We Confess Because of Our Value - Fourth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 07)/Father’s Day - Text: Matthew 10:5a, 21-33

Today we again celebrate a social holiday, that of Father’s Day. Indeed, it is well that we celebrate Father’s Day as we celebrated Mother’s Day because it is specifically through the vocation and gift of fatherhood and motherhood that God gives us the core of our families and as He instructs parents to raise their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. So, we welcome especially our Father’s and wish you a blessed and happy Father’s Day. Now, let us get to our text.
 

There once was a young man, college age, who decided to take a summer job as a lumber jack in order to earn some money for the next school year. While visiting his home congregation, before heading up to the camp, he was approached by several of the members and ask how he thought he would fare at this camp. He was reminded by some that this was a very rough and rugged lumber camp that was known for its lack of Christians. He was also told stories of how years ago a man went there proclaiming to be a Christian and how he was mistreated and abused. The young man, self confident in his faith, answered that he thought he would be alright. After the summer months were over the young man returned to his home congregation before returning to college. When asked how he had fared at the lumber camp and if he was mistreated or abused for being a Christian he answered that he had no trouble, as he said, “no one found out that I was a Christian.” I do not know if this is a true story or not, but it does serve to some degree to illustrate our text for this morning. The theme of our text might be stated as, “confession is good for the soul,” whereas this story illustrates Jesus warning in the text that we be not afraid of men lest we fail to confess faith in Him, which would be devastating for the soul.
 

Our text is a part of Jesus commissioning His disciples before He sent them out to bear witness to Himself. By this time the disciples have seen Jesus perform miracles. They have listened to Him as He has told them a lot about Himself. And yet they do not know everything about Him. He has even asked them to keep some of the things He has told them secret, at least until they fully understood what He told them, and as was the case many times, until the time for Jesus arrest and crucifixion was near. Something similar is true for us today. Jesus has told us a lot about Himself. We read about His life, the signs, wonders and miracles He performed, and the parables He spoke in His Word, the Bible. We are the students with His disciples that He is referring to in verse twenty-four of our text. There are some things in the Bible which we may not fully understand, but as we grow in our faith we will understand more fully, and then can even more fully and confidently bear witness of our faith in and relationship to Christ.
 

Jesus goes on to tell His disciple and us that we should not expect to be treated any better than He was treated while we are here on earth. We remember how He was beaten, mocked, and spat upon. He was even called Beelzebub, which is another name for Satan. As His students, His followers we can expect no better treatment. Of course, we can be and we must admit that we are often like the young man in our story who went to the lumber camp. How often do we find ourselves hiding the fact that we are a Christian so that others will not make fun of us? How often do we find ourselves sounding and acting like those around us so that we “fit in?” How often do we find ourselves keeping our mouths closed and not letting anyone know we are Christians? But that is not what our Lord wants from us? Perhaps you have heard the saying, “If you were accused of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?” When it comes to professing and confessing our faith, too often we do not do a good job, instead we fail miserably.
 

However, Jesus goes on to tell us that this cannot be so, because we are Christians, we cannot hide that fact. All those things He told His disciples to keep secret, when they finally understood what it all meant, they could not keep it to themselves, but proclaimed it to the ends of the world. The same is true for us. Have you ever seen a new Christian? How bubbly they are. They want to tell everyone about their new found faith. We remember at Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem, when the Pharisees told Jesus to ask His disciples to be quiet, Jesus said that even if they were quiet the stones would sing praises. We are so excited about the good news of Jesus and eternal life that we can not keep quiet, but sing and shout His praise.
 

Now here at verse twenty-eight the stage is set. We have been given God’s Word, the Bible. We have been told how we can expect to be treated, and we have been told how we will not be able to keep quiet about our faith. Now Jesus puts our call to bear witness into perspective. Verse twenty-eight reads, “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” He is not necessarily asking us to be martyrs, at least not for martyrdoms sake. As another saying goes, “Martyrdom is the gift you can only give once.” If it is possible to retreat from a situation without denying the truth of the Gospel, then it is better to leave and begin anew elsewhere than to be martyred. God is only calling us to not fear humans in our witnessing.
 

