Jan 31st - In Person

The Word of the Lord that I'm directing your attention to is the opening words of the 43rd chapter of Isaiah, where Isaiah the Prophet writes: "But now, thus says the Lord: He who created you, oh Jacob He who formed you, oh Israel, fear not. I have redeemed you. I have called you by name. You are mine."

Often times, when we meet people, one of the first questions is, well who are you and what are you do? Well, how do you answer that question?

Well, some people say "I'm just a farmer, mechanic, millworker..." A woman may say, "Well, I'm just a housewife or just a secretary" etc. Well, I'd like to remind you tonight, there's another way that we can remind other people and introduce ourselves to other people: I am a child of God. I was formed by God. He's fashioned and shape me from my mother's womb. Already then, He knew my name. Already then, He had a mission and a purpose selected for me. I am a redeemed child of God. I was one who, although I was conceived and born in sin, yet God who is rich in mercy paid the bill to buy me out of the slavery to my sin, the demonic power of the evil one. And God in his mercy through the waters of the baptism, or through the Gospel message, has called me to belong to Him to be His very own. And God has a very special purpose for me. I'm not "just a..." I am a child of God who is called to be a light to be an example to be a positive power and influence in all the relationships that I have with other people. For I represent Jesus. I'm a Jesus with skin on to those people who live and work around me. Some people may say, "Well, that's an awful lot, isn't it?" Well, it is.

Tonight, that's what I want to remind you of. I want to remind you, if we looked at those readings this evening, you know, you and I are not here by accident. Even if our parents didn't choose to or want to conceive us, we are here by God's appointment. You see, when God created the heavens and the earth, and especially when He created mankind, He created us male and female. And God shared His creative power with us as male and female, so that we can be part of his ongoing creative power. Thus, the children that we consceive, that are conceived, are part of God's gift to the world.

I know our world doesn't always believe that. Our world doesn't act that way. Our world doesn't think that way. We talk about tissues products of conception, wanted or unwanted babies which are tissues not blobs, and they don't want to call them babies, because that becomes too too real. And yet, that's what they are. They are babies. You & I, we entered this world the same way every other child in this world came into the world. God honored our parents with the gift of enabling them to bring forth a new life, a new person. That's you. Someone special, someone God created, someone whom He fashioned in His own image, in His own likeness. Very interesting how the psalmist says it very clearly and suscinctly. Various psalms, for example in Psalm 139, we have this read, this verse: "for you formed my inward parts. You knitted me together in my mother's womb. Your eyes saw my unformed substance. In Your book were written every one of them the days that were formed for me when as yet there were none of them."

St. Paul writes about those whom God foreknew. He justified, he brought the faith and confession Those whom God foreknew. God knew who was going to be here in this worship service this evening. He knew it before He even created this world. You and I, He already had us in mind. He already had our identity formed in shape and He already knew that they would be gathered here tonight to hear again the wonderful thing: that the life they have is a precious, holy gift from God. The Lord God who formed us. I believe in God the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth, and by that verse that we're invited to and encouraged to remember and that word who created all things and to whom all things were created, that word itself became flesh and dwelt among us: Jesus. Already, Mary was told: you will conceive and you will bear a son and you will call his name Jesus. He had an identity even before Mary was conceived by the Holy Spirit.

Jesus shared our humanity from the get-go on. And He shared our humanity for the very purpose that He could redeem us.

You see, the old serpent. Remember how the old slippery serpent came into the garden? And he looking at Eve and he says, "you know, did God really say that you're not supposed to eat of the fruit of the garden?" Well, it got Eve to thinking: God had told them they could eat of every tree in the garden except the one tree.

But then, the old serpent laid a little bit of doubt in her mind, says, "you know, really God's holding out on you. God doesn't want you to really have everything you've got coming to you. He is short-changing you." And then she looked at this tree with his fruit. And you know, it was a delight to the eyes. It was desired to make one wise.

She reaches. Bites in. And her eyes were opened, and she gave to her husband, and his eyes were opened, and what they saw was their shame and their guilt and their nakedness.

