into rest from our sin and strife.
Monday, March 19, 2012
Bible Reading Challenge Week 12 Day 1
Our reading challenge for the day is Deuteronomy 6-10. I’ll hit a few highlights. You make comments too and fill in the gaps. What strikes you as specially significant?
Deuteronomy 6 - Verse 2 tells us the reason for teaching God’s commands. It’s so we will be able to fear the Lord. So often we focus on the portion of the chapter that talks about how we pass God’s commands on to our family. But while that is important, we want to keep the goal in mind. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. We learn God’s word so that we will know what God is like. This magnifies our understanding of our need for a savior.
Deuteronomy 7 - God commands his people to cast out the people he is displacing before them. This is for the protection of those who love and trust our Lord, as the customs of the other peoples will ensnare them to their destruction. Why do we tolerate the views of our world at large rather than looking to our Lord and his Word for safety and comfort?
Deuteronomy 8 - God reminds his people of the land he is bringing them into, a land of comfort and plenty. In the New Testament we see many promises about our heavenly home. Do we look forward to the way our Lord will provide for us and give us all we need?
Deuteronomy 9 - The Lord does not save people because they are good. We all deserve his condemnation. He saves people because he is good. This both gives us hope and leads us to repentance.
Deuteronomy 10 - God graciously made a covenant with his people and placed that covenant in their midst. He tells his people then to trust him and love him, following him with all their hearts. In these last days, Jesus has shed his blood, a new covenant, a covenant of forgiveness and life, at the expense of his own death on our behalf. Receiving the covenant blood of our Lord in communion is very serious. It is one of the ways he keeps his redeeming presence right in front of us.
Deuteronomy 6 - Verse 2 tells us the reason for teaching God’s commands. It’s so we will be able to fear the Lord. So often we focus on the portion of the chapter that talks about how we pass God’s commands on to our family. But while that is important, we want to keep the goal in mind. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. We learn God’s word so that we will know what God is like. This magnifies our understanding of our need for a savior.
Deuteronomy 7 - God commands his people to cast out the people he is displacing before them. This is for the protection of those who love and trust our Lord, as the customs of the other peoples will ensnare them to their destruction. Why do we tolerate the views of our world at large rather than looking to our Lord and his Word for safety and comfort?
Deuteronomy 8 - God reminds his people of the land he is bringing them into, a land of comfort and plenty. In the New Testament we see many promises about our heavenly home. Do we look forward to the way our Lord will provide for us and give us all we need?
Deuteronomy 9 - The Lord does not save people because they are good. We all deserve his condemnation. He saves people because he is good. This both gives us hope and leads us to repentance.
Deuteronomy 10 - God graciously made a covenant with his people and placed that covenant in their midst. He tells his people then to trust him and love him, following him with all their hearts. In these last days, Jesus has shed his blood, a new covenant, a covenant of forgiveness and life, at the expense of his own death on our behalf. Receiving the covenant blood of our Lord in communion is very serious. It is one of the ways he keeps his redeeming presence right in front of us.
Friday, March 16, 2012
Bible Reading Challenge Week 11 Day 5
Our reading challenge for the day is Deuteronomy 1-5. I’ll hit a few highlights. You make comments too and fill in the gaps. What strikes you as specially significant?
Moses runs through a brief history of the time from the Exodus to present. He emphasizes God’s providential hand. Through thick and thin, God has provided for his people. We’ve seen that in our readings in the last few weeks. Even when the people are intent on complaining about God and rejecting him, his hand of mercy is on them. They have not perished in the wilderness from hunger and thirst. They have had their needs provided for. Why is this? It’s because of the Lord’s mercy and grace, not due to the goodness of God’s people.
The ten commandments are delivered here in Deuteronomy 5 as they were in Exodus 20. Notice they are not numbered, which has led to some dissension over the years, as protestants decided the Roman church had the numbering wrong.
How do we view God’s commands? How do we view his providence? Do they bring us before him in repentance?
Moses runs through a brief history of the time from the Exodus to present. He emphasizes God’s providential hand. Through thick and thin, God has provided for his people. We’ve seen that in our readings in the last few weeks. Even when the people are intent on complaining about God and rejecting him, his hand of mercy is on them. They have not perished in the wilderness from hunger and thirst. They have had their needs provided for. Why is this? It’s because of the Lord’s mercy and grace, not due to the goodness of God’s people.
The ten commandments are delivered here in Deuteronomy 5 as they were in Exodus 20. Notice they are not numbered, which has led to some dissension over the years, as protestants decided the Roman church had the numbering wrong.
How do we view God’s commands? How do we view his providence? Do they bring us before him in repentance?
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