Sermon 2-28-10

Heavenly Father, we stand here assembled in Your House thankful for Your forgiveness, thankful that as we start a new week we know that You will always be with us to guard us, guide us and protect us. We thank You for caring about us and that You speak to us. And this morning as we read the words that You have put in the Bible, we ask, Lord God, that Your Spirit would give us understanding and give us wisdom. And help us to hear with understanding as You speak to us through the words in Holy Scripture. And we pray this in the Name of Jesus. Amen.

The Old Testament lesson talks about God’s law. When you mention the Ten Commandments to people they probably would say that God’s law is not one of their favorite things in the world. But God’s law is there to make us wise and give us understanding and actually cause us to be the envy of the nations around us. It’s interesting with those things set forth by God to bless the nation, how many people in our nation want God’s word and God’s commands kicked out.

Old Testament – Deuteronomy 4:5-9 See I have taught you decrees and laws as the LORD my God commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land you are entering to take possession of it. Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.” What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the LORD our God is near us whenever we pray to him? And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today? Only be careful and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.

Our theme this week as we continue with the seven principles of how God works in our lives is that God invites you to become involved with Him in His work. Our second reading talks about that as it tells how each person who is called into God’s kingdom has a separate path that God has laid before him.

Epistle – Ephesians 4:11-13 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

Today’s Gospel Lesson is the basis for our sermon today as well as the basis for this week’s topic in our Lenten series - God invites you to become involved with Him in His work.

Gospel – John 5:17, 19-20 Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working.” Jesus gave them this answer: “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will show him even greater things than these.

Sermon –

I had a busy week this week. I was at the drawing board most of the week and I’ve invented something that I think is really going to catch on. What I’ve invented is going to make your life and my life easier. I didn’t have a chance this week to actually build a prototype but I did bring my drawings so that I can show you what I invented… (Pastor held up a large drawing of his new invention - - - a wheel!)

Here it is, it’s round, it has spokes and I call it a “Turin” a hybrid of the words “turn” and “spin” because that’s what it does, it turns and it spins! And I brought another drawing of my second idea: you could attach two of my Turins together with what I decided to call an “axle” that goes between them. Then you could motorize them and make a car out of them and drive yourself around and transport objects. What do you think? Won’t this make our lives easier? Isn’t it a good invention?

In today’s terminology, what have I just done? I’ve just “reinvented the wheel.” “Reinvent the wheel”, a term we use again and again to signify that we’ve just solved a problem that has already been solved, we’ve invented an object that’s already been invented, or we figured something out that has already been figured out. And it makes absolutely no sense to do that, does it?

We don’t even want to go there especially as we continue our Lenten series titled Making Sense Out of Life. We want to make sure that the things we do make sense and that’s really important this week as we get into our third principle from Experiencing God:

Principle 3: GOD INVITES YOU TO BECOME INVOLVED WITH HIM IN HIS WORK

Now that sounds pretty simple until we try and apply it our lives. So let’s look at some examples…

The world tells us that we should have our six-month plan, our one-year plan, our five-year plan, and our ten year plan but often when we make those plans they don’t really work out. And when they don’t, we become frustrated. Maybe that’s because we haven’t really understood the principle that God invites us to become involved with Him in His work and what we are doing with our plans is simply reinventing the wheel.

Or maybe you think that things would work out for you in your life if you were just on the good side of God, if you just had God’s favor and power in your life. We do all sorts of things trying to get God’s favor and power in our lives when in reality we are just trying to reinvent the wheel.

We really need to understand the third principle: God invites you to become involved with Him in His work.

Today we are celebrating Lutheran School Sunday and we will talk about how education in this country is always tearing our kids away from God. We, as parents and grandparents struggle with how to move our kids towards God and make God meaningful in their lives. We get frustrated and don’t know what to do because we’re trying to reinvent the wheel when the real solution is found in that third principle: God invites you to become involved with Him in His work.

Or maybe you’re at a loss for your life, you’re wondering what to do, and you don’t know what God wants you to do. Maybe that betrays the fact that we really don’t understand the principle that God invites us to become involved with Him in His work and we spend our time sputtering around trying to reinvent the wheel.

Today we want to look at a guy who really understood this third principle, Jesus Christ. He knew exactly what to do, where to go, and what He should do in ministry; He wasn’t plagued by all those questions. You might say, “Well of course He knew what to do, He’s God!!” But you have to remember that when Jesus took on a human body and was born in Bethlehem, He laid his God power aside because He needed to function in life just as a human being, just as you and I function (Philippians 2:7). He needed to function in that capacity because some human being needed to live a life without sin; needed to be totally human and face life just as we face it. Consequently, Jesus had to find out what God wanted Him to do and gave us this great principle in our Gospel Lesson. He said, “My Father is always at his work to this very day” (that was our principle from week one – God is always at work around us) and then He said, “The Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does”.

That’s the key right there. Jesus always knew what to do. He didn’t have to reinvent the wheel or worry and wonder what He was supposed to be doing with His life. He didn’t have to come up with His one-year plan, His two-year plan, or a ten-year plan. He knew that all He needed to do was look around and see where God was working and simply join Him in the work He was doing. That’s it! And when we understand that principle, life becomes really easy and makes sense.

I first encountered this principle in 2007 when I took Experiencing God for the first time. I thought about this principle and said, “That’s why so many times ministry is confusing. I’m trying to reinvent the wheel. All I have to do is watch and see where God is working and simply join God in his work.” And when I did that, life became very simple. And it will become really simple for you, too.

