SEP 13, 2009  SERMON ARCHIVE

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our heavenly Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, AMEN

The text for our meditation today is the Old Testament Lesson, Isaiah 50:4-10. There we read these words:

The Lord God has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary. Morning by morning he awakens; he awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught. The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious; I turned not backward. I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting. But the Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame. He who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together. Who is my adversary?

Let him come near to me. Behold, the Lord God helps me. Who will declare me guilty? Behold, all of them will wear out like a garment; the moth will eat them up. Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the voice of his servant? Let him who walks in darkness and has no light trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God.

In the name of Jesus we begin.

Based on what a church sign in Lincoln, Nebraska said this past week, you are wasting your time here this morning.

In fact, you have wasted your Sunday mornings for many years, and the Church has wasted her time for two thousand years.

What’s more is that the entire Judeo-Christian tradition has been a waste of six thousand years.

So perhaps you should all get up and go home right now. Hmmmmm.....I see that you are not buying into this claptrap since you are all remaining seated here in the Lord’s house.

Yet, if what this church sign I read is indeed true, then there really is not point in our being here today…or anytime. It means that the Lord wasted His time in teaching the people.

The church sign reads: "Faith is caught, not taught."

If this sign posted the truth, then there would be no need for a Sunday school, no need for Bible class, no need for confirmation instruction, and no need for the Divine Service.

If this is true, then we could disregard our text, especially the first part: "Who among you fears the LORD and obeys the voice of His servant?" That servant is His called and ordained servant of the Word…in other words, it’s the pastor!

The Lord has sent His bride, the Church, pastors to preach, teach, and administer the Sacraments. What is it that He has sent pastors to teach? It is not that 2 + 2 = 4 or that the capital of Wyoming is the "W."

No, he has sent you pastors to teach you the faith, the one, holy, Christian and apostolic faith, the faith handed down throughout the generations, all the way back to the Apostles, who in turn received the faith from the Lord Himself.

How did the Apostles receive the faith? The Lord taught them the faith, the one saving faith, that faith which confesses that there is only one Name under heaven, given among men, by which you must be saved, the Name of Jesus Christ, your Lord and Savior.

You do not come to this faith on your own; it must be taught to you. The Holy Spirit works this faith in you, this faith you are taught. In the book of Deuteronomy numerous times parents are told to teach the faith to their children, a command from God Himself, speaking through His servant Moses.

In Romans 10, the apostle St. Paul reminds us that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. In other words, the faith must be taught to you. There is no other way, outside the Means of Grace, for you to receive, and be strengthened in, the faith.

In fact, the primary place for catechesis, instruction in the faith, as it always has been, is at home, the parents teaching the children the faith once handed down to them.

To aid parents in this God-pleasing endeavor, the Church provides a time of instruction here, in what you know as Sunday School and Midweek.

What happens here is not meant to replace the teaching the faith in the home; rather, it is meant to supplement it, so that your children would grow in faith and be drawn ever closer to their Lord who has come to them in Holy Baptism, in Holy Scripture, and, Lord willing, will come to them in Holy Communion.

Having said all this, it bears noting that being taught in the faith is not something that ends at the point of confirmation, as if it is a graduation from the Church. No, catechesis is a lifelong process…from the womb to the tomb. You never stop learning the faith…unless we want to. A faith that stops growing is a faith that shrivels and dies.

It is easy to point your fingers at the Israelites, who kept forgetting their faith and got into all sorts of trouble.

It is easy to chide the Pharisees for rejecting the Word of God as He gave it to them through John the Baptist and through Jesus Himself.

It is easy to laugh at the disciples because they were slow to understand what the Lord was teaching them.

But dear friends, look into the mirror of God’s Law. What do you see? Do you see all of them, the Pharisees, the Israelites, the disciples, and do you see them with your faces on them.

Dear friends, are you any better than they were. Do you always remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Do you at times have little or no use for–you despise--preaching and God’s Word. Do you always hold it sacred. Do you always gladly hear and learn it.

In the words of our text, do you always fear the Lord. Do you always obey the voice of His called and ordained servant?

Do you always walk in the light and have nothing to do with the darkness?

If I paraphrase St. John in the first chapter of his Gospel, does the light of Jesus Christ always shines in your darkness, and the darkness of your souls always comprehends it, even when you walk through the valley of the shadow of death?

Do you always trust in the Name of the Lord, and always, always rely on your God.

Or have you ever failed at any of these things?

You see, dear friends, you are, as I am, you are sinners who deserve eternal condemnation for your sins, including your rejection of God’s Word. This is something you also need to be taught; otherwise, you have no knowledge or concept of sin and hell, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.

And remember, this is not just saying that you have to be here in this place.

What is better is that you get to be here! You get to be in your Lord’s house, where He tells you He loves you. You who have walked in darkness have seen a great light, Jesus Christ, the Light of the world, the light no darkness can overcome.

You who have dwelt in the land of the shadow of death and have walked in darkness, upon each one of you the Light has shined.

Jesus Christ, the Sun of Righteousness, shines on you today through the reading of His Word, through the preaching of His Word, and through the teaching of His Word. You hear God speak to you through His servant, your pastor, preaching and teaching repentance and faith.

You get to hear the faith taught as God speaks into your ears with His words of Law and Gospel. You get to hear Him tell you, through me, that your sins are forgiven, forgiven for the sake of His only-begotten Son, who gave His body and shed His blood on the cross to win the forgiveness He extends to you through His Word and Sacraments.

There is no need for you to walk in darkness because your Lord Jesus Christ has already endured the darkness of being condemned by His own Father so that you would live in the grace of this same Father, God Almighty.

Christ Jesus died your death and now lives so that you can live into all eternity with Him.

This is the good news that you get to be taught over and over and over again, for His promises are always there for you. He is faithful to His promises, and this Christian faith, the forgiveness of sins, is something you who have been redeemed by the blood of Christ should never tire of hearing, and you will get to hear of your Lord’s goodness and mercy ever time you come here.

Christ Is Risen.