I agree with the commentator (Dr. Lenski) who put it this way, “What Jesus says is this: ‘If the disciple is going to yield to the low motive of fear, then let him be scared, not of the minor danger, but of the supreme danger.’” If we are going to be afraid of someone, it should be God who can do much more damage than any human being. The main point is that we should act with boldness. Why should we not be afraid? The reason is that Jesus will be there to protect us. He is the one who has given us life. Each one of us is a precious person to Him. He planned for our conception, birth, and life. He brought us to faith, some of us through Holy Baptism as we were brought in by our parents, some through His Word, either way, it is He who brought us to faith and He keeps us in that faith.
 

He has blessed us abundantly. My favorite example to show how much He has blessed us is this thought: Think about what we had when we came into this world. I will give you a hint, nothing. Now think about what we will take with us when we die. I will give you another hint, nothing. Now put these two together and you will have the answer to what is actually ours. Your last hint is nothing. Everything we have is God’s, He has created everything we have to use while we are here on His earth, and He would have us use it to His glory. Obviously, if He has given us all that we need we must be of some value to Him. In our text He says that we are worth more than many sparrows. There are other Bible passages which say the same thing, as in Matt. 6:26 when He says that the birds neither sow nor reap yet He takes care of them. We are of so much value to Him that He even knows how many hairs, or lack of hairs, we have on our head. With all this in mind it should be easy for us to not fear him who only can destroy the body. However, our young man in the lumber jack story is a good example of how easy it is for us to deny our faith in Jesus.
 

The ultimate value Jesus has given us is shown by the fact that He gave His life for us. Paul says that for a “very good reason” one person might die for another good person, but Jesus loved us so much and valued us so much that while we were His enemies, that is, while we were actively fighting against Him, which is our nature, He died for us. He lived the perfect life for us, in our place. He suffered the pangs of hell for all of our sins for your sins and for my sins, in our place. He rose on the third day declaring victory over sin, Satan, and death. He did all of this because of His great love for us, for you and for me, love which shows we are of such value to Him.
 

Our text ends with Jesus’ promise that if we will confess Him before men, He will confess us before His Father in heaven. As another commentator (Dr. Kretzmann) expressed it, “A confession of Christ in word and deed, an open proclamation of the truth and a steadfast defense of the truth, is demanded for every follower of Christ.” “There is no neutral ground: for every one the choice is only between confession and denial.” How do we confess Jesus? We confess our faith in Him by our deeds, what we do. We are all witnesses of Him. When it is known that we are Christians, others will look at us and judge what a Christian is by how we act. So, we definitely confess our faith in Jesus by our actions. If you are like me, however, sometimes we do not make a good or positive confession. Sometimes we make a rather bad or negative confession. And for these Jesus also offers us His forgiveness.
 

We also confess Him by our words. I have found it interesting or should I say thrilling that no matter how confusing our verbal confession, and our confession by action, of Him might be, Jesus uses it in great ways. Confessing our faith in Jesus does not mean giving an hour lecture or a testimonial of our faith. Confession of faith in Jesus may be as simple as being there for someone in their time of need. It may be as simple as a few words of comfort or encouragement. It may be answering a question a friend has about our church or our faith. We confess our faith in Jesus in many ways. Almost  every Sunday morning we confess our faith through either the Apostles’ Creed or the Nicene Creed which are both confessions of our faith. It does not matter how we confess our faith, but rather that we do confess, because Jesus last words in our text are that if we deny Him, so He will deny us. He makes no bones about it. That means eternal death!
 

