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Yesterday I shared the story of the Golden Calf and we were thinking about God’s Law and what good it is. Maybe a little Pop Quiz can help in this discussion. It only has two questions:

#1  Does God judge according to works? Yes or No?

The answer is yes. You will be judged on the basis of your works.

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. 2 Corinthians 5:10

#2 Will you be saved by good works? Yes or No?

Surprisingly, the answer is again YES. Most of you probably thought of Ephesians 2:8-9 that tells you that you will not be saved by what you do. That is correct, but you will be saved by good works. They just won’t be your own good works. You are saved by the good works that Jesus did for you.

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21

This is the heart of the Gospel message. God took that perfect life Jesus lived, all His good works, and credited them to you through faith. You are saved by the good works Jesus did, including His self-sacrifice in your place. Your own good works wouldn’t cut it. You fall short. But Jesus did what you needed. The Law prepares you to hear this good news. That is why the Law is Good!

God’s law may evoke a passionate, emotional response of anger from you. That is a sign that it is doing its work, convicting and convincing you of your own sinfulness, preparing you to hear the good news of Jesus.

The Law was given for your benefit. It was not given to make you angry, even though that is what often happens. The Law was given to help you. It makes sense. But the Law is not what saves you. It prepares you to hear the message you need, the message of Jesus Christ, crucified in your place and risen again to proclaim victory.

Life makes sense when you don’t base it on emotions, your passions, or how you feel, like when you are angry. Life makes sense when you base it on God’s Word, both Law and Gospel, the Word that points you to Jesus Christ, crucified and risen again, to take care of the problem of your sin.

Remember the story of the Golden Calf? After God led His people out of Egypt and through the Red Sea, after they were delivered from their slavery and Pharaoh’s armies, they found themselves at Mt. Sinai. Moses was up on the mountain talking to God. He had come down once to tell the people about the Ten Commandments, and the people had said, “Everything the Lord has said, we will do.” (Ex. 24:3) But then He went back up and was gone for a long time: 40 days and nights. God was giving him instructions on building the Ark of the covenant, the Tabernacle and all its furnishings. While Moses was getting these detailed instructions, the people were growing restless. Some even thought that Moses wasn’t coming back, that he might have died up there. So they persuade Aaron to make an idol for them. He gathers all their gold and makes an idol in the shape of a calf, telling people that was the god who delivered them from Egypt. Of course, God knows what is happening, and tells Moses He is so angry that He is going to wipe them off the face of the earth. Moses conveys that anger as well when he gets down there and sees the calf for Himself. They had broken one of the commandments, the first one, before they even had the written copies!

One thing we know about God’s Law is that it produces wrath (Romans 4:15). God’s wrath. Justifiable anger. God displayed His wrath when His people, whom He had just rescued from Egypt, tried to give credit for their salvation to an image of a Golden Calf. God got angry at their sin. That is what we call righteous or holy anger. The same kind of anger Jesus displayed in cleansing the Temple.

I think it is safe to say that most of the anger you and I experience is not holy anger. We often have unholy anger in response to God’s laws and values. We rebel at any kind of imposition of a standard. And we can be very passionate about our unholy anger! That is the natural reaction to God’s Law! This reaction comes because the Law exposes sin and even multiplies it. In the account of the Golden Calf, the people were angry when their sin was exposed.

What does this say to you? You should ask yourself if you are living your life on the basis of what you feel, your emotions, or on the basis of what God would have you do, what He tells you in His Word. When you are confronted with God’s Law, you may feel some of that unholy passion and anger. That is the normal response to being confronted with your own sinfulness. How are you going to deal with that anger?

What good is the Law? The story of the Golden Calf shows us that the Law is good. Not only is God’s Law good, but it is good for you! When you follow God’s Law, your life goes well. It is when you follow your emotions that you get into trouble. The Law is good for you in this way. But there is an even greater good in the Law. The Law shows you your sins. It shows you the need for help. It prepares the way for the good news of Jesus. And that is the answer to our unholy anger: the forgiveness that Jesus gives.

More on this tomorrow!

