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Luke 15:1-10 ¹Now the tax collectors and “sinners” were all gathering around to hear him. ²But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” ³Then Jesus told them this parable: ⁴“Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? ⁵And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders ⁶and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, `Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ <sup>7</sup>I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.  <sup>8</sup>“Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? <sup>9</sup>And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, `Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ ¹⁰In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

“Use it or Lose It.” Someone has probably shared that bit of wisdom with you somewhere along your journey through life. And it is accurate. You can lose what you don’t use. I know that to be true in my life. I studied German for four years in High School and College. I made high grades and was conversant in the language. But by the time I had finished Seminary, it was almost completely gone. I had not used it, and I lost it. Because I have a couple of trips to Germany coming up in the not-too-distant future, I’ve started the relearning process using an app on my phone. While I don’t pretend to believe I will have mastered the language, I hope to restore a basic vocabulary, enough to make myself known and let the people there know I made an effort to learn their language.

God gave us His holiness when He created us. We lose our holiness by our sin. When we play follow-the-leader with Adam and Eve rather than God, we lose the holiness He gives us. Every time we sin, we lose something. When we lie we lose honesty. When we steal we  lose integrity. When you misuse sex you lose a two-become-one-flesh relationship. We perpetuate the sins of our ancestors by continuing to live by our own knowledge of good and evil rather than by the holiness of God.

Our God does not want us to be lost, so He seeks us out. Lost sheep do not find their way back to the shepherd. A lost coin flip itself back into the coin purse. And a lost sinner does not go looking for God. When Adam and Eve first sinned, did they recognize their mistake and go looking for God? No, God came looking for them, but they were hiding from Him.

Christianity is different from all other religions because it is not man’s search for God, but God’s search for lost sinners. That is the beauty of what God has told us in His Word. He sent prophets with a message of repentance and forgiveness to His people. He sent angels to give His people direction. His Word was with His people. But still they hid from Him.

od didn’t give up. He did not forget about all who were lost. He sent His Son to give back to us what we had lost. The Son of God became human to bring the rightness of God to us. When He died on the cross to pay for sin, He took away the guilt that made us want to run away from God and hide. He picked us up and carried us back to God when He defeated sin and death by His rising back to life on the third day. Look at the cross to see what Christ has given you. That which we had lost has been found.

Live in the certainty of the forgiveness you have for Jesus’ sakel Hold on to the holiness Jesus earned and gives to those who put their faith in Him. Use it in your life to be assured and to comfort others who need to hear this good news. Don’t lose it or cast it aside. Use that forgiveness Christ has given you to forgive others. Use the goodness Christ has given you to do good to others.

We are spending some time under the theme “Making Plans” on the basis of 1 Chronicles 28. Yesterday I mentioned that David made plans to build a temple for the Lord, but God told him that would not be done by him, but by his son, Solomon.

28:6 He said to me: ‘Solomon your son is the one who will build my house and my courts, for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father. 7 I will establish his kingdom forever if he is unswerving in carrying out my commands and laws, as is being done at this time.’ 8 “So now I charge you in the sight of all Israel and of the assembly of the Lord, and in the hearing of our God: Be careful to follow all the commands of the Lord your God, that you may possess this good land and pass it on as an inheritance to your descendants forever. 9 “And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever. 10 Consider now, for the Lord has chosen you to build a temple as a sanctuary. Be strong and do the work.”

These verses are a promise and an admonishment. Things started out well enough for Solomon. He got His wisdom and built the Temple and Israel thrived. But in good times the people would fall away from the Lord, as though they no longer needed Him. This would lead to division of the nation and hardship and exile. But that is further down the road. Getting back to this chapter, David publicly announces the promise to Solomon and the leaders, and reminds them all to be faithful to the one true God.

11 Then David gave his son Solomon the plans for the portico of the temple, its buildings, its storerooms, its upper parts, its inner rooms and the place of atonement. 12 He gave him the plans of all that the Spirit had put in his mind for the courts of the temple of the Lord and all the surrounding rooms, for the treasuries of the temple of God and for the treasuries for the dedicated things. 13 He gave him instructions for the divisions of the priests and Levites, and for all the work of serving in the temple of the Lord, as well as for all the articles to be used in its service. 14 He designated the weight of gold for all the gold articles to be used in various kinds of service, and the weight of silver for all the silver articles to be used in various kinds of service: 15 the weight of gold for the gold lampstands and their lamps, with the weight for each lampstand and its lamps; and the weight of silver for each silver lampstand and its lamps, according to the use of each lampstand; 16 the weight of gold for each table for consecrated bread; the weight of silver for the silver tables; 17 the weight of pure gold for the forks, sprinkling bowls and pitchers; the weight of gold for each gold dish; the weight of silver for each silver dish; 18 and the weight of the refined gold for the altar of incense. He also gave him the plan for the chariot, that is, the cherubim of gold that spread their wings and shelter the ark of the covenant of the Lord.