I believe that the young man in our story did confess his faith. He confessed that he had no faith, at least no faith in Jesus. Today we might say he simply “identified” as a Christian. You see, there is a distinct difference between identifying and confessing. Too many people attempt to identify as something they are not. As Christians we confess because God gives us that confession. Remember Peter? When Jesus asked His disciples who people said He was, they offered Moses, or Elijah and Peter confessed, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Remember Jesus’ words to Peter? This confession was not from flesh and blood but from my Father in heaven. Indeed, our confession of faith is never ours alone, but is always a confession given to us by the Holy Spirit through His Word. And that confession is not simply a verbal confession, but wells up in us as a living confession
 

Our whole text for this morning is a section of great encouragement. Jesus is speaking to us as He speaks to His disciples. He has come, and continues to come to us in His Word, bringing us to faith, strengthening us in faith and keeping us in faith in Him, and forgiving us when we fail. He reminds us that we should expect to be treated as He was, that we will not be able to keep our faith to ourselves, that we are to not be afraid of how we may be treated as others can harm us only in our body. He goes on to encourage us by telling us how valuable we are to Him and He ends by promising that when we do confess our faith in Him He also will confess knowing us to His Father in heaven, which means eternal life. This morning it is especially great to see our father’s confess their faith and bring their families to Divine Service. Finally, I pray that you will go boldly out into the world, into your various vocations and confess your faith by word and deed. And ultimately your confession will be a confession that rejoices and says, to God be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Go with Authority - the Kingdom Is near - Third Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 06) - Text: Matthew 9:35-10:8 (9-20)

You may have noticed or maybe not, last week our liturgical color has changed to green the color of growth. We are now in the Pentecost season and the non-festival portion of our church year calendar. We began our current church year back in December of last year and we moved to series A of our Lectionary or our Bible reading series. Let me remind you that in series A of our Bible readings we are for the most part hearing Gospel readings from the Gospel of Matthew meaning that we will be growing in our Christian faith and life through the writings of the Gospel writer Matthew, as he was inspired to write by God Himself. This Matthew is the one who was a tax collector called by Jesus. He is Jewish and he is writing in particular to a Jewish audience. And with his accounting background you may notice his writing often include numeric references. So, let us get to today’s text.
 

The idolatry of our society has reached epoch proportions. That sounds like it would make a great newspaper headline, but what in the world do I mean? We are now, and have been, living in what sociologist call a pluralistic society. The ideologies, the philosophies, the theologies, the ideas and concepts of our world suggest that “broad is the way to heaven,” that there are many ways to the same god and the same heaven. How narrow minded are we Christians who believe, what the Bible says, that there is one and only one way to heaven and that way is through faith in Jesus and in Jesus alone. And unfortunately, many, too many, people, even some, which is too many, Christians, and I would suggest that even some among us here in this congregation who have bought into this idolatry. This idolatry makes it easy for us to sit on our grace and do nothing, because if everyone is saved, why bother confronting others and showing them they are doomed. This morning I want to tell you some history. I want to tell you His story, that is, Jesus history.
 

Jesus is unlike anyone else who ever was or will be. Jesus was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, so that He is truly God. He was born of a woman, Mary, so that He is truly human. Throughout His time on this earth, Jesus showed Himself time and time again to be God. The gospel writer John talks a lot about Jesus performing signs, wonders and miracles and that it is through these signs, wonders and miracles that Jesus shows Himself to be who He says He is, God in flesh, the Messiah, the Savior of the world. This fact, that Jesus is God in flesh, flies right in the face of many religious groups, non-Christian cults and sects today, especially those such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Mormons, the Muslims, and many others. And yet time and again, historical account after historical account shows Jesus demonstrating His divinity. Only God can walk on water, heal the sick, raise the dead, multiply food to feed thousands, change water into wine and so forth, miracles Jesus, as true God did.
 