Another war is underway. At this point our nation is not involved, but those who have been around a while know that could change. We have a way of getting involved in conflicts around the world.

We certainly need to remember the people of the Ukraine in our prayers. We should also pray for the people of Russia, many of whom are no doubt not pleased with this act of aggression. In fact, while we’re at it, let’s pray for the world, because we all need it right now.

Something we need to remember is that in all this, God will be working His purposes. That does not mean this armed conflict is His will, but he can and does use all things – even evil – to accomplish his purpose (Romans 8:28).

You may not have thought of it this way, but Jesus was born into an occupied country. Israel had been the world super-power under David, but that changed. After years of chasing after other gods, the true God allowed others to take military and political control of the world: Assyrians, Babylonians, Medes and Persians, Greeks, and finally the Romans. But in all this God was still in control.

Jesus was born into a country that was occupied by Roman soldiers and subject to Rome’s control. Roman soldiers are mentioned repeatedly in the New Testament, some of them interacting with Jesus and His followers. The Roman governor is even mentioned in the Apostle’s Creed! Jesus took on human flesh in an occupied country to accomplish the salvation of the world. The people were hoping for deliverance from the Romans, but God provided something greater: forgiveness, life and salvation.

Jesus came redeem us all. We are sinners who needed His help. Jesus came and kept the Commandments perfectly. He was tempted as we are, but did not sin. And then he laid down His perfect life in payment for our sin. Yes, the Roman government allowed it to happen, but God was still in control. Jesus willingly died in our place (John 10:17-18).

Roman soldiers beat Him, mocked Him, and then crucified Him. Jesus prayed that they would be forgiven for what they did. Then He died, accomplishing His mission, and the centurion who witnessed it all declared“Surely he was the Son of God!” (Matthew 27:54). On the third day, when Jesus rose again, we were guaranteed victory over death as well. God’s purpose was fulfilled.

Here on earth kingdoms will rise and fall. Wars will continue. We were warned about those things.

Psalm 46:6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts.

Mark 13:7 When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.

But God continues to be in control. By faith in Jesus, we are part of His kingdom which will never end, a kingdom that is out of this world. We are already a part of that kingdom by the grace of God and will one day enter His presence for eternity.

Lord, thanks for being in control. Remind us of that as we hear of wars and rumors of war. Be with those being impacted by this latest conflict. Turn our hearts back to you, that we may know your love and grace and mercy and follow you all the days of our lives. We ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

The last six years have made me very aware that I am mortal. Without going into particulars, suffice it to say many of those ailments I listened to shut-ins and hospitalized members tell me about for years are a present reality. I’ve had more than a few procedures that were classified as “minor surgeries,” but you know what minor surgery is, don’t you? Minor Surgery is surgery they do on someone else!

As I said, I visited with lots of folks who have experienced the ailments and maladies that have now beset me. I prayed with them and tried to encourage them with God’s promises that He has recorded in His Word. Now I find myself needing those prayers and encouragement, and that is not the role in which I expected to find myself.

I guess I should not be too surprised. I have known all along that the cumulative effect of sin in this world is devastating. Sin is what brought death, and that often comes in bits and pieces, chipping away at our all too mortal bodies and, indeed, all of creation.

Isaiah 51:6 “Lift up your eyes to the heavens, look at the earth beneath; the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment and its inhabitants die like flies.”

That is the reality that we don’t like to think about, but sometimes it is thrust upon us. And I think it is good for us to recognize our mortality. It helps us keep things in the proper perspective. While this life and this world may be all we have known and experienced, it is not all there is.

1 Corinthians 2:9 “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him”

That is my future. Guaranteed. Not because of me or who I am or what I have done. Not because I was a pastor or because I tried to do my best. That future is assured because of Jesus and only because of Jesus. He paid for my sin. He purchased my redemption. He defeated death and the grave by rising from the dead. And He has gone to prepare a place for me. That is what I am counting on. That is the hope that sustains me through life.

I need to keep things in that proper perspective. A passage that helps me to do that is Romans 14:8. “If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.”

