October 20, 2019                                                                         Text:  Genesis 32:22-30

Dear Friends in Christ,

            Let’s get ready to rumble!  In this corner we have Jacob (though by the end of this match he will have a new name), son of Isaac, brother of Esau, ancestor of Christ, father of Joseph.  In the other corner is the Supreme Being, Creator of the World, goes by the one-word moniker “God.”

            This match is a little different than most wrestling matches you might catch on TV.  Usually there is a bad guy and a good guy.  One adored, one spit at.  Good versus evil.  As this match begins things are not quite so clear.  Let’s clear away the fuzziness and answer the question . . .

“IS THE WRESTLER FRIEND OR FOE?”

            We know the location of the match – along the ford of the Jabbok, which is a stream.  Jacob is facing a confrontation with his brother Esau and he doesn’t know if he is friend or foe.  Jacob tries his own solution, which is going to be presenting gifts in the form of many animals to Esau.  You know, buy him off, then he won’t be a foe, right?

            Well, right before this happened God had promised Jacob to be with him and bless him.  But instead of trusting God, Jacob goes looking for his own way to appease his brother.  I’m thinking bad move, what about you?

            It’s easy looking outside in, isn’t it?  Why doesn’t Jacob just put his faith in His Creator?  What about us when we are on the inside looking out.  If we sense confrontation, we gird for battle.  Our Lord has promised to take care of us, but we don’t always trust Him.  We think we have to fight our own battle and when we do we are actually wrestling against God.  We have a hard time figuring out who is our friend and who is our foe.  I’m a baptized child of God, but is He really on my side?

            Is Jacob’s mystery attacker – friend or foe?  He has got to be a foe because he just put Jacob’s hip socket out of joint.  Hold it, stop the timer.  Look at this would you; the attacker asks injured Jacob to let him go.  No longer relying on his own craftiness, Jacob by faith realizes his attacker is a friend not a foe.  He then asks the attacker for a blessing and his wrestling nemesis God blesses him.

            So is God our friend or foe?  Being sinful, we sometimes see him as our enemy.  How could he allow me to be in this financial mess?  My wife doesn’t love me and God doesn’t love me.  How could a loving Savior let me lose my job?  I’ve been praying every day and where is the man upstairs, doesn’t He promise to answer? 

            God’s Word encourages diligence in prayer.  God’s Word teaches us that God is our friend and is there to help us in difficult times.  God’s Word teaches us that God sent Jesus to die to deliver us from our foes – sin, death, and the devil.

            Because of Jesus we have prevailed.  Jacob being humbled makes all the difference.  God changes his name to Israel.  God affirms the promise of the Messiah.  Jacob’s sins of self-reliance and lying and cheating are forgiven.  Jacob will no longer fear meeting Esau and Jacob has complete trust in God to be with him.

            God grants us deliverance when He humbles us.  You’ve been there, haven’t you?  So low, wrestling with God in your mind, wrestling with the devil in your heart, all you can do is surrender to the Lord’s will.  We have a new name – no longer children of wrath but children of God.  Our struggles with sin and doubt and uncertainty in the dark nights of our lives are forgiven in the Messiah – Jesus Christ and His Cross.

            The Lord comes to us not to engage in a wrestling match, but to give us grace and mercy in Baptism, in the Word, in the Lord’s Supper.  With faith strengthened and sin forgiven we are able to walk into each new day knowing God is our friend, not our foe.  Someday we will stand in that heavenly circle and the Lord will raise our hand as the eternal victor.

            Let’s stop wrestling with God.  You know who is going to win.  He is the ultimate wrestler who has got your back.  He fights for you, as your friend, and nothing can stand against him.  He has pinned Satan and sin and death so get out of the ring because He has done it all for you.

                                                                                    Amen.  

