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My name will be great among the nations, from the rising to the setting of the sun. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to my name, because my name will be great among the nations,” says the LORD Almighty. (Malachi 1:11)

God’s name is great. It always will be because of who He is. But that does not mean everyone recognizes God for who He is. In fact, more and more people in this country have rejected God and choose to live as though He does not exist. They do not consider Him or His name to be great.

Luther gave us an important reminder in his explanation of the First Petition of the Lord’s Prayer.

Hallowed be Thy name.

What does this mean? God’s name is certainly holy in itself, but we pray in this petition that it may be kept holy among us also.

How is God’s name kept holy? God’s name is kept holy when the Word of God is taught in its truth and purity, and we, as the children of God, also lead holy lives according to it. Help us to do this, dear Father in heaven! But anyone who teaches or lives contrary to God’s Word profanes the name of God among us. Protect us from this, heavenly Father!

Luther wants us to remember that it is our responsibility to keep God’s name holy by the way we live our lives, what we do and what we do not do.

A passage that has been very popular in this nation over the last couple of decades is 2 Chronicles 7:14.  You see it on yard signs and bumper stickers and lots of other places. It is a great verse because it encourages God’s people to humbly pray and seek God with the promise that God will forgive and bless them. But pay attention to how the passage starts.

2 Chronicles 7:14 …if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

We are the people called by God’s name. The world recognizes us as such. His name was placed on us when we were baptized. That sacrament joins us to everything Jesus did for us. His death for sin is our death for sin. His victory over death is our victory over death. We have the certainty of forgiveness and life eternal because we have been called to faith in Jesus and we have His name on us. It is our job, our calling, our duty to represent Him in a way that will let His greatness be evident.

This is more important now than ever, especially in light of the deep divisions in this nation and the coming conflict over recent Supreme Court rulings. Let your words and your actions be a reflection of our great God, His love, and His compassion.

Remember our goal, summarized at the end of the hymn “Sent forth by God’s Blessing:”

“Then may all the living, with praise and thanksgiving, give honor to Christ and His name that we bear.”

A large manufacturing company was having production problems. They were not sure what the problem was, much less how to fix it. They tried a few in-house solutions, but there was no improvement, no increase in productivity. Finally, they decided to bring in an outside consultant. One man in particular came highly recommended. They called him and he agreed to come immediately. He showed up and spent about two hours walking around the plant, observing everything. Finally, at the end of those two hours, he took a piece of chalk out of his pocket, walked to a spot in the assembly line, and put a big X on the floor. He said, “Here’s your problem. If you streamline this spot, you will see a tremendous improvement.” The management was somewhat skeptical, but they took his advice and overnight productivity went through the roof! They could not have been any happier, that is, until a few days later when they got the bill from the consultant. They opened up the bill and it said, “Consulting fees:  $50,000.00” The manager thought that was outrageous. The consultant had only been there for two hours! How could he justify charging that much? He called the consultant and demanded an itemized billing. The next day, he received another envelope from the consultant. It was the itemized bill. The first line said, “One piece of chalk, $1.00.” The second line said, “Knowing where to put the ‘X’ $49, 999.00.”

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still  sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned— for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come. But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! (NIV)

The cross marks the spot! God knew what needed doing. He knew when it needed doing. And He knew who needed to do it.

God Knew What Needed Doing. Here’s the problem: We were powerless. We were ungodly. We were sinners, separated from God by our sins. Reconciliation was what needed doing. Restoration was what needed doing. Redemption was what needed doing. And we could not do any of those things ourselves. Remember, we were powerless. That is what sin does to you. It gets you in its grip and convinces you there is no hope. You are stuck. And if you are relying on your own willpower or effort or fortitude to get you out of that mess, you are out of luck. It won’t happen. You can’t do it. What needed doing had to come from outside of us, and it did. Christ died for the ungodly. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. He made the payment our sins had earned. He stepped in to take our punishment so that we could be spared, and in doing so gave us hope.

God knew when it needed doing. At just the right time, while we were still powerless, God did what needed doing. While we were enemies we were reconciled to God.

God knew who needed to do it. It wasn’t us! We were powerless. We were enemies of God. We were unable to do what needed doing at any time. But we … rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. At just the right time God sent His Son to do what needed doing, and He was the only one who could do it. Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary. This one who is the God-man came into this world for this very purpose: to redeem me, a lost and condemned creature, to purchase and win me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil, not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death, that I may be His own, and live under Him in His kingdom and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence and blessedness, just as He is risen from the dead, lives and reigns through all eternity. This is most certainly true.

The cross marked the spot. God knew what needed doing. He knew when it needed doing. And He knew who needed to do it. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!

What about the bill? If you were to receive an itemized bill, it might say, “One Cross – no charge.” “Knowing who to put on the cross and when to put Him there – priceless, but still no charge to you.” And at the bottom, it would say, “Paid in full by your Savior, Redeemer and Friend, Jesus Christ.”