As true God, Jesus was able to see the real need of humanity. I say the real need because today we hear a lot of talk about meeting what are called the “felt” needs of people. You know how it is, a child comes and asks for candy because he is hungry. His “felt” need is candy. His real need is not candy, but real food to fill his hunger. Likewise, we often think we know what we need, after all, we can “feel” what we need, but that may not always be what we really need. Thanks be to God that Jesus can see into our hearts and lives and He knows what we really need.
 

We have a felt need. We are sinful human beings. We are born with a void. We are born in sin and we are in need. On our own we could and would search to have that need filled, but our filling that need would be to fill it with any of the philosophies or false theologies of the world. Again, we would fill the void in our lives with something comparable to a child who is hungry filling themselves with candy that is the type of “religion” we would find to fill the void of our lives. Jesus gives what we really need. He gives us His law which shows us our sins. One quick trip through the Ten Commandments reminds us of just how sinful we really are. But Jesus does not stop there, He also gives us His Gospel which tells us of our forgiveness. Jesus gives Himself. He has given His life for ours. He suffered the eternal death penalty for us in our place. He gives us forgiveness of sins and with forgiveness He gives eternal life. He also gives authority as we heard in the Gospel last week and as we hear again this week. He does not give authority for lording it over others. He does not give authority for being bossy. He gives authority for sharing the good news of salvation with others. He gives authority for doing good, being kind, loving others and the like.
 

What is more, Jesus also gives special instructions. He gives instructions to His disciples and to us. We are not to stay safely in our homes, but we are to venture out into the hard, cold, cruel world and share our faith with others. And we do not do that alone, because we have His authority and His added promise that He will be with us always, even to the end of the world.
 

And Jesus gives us the message which we are to share. The message is that the Kingdom of Heaven is near. In Jesus’ day the Kingdom of heaven was right there, it was Jesus Himself. In our day, the Kingdom of Heaven is here, Jesus is with us and, at the same time He is seated at the right hand of the Father where He is watching over us, ruling over us, and interceding for us. This is Jesus’ history.
 

There is another history which goes along with this history and that is our history. Our history is that, although we are born in sin and daily sin much, adding to our sinfulness, yet, at our Baptism Jesus makes us a part of His Kingdom. He gives us faith, forgiveness, life and salvation. Today He continually gives us His means of grace, confession and absolution, His Holy Word and the Sacraments, Holy Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. He gives us these means through which He comes to give us all His good gifts and blessings.
 

It is His Word which shows us that Jesus is who He says He is, that is that He is Yahweh, God. It is His Word which tells us what we are to do and not to do, what is sin and what is not sin. It is His Word which tells us what He has done for us. How He entered this world in order to live for us, that is to live the perfect life demanded of us, for us, in our place because we cannot. How He has taken our sins, all our sins and the sins of all people, of all places, of all times on Himself. How He has suffered, died, and given His life for ours. How He has created all things and still takes care of them. How He has purchased and won us, not with gold or silver, but with His holy precious blood and His innocent suffering and death. How He sends His Holy Spirit to bring us to faith, strengthen us in faith and keep us in faith until He comes again to take us to be with Himself in heaven.
 

Jesus sees the real need of humanity today and our real need is the forgiveness of sins. We confess that we are by nature, that is we are born, sinful and unclean. We confess that we have sinned against God by thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, what we call our sins of commission and by what we have left undone, what we call our sins of omission. Again, one quick trip through the Ten Commandments would be enough to shame us into knowing how sinful we really are. Without Jesus there is no forgiveness. With no forgiveness there is no hope. No hope for the world to come and, really, no hope for this world. Jesus meets our real need. He has given His life for us. He lived, suffered, died, rose for us, for you and for me. Jesus gives us forgiveness of sins and with forgiveness we have life, life in this world and life in the world to come, even eternal life in heaven.
 

And now Jesus gives us authority and a mission. The authority He gives is His authority. The authority He gives is to forgive sins and to proclaim the gospel. The mission He gives is to be loved by Him so that we can live our lives to His glory. And even more, Jesus gives us gifts, talents and abilities to carry out the mission He gives us. And He promises that He will be with us every step of the way, even to the ends of the earth.
 

