Holiness

Holiness

Lev. 19:1-2,15-18,

10/23

† In Jesus Name †

Grace and peace, and holiness, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Be Holy, because I, the Lord your God, am Holy!

Be Holy, because I, the Lord your God, am Holy!

God calls us to live up to a standard, a standard called holiness.

There are days, to be honest, that I work hard on this concept, that I could say with Paul the Apostle,

¹² It's not that I've already reached the goal or have already completed the course. But I run to win that which Jesus Christ has already won for me. ¹³ Brothers and sisters, I can't consider myself a winner yet. This is what I do: I don't look back, I lengthen my stride, and ¹⁴ I run straight toward the goal to win the prize that God's heavenly call offers in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:12-14 (GW)

Yet there are other days, I find it impossible to pursue this goal. As I wrote this sermon, and ripped it up, and wrote it again, I thought of all the preachers I knew of in history who could convince you that this is the life for you, that could inspire you, both with their words, and their lives. Men like John Chrysotom, or Francis of Assissi, or Martin Luther, or people you may not have heard of, like Francis Rossow, or JAO Preus, or William Cwirla.

Holiness is a challenge, and it was for them as well.

Be holy, because I, the Lord your God, am holy.

I long for you to know two things, one, that holiness is possible for you, for God designed you to be holy. Secondly, that of all the ways one could live, holiness is by far, the best way to go.

You hear the word, “holy one”, and you think of prophets wandering around in the desert, or Theresa in Calcutta. You think of those mystical meditative folk, who spend long hours in prayer and the study of God’s word That stuff is important, we should spend our lives in prayer and study, but that is not holiness.

We see holiness described in the Bible, and especially here today in our Old Testament lesson, in terms of relationships. It is described in the words of the Gospel, loving God with all of you, and loving your neighbor as yourself.

Hear again the command,

Be Holy, because I, the Lord your God, am Holy!

A little bit of math, if A=B – then B must equal A. In other words, if we need to understand how we are to live holy, we can look at Jesus, because He is Holy. In the Old Testament reading today, we see a standards for such holiness. I think, if we use those standards to understand how Jesus is Holy, we shall understand as well, that we are Holy.

No Injustice/unrighteousness in court

Our reading said,

Be Holy, because I, the Lord your God, am Holy!

Then it says,

¹⁵ "'Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly. Leviticus 19:15 (NIV

How many people in here like cheering for the little guy? Do you ever notice how in some elections, one group strives to be seen this way? The unions declare Arnold is the big, bad guy, the guy backed by Big Business. Arnold turns around and accuses them of being a group which demands control over the nurses, teachers, and public employees the unions are supposed to represent, but do not represent fairly. Both groups try to play the pity card, and both do it well enough to confuse most people.

Others stand in awe of the famous, the successful, their heroes. Look at the people who hung around the Michael Jackson court case, they declared his innocence, they shouted it wherever they could, not necessarily based on evidence, but because such a gifted songwriter could not be guilty of what he was accused of. Maybe he was, I do not know, but I do know, that I did not hear the evidence.

If we are to be Holy, we must consider Jesus’ example. Among his followers, there were poor people; there were a couple at least who were wealthy. There were those who were pro-government, like Matthew the tax collector, and rebels like Simon the zealot. Jesus didn’t pick people on their social standing or wealth. His salvation doesn’t depend on whether you are listed in the 50 best dressed people. But it also doesn’t mean the poor and those that lack are automatically “holier” than those who are rich.

Each Jesus will judge fairly. He will just them righteously. Not based on their worldly value, but whether or not, they are holy, even as He is holy. On whether or not they have faith, in His work, which makes us holy.

No slander

Don’t stand by and let him get beat up either

The next standard is a tougher one, for to live holy, we are

not go about spreading slander among your people. "'Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor's life. I am the LORD.

Another version says we are not to be tale-bearers. Can you see Jesus, our standard for holiness, going around spreading rumours, or even gossiping about Peter or John? Or maybe telling the apostles, hey I knew that guy Moses, he was a real idiot at times.

Reminds me of the 8^th commandment, and its explanation,

We should not give false testimony about our neighbor. This means we should fear and love God, so that we do not tell lies about our neighbor, betray him, slander him, or hurt his reputation, but defend him, speak well of him, and explain everything in the kindest way.