So let’s look at some of those examples we talked about. Maybe you are making your plans for life and are wondering what to do and where to go. All you have to do is not reinvent the wheel; you just have to watch and see where God is working around you and join Him in what He is doing. Watch to see what doors He is opening up to you. Watch to see what doors He closing off to you. Just watch where He is working and go with Him. Then life becomes really, really simple.

Case in point is the wonderful example God gave us with Trinity Christian School. We didn’t sit down years ago and come up with a scheme about building a Christian school; that wasn’t our idea at all. All we did as a church was watch and see where God was working. Our preschool dates all the way back to when the church was started. Then the preschool became kindergarten, first and second grades. We just watched and said, “OK, that’s where God is working so let’s just join Him in what He is doing.” And what happened when we joined God? He provided that land on Maple Avenue, which wasn’t even for sale! He provided the Laborers for Christ to build the school. He provided the money to do it. He provided the students. He provided the teachers. He provided the means to deal with the deficit year after year after year. He did all that because that’s where He was working. All we did was follow Him in his work. God was at work and this congregation simply followed Him.

And when we think, “I wish I could get on the good side of God, if I could just get God’s favor then everything would work out” we are trying to reinvent the wheel. All we have to do to get God’s favor is join Him in what He has already done. You want God’s favor? Remember that He sent His Son to the cross to die and pay for our sins. Just join God in what He is doing – simply look to the cross where Christ paid for your sins and you have God’s favor forever- it’s never going to end.

God gives us an example of this in Numbers Chapter 21. The Israelites were complaining and to discipline them God sent poisonous snakes that bit them and people started dying. But when the people confessed their sin and said, “We have sinned against you, Lord, by complaining” God told Moses to put a bronze snake on a pole. The people did not have to come up with a solution to the snake problem which would have been reinventing the wheel. All they had to do was look to see where God was working and look to that solution. And in the snake problem God was working in the bronze snake on a pole. And all the people had to do was simply join God in what He was doing - look to the pole with the bronze snake and that was the end of the snake problem! Too often we try to reinvent the wheel. Simply look to the Cross, that’s where you will find God’s favor.

Or maybe you are trying to get spiritual power in your life. We think, “If I just had spiritual power, things would be different” and then do all sorts of things to reinvent the wheel. We do all sorts of things trying to get spiritual power and thank You, God, that’s not a big problem here. All you have to do if you want to have God’s power is look to see where God is working and join Him in His work.

And God is working wherever the Bible is preached in its truth and purity. Wherever the Bible is studied, heard, and read, is the avenue to tap into God’s power. Romans 1:16 says, “I’m not ashamed of the Gospel, it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.” So often we try searching for all kinds of ways to get close to God, trying to reinvent the wheel, when the solution is right there in the Bible. Just see that God is working through the Bible and join him in what He is doing – it’s that simple!

One of the things that we all struggle with is that this society constantly strives to pull our kids away from God, Church, Sunday school, and youth group telling them that those things are not important – that other things are much more important. You struggle as parents and grandparents wondering how to draw your kids close too the Lord. Well, what’s the principle? God invites you to become involved with him in his work. So how do we join God where He is working in this community? All we have to do is look around and see that He is working at Trinity Christian School! God has given Trinity Christian School to this community so you can send your kids there and they can be drawn to God six hours and fifteen minutes a day, five days a week. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel, just watch to see where God is working and join Him in what He is doing.

And for those who, for various reasons, cannot send their kids to Trinity Christian School, that’s ok. Where else is God working in our community? He’s working right here at Trinity Lutheran Church in the form of Sunday School and Youth Group. That’s what God is doing, that’s what He created, and all we have to do is join God in what He is doing. So if you are a parent, make sure you get your kids to Sunday School, that’s joining Him in what He is doing. Make sure you get your kids to Youth Group, that’s joining Him in what He is doing. It’s that simple, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel.

And God is working right in your own home. Our Old Testament lesson, Deuteronomy chapter 4, talks about how important it is that parents instruct their kids in the truth of Christianity. I received a letter this week saying that less than ten percent of our churched families are talking to their children about matters of faith in the home. Parents say, “I don’t know how to teach my kids about the things of God. I don’t know what to do, I’m not a trained teacher, I don’t know the avenue.”

Again, our principle for this week is God invites you become involved with him in his work which simply means to watch and see where God is working and join Him. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. If you’re a parent and want to bring your kids closer to God, use Luther’s Small Catechism with Explanation. A “Catechism” is simply a multi-syllable word for “Book of Instruction”. You can know absolutely nothing about the Christian Faith and still teach your kids properly when you have one of these Catechisms. The kids get one in Sunday School and they get one at Holy Communion class. There is no need, parents and grandparents, to reinvent the wheel to instruct. Just simply watch and see where God is working. Five hundred years ago God worked through Martin Luther in writing this book so just use it and life become so simple. All you have to do is watch and see where God is working and simply join Him in what He is doing.

Simply look around, see where God is working, and join Him in his work. That’s it. God invites us to join Him in His work and when we do, life becomes so much easier and actually starts to make sense. Amen.

Prayer -

Heavenly Father, we ask that Your Spirit would open our eyes and that we would see all those avenues around us where You are working and simply join you. That is our prayer this morning and we pray this in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

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