The one who was triumphant over the grave, who rose with a glorified body, has assured us that we will share in that victory in eternity.

Philippians 3:21 “…by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.”

This world and those in it will come to an end. That is the consequence of sin. But for those who are in Christ Jesus, those who have put their faith and confidence in Him and Him alone, there is something far superior in your future.

Earlier I quoted part of Isaiah 51:6. Here is another of God’s amazing promises in the last part of that verse:

“But my salvation will last forever, my righteousness will never fail.”

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

My taste in music is eclectic. One minute I am listening to country, the next classical. My digital music files include Kansas, Boston, James Taylor and Bread. There are contemporary Christian artists like Matt Maher, Chris Tomlin, Mercy Me, and Big Daddy Weave  alongside Bach, Handel and Mozart. As I write this, Pachelbel’s “Canon in D” is playing in the background.

Music has always been a big part of my life, whether it was singing or playing instruments or simply listening to it. And that was especially true in church. I grew up in a large church that had a fabulous pipe organ and someone who knew how to play it. I used to play a trumpet in worship services. There were large choirs that sang magnificent choral pieces. I sang songs in parochial school that sometimes were even accompanied by guitars! (Quite an innovation in the 1960s).

Something I have always known about music is the way it can touch your emotions and its ability to help you remember things. If I hear a hymn melody or a contemporary melody being played, I instantly start “singing” the words in my mind. Music is a powerful tool that enables people to recall a message.

In less than two months we will celebrate Easter, the resurrection of Jesus from the dead (Actually, every Sunday is a celebration of the resurrection, but I digress). Easter is the high point of the church year for me. It is the guarantee that I have forgiveness and eternal life because of what Jesus did for me.  “… if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.” (1 Corinthians 15:17)

There are lots of hymns and songs that help us celebrate the Resurrection, and I’ll be singing those very soon. But first, before Easter, comes the season of Lent. I will be  soberly and somberly focus on the death of Jesus. And it was a terrible death. It was the death my sin deserved. And Jesus did it in my place.

A favorite hymn of mine that helps drive home the enormity of what Jesus did is “O Sacred Head Now Wounded.” I share some of the stanzas below and encourage you to reflect on them as you prepare to remember the death of Jesus this Lenten season, celebrate His resurrection on Easter, and live in the confidence that this makes all the difference for you and your future.

O sacred Head, now wounded,
With grief and shame weighed down,
Now scornfully surrounded
With thorns, Thine only crown.
O sacred head, what glory
What bliss till now was thine.
Yet, though Despised and gory,
I joy to call Thee mine!

What language shall I borrow
To thank Thee, dearest friend,
For this Thy dying sorrow,
Thy pity without end?
O make me Thine forever!
And should I fainting be,
Lord, let not me never, never,
Outlive my love for Thee.

Be Thou my consolation,
My shield, when I must die.
Remind me of Thy Passion,
When my last hour draws nigh.
Mine eyes shall then behold Thee,
Upon Thy cross shall dwell,
My heart by faith enfold Thee,
Who dieth thus dies well.

My good friend and neighbor left this world to be with Jesus almost two years ago. In yesterday’s devotion I used the word “amongst,” and when I typed it, I thought of him and smiled.

One of Gary’s favorite stories was Jerry Clower’s tale of a coon hunt. We listened to it together several times. Mr. Clower tells how He was out with his brother and their dogs coon hunting in the middle of the night when they came across two other hunters and joined them. One of these other hunters didn’t believe in shooting racoons, but would climb up the tree and knock the coon out of the tree with a sharp stick to give him a fighting chance against the dogs. So the dogs treed a coon and old John climbs up the tree in the dark. He takes his stick out of his pocket to poke the coon, but it wasn’t a racoon. It was a lynx, a bobcat. And they went to wrestling up there in the tree. His friends on the ground didn’t know it was a lynx, and they were encouraging him, “Knock him out, John, knock him out.” John cried out to his friend on the ground, “Shoot Him. Shoot Him.”  His friend cried back, “I can’t shoot him. I might hit you.”  Old John said, “Well just shoot up in here amongst us. One of us has got to have some relief.”  He shared that punch line with me many, many times over the years, and it always made him smile, and more often than not made him laugh, too. “One of us has got to have some relief.”