The old evil foe always likes to say "Did God really say? Does God really mean this? Does God really say that you became a human being in the moment of conception?" Yes, He does. He says that, and He means it.

And all of the politics in the world and all of the Planned Parenthood advice that people can get is not from God. It's not God's word that sets their agenda. Its human logic, human reasoning informed and suborned by the old evil foe who says: "Did God really say?" Well, God is rich in mercy. Although He could have simply said, "Alright you folks, you made your bed. You can lie in it. And you can just suffer along with all the grief that it's going to bring you." But already God told the old serpent, He says, "You know, Serpent, I'm going to put some warfare between you and the seed of this woman. And in this strife between you and the seed of the woman, that seed of the woman is going to crush your head, Serpent. Oh yeah, you may bruise his heel, but He will crush your head."

That's what the Lord God did with Jesus. The word became flesh and dwelt among us. Our Lord came into our midst to undo what the old serpent foe had brought about. Our Lord came to be what God wanted each one of us to be. And since we can't, Jesus came and did it for us in our place.

In just a few weeks, we're going to again enter into the Lenten season. We're going to again here that He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. He bore the grief of the abortions that people had. He bore the sorrow of illicit sexual activity. He bore that feeling that old people are just taking up too much space and we ought to give him a little pill and send them on their way and get rid of them Our Lord endured all of that shame and guilt that's perpetrated by others, by ourselves. On the tree of the cross so that you and I gathered here this evening could be reminded. But we've been washed and cleansed by the washing of the holy word and water and word and baptism. We've been fed and nourished by this body and blood of our Lord to strengthen and keep us in faith in Him. We are the redeemed of the Lord.

And we've got to remember that. There's a lot of people that we may know who who have basically been living without benefit of clergy. Or have dealt with an unwanted pregnancy by having an abortion. These are people to be loved, to be demonstrated the mercy and compassion of the Lord to. You know, abortion is not an unforgivable sin. Neither is same-sex marriage or anything. They're not unforgivable sins. Although they are sinful. And we need to remember that we are to love the sinner. We're to share the good news of the Gospel with those who have been broken. Remember, Jesus' invitation was not "come unto me all of you who got it all together who have no problems." "Come to me you who are weak and heavy burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me." And so the sanctity of human life is a reminder to us that God has placed us in our society to be the candle lighters, to be the little Gospel Lights that shine. Remember, when Peter wrote his letters to the Christians, the Epistles of Peter, they were written to Christians who were living in a very Pagan and hostile world. And He says, "Even though they may speak against you as evil doers, by your good conduct, put them to silence." So that's our role, our place in society as God's children. We have been called to be the light of the world, to be the city set on the hill, the salt that seasons and adds wholesomeness and preservation to a broken society. So, this is the message that the Lord has for us: Jesus demonstrated his unity with us. The word became flesh. He took our identity into his being to be for us what we cannot be, so that He could restore us back to that purpose that God made us for in the first place. And that's to give honor and glory to the name of a heaven, our Heavenly Father, and to live in love. And love means to live with a decision for others, a decision to treat them and deal with them as God in his mercy treats and deals with you and me. So that word of the Lord: "But now thus says the Lord, He who created you, oh Jacob He who formed you oh Isreal. Fear not, I have redeemed you I have called you by name. You are mine."

When you look in the mirror, you're seeing one of God's precious creations. When you look in the mirror, you're seeing one whom Jesus bled and died for. When you look in the mirror, you are one who has been washed and cleansed. The Holy Spirit has called you and gathered you into the family of God. You are one who Jesus says, "You are mine. I have called you by name." So, may the joy of knowing who we are: the loved, redeemed forgiven children of God, may this enable us and empower us to live out our lives in our homes and our families, at our jobs in our communities as salt and light to speak up and live out for a God of love & mercy. So may the peace of God, which goes beyond our human understanding, may it keep our hearts, may it keep our minds safe in the knowledge of love of Jesus our Savior. To Him be the glory forever and ever.