This is the kind of holy life that Christ did. Consider that, despite knowing everything about us, 1 John 2 says He is our advocate before the Father! He is tasked with defending us, with speaking well about us, of increasing our reputation.

Jesus, in all of His holiness, makes it possible for us to be declared Holy, by Him. He will not betray us, and hand us over to hell and eternal punishment. Instead, in order to defend us who are guilty of sin, He died, that our sins would die with Him. That is what happens in our baptism, according to Romans 6. We and our sins, are untied with His death, even as we, without our sins, are united with His resurrection.

In order to speak well of us, Jesus suffered and died. Because He did that, we take on His holiness.

No hatred, your neighbor, but reason with him

Don’t hold a grudge but love

The last standard,

Be Holy, because I, the Lord your God, am Holy!

¹⁷ "'Do not hate your brother in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in his guilt. ¹⁸ "'Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.

Could Jesus seek revenge? Does God have the right to hate us? What is so amazing to me, is that Jesus doesn’t seek revenge on all those who have wrecked his creation, those who have taken advantage of the blessings they have been given. He doesn’t bear a grudge against us, His people. Instead, He died to forgive us.

He does rebuke us, He does let us know that sin is a sin. But he showed His great love for us, Romans tells us, that while we were his enemies, He died to make us Holy. He died to set us free. I love the last verse of the Battle Hymn of the Republic, “As He died to make men holy, let us live to make man free” He does that, He died to make us holy, and still lives, freeing us from the bondages of sin and death. Jesus, through our uniting with Him, through His cleansing, not only has made us pure, but Holy, enabling us to set others, bound as we were, free to be holy as well.

You see, our holiness isn’t dependent on us, it is His holiness we have been given. It is ours to be, and to pass on to those who yet do not know Jesus. Look to Jesus, the one Hebrews says is the author and perfector of our faith. Trust in him, and look to Him often, for it is there we are transformed into His likeness.

My friends, you are called to live holy lives, but not on your own strength. Jesus gives you that strength, He created you to be holy, and in giving His life for you, makes you Holy. You are called, you were created, to live a holy life in peace with your God, and in peace with your neighbor.

A peace that surpasses all understanding, the peace of God given to us in Christ Jesus.

Holiness

Lev. 19:1-2,15-18,

10/23

† In Jesus Name †

Grace and peace, and holiness, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Be Holy, because I, the Lord your God, am Holy!

Be Holy, because I, the Lord your God, am Holy!

God calls us to live up to a standard, a standard called holiness.

There are days, to be honest, that I work hard on this concept, that I could say with Paul the Apostle,

¹² It's not that I've already reached the goal or have already completed the course. But I run to win that which Jesus Christ has already won for me. ¹³ Brothers and sisters, I can't consider myself a winner yet. This is what I do: I don't look back, I lengthen my stride, and ¹⁴ I run straight toward the goal to win the prize that God's heavenly call offers in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:12-14 (GW)

Yet there are other days, I find it impossible to pursue this goal. As I wrote this sermon, and ripped it up, and wrote it again, I thought of all the preachers I knew of in history who could convince you that this is the life for you, that could inspire you, both with their words, and their lives. Men like John Chrysotom, or Francis of Assissi, or Martin Luther, or people you may not have heard of, like Francis Rossow, or JAO Preus, or William Cwirla.

Holiness is a challenge, and it was for them as well.

Be holy, because I, the Lord your God, am holy.

I long for you to know two things, one, that holiness is possible for you, for God designed you to be holy. Secondly, that of all the ways one could live, holiness is by far, the best way to go.

You hear the word, “holy one”, and you think of prophets wandering around in the desert, or Theresa in Calcutta. You think of those mystical meditative folk, who spend long hours in prayer and the study of God’s word That stuff is important, we should spend our lives in prayer and study, but that is not holiness.

We see holiness described in the Bible, and especially here today in our Old Testament lesson, in terms of relationships. It is described in the words of the Gospel, loving God with all of you, and loving your neighbor as yourself.

Hear again the command,

Be Holy, because I, the Lord your God, am Holy!

A little bit of math, if A=B – then B must equal A. In other words, if we need to understand how we are to live holy, we can look at Jesus, because He is Holy. In the Old Testament reading today, we see a standards for such holiness. I think, if we use those standards to understand how Jesus is Holy, we shall understand as well, that we are Holy.

No Injustice/unrighteousness in court

Our reading said,

Be Holy, because I, the Lord your God, am Holy!