Gary has his relief now. As I said, he is with his Savior. He was a good, kind, caring, decent, funny and loving man. He was a joy to be around. Throughout his life, Gary befriended hundreds, if not thousands, of folks, truly making people feel their value and worth. He loved his family deeply, and joking around was his art form. His favorite verse was on a little plaque: “Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it” (Hebrews 13:2). He certainly did that. He was both entertaining and hospitable. He was the kind of guy that would do anything for his neighbor, and he took the scriptural view that everyone was his neighbor.  

He was a good friend and neighbor to me. Just a couple of weeks before he died, Cheryl and I went to dinner with Gary and his wife. We just had a garage door put in our newly constructed garage. He told me he didn’t like it. I said, “What?” He said, “I don’t like it.  I can’t see if you are home or not.” He was always watching out for us.  

But Gary is not in heaven today because of who he was or what he did. Gary is most certainly in heaven with His Lord. He is there because of who Jesus was and is and all that He did for Gary and all of us. The passage I shared with him just before he left this world was… 

2 Timothy 4:6–8  For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure.  I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.  

He kept that faith. He knew Jesus was born for him, lived a perfect life for him, died to pay for his sins and rose again to give him victory over death. He kept that faith and He has his crown of righteousness.  

Gary is home, even if the garage door is closed. Jesus took Him there. He has His relief. We can all look forward to that same relief because of what Jesus did for us.

Lutheran Bishop Stephen Bouman tells of standing behind an altar in a small crypt chapel of the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth, the Holy Land, the place where Mary heard that she was going to have a baby. He saw some Latin words carved into the altar:  Verbum caro factum est, “The Word was made flesh.” But then he noticed that there was one other little word in Latin. That word: h–i–c. Hic. “Here.” Verbum caro hic factum est. “The Word was made flesh here.” Probably whoever authorized that inscription meant it to refer to that specific location, implying that it was on that exact spot that the incarnation took place. While I have not been to the Holy Land, I’m told there are a lot of places that claim to be the exact location of important stories from the Bible. But I’m not sure we can know with any degree of certainty the exact physical location of any event in Scripture.

What we do know is that it happened. God became flesh here, on earth, for us all. I guess we can speak of the “hicness” of God, the nearness of God, that He was here with us in the flesh. It was here that He lived, here that He suffered, here that He died and here that He rose again for our salvation. Right here amongst us.

In Ezekiel 37:27 God promised His chosen people: “My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people.”

Paul spoke of that promise being fulfilled in 2 Corinthians 6:16  “As God has said: ‘I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.’”

John tells us there will be an even greater fulfillment of that promise in the New Jerusalem:  “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.” (Revelation 21:3)

John had also written about this in His Gospel: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” (John 1:14)

The Good News is that even though He ascended bodily into heaven after His work here was done, and He is not with us physically as He was prior to that, He is still here.

Deuteronomy 31:6 “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified … for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Matthew 28:20 “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Right Here. Now and forever. Amongst us.

Abide with me, fast falls the eventide.
The darkness deepens, Lord with me abide.

There are times when life appears very dark. We understand what the hymn writer meant by “the darkness deepens.” Recent headlines bear it out. Racial tensions. Political bickering. Police officers being targeted and killed. Christians being persecuted for their faith around the world.

And we know darkness on a personal level. Family members and loved ones dies. Watching Alzheimer’s and dementia take someone away from you. People suffering from debilitating diseases. Marriages die because of infidelity or just lack of trying.

All of this darkness would overwhelm us if not for the one who left the glory of heaven to take on flesh and become one of us. Listen to how He described Himself:

John 8:12  When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

The one who first said “Let there be light…” would give us the light of His own presence to overcome the darkness of this sinful world. That light in our lives prevents the darkness from overwhelming us.

John 12:46  I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.