The message He gives us to proclaim is the same message He gave His disciples to proclaim, that the Kingdom of Heaven is near, that Christ will come again, sooner than we know, sooner than we expect. He may wait another two thousand years. He may come next year. He may come next month. He may come tomorrow. We do not know when He will come, we simply know that we need to be ready. And understand this, we will see Him, either when He comes, or when we die, which also may come at any time. Again, the key is this, we need to be ready at all times to meet our Lord. Perhaps each morning as we get up we might look in the mirror and ask ourselves, are we ready if we are to meet Jesus today?
 

Jesus’ history and our history, are really only one history, at least for us Christians. Today we continue to celebrate Pentecost and God’s gift of the Holy Spirit. We celebrate that the Holy Spirit gives us faith, strengthens our faith, and keeps us in faith until Christ comes again.
 

We continue to make regular and diligent use of the Means of Grace, confession and absolution, the Word and the Sacraments, remembering that it is through these means that the Holy Spirit works in and through us. We also remember that, even though the Lord works through these means that does not mean that He is bound by these means, because He can and sometimes does work directly with us and through various other means when and where He chooses.
 

God gives and with His help, we respond to His glory. And our response is Gospel, because without His help we would not be able to respond. God gives. He gives life at conception, new life at Holy Baptism, faith, forgiveness of sins, life in this world, eternal life in heaven, gifts of talents and abilities, physical, social, emotional and spiritual blessings even beyond our counting, the sun and the rain, the moon and the stars, the seasons for planting and sowing, indeed, God gives us all things. Our only action, the only thing we do is respond and the only way we respond is through His giving us to respond. What a great God we do have.
 

Again, our liturgical color will remain green. Green is the color of growth. The idea is that during these Sundays we are to grow in our Christian faith and life. We do that through regular, diligent, daily reading of God’s Word. We do that through reading and rereading Jesus’ history. We do that through joining and combining His history with our history so that we have one history. My prayer for each one of you is that you will continue to make use of the means that God has given and that He will continue to work through those means in order to shape and mold you; in order to give you and strengthen you; in order that you might “freely give,” as you have freely been given to. To God be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Thoughts on a Lutheran Identity Vs. A Lutheran Confession

Unfortunately the overuse of the word “identity” has almost emptied it of its meaning. With that said, there is a distinct and great difference between one’s “identity” and one’s “confession.” Today anyone may identify as just about anything. A woman may identify as a man (however that does not change her XX chromosome to XY), and a man may identify as a woman (again that does not change his XY chromosome to XX), and yet neither identity is true or real.

An online definition of “identity” states: “In psychology, the term ‘identity’ is most commonly used to describe personal identity, or the distinctive qualities or traits that make an individual unique. Identities are strongly associated with self-concept, self-image (one’s mental model of oneself), self-esteem, and individuality” (emphasis added). Notice the continual use of the word “self.” One might surmise that “identity” comes from within. Of course, Jesus reminds us, “From within, out of the heart of man come evil thought . . . ” (Mark 7:21).

To speak of a Lutheran, Biblical definition of “confessional” means to say the same thing, but not simply to say the same thing, but to live and act the same. One’s confession of faith, one’s beliefs, doctrine, is lived out and seen in one’s life and worship (Divine Service). Doctrine, faith, belief, confession, cannot be separated from one’s practice, life, or actions. As we will see reading through the Bible, one’s confession does not come from within, but comes from outside, through the Holy Spirit working through the Means of Grace.

In the Lutheran Church and in our Confessions we do not use the term “identity,” but we use the word “confession” because to have a confession means so much more than simply to have an identity. To have a confession means that one not only confesses with their lips but believes in their heart, and that belief is then acted out and seen in their life. Thus, a true confession is a combination of faith and life or better said, doctrine and practice. For one to practice something different than their doctrine or to simply say they identify as something means that they are truly not confessing. As Mama always said, “Practice what you preach.” Or as we hear today, “If you’re gonna talk the talk, then you better walk the walk.”