This was the plan that David passed along to his son, plans that he said came from the Spirit of God, plans that the Spirit had put into his mind. And you may be wondering why I aked you to read all the boring tedium about the weight of gold and silver for lampstands and lamps and bowls and forks and tables. There is a lot of details in there, like you find in Exodus and Leviticus, the kind of stuff that might easily put you to sleep. But here is the reason you should read this: A good plan pays attention to detail.

 God paid attention to every detail in carrying out his plan for our redemption. When the fullness of time had come…  Everything was just right to bring Mary and Joseph to the town of David, through whom the Messiah would come. He fulfilled every prophecy made by God, did everything necessary to pay for the sins of everyone so that we could have forgiveness and salvation instead of our deserved punishment. He was pierced for our transgression, he was crushed for our sins, the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by His wounds we are healed. And after he paid the price for sins, he rose in triumph and victory for us. It was all part of the plan. Every little detail was carried out.

More on 1 Chronicles 28 tomorrow.

Among his fellow sailors, John Newton was known as “The Great Blasphemer.” He later referred to himself as an “infidel and libertine.” He was captain of a slave ship, transporting fellow human beings from their homes in Africa across the sea in chains to lives of servitude—if they survived the crossing. Newton was known to mock God and any who expressed their faith in God. Yet, whenever he got into a close scrape and narrowly avoided death—this happened on several occasions—he would try for a time to live a better life. This wasn’t out of any love for God; he was just trying by his own efforts to avoid damnation. But one close call was different. Moments after he had left the deck of his ship during a violent storm, the man who replaced him was washed overboard and drowned. Newton said it was then that he began to realize his own helplessness. He began to read the Bible. In time, he became a different man. He turned to Christ. He got married. He even became a minister and an active opponent of the slave trade. He also wrote these words:

Amazing grace—how sweet the sound That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost but now am found, Was blind but now I see!

God opened John Newton’s eyes and set his heart on fire for Jesus Christ. He may have been a blasphemer and a slaver, but he was no more sinful and no blinder by nature than any other human being. Toward the end of his life, Newton wrote, “When I was young, I was sure of many things; now there are only two things of which I am sure: one is that I am a miserable sinner; and the other, that Christ is an all-sufficient Savior.”

Luke 24:31-32 “Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. They asked each other, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?’”

The disciples on the way to Emmaus could not “see” Jesus, even when He was right under their noses. Their faces were “downcast” when Jesus asked what they were discussing as they walked along the road (Luke 24:17). These two disciples weren’t unbelievers or ignorant. They knew who Jesus claimed to be. They even knew about the report from the women, that they had been to the tomb and it was empty. Still, they were downcast. And what does Jesus say? “He said to them, ‘How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?’ And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself” (Luke 24:25-27).

God opened the eyes of the Emmaus disciples so that they could see Jesus and realize who had been talking to them and teaching them, and who was ready to eat with them. How did they react? They looked at each other and said, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”  They then ran seven miles back to Jerusalem to tell their friends that they had seen Jesus! It was already night, but they didn’t even wait until the next day. That’s how excited they were. God had used His Word to set their hearts on fire.

 By His grace and mercy, God has called us out of the darkness through the power of the Gospel. For the sake of the holy life and the innocent suffering and death of His Son, Jesus Christ, and sealed by Christ’s resurrection, we are God’s forgiven people. Our eyes have been opened. Our hearts should be on fire to help others have their eyes opened, too, by sharing what we know about Jesus.

This story was shared by Dr. Robert Roegner, former Executive Director of LCMS World Mission. On a summer Sunday in 2004, after he had worshiped with a Lutheran congregation in Nagercoil, India, five pastors of our Indian partner church asked him to travel with them that afternoon to a village where a new church had been started. They were going to baptize the first new believers there. It was about a two-hour drive. When they arrived, they drove up to a tent with open sides that had been pitched for the service. Worship already had begun. About 250 to 300 were at worship. About 40 of them were to be baptized and were in the first four rows, dressed in white. When it was time for the baptisms, the five pastors jumped up. One grabbed a basin of water, one took the certificates, and another had a Bible. After the first person confessed his faith and said he renounced the devil and all his works, he pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and gave it to a pastor. The pastor looked at the paper and announced the persons’s name. Then another pastor baptized him in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