Then it says,

¹⁵ "'Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly. Leviticus 19:15 (NIV

How many people in here like cheering for the little guy? Do you ever notice how in some elections, one group strives to be seen this way? The unions declare Arnold is the big, bad guy, the guy backed by Big Business. Arnold turns around and accuses them of being a group which demands control over the nurses, teachers, and public employees the unions are supposed to represent, but do not represent fairly. Both groups try to play the pity card, and both do it well enough to confuse most people.

Others stand in awe of the famous, the successful, their heroes. Look at the people who hung around the Michael Jackson court case, they declared his innocence, they shouted it wherever they could, not necessarily based on evidence, but because such a gifted songwriter could not be guilty of what he was accused of. Maybe he was, I do not know, but I do know, that I did not hear the evidence.

If we are to be Holy, we must consider Jesus’ example. Among his followers, there were poor people; there were a couple at least who were wealthy. There were those who were pro-government, like Matthew the tax collector, and rebels like Simon the zealot. Jesus didn’t pick people on their social standing or wealth. His salvation doesn’t depend on whether you are listed in the 50 best dressed people. But it also doesn’t mean the poor and those that lack are automatically “holier” than those who are rich.

Each Jesus will judge fairly. He will just them righteously. Not based on their worldly value, but whether or not, they are holy, even as He is holy. On whether or not they have faith, in His work, which makes us holy.

No slander

Don’t stand by and let him get beat up either

The next standard is a tougher one, for to live holy, we are

not go about spreading slander among your people. "'Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor's life. I am the LORD.

Another version says we are not to be tale-bearers. Can you see Jesus, our standard for holiness, going around spreading rumours, or even gossiping about Peter or John? Or maybe telling the apostles, hey I knew that guy Moses, he was a real idiot at times.

Reminds me of the 8^th commandment, and its explanation,

We should not give false testimony about our neighbor. This means we should fear and love God, so that we do not tell lies about our neighbor, betray him, slander him, or hurt his reputation, but defend him, speak well of him, and explain everything in the kindest way.

This is the kind of holy life that Christ did. Consider that, despite knowing everything about us, 1 John 2 says He is our advocate before the Father! He is tasked with defending us, with speaking well about us, of increasing our reputation.

Jesus, in all of His holiness, makes it possible for us to be declared Holy, by Him. He will not betray us, and hand us over to hell and eternal punishment. Instead, in order to defend us who are guilty of sin, He died, that our sins would die with Him. That is what happens in our baptism, according to Romans 6. We and our sins, are untied with His death, even as we, without our sins, are united with His resurrection.

In order to speak well of us, Jesus suffered and died. Because He did that, we take on His holiness.

No hatred, your neighbor, but reason with him

Don’t hold a grudge but love

The last standard,

Be Holy, because I, the Lord your God, am Holy!

¹⁷ "'Do not hate your brother in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in his guilt. ¹⁸ "'Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.

Could Jesus seek revenge? Does God have the right to hate us? What is so amazing to me, is that Jesus doesn’t seek revenge on all those who have wrecked his creation, those who have taken advantage of the blessings they have been given. He doesn’t bear a grudge against us, His people. Instead, He died to forgive us.

He does rebuke us, He does let us know that sin is a sin. But he showed His great love for us, Romans tells us, that while we were his enemies, He died to make us Holy. He died to set us free. I love the last verse of the Battle Hymn of the Republic, “As He died to make men holy, let us live to make man free” He does that, He died to make us holy, and still lives, freeing us from the bondages of sin and death. Jesus, through our uniting with Him, through His cleansing, not only has made us pure, but Holy, enabling us to set others, bound as we were, free to be holy as well.

You see, our holiness isn’t dependent on us, it is His holiness we have been given. It is ours to be, and to pass on to those who yet do not know Jesus. Look to Jesus, the one Hebrews says is the author and perfector of our faith. Trust in him, and look to Him often, for it is there we are transformed into His likeness.

My friends, you are called to live holy lives, but not on your own strength. Jesus gives you that strength, He created you to be holy, and in giving His life for you, makes you Holy. You are called, you were created, to live a holy life in peace with your God, and in peace with your neighbor.

A peace that surpasses all understanding, the peace of God given to us in Christ Jesus.