So, what does the Bible say? The Bible speaks of a person making an acknowledgment or confession of faith in Jesus as we read in Matthew’s Gospel, “32So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, 33but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 10:31–33). Notice that the word translated as “acknowledge” is the same word that is translated as “confess.”

The Bible speaks of making a confession of faith. Take for example Peter’s confession: “16Simon Peter replied, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ 17And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 16:16–17). Notice that Jesus tells Peter that this confession is not his but is God the Father’s. Notice, it was not Peter but God through Peter giving the confession. The same is true for us today. When we confess faith in Christ, it is not our confession, but it is the Holy Spirit speaking our confession through our mouths. The Holy Spirit puts faith in our hearts (through the Means of Grace) and stirs in us to speak that confession with our lips and finally brings that confession to fulfillment through our lives, that is, we live our confession.

In Romans Paul tells us, “9because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved” Rom. 10:9-10). The word for confess is ὁμολογήσῃ, homolegeo, confess. In verse nine the word is an active word, to speak the same, to agree. In verse ten the word is passive meaning that it is something that is given to speak, as in the Holy Spirit giving us the word to speak. Thus, we see that we confess or acknowledge. We do not simply identify.

Even John tells us, ”Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God” (1 John 4:15).

So, what does the Bible say about identifying as something. Fortunately or unfortunately there are no Scripture passages that speak of one’s identity, none, zilch, nada. Also, the Book of Concord, while it speaks of our confession of faith never speaks of our identity.

Unfortunately, this denominational identity seems to be as divisive as identity politics. Also, as memory serves, it was during the Seminary Walkout that the one group wanted to have a Lutheran “identity” very much like we heard in recent times from Concordia University Texas. Yet, simply to have a Lutheran “identity” does not mean one is a confessional Lutheran. One example of how this is happening and is so divisive in our synod today is what happens on Sunday mornings. Back in the early 1980s this Texas District was involved in the Chuck and Win Arn Church Growth movement. That movement defined what was done on Sunday morning as worship (noun) and suggested that in worship God was the audience, the congregation were the actors, and the pastor and choir were the prompters. Thus, it was implied if not outright stating, that people were to attend worship in order to do something for God and therefore needed to have a part in the worship service, such as reading the lessons, be in the praise band or the drama team, etc. As confessional Lutherans we understand that what we do on Sunday morning is Divine Service wherein God is the actor and the congregation are the ones being acted on and given to, such that the called and ordained pastor is the one through which God works to deliver the gifts He has to give and the laity are there to be given to. The response (worship as a verb) of the laity is simply to offer hymns (good sound theological hymns), offer prayers, and offer their firstfruits and tithes (which are hopefully the same). So, we see in this example the difference between an identity and a true confession which is acted out.

“The Lutheran Church is not defined by cultural or national identity but by its confession of Christ and the pure teaching of His Gospel. To be Lutheran is to confess what the Scriptures teach and what the Church has always believed” (Herman Sasse, Here We Stand: Nature and Character of the Lutheran Faith). Notice the difference in the words, identity and confession. So, to simply identify as a Lutheran does not make one a Lutheran. Only to confess with the lips and live that confession makes one a true Lutheran.