They went up one row and down another, baptizing those who were there. In the middle of the third row was a woman in her early 20s. She gave the pastor her paper. She had a little 4- or 5-year-old girl holding onto her. The pastor announced her name, and she was baptized. She began to cry. Then her daughter was baptized, and the woman cried even more. The pastors finished baptizing those in the third row, and she continued to cry. They finished the fourth row, and she was still crying. After the service, Roegner asked a pastor who spoke English to help him talk to this woman. They talked for a couple of minutes, then he said, “I couldn’t help but notice after baptism that you were crying—a lot. I guess those tears are because you are so happy that you were baptized and have become a child of God.”

She said, yes, she was happy that she is a child of God, that Jesus is in her heart, that she has received God’s free grace, and that she has forgiveness for all the sin and bad things she had done in her life. This brought tears of joy to her eyes. “But,” she said, “while I have tears of joy flowing from my left eye, I have tears of sorrow flowing from my right eye.” So he asked, “Why so sad as well?” She looked him square in the eye and said, “While I have received Jesus in my heart today and His grace and forgiveness, my husband, my mother and father, my brothers and sisters, my aunts and uncles, and all of my cousins do not know God’s grace and forgiveness because they still live in the darkness of all the Hindu gods.”

Roegner shared with her 1 Peter 2:9—“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” He challenged her to not let God’s love, grace, and forgiveness be only for her and her daughter, but to go and tell her husband, her mother, her father, and her other family members about Jesus.

Roegner returned to United States, and kept her in his mind and on his prayer list for three or four months. As happens over time, other prayers came to mind and he forgot about her. In January 2005, he received an e-mail from the pastor who had done the translating for him. He was so happy to tell Roegner that he and the other pastors were returning to this same village on Easter Sunday afternoon and were going to perform at least as many baptisms as they had when he had been there with them the previous summer. He was excited to report that a majority of those Easter baptisms would be members of this woman’s family, including her husband and her mother and father.

When she realized that God had called her out of darkness so that she could be a light to others, she acted. And as a result, many in her family came to know and believe in Jesus as well.

Never stop letting your Gospel light shine for those around you to see. You never know how God will use you to show Jesus and His love to those in your life.

Jeremiah 29:10-14a This is what the LORD says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the LORD.

These words are part of a letter sent to the children of Israel who had been carried off to Babylon. Though they had become a great nation under God’s blessings, their repeated refusal to live as God’s people had brought them to this point. Because of their unfaithfulness, God allowed His people to be defeated by the Babylonians and removed them from the land He had promised to them. This is the situation in which Jeremiah wrote the message from God in the passage above.

God tells His people that He has not forgotten them or abandoned them. He wants them to know that this chastisement will last for seventy years, and that they will then be allowed to return to their promised land. He calls upon them to seek Him out, and He will be found. He is telling them that when they repent, He will indeed forgive them. He also promises that those who repent and seek Him will prosper.

The promise of deliverance from their bondage to the Babylonians, which God fulfilled, is a foreshadowing of the deliverance that He would provide for all men through the Messiah, Jesus Christ. This is where the message speaks to us. God has already sought us out and led us to faith that Jesus is the Savior of the world. Yet we still sin and go against what God would have us do. Therefore, we must also seek his face, going to our God in repentance and trusting that the death and resurrection of Jesus has provided for our forgiveness. Because of Jesus, God has prospered us. He has given us a hope and a future. By His grace, those who have faith in Jesus Christ are declared righteous and forgiven. Eternal life is the possession of the faithful.

Even though God has sought us out, redeemed us through the sacrifice of His Son, and called us to faith, the world in which we live is such that we will be tempted to turn away from our loving God.  There will be distractions and temptations that try to lead us away from Him. So our God encourages us to continue to seek His face.

There was a congregation in which the Pastor would dismiss the children just before the sermon to go to their Sunday School classes. They would exit past the pulpit, where the Pastor was standing. A high point for this Pastor was receiving a smile from each of the children as they walked past, and giving them a smile in return. He tried to do this with each child, but one day he apparently missed one. A curly-headed four-year-old ran out of the church and threw herself into her mother’s arms, sobbing as if her heart were broken. After the service, the Pastor sought out that mother to see what was wrong.  She said that after she had calmed down her daughter, the little one said, “I smiled at God, but He didn’t smile back at me.” That Pastor stood for God to that little girl, and she was devastated when she thought that God had overlooked her.

