Sermons

In the Name of Jesus, who said, “Happy are those who hear the Word of God and obey it,” Dear Christian Friends Apathy, self-satisfaction and indifference often times get in the way of God’s people doing what God wants them to do. In John’s revelation Jesus says to the Christians at Laodicea, “Because you are lukewarm – neither hot nor cold -- I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” In his epistle St. James condemns apathy, self-satisfaction and indifference towards the Word of God on the part of those who claimed to have faith, but whose daily lives showed a sad indifference toward God’s Word. James argues, The kind of faith that says I believe in God but does not produce godly living, well, that kind of faith in God even the devils have, and they shudder in fear of the coming judgment of God to an eternity in hell. (James 2:19). Who of us can say that St. James’ words concerning apathy don’t apply to us? Doesn’t God have the right to call us to account for not practicing what we preach especially when it comes to the whole matter of Christian education? We who preach to our children about how important God’s Word is but then don’t support it by our own actions need to ask, “Am I lukewarm in the mouth of my Savior?” We drop our children off for Sunday School but we ourselves don’t walk down the hall to the Bible class hour. We as parents and grandparents make coming to church a high priority when our children sing, but weekly worship doesn’t receive the same priority. We bring our children to church regularly during the years of catechism class because after all the pastors have assigned sermons summaries from the children. But after our children are confirmed, weekly worship becomes less of a priority. Every week we carry stacks and stacks of newspapers and magazines to the curb for recycling, but you would be hard pressed to find a Meditations or Forward In Christ Magazine or a well-used Bible for that matter throughout the house. We spend untold dollars and hours to provide our children with Christian education in our schools, Sunday Schools, catechism classes, Lutheran High Schools and youth groups activities, but then let that training dribble away by letting our children watch anything they choose on TV or in the theatre or on the internet, or listen to any and every kind of musical lyrics. This weekend our worship is highlighting Christian education on every level. Through his word our Savior is inviting us to learn more about him as he speaks against the apathy and indifference of our sinful natures toward his Word. As our Savior speaks to us, his words form the basis of our sermon theme LOVE ME BY LOVING MY WORD. One of the remarkable things about our Savior’s teaching is its utter simplicity. Jesus says in our text: IF ANYONE LOVES ME, HE WILL OBEY MY TEACHING … HE WHO DOES NOT LOVE ME WILL NOT OBEY MY TEACHING. It’s as simple as that. Anyone who considers himself or herself to be a lover of Jesus, anyone who says, “I am a Christian,” will accept these words of Jesus as truth. You cannot say, “I love the teacher” but then refuse to take any lessons from him. A few verses earlier Jesus put it this way, “If you love me you will obey what I command.” LOVE ME BY LOVING MY WORD, that’s what Jesus says. Where Christian Education Begins Some people have a misunderstanding concerning what faith in all about. Contrary to what some people believe, faith is not proved by membership papers in a congregation; Faith is not proved by a confirmation certificate; Faith is not proved by having good Christian parents or Christian friends. Rather faith is displayed by our individual love and devotion to Christian education, to hearing and obeying of what our Savior Jesus commands. Love for Christian education, as Jesus teaches, begins first not with wanting to teach others, not with giving our money so that our youth will continue to grow spiritually, not with wanting to send missionaries to the four corners of the world, but Christian education first begins with the fact that we ourselves love to learn about Jesus’ love for us. That’s right, Christian education has to begin with learning about God’s love for me, a sinner. Then such a love will lead me to want to lead our youth into the word and reach out to those who do not know Jesus. But none of this can be done if we don’t first learn about Jesus’ love for every sinner, including you and me, and especially you and me. It’s Not Just About the Commandments We will make a big mistake in understanding Jesus’ words about Christian education if we think of nothing but outward obedience to the Ten Commandments. When our Lord speaks of loving to learn from him, obeying his teachings, and obeying what he commands, he is not just taking about obeying the law. Simple outward obedience that looks good to our neighbor and to our society is something that even unbelievers do and they do it all the time. The obedience that