Reasonable and Content

Reasonable and Content

Phil 4:4-13 - Is 25:6-9 & Matt 22:1-14

In Jesus’ Name †

The irony of reasonableness/gentleness

The nature of being anxious/anxiety driven

1^st part of Luther Quote about breaking wind - So how do we overcome it?

To you, my friends in Christ, may the grace and peace of God, and our Lord Jesus Christ Abound!

As I was studying our reading from Philippians today, I got, well a little confused and more than a little frustrated. You see, the title of my sermon, “reasonable and content” is based on the translation of the Bible I use for my personal devotion. The translation we use here does not use the word reasonable; it uses the word gentle instead. It not only messes up the sermon title, but there is a bit of a difference between the two words. One Greek translation tool I looked at said,

The word is difficult to translate into English. It is translated by others as gentleness, forbearance, reasonableness, consideration, agreeableness, courtesy, patience, and softness. (PWS-NT)

So all of a sudden, I am torn, which is it? Gentle, or Logical? How do I present the difference, do I rip up my sermon? Change the title of the sermon? Reprint the bulletin? I start checking all my translations of the Bible, as if by a pseudo-democratic practice I could establish which is the better translation. Ironically, and in great frustration and anxiety, I moved on to the next verse,

do not be anxious about anything!

Here I was, anxious about the very passage that says – don’t be! Eventually, I would find the common ground that enabled me to see how reasonable, gentle and patient all contain the same thought, as we wait to see how Jesus deals with our situation. If, after all, Jesus can deal with all of our sin, can He not deal with the rest of our lives? If so, what stands in the way of rejoicing in Him?

As we look at this passage this day then, we are going to see why being reasonable and content makes sense. Why, knowing what Jesus has done for us, we can know the joy and peace that surpasses all understanding.

Be reasonable

Find your delight in the Lord!

Pray – in so many ways – but pray Eph 3:16

Dwell on these things - instead

Be reasonable. One Greek dictionary defines it this way: a humble, patient steadfastness that is able to submit to injustice, disgrace, and maltreatment without hatred, trusting in God despite it all! (rogers and rogers LEKGNT)

You want to know how to rejoice in the Lord? Or as another translation puts it, to delight in Him? We’ll get there in a minute, but one of clues to the fact that we are delighting in Him, is that people will see our reasonableness. We will not be anxious for events to occur, or for a hard situation or time to end. Instead, we will have that reasonableness, we will trust that God will work everything out in His time, and satisfied with that, we will know the joy of being in the presence of our Lord.

That is why entrust Him with our cares, and concerns, as Paul directs

in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

This to me is incredible, we have a God, who so loves us, that He would have us give Him all those things that cause us anxiety, those things we dwell on, when all alone, those things that distract us from Him. A great is example is the Lord’s Prayer. There Jesus tells us to ask the Father to deal with those things that cause us anxiety. Concern for our daily food and needs we lay upon Him. We ask Him to relieve us of our guilt, as well as resentment we have toward others. Then we ask that temptation and evil have no access to us, and that we are delivered from them! Knowing that God will deliver us from these anxiety ridden concerns, Jesus teaches us to ask, and know the prayer is answered.

No wonder Paul describes this to the church in Ephesus as,

And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, ¹⁸ you'll be able to take in with all Christians the extravagant dimensions of Christ's love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! ¹⁹ Live full lives, full in the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:17b -19 (MSG)

So do it, take you prayers, your requests – for you, for your friends, for your family, and ask them of God. Know His love, and that He will deal with them for the best. Did He not already do that, in saving you from sin, from Satan, and from eternal death?

If we are able to lay those burdens on God, and trust that He will take care of them, what is left to dwell on, but that which Paul describes in verse 8:

⁸ let your minds be filled with everything that is true, everything that is honourable, everything that is upright and pure, everything that we love and admire—with whatever is good and praiseworthy. Philippians 4: 8 (NJB)

Sounds like a description of Jesus to me, and of those He calls His own

Be content

Situations? Vary – Rollercoaster

Christ Doesn’t!

The Secret! – Do it through Him!

Finish Luther’s Quote

Luke 10 –

You’re the wedding guest off the street

The next step then, is to be content. Yet we struggle with being content. For many of us, life seems to be a roller-coaster, whose speed is ever increasing. We want to take control, to run our lives, we have a problem trusting God.

Isn’t that the original temptation in the garden? That Adam and Eve were offered to take matters into their own hands, and betray their trust in God? You want knowledge, satan will say – here it is. You want power to control your destiny? Sure – here it is too. Of course, that knowledge and power, used in rebellion from God’s love and plan for you, does allow only one thing – to steer your life away from Him.