Recently I re-watched a forty year old movie: Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. They were searching for the Ark of the Covenant, constructed during the Exodus and represented God’s presence among His chosen people of Israel.  You probably know the plot of the movie. In the 1930s, Indiana Jones is a globetrotting, swashbuckling archaeologist who gets in and out of dangerous situations as he follows clues to determine the location of the ark. One thing he needs to find is a medallion that has an inscription on it. It is in the possession of an old girlfriend of his, so he goes to get it from her in Nepal. Unfortunately, a Nazi is also looking for the medallion and shows up as well. A fight scene ensues, a fire breaks out and the Nazi spots the medallion that has been heated up by the fire. He reaches to grab it, but hot metal sears his palm, the most sensitive part of the hand. And even though he dropped the medallion and left it behind, the bad guy had a reminder of it, as well as part of the inscription that he needed. He had a permanent reminder of the medallion.

As odd as it may sound, whenever I see this scene in the movie, it reminds me that I am remembered by God. The reason for that connection in my mind is because of what we read in Isaiah 49.

Isaiah 49:13-16  13 Shout for joy, O heavens; rejoice, O earth; burst into song, O mountains! For the Lord comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones. 14 But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me.” 15 “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! 16 See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands…

At times, we may complain with Zion, The Lord has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me. We can all feel abandoned and forgotten. But our God responds to that complaint by asking a question:  Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Unfortunately, when we get past all the pious platitudes about the powerful love of motherhood, we must admit the answer is “yes.” A mother can forget her child. We have seen the cruelty that people are able to display in their sinfulness: Women capable of not just forgetting or abandoning their children, but even killing them, before and after birth, without compassion. It may seem unthinkable to us, but it happens. The idea that a mother could forget her own nursing baby is seemingly beyond the realm of possibility, and yet it can and does happen. God’s point here is that as powerful as the bond of motherhood is, mothers, by nature, are prone to sin, and therefore they may forget.

But here is God’s promise to you: Though she may forget, I will not forget you! That is the Good News, God’s promise to you. His love and kindness are eternal. That love has found its expression in Jesus Christ, who entered our world to take our sins and pay their cost. Jesus offered Himself to appease God’s righteous anger, and He satisfied the judgment that stood against us. God did this because He remembered you and He remembers you still.

See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.  God has your image with Him at all times, engraved the palms of His hands. And consider how that engraving took place, what was used to put that reminder on His palms: A hammer and nails engraved you on the palms of Jesus’ hands. This engraving was Painful, yet Jesus was willing to be crucified for our sake. It is also Permanent, it will not go away. You are engraved on the palms of His hands. God Remembers you.

When we think of birthday celebrations, we think of parties and friends and decorations and cake and presents. It has become an expectation in our culture. And it seems like children’s birthday parties have become a competition of sorts, with people spending absurd amounts of money to lay bragging rights as to whose party was the best.

Birthday celebrations have not always been a reality. Much has been written about the origins of celebrating birthdays coming from mythology and magic. Some will tell us that Jewish tradition did not allow for birthday celebrations, yet interestingly they always tell us how old someone was when they died.

It became a custom in the early church to speak of the day of a person’s death as his or her “birthday” to a new life. St Ambrose wrote, “the day of our burial is called our birthday, because, being set free from the prison of our crimes, we are born to the liberty of the Saviour”, and “wherefore this day is observed as a great celebration, for it is in truth a festival of the highest order to be dead to our vices and to live to righteousness alone.”

Jesus spoke with Nicodemus about the need to be “born again.” It is not something we do, but something God gives us. And our new life does not have to wait until the day of our death to begin. It is a reality in our lives here and now.

1 Peter 1:3–4 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you,

That is something worth celebrating.

A few years back, I got a call from Bob. Bob’s wife had been a member of the congregation I served, but she had died about a year earlier. Now his son-in-law had died and he asked if I would conduct a graveside service for him. I agreed to do so, and met him at the cemetery the next day. It was a small, private, out of the cemetery in the country. When I arrived, it was just me and Bob. I asked him if his son-in-law had been a believer. He let out a big sigh, waited about 15 seconds and said, “Well, deep down, I’d like to think he was.” So that gave me a clue as to what my message might be.

Soon people started trickling in to the cemetery, dressed like you would expect to see people dressed who were going to church – the men in shirts and ties, the women in dresses. And then I heard this rumbling in the distance. It was growing closer. And very soon the first Harley Davidson turned in to the cemetery, followed by a long procession of riders of those American made machines. As they parked and took their places, about half the people were dressed in their Sunday best and standing on one side, while the other half, including the widow, were decked out in leather biker gear and standing on the other side.

I stood there for a moment, my mind racing, with all those people looking at me and waiting for me to speak. There was a definite tension in the air, people on both sides of the line standing with arms crossed and furrowed brows.  By the grace of God, the Holy Spirit gave me the words to say, and they were something like this: “I don’t know any of you, and you don’t know me. I didn’t know the man we are burying today, either, so I can’t say anything about him. So what can I say? Well,  I do know Jesus, and I’d like to talk to all of you about him for a few minutes.” And I saw their arms become unfolded and their faces soften and they were ready to give me a chance. I don’t remember everything I said, but I talked about the life and death and resurrection of Jesus that were all done so that anyone and everyone could be brought near to Him and be assured of forgiveness and life everlasting.