Jesus is demanding of us is the obedience of faith. Jesus extends this invitation to us with such tender words of love. “Come to me all you who are weary and I will give you rest for your soul.” “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.” “Take and eat. Take and drink. Do this in remembrance of me.” “Repent and be baptized everyone of you for the forgiveness of your sins.” If you look upon religion and God and church and talk about Jesus as being nothing more than a set of rules that crimps and cramps our life style, no wonder we hate the teacher and baulk at following him. No wonder we don’t want to learn any lessons from him. But Jesus our Savior wants us to know that the bottom line of Christian education is simply this: Jesus Christ and him crucified for sinners. Caught In A Vicious Cycle People who don’t read and study and listen to the Word of God get caught in a vicious cycle. They don’t listen to the Word of God or read their Bibles because they think is mostly a set of rules and they don’t want anyone telling them what to do and what not to do. But the most important message of the Bible is the sweet news of forgiveness of sins through faith in Jesus Christ and him crucified for sinners. The biblical message of the risen and living Savior is a message of power that lovingly leads God’s people to want to follow God’s Ten Commandments and to find joy in godly living. But if people chose to leave their Bibles shut and remain apathetic toward further growth in the Word of God, they will rob themselves of the joy of knowing Christ more fully, rob themselves of the joy of serving others and God with happy hearts and rob themselves of the joy sharing with others the good news of Jesus Christ. The Spirit’s Work On this Christian Education service our Savior wants us to know that he is so serious about you and me growing in our faith and knowledge of his love for sinners that he sent his Holy Spirit to work in our hearts. In our text Jesus says: BUT THE COUNSELOR, THE HOLY SPIRIT, WHOM THE FATHER WILL SEND IN MY NAME, WILL TEACH YOU ALL THINGS AND WILL REMIND YOU OF EVERYTHING I HAVE SAID TO YOU. Through the preaching and teaching, the studying and meditating on the Word of God, the Holy Spirit gives sinners the promise of forgiveness, the assurance of his love, the reality of his resurrection, his power to protect and his grace to live the kind of peace-filled life we could never have without him. Jesus Knew…. Jesus never once took Christian education lightly. He was never apathetic or indifferent toward sinners growing in the grace and knowledge of him and his saving work. We know this to be true as Jesus himself demonstrated the highest level of commitment to our salvation. In our text Jesus speaks of the dedication and commitment he has to the will and the words of his heavenly Father. Jesus says: THESE WORDS I HAVE SPOKEN ARE NOT MY OWN; THEY BELONG TO THE FATHER WHO SENT ME. When it came to the payment of innocent blood shed for the guilty, when it came to Jesus the righteous dying for you and me, the unrighteous, Jesus was anything but apathetic or indifferent. He was committed. He was determined. Even before he left his throne in heaven, Jesus knew what lay ahead of him. Even before his rode into Jerusalem, before the shouts of praise from his people, he knew that in a few days they would be shouting “Crucifying him.” Even though he selected Judas in as one of his disciples, our Lord knew how Judas would betray him with a kiss. Even though he prayed in the Garden that if possible his cup of suffering might be removed, Jesus knew that there was no other way for sins to be paid for, no other way for sinners to be declared not guilty of sin. Even though Jesus knew all these things, he was never apathetic or indifferent toward our salvation. Love Me By Loving My Word Because Jesus was never apathetic or indifferent toward us, he wants us to be committed and dedicated to hearing his Word, learning from it and in doing so love him as Lord and Savior. Don’t listen to the devil when he suggests that reading and studying your Bible is a waste of time, or that you really don’t need to learn anything more, or that it will turn you into a religious fanatic. It was not your pastors, not your teachers, not even Martin Luther, but Jesus himself who first said, “Search the Scriptures.” It was Jesus who said, “Happy are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” It was Jesus who defeated every temptation of the devil in the wilderness with the powerful and effective Word of God. It was Jesus who said, “If you continue in my word, then you are truly my disciples.” The Word of God works. It works faith in the heart. It delivers the message of peace and forgiveness. It is inconsistent with saving faith to say “I Love Jesus,” but then ignore or be apathetic or indifferent towards his Word. In light of his love for sinners, our Savior says, “Love me by loving my word.” Amen