The Light of the World gives us peace and comfort, because we know that He has defeated sin and death for us. He did that by paying sin’s penalty for us, offering His perfect life as sufficient payment for the sin of the world. Then He rose in victory over death, a victory that He gives to everyone who believes in Him. He gives us the light of life.

Shortly after I moved to this area, a dear woman from my former congregation died. Her family was especially kind to us while we were there, so we made the trip back to attend her funeral. Our oldest daughter was about eight years old at the time, and Cheryl was talking to our girls about the reason for our trip. Rachel asked, “Did Mildred die and go to be with Jesus?” Cheryl answered, “Yes.” Rachel responded, “Oh! I thought something bad happened to her.”

Lord, give us such a faith as this, and then whate’er may come
We’ll taste e’en now the hallowed bliss of an eternal home.

Life is all about the choices we make. When God created people, He gave us the ability to make decisions. One of the characteristics of the image of God was the ability to choose. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve had everything they needed to sustain them in the loving relationship with God in which they existed. But in the middle of the Garden there was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God warned them to stay away from the fruit of that tree.  So they had a choice to make. They could follow the instructions of God and live forever in paradise, or they could eat the forbidden fruit and die.

You might think that an absurd choice. Who would choose death over life? Yet that is what they did. And the result of that choice not only filled their lives with sin, but they passed it on to successive generations. Because of sin, you are no longer able to choose God on your own. Your sin separates you from your heavenly Father, and you are unable to go back to Him without assistance. You still have a freedom of choice in the matters of what you do in this world, but your ability to choose God was lost in the Fall into sin.

Are we any wiser in the choices we make? Many choices people make today bring harm to themselves and others.

In the book of Deuteronomy, God was speaking to His Chosen people through Moses. They had been rescued from their slavery in Egypt and were on their way to the Promised Land.  Moses told them they had choices to make. He listed the good God would have them do and the evil God would have them avoid. Then he said this:

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 and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to His voice, and hold fast to Him (Deuteronomy 30:19-20a).

God wants you to listen to Him, follow His promptings and the guidance of His Spirit, and choose life. The life that He offers is one that Jesus accomplished for you. He chose death “so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone” (Hebrews 2:9b). Jesus chose suffering and death to pay the price we owed God because of our sin. Jesus chose death to destroy it once and for all through His resurrection from the dead. Jesus chose death and “brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel” (2 Timothy 1:10b). Jesus chose death to rescue you. Jesus chose death and He has chosen you so that you could have life.

As those chosen by God, you are His children. You can choose life. You can choose to uphold the value He gives to life and to defend the life of the vulnerable. You can choose life and care for those among us who are weary and burdened. You can choose life and share the forgiveness of Christ with one another when mistakes are made.

“Choose Life!” is a phrase can stir things up. What I pray it will stir up in you is your faith and trust in God. You can make good, God-pleasing choices because you are chosen by God in Christ.

This week a friend of mine is sitting at the bedside of her mother in ICU. They don’t know what is causing an infection and fever and pneumonia. Lots of folks are praying for her and her family. But what should be the content of those prayers?

The most common objection I hear when people are asked to pray in public is “I wouldn’t know what to say.”

Just before my father died, I stood by myself in a hospital chapel trying to talk to God but all I could do was sob and weep.

At a memorial service many years ago for a young lady who lost twin babies before they were born, she let out a mournful groan the likes of which I had never heard in my life. I like to think that was her prayer at that moment.

Romans 8:26–27 “²⁶ In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. ²⁷ And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.”

“Groans that words cannot express.” Sometimes that is all you’ve got. It is also all you need. The Spirit of God is there to understand and hear your plea. The Greek word rendered as “groan” here can also be translated as “sigh.” I have learned that groans and sighs can be very expressive, sometimes more so than words. And the best thing is that God knows what you are “saying.”

Of course, this confidence belongs only to those who have placed their faith in Jesus. We know He is God’s love incarnate, the promised Messiah, the Savior of the world, the one who has bought us back from sin and death. Because of our faith relationship with Him, we have certain forgiveness and life and salvation. We also have God’s ear.

1 John 5:14 “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.”

That is true even if all we can do is groan and sigh.