God’s Understanding is Unsearchable - April 26, 2026 - Fourth Sunday of Easter - One Year Series - Text: Isaiah 40:25-31

Some of you may have heard the saying, “God said it. I believe it. That settles it.” I remember the first time I heard it and I thought, that saying has a flaw, namely that it does not matter what I believe or do not believe, rather if God said it, then that settles it. That saying also reminds me of how often I have expressed the understanding that if the word of man differs from the Word of God, I will believe God’s Word over the word of humans, who are fallible, anytime. Ever since creation humans have attempted to put themselves in positions of knowledge and power above God, even to the point of attempting to exclude God. Well, think about it, if there is no God then there are no absolutes, no absolute authority and so we are accountable to no one. That thinking is what is behind the teachings of Charles Darwin and is hailed by many Darwinist, Evolutionists, and Atheists as truth and wisdom. Great amounts of time, money and effort have gone into the indoctrination of the religion of Darwinism, Evolution and Atheism, so much so that too many in our world today actually believe Satan’s lies which have come through these means over against God and His infallible Word. For too many years Christians have sat on the sidelines watching as the world, through our public education system and unfortunately at times through our private education systems as well as through, even so called Christian colleges and universities, have been taught that there is no god, that there is no ultimate authority, that we are products of endless mutations and accidents, that there is no point to this world, and that we are responsible to no one. And all this in the name of “science.” I believe Christians have been silent for so long because we have not taken the time to get educated in how to give an answer for the hope that we have. Fortunately we live in a day and age where good factual information is readily available and where we can get answers and prepare ourselves to give an answer for the hope we have. Of course, the first place we go is to God and His Word.
 

Before we get to our text, let us take a moment to look at our other lessons. The epistle lesson for this morning reminds us that as Christians we are merely sojourners and pilgrims in this world. And while we sojourn in this world we will be constantly bombarded with temptations from the devil, the world and our own sinful nature, or as Peter calls it our “fleshly lusts.” Peter encourages us to submit to our government, at least and unless the government demands something against God’s Word. Peter’s words encourage us as Christians, who because we espouse the exclusive claim of God’s Word that is that there is one and only one way to eternal salvation, that as we suffer for our faith, we are to be encouraged to suffer patiently and give glory to God.
 

In the Gospel lesson for this morning we are reminded how Jesus spoke openly to His disciples about what was going to happen to Him, that is He spoke about His coming suffering, death, and resurrection, which we just celebrated and what we celebrate every Sunday. And yet, until He died and rose His disciples did not understand as many in our world continue to not understand.
 

Moving on to our text, the Old Testament reading, and I want to start at verse twenty one, the question is often asked, “How did the world come into being?” Our text begins at verse twenty-one, “21Do you not know? Do you not hear? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?” (v. 21). When Job confronted God with all his questions God asked Job the question we need to ask those who propose a different history than God Himself gives us in His Word. We may simply ask, “Where you there?” “Then how do you know?” Remember, Darwinism, Evolution, Atheism, all these propose that there is no God and that all things simply appeared out of nothing. Interestingly enough no one has ever observed the spontaneous appearance of something from nothing, which is a foundation of so called science. Anyway, these proposals all spring from the minds of sinful, fallible human beings. When you are being told something other than what God tells us, simply ask, “Where you there?” And when the response is, “Neither were you.” You might simply answer, “Yes, but I know someone who was there and I know what He tells me.”
 

And yet, we know that God is not a God who simply created all things and then left this world to run on its own. Not only did God create, but He also sustains. We pick up at verse twenty-two, “22It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to dwell in; 23who brings princes to nothing, and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness. 24Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown, scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth, when he blows on them, and they wither, and the tempest carries them off like stubble” (v. 22-24). God is a Creator God and He is also a Sustaining God. He continues to rule over and guard His creation. He continues to take care of His creation.
 

What a great and loving God we have. There is no one like God, not even any idols. We pick up at verse twenty-five, “25To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him? says the Holy One. 26Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name, by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power not one is missing” (v. 25-26). When we take the time to compare our God to all the other gods and idols in the world we know that there really is no comparison. All the religions of the world can be put into one of two categories. The one category is for all gods and idols and that category may be summarized by the belief that a person must save himself or herself, that a person is saved by how good he or she is, how good is their character. The other category is what we as Christians believe, that is that we are lost and condemned persons, that we have no hope and cannot save ourselves, so we rest our faith on the grace and mercy of our great and loving God who calls us out of darkness into His marvelous light. We are saved because of what God has done, does and will do for us. We are saved because our God saved us. Yes, indeed, there is no God like Him.
 