It would indeed be tragic if we were to seek out God only to have Him spurn us. But for those who have faith in Jesus, this will never happen. God has already sought you out and claimed you as His child. Because of Jesus, you will never be rejected or overlooked.  God accepts you and smiles at you. He looks on you with favor and gives you peace. Seek His face … always.

And when the strife is fierce, the warfare long,
Steals on the ear the distant triumph song,
And hearts are brave again and arms are strong
Alleluia! Alleluia!
(The Lutheran Hymnal #463, stanza 5)

One more day of reflecting on “the distant triumph song” mentioned in this stanza of “For All The Saints.” Yesterday I referenced the Armor of God that Paul describes in Ephesians 6. Here is the passage again.

Ephesians 6:10-18  Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore, put on the whole armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm, then, with the belt of truth buckled around you waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the Gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

Paul admonishes us to put on this armor “so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.” After a battle, the one who is still standing is the one who is still alive. That will be those who have put their faith in Jesus. You and I are alive in Christ because of His death and resurrection from the dead. His death paid for your sins, allowing you to escape the punishment you deserved. His victory assures you of eternal life. He emerged from the battle as the one who was still standing, since Satan, sin and death have been defeated. Being alive in Christ, we put on the whole armor of God and attack the enemy with the Word. Being the followers of Christ, we prepare ourselves for the dark times Satan wants to bring to this world. Believers share the pure Gospel of God’s righteousness given to us by Jesus Christ. That is our battle plan. It is how we keep the distant triumph song alive in our hearts, and to make that song ever louder and louder in the day to day lives of men.

In the midst of our daily battles with Satan, you need to hear the lyrics of the triumph song. When the devil slings his arrows, when he would have us forget that Christ has won the victory, when Satan would drown out the song, the armor of God’s strength will renew you for conquest. There will be times that you stumble and fall, you will stray from the path God would have you take. But rather than becoming discouraged, listen again to the triumph song of Christ, who is far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given.

 Can you hear it? John wrote some of the lyrics of the triumph song of the saints who have laid down their arms and sing with the angels: Worthy is the lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise! That’s part of the triumph song, proclaiming the victory Jesus won and gives to us. Put on God’s armor. Be strong in the Lord. The song will become clearer and clearer every day. Not only will you hear it, but you will be singing along with it.

Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory – the triumph – through our Lord, Jesus Christ.

“The Distant Triumph Song.” My previous devotion used that phrase from “For All the Saints” to speak about how distant the triumph of Jesus can seem in our day to day living. And I promised to share a solution God offers to help us continue to hear that song in our lives. Paul shared it in Ephesians 6.

Ephesians 6:10-18  Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore, put on the whole armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm, then, with the belt of truth buckled around you waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the Gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

St. Paul says “be strong in the LORD and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the devil’s schemes.”  As I wrote yesterday, Satan does not want you to hear that triumph song. Because you are involved in a battle, Paul is telling you to arm yourselves. With what? With the latest self-help book? With a financial advisor? With better medical and physical resources? No! Paul says that God is your strength for battle. Be strong in the lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God. He details the pieces of armor our gracious God provides to keep the triumph song alive in your life!

• God’s truth is the belt around your waist, not the wisdom of this world.
• Your heart is protected by the breastplate of righteousness, the righteousness that Christ won for you on Calvary. Let Satan try to condemn you for your sins.
• Your feet are ready with the Gospel of peace. You go from battle to battle with the peace that comes from Christ’s triumph song.
• In your daily battles you have the shield of faith to deflect whatever Satan hurls your way.
• You have the glorious helmet of salvation, salvation today and forever with the triumphant Christ. This protects your mind from Satan’s assaults.

But you have more than just protective armor. You also have a sword, God’s Word. That is your daily weapon of offense. Paul does not describe the Christian as one who sits back and waits for the enemy to attack. Instead, you are on the offensive. With God’s Word you can unleash the power of the conquering Christ on the daily problems that Satan would like to use to work for your destruction. Listen to the full verse of Luther’s Reformation hymn that I used in part yesterday:

Though devils all the world should fill, all eager to devour us,
We tremble not, we fear no ill, they shall no overpower us.
This world’s prince may still scowl fierce as he will,
He can harm us none, he’s judged; the deed is done;
One little word can fell him.
(The Lutheran Hymnal #262 stanza 3)

That “one little word” is Jesus! And these are the lyrics of a triumph song! They instill in you the courage to be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. They give you to motivation to put on the full armor of God.

I’ll wrap this up with a few more thoughts on “the distant triumph song” tomorrow.