November 23, 2022 – Thanksgiving Eve                      Text:  Deuteronomy 8:1-10

Dear Friends in Christ,

    If you live long enough, you know that each year has challenges of its own.  Are there some years that are worse than others?  That would make a great debate topic.  Some things affect all of us – pandemics, the economy, politics, taxes, utility bills.  But other events in life are individual.  A close relative dying can make for a rough year.  A child that starts living a new lifestyle can break a heart.  Or things can make for a good year – a once-in-a-lifetime vacation, the birth of a child or grandchild, witnessing a baptism or confirmation, positive health news.  How do we during all of this, give thanks?  

    2022 had moments out of our control that changed everyone’s life.  We came out of the pandemic, but the people in charge never quite let it go.  We paid more at the pump since the days of Hurricane Katrina.  Electric and natural gas rates are at their highest in decades.  Maybe the election wave you wanted was a trickle.  Supply chain issues were a concern.  But in the midst of all of this, did you ever go wanting?  Do you ever not have enough food, or shelter, or gas?  We complain about a product not on the shelf but miss the food on our table.  Ever ask the question . . .

“THANKFUL?  THIS YEAR!?”

    Our text from Deuteronomy.  “You shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not.  And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” (vs. 2-3)

    We studied the Exodus in depth in Adult Bible Class.  One of the things we all learned was how many times the Israelites grumbled.  These people were never happy.  They took out their hostility on Moses and on Aaron and on the Lord God.  They didn’t just live a bad year.  They lived 40 bad years in row – just a wanderin’ with no place to call home.

    God had sent them to the wilderness to humble their hearts.  God knew they could not properly receive His gifts – the Promised Land and the Promised Savior – without a little teaching.  The Israelites were relying on their wisdom and abilities.  By letting them endure hopelessness and hunger, the Lord God showed His beloved people that they need His salvation.  “Man does not live on bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”

    Whatever we have experienced in 2022 we can still say   that God’s fatherly, divine goodness and mercy are infinite and boundless.  The Word of the Lord is still being proclaimed.  Most everyone who has been away from worship has come back.  New people are coming to hear God’s Word.  Yes, we too have been humbled.  We have seen the ability of man only goes so far.  We can only control certain things.  God’s Word is the ultimate control.  We live on that.

    God’s Word promised the Israelites a land flowing with blessing.  That promise sustained the people trekking through the wilderness.  In the day-to-day they were frustrated.  The Lord’s promise gave them hope and kept them going.  They forgot the past and pressed forward to the great goal God was giving them.

    The same is true for us, friends.  When we get frustrated with high gas prices and rental cars and hotel rooms and no new cars and months of waiting for a product and endless political battles and crimes going unpunished and the progressives making headway – we have a sure Word of comfort.  That Word is the salvation promised in Jesus, who delivers us from this valley of sorrows to himself in heaven, based solely on His love for us.  We believers can forget what lies behind and we can set our face joyfully to the blessings that lie ahead.

    In God’s Word, we learn to be content.  In God’s Word, we see how truly blessed we are.  In God’s Word, we are comforted in affliction, fed when spiritually hungry, strengthened when weak, loved when loveless, at peace when terrified, and forgiven for Christ’s sake when guilty.

    God has made me laugh more this year than almost any year I can remember.  He continues to remind me that He is in control.  Has He done the same for you?  Have you noticed?  Did you see His hand in your life?  Do you give thanks to the One who has given you so much?

    Our Promised Land is in the distance for most of us.  Or it could be right around the next corner.  Christ has gone ahead of us to prepare that place.  He has secured that place by His blood, and He communicates that to us through His Word and Sacraments.  

    Thankful?  This Year!?  You bet.  We have a promise that makes this year and every year a time to give thanks.  

                Amen.     

November 20, 2022                                        Text:  Colossians 1:13-20

Dear Friends in Christ,

    We interrupt this broadcast for a test – of the emergency Judgment Day Warning System – this is only a test:  “Jesus Is Coming!”  This has been a test of the emergency Judgment Day Warning System.  Had this been the actual event, the message you heard…would have been too late.  In the event of the final judgment, you will not have time to tune to your local radio or TV station, there will be no time to await further instructions; no time to react; no time to change the condition of your heart.  We now resume our normal broadcast.  Thank you.

    Now that is a little frightening.  Nothing like getting hit with the law early in the sermon.  It is the end of the church year.  Advent is next Sunday.  We prepare the way for the Lord.  We are who we are because of Jesus.  Be at peace.

“YOUR LIFE AND IDENTITY ARE DETERMINED BY JESUS”

    Where are we?  Well, here at the beginning of our text we are in “the domain of darkness.”  Sounds like a movie preview, doesn’t it?  Can you escape “the domain of darkness?”  Honestly, sometimes we can’t.  We are in darkness because we can’t see the way to the truth.  We stumble, we grope, we walk in spiritual blindness.  Satan has his way with us.  He works on you when no one else is with you and you assume no one sees or cares what you are doing.  Darkness is his favorite place – especially when he’s there with you.

    From that domain of darkness, you have been delivered.  By a man of light, born in the light of Bethlehem and risen on the third day when the light began to spread on the earth.  He rules the darkness as well.  In the world to come there will be no need for sun or moon because the brightness of Christ will be our light.  “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son.”(v. 13)  In Jesus, “we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” (v. 14). He paid the debt of your sin.  You have been delivered.

    Why should He redeem you or anyone else?  Was it your sparkling Sunday School attendance record?  Is it your warm and fuzzy personality trait that everyone loves?  No.  You are who you are in Christ only because of who He is.  He is the Head of creation, and He shall have what is His.  “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.  For in him all were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities – all things were created through him and for him.  And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” (vs. 15-17)  You were made by God for more than wallowing in your sin and your filthy mouth and the whims of us those around you.  You were made to live under Christ’s gracious reign in His Kingdom.

    Before you took your first breath, before your parents ever met, before Adam and Eve made earth their home, God knew you from eternity.  You can’t see the Father’s face, but you can see Jesus.  In order to know the Father’s will you need to know Jesus.  Jesus is the only way to salvation because He is the only access point we have to the eternal Father.  “He is the head of the body, the church.  He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.” (v. 18)

    Your identity is taking shape.  Delivered by Christ.  Created for Christ.  And now, at peace.  “For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.” (vs. 19-20)  

    Wouldn’t you like a little peace?  But I know you dread the holidays coming up and the relatives who want to talk about more than the weather.  I know the grudges you still hold because of something said 17 years ago.  I know what that girl did to you.  Everyone here has pain, regret, broken links of love, frayed nerves because of what you have inflicted on others or what they inflicted on you.  

    Because of Jesus you are not captive to these emotions.  You are not caught in the web of darkness.  You are redeemed; you are delivered; you have transferred out; you are forgiven; you are set free; you are cleansed; you are healed.  

    The blood of Jesus sets you at peace with others.  Remember that when Cousin Blowhard wants to talk politics before you carve the turkey or prepare to open gifts.  Remember that when the lines are long because the workers are few, but the customers are many.  You have peace with God because God has made peace.  You have peace with your fellow men and women because God is at peace.  I have the privilege of sharing this peace with you at the end of the divine service.  This is the peace Jesus has won for you by His blood and by His cross and by His resurrected life.

    So go in peace.  You are free of darkness – your identity.  You live in His light – your identity.  Your faith has saved you because you trust in Christ alone – your identity.  You are at peace with others because God is at peace with you through Jesus – your identity.  This is your life because you belong to Christ.  Enjoy the glory now and into eternity.

                                        Amen.