And what a great God we have. God is omniscient, He knows all; nothing is hidden from Him. We pick up at verse twenty-seven, “27Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God”? 28Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable” (v. 27-28). These words should bring fear and comfort. These words bring fear for the simple fact that we are conceived and born in sin, because every inclination of our heart is evil all the time, because we constantly sin against our God in thought, word and deed and because we sin sins of commission and omission. God knows all our faults and sins. And yet, these words, that God knows all and that nothing is hidden from Him also bring comfort. For who is like God and how great, loving and merciful He truly is. He is a God who not only gave His life for ours, but continually watches over us, protecting and forgiving us.
 

And finally, Isaiah reminds us that God also renews and refreshes us. We pick up at verse twenty-nine, “29He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. 30Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted;  31but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint” (v. 29-31). Yes, we are imperfect, fallible human beings. We do daily sin much and are in need of forgiveness, but our hope is in our great God who picks us up, who gives us strength, who guides, guards and keeps us always in His care and protection.
 

What does this mean? This morning we are reminded once again that we can believe and trust in our God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and who created all things out of nothing. When we look at the facts of this world, and especially when we look at them and understand them through God’s Word, we can know and believe that God’s Word speaks truth. And actually, God’s Word explains the facts of this world better and more logically than the fictitious explanations of fallible, sinful human beings, not that we believe God’s Word for this reason, but we believe because God tells us so and because His Word has to power to give us such faith. The point is, we can be confident that God’s Word is true even in the face of the allegations that are being proposed in our world today. We can stand firm, as Peter encourages us.
 

Not only did God create all things out of nothing, we can be sure that He still sustains and preserves the world. And we can actually see His all preserving hand as we watch the seasons come and go. As we watch the earth heal and mend itself after what we call natural disasters and even man-made disasters. We see God’s all preserving and sustaining hand when each morning we rise to meet a new day.
 

And it is God who gives, strengthens and keeps us in faith. This is not something we do for ourselves, that would put us in the category of having to save ourselves. Remember, all things flow from God to us. He is the one who gives us faith. He is the one who lived for us, living perfectly because we cannot live perfectly. He is the one who fulfilled all His laws and commands perfectly. He is the one who took our sins upon Himself. He is the one who died for us, taking our place. He is the one who shed His blood, giving His life, dying to pay the price, the cost for our sins. He is the one who rose victorious over sin, death and the devil. He is the one who gives us the forgiveness Jesus paid for on the cross. He is the one who gives us faith, who strengthens us and keep us in faith. He is the one who will come again to judge the living and the dead. Notice the focus, on Him and Him alone.
 

Today we rejoice because He renews us. He lifts us up each day. He gives us the strength to face the challenges and temptations, whatever suffering we may face, each new day. He lifts us up with wings like eagles so that we may live lives as His priests, living lives as sacrifices to Him.
 

Finally, we are reminded as always that He does His work though means, namely through the means of grace. Thus we are reminded of the importance and the necessity of making regular and diligent use  of the means of grace, remembering our baptism, confessing our sins and hearing His words of absolution, hearing God’s Word, which means having personal and family devotions, attending divine service and Bible class, and the importance of coming to the Lord’s table to eat His body and drink His blood given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.
 

May God’s Word encourage you in your faith life. God never promised that life would be easy. He never promised that we would not face trials and tribulations. He never said we would never be tempted and as a matter of fact as Christians, we probably face more trials and tribulations and more temptations than those the devil already has. Yet, God has promised that He is with us, that He forgives us, that He will protect and defend us, that He is with us always and that He will be with us to help us to give us the words to speak to give an answer for the hope that we have in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. What a great God we have, a God who does all and gives all and we rejoice that we are done to and given to. To Him be the glory for Jesus’ sake. Amen.