October 13, 2019                                                                  Text:  2 Timothy 2:8-13

Dear Friends in Christ,

            Do you remember the story about the roly-poly pigs?  If you’ve never heard it, here it is:  “A farmer had a herd of swine that was highly admired by other farmers.  They were sleek and roly-poly.  When it came time for feeding, the farmer would go to the edge of the pasture and knock sharply with a stick on the trough that was filled with grain.  Scattered throughout the pasture the pigs, hearing the farmer’s knock, would lift their snouts and then run in the direction of the sound, squealing all the way.  This went on for some time.  All was well until some woodpeckers began to make their homes in the dead trees scattered all over the pasture.  The pigs mistook the pecking on the dead trees for the farmer’s knock on the trough.  They would run, squealing all the way, from one dead tree to another.  Soon, the roly-poly pigs became weak and scrawny.”

            You are wondering, where is he going with this?  He’s not calling us pigs, is he?  No, but we can act like the pigs.  Our spiritual lives can be weak and scrawny as we chase after things or deal with things.  A serious illness, the death of a loved one, a threatening national or international catastrophe, a marriage upheaval, and family dysfunction can all test our spiritual health.  This morning then . . .

“ALL SQUEALING ASIDE”

            The text begins, “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel.” (v. 8)  Paul says, “Remember Jesus Christ.”  Some might say, “How could we forget?”  Friends, there is along line of people who have become or are becoming, so distracted that Jesus and what He gives fades. 

            The only people who can fall away from the faith are those who were in the faith in the first place.  Many who identify as atheist or agnostic today were people who at one time were part of the Christian faith.  Oh, how the devil works.  Remember Jesus.  We need this each and every day.  We need constantly the reminder that God did and does everything for us in Christ while we were and still are sinners.

            We spend a lot of time squealing for our wants and desires.  We have our moments as weak and scrawny Christians.  “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead.”  It needs to be a constant in our lives.  A reminder of guilt removed, love that died for us and the promise of eternal life.

            Look where Paul is writing this from, “I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal.  But the word of God is not bound!” (v. 9)  Paul is not under house arrest like he was in the Book of Acts.  He is in a dungeon, shackled, movement restricted.

            Paul suffered for the gospel.  How far will you go in your suffering?  American Christians will suffer up to a point.  We read the books and see the movies but we can’t really relate to the martyred Christians in other nations.  We may be heading to being homeless in our home sweet home.  Could it happen to us?  History says it could be coming. 

            The streets were lined with crowds, cheering the marching troops about to leave for overseas.  A recruit, who had watched the crowd for some time, asked, “Why are all these people cheering?”  A veteran standing next to him replied, “They are the people who are not going.”

            We are not cheerleaders for Jesus, brothers and sisters.  We are part of His army.  You know, “Like a mighty army, moves the church of God.”  Not an army to spill blood, but the army proclaiming the love of God in Christ to a world headed for eternal darkness.  The moment is now.  Paul goes on to say . . .

            “The saying is trustworthy, for:  If we have died with him, we will also love with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful – for he cannot deny himself.” (v. 11-13)

            Biblical commentator P.E. Kretzmann wrote this:  “If we are faithful to the Lord, even unto death…then we shall also become partakers of the reward of mercy which he has reserved for us in heaven…if we are faithless, if we are not true to him…if we lose the faith of our hearts by neglecting the Word and Sacraments, God will be faithful to His threat of punishment, for He cannot be untrue to His essence; He is the Eternal, Immutable (that is, without change).”

            Salvation is ours.  We suffer the consequences of bad decisions, hasty words and actions with little thought of the outcome and a lot of squealing about nothing of importance.  Yet, Jesus has paid for our debt of sin on the Cross.  Removes our guilt.  Forgives and loves us.  Quells our squealing and shepherds us to eternity.

            As God’s forgiven children, the Holy Spirit lets us love others regardless of how they see us or understand us – regardless of their hatred of God’s Word.  We’ve spent much of our lives running and squealing for this world’s trough of grain.  It’s passing away.  God help us.  All squealing aside!

                                                                                    Amen.