Friends, the situations in your life will vary. Satan will try to use the bad times, and the good times. His goal is to distract you from delighting in Jesus, to being filled with the joy of knowing His love. To forget about what He has done for you in saving you, and from what He promises. But even though life may never seem the same – or even be constant in its changing, Jesus will never change. His work for you, done at the cross, and at the Father’s side in heaven – that does not change! His promises, they will not change. So delight in a Lord, Rejoice in His love for you! Live your life in view of His love and mercy!

That is the secret!

Listen again to Paul’s words,

¹¹ Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. ¹² I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.

The key through all this is simple, verse 13

¹³ I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

When Jesus sent out the disciples on a very victorious evangelistic trip – they came back with stories of “their” ministry. They had preached the word, and people responded, they healed people, delivered people from demons. Yet, Jesus words were – don’t rejoice in all that – but rejoice that your names are written in the book Life!

That is it – delight in Jesus, and in His saving you from your sin, from eternal death, from the schemes of Satan. That you are the children of God, declared to be righteous, because of Jesus death, for you.

As this sermon winds down, look at the parable in the gospel. We are the people brought in off the streets, to witness the incredible wedding, to share in the feast. We are the people the King determined to share this moment with, we are the ones that share in the feast. Someday in heaven, that feast will happen, as the church, the bride of Christ, is presented to our Lord Jesus. The feast we shall share in a moment, is but a reflection of that great feast.

So rejoice, knowing you are part of this feast, and that one as well.

And rejoice in our Lord, Delight in Jesus, knowing the peace of His Father, which surpasses all understanding, yours without any anxiety! AMEN!

Righteous Judgment?

Righteous Judgments

Isa. 5:1-7, Phil 3:12-21, Matt.21:33-43

10/2

† In the Name of Jesus †

May the grace and peace of God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ be yours…

The Old Testament reading this morning, is one of the many songs in scripture. Verse 1 tells us so, but if we could read it in Hebrew, there is meter and rhyme, and

It would be recognizable as lyrics.

As I thought about lyrics and music, and this passage, it seemed this song could be described in the words of Bob Dylan, “why don’t you sing me another one of those somebody done somebody wrong songs”. Even more so, I saw a outline to the passage that reminded me of basic classic outline of one genre of music. This passage is the basic outline of almost every old classic country music song!

Part 1 is the description of the relationship – how despite the love of the hero/heroine, that love is drug through the mud and trampled on by the evil offender.

Part 2, is the desire for justice, or at least revenge, on the part of the offended. This may include a request for an outside neutral person to agree that the punishment fits the crime.

There is a difference of course, in that most country songs do not tell the entire story, nor are they, for the most part real. As we look at this passage, using this framework, realize we are talking about fiction, we are talking about the real wrath of God, poured out on Israel – real people, who considered themselves to be the people of God, but where pretty much playing a game with God, chasing after other gods, and returning to the Father, only when in trouble. How well that describes our world today, and sometimes even, the church.

I will try, as we go through these lyrics about a man and his orchard, I will try not to use a country “twangggg”

The Unproductive Vineyard/

Every Advantage

Romans 9:4

Poisoned

Verse one starts, as the introduction of the song. The song is about one who is the object of the singer’s love, and that person’s vineyard. Thought I may joke about country music relationships always seeming to be one-way, this relationship described is so.

Consider the work of the vineyard master. He acquires a field, a filed that He knows is a field which is fertile. It has the right location, for proper irrigation and a topsoil that is rich. He then took the time to give it every bit of work that would enable it to succeed. He removes all the rocks that would impede growth and caring for the plants. He finds the plants which show great promise for growth. He provides for the defense of the orchard, from all outsides both human and animal, and plans for the day when he will harvest the orchard, and drink of the wine taken from the grapes. He expects His work to literally bear fruit.

Knowing the end of the story, where God declares the vineyard to be His people Israel, we know what all this work is. Paul shares with us the incredible benefits and blessings Israel had, in his letter to the church in Rome.