Ephesians 2:11-18 11 Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (that done in the body by the hands of men)— 12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, 16 and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17 He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

The only hope for any of us is to trust in and cling to our Savior. And we need to share that hope with the world.

The infamous Supreme Court decision known as Roe v. Wade happened during my freshman year of high school. Yesterday it was overturned by the court. While I have prayed for this day, I was not sure I would see it in my lifetime.

While I think it was good to overturn this decision, this will not end abortion in the United States. The decision is being left to the individual states, and we are a nation that is divided.

Something good that came from Roe v. Wade is that the followers of Jesus rose up and took a stand. They spoke the truth of God’s Word in the face of this evil. They started Crisis Pregnancy Centers that offered counseling, support and adoption as an option. These efforts must continue. In fact, we need to redouble our efforts in this cause, because the battle is about to get more intense.

Satan will reinvigorate his minions to stir up trouble for believers in the wake of this decision. When the impending decision was “leaked,” attacks on churches and pro-life ministries escalated. It will get worse.

That is why believers need to be extra careful that our behavior, speech and actions in this matter are above reproach. We must continue to show the love of Jesus to those who disagree with us, especially those whose lives are burdened by an abortion in their past. We must redouble our efforts to be the church, providing solutions to problems and not just bemoaning them.

When man brought sin into the world, God provided the solution to that problem in Jesus. He stood up to evil, showed the world a better way, and in the process accomplished our forgiveness and salvation. He did that for everyone, including those who are on the other side of this issue. We need to make sure we share that message of God’s love in Christ with them.

As I said earlier, I think the battle is going to intensify. Prepare yourselves for that. Turn to the source of our strength.

1 John 4:4 … the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

We need the courage and conviction of young David going to face the giant.

1 Samuel 17: 47  All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.”

The one who came to accomplish the salvation of all men is all about giving life, not death.

John 10:10 “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

This has always been God’s goal, God’s desire. As followers of Jesus, we need to make this our desire as well, working to share this message lovingly with the world.

Deuteronomy 30:19 This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.

God strengthen us all to face the days ahead as His witnesses.

Christians believe the Bible because it is God’s Word. He reveals Himself and His plan for our life and salvation through that Word. We also recognize that God’s Word speaks both Law and Gospel.

John 1:17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

The Law tells us how we should live. It also points out that we have not lived that way, so it shows us our sins. It tells us we are in need of help.

Romans 3:20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.

The Gospel points us to Jesus, the Savior God the Father promised and then sent when the time was just right. He came to be our substitute in punishment and gave us His perfection.

Romans 1:16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.

It is important that we do not confuse Law and Gospel, but unfortunately it happens a lot. We start to believe that our good behavior is part of the reason for our forgiveness, which could not be any more wrong. The only way we have forgiveness is because of what Jesus did for us.

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

When I taught the catechism to youth and adults, this topic was always at the beginning of the class. It is important to establish this before digging deeper into God’s Word. One question I often used was “What does the Law tell us?”  The answer was: “What to do, what not to do, and how to be.”  As I was reviewing this with one class several weeks later, I asked a young lady that question, and she responded: “What to do and what to don’t.” I think she grasped the concept. The Law does not tell us how to be saved, but it does show us we need a Savior.

The Good News, which is the literal translation of the word “Gospel”, is all about that Savior. It is vital for us to understand. Without Jesus, we have no hope. But we have Him, we have placed our confidence in His death and resurrection, and that will not disappoint us.

Last week Cheryl and I were on the road. We got home Saturday and then drove 130 miles Sunday morning so I could lead worship in Weatherford, Texas. That afternoon we met two of my daughters at my mother’s house in Dallas for a Father’s Day and early birthday party for me. I was exhausted by the time we got home. It turns out it was more than just exhaustion. I was running a fever on Monday. The fever left quickly, but I have been sick all week. And not just a little. Dizziness, weakness, aches, lack of energy and the inability to focus on things. This thing knocked me on my backside. We had to cancel a camping trip with my youngest daughter and her family. And that is why there have not been devotions every day this week. But I am on the mend now. While still not 100%, I am on the road to recovery.

When I got out of bed this morning feeling so much better than I have in days, these words popped into my head.

Psalm 103:1–5 (ESV)  Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

God is kind and gracious and is the one who grants healing. I am aware of and extremely grateful for that. But what about those who get ill and do not recover? We’ve all seen that in our lives. How do we respond to that?  Look at the passage again.

Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy.

Forget not ALL His benefits, which include forgiveness and redemption. While we don’t always think of it this way, those who have faith in Jesus and do not recover from illness have received the greater gift. They enter the presence of their Savior. Paul had that conviction and confidence.

Romans 14:8 (ESV) For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.

I thank God for my physical healing. I thank Him even more for the spiritual healing and restoration He has given me for Jesus’ sake.