4 They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. 5 To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen. Romans 9:4-5 (ESV)

These were the people God chose to call His people. They had all the advantages. They could look at all the glorious things God had done for them in History, from the promises to Abraham, to the Red Sea, to the glory of God on Mt Sinai, and His presence guiding them through the 40 years of wandering. He gave them heroes like Joshua, Gideon, and Samuel, and kings like David, and Solomon. They had a head start on us all, for God gave them the law, exactly what He expected them to do, how to live in peace with Him, and with each other. And then, when they messed that up, he even provided a sacrificial system that would allowed them to see their sin compensated for.

And still, they treated God no better than the old hound dog is treated in country music songs. They betray Him, over and over, till by the time of Isaiah, this betrayal is constant. They are not a the wine of the vineyard owner’s dreams, they are not even palatable! They don’t even make a good vinegar! Instead of perfect grapes, the grapes are wild, the kind that no man would harvest, matter of fact, they stink as if they are rotting!

Here is the rot, found in verse 7. Where God expected to find the fruit of Justice, there is none to be found. Instead, there is the carnage of bloodshed as those given power oppressed the people, even to the extent of slaughtering them. Where God expected to find a people made righteous by His love and covenant, instead He found them screaming, as they had so many times before, as they reap the carnage their sin brings upon them.

The judgment!

His blessings removed

Does God have the Right to Judge?

We now move on to the second verse of the hymn, the call for revenge and justice:

⁵ And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. ⁶ I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and briers and thorns shall grow up; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. Isaiah 5:5-6 (ESV)

Whereas the wrath of God will be far more direct at the return of Jesus, there is a sense of wrath here. No longer will the be God’s protection around the vineyard, they will be opened up to being trampled by whoever shall desire too. The vineyard will become wasted, God will no longer do His work among it. He will allow that which is evil to develop in its midst.

It is as if God says to Israel, you want to be on your own, go, leave, be on your own. Those challenges that you had before, that I dealt with, no longer will I be there, to defend you. Those times of suffering, no longer will the vineyard owner see them through them.

The Heart of God

If I leave the analysis of the passage to simply the framework of a country western song, then I have a problem. For in truth, we still today, have trouble trusting completely in God, and we still do not love our neighbor as we ought. Personally I read this passage, and wonder if it is meant towards me. Do I result in the kind of fruit that would allow me to replace Israel, as the last verse gospel verse speaks of?

43 ⁴³ Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits.

Sometimes my friends, I have to wonder.

My hope, my only hope is to look for something Luther once said. He said, very clearly, that Jesus could be found on every page of the scriptures – every page. I need to see Him, I need to know of the Father’s love as shown through Jesus – to us.

It is there, though it took me until this morning to find Him. I saw a hint of it, earlier in the week, in a look into the heart of God, that we see in verses 3 & 4,

³ And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. ⁴ What more was there to do for my vineyard, that I have not done in it? When I looked for it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes?

Is this God questioning His own actions? What more could God have done, that the nation of Israel would produce the kind of fruit he desired? What will it take, for them or for us, to be the kind of people that God calls “Holy”, that would be “righteous”.

That is where I find Christ, the perfect plant in the vineyard, that takes our place. He is the one that when the walls and hedges fall, he is the one who gets trampled, and devoured. He is the one upon whom God levels His wrath, His frustration. Christ, made to pay the price.

There is my hope, to not look to myself for my righteousness, to not look to myself for the justice of God. But to know that Christ has given me HIS righteousness. That we have been forgiven, that we have been redeemed, and that God has again found His vineyard. That the Spirit, showing us the love and glory of God, will also continue to guide our life, our growth, and the Spirit will produce the fruit from it.

THe answer to God’s question was no, He hadn’t done enough yet. But then, He knew that, for Isaiah, the entire book, is about the fact that Christ needed to come, to establish God’s people, as forgiven, as whole and complete, because of His work on the cross.

We are, in many ways not the unproductive vineyard. Think of the promise in the epistle, ¹² Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.

And

²⁰ But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, ²¹ who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

My friends, we too, are plants in God’s vineyard. Our fruit that comes, comes from the care, and nurture that God takes. Our lives, lived out in view of the righteousness of God, given to us in Christ, produces fruit.

No longer is this a traditional country western – somebody done somebody wrong song, it is, instead, a incredible ballad of God’s love, for us.

Realize each and every morning, as Luther once penned – your baptism, and know, that you are His people, forgiven, redeemed, loved.

In that way, with your trust in Jesus, knowing He walks with you, you shall know the peace of God, which is beyond all understanding, and is yours, in Christ Jesus, our Lord, our Savior, our God.

AMEN †