"Hannah's Thanksgiving" Sermon: I Samuel 2:1-10

“Hannah’s Thanksgiving”

[I Samuel 2:1-10]

November 18, 2012 Second Reformed Church

            This is Thanksgiving Sunday, and we are looking back about three thousand years in history to an event – a thanksgiving – that occurred by a certain women named Hannah. 

Now, there was a man from Ephraim named Elkanah, and he had two wives:  Hannah and Peninnah.  Elkanah had several children by Peninnah, but Hannah was barren, and Peninnah took every opportunity to rub that fact in Hannah’s face.

Elkanah loved Hannah, and though he provided for Peninnah and her children by him, he gave a double portion to Hannah, which made Peninnah all the more bitter and vicious towards Hannah.

Elkanah was a righteous man and went to offer up sacrifices at Shiloh once a year.  And one year, Hannah broke down in the Temple and cried with great abandon and mouthed the words of her prayer to the Lord asking that He grant her a son.  And she promised that if a son were born to her, she would give the son to the Lord and to the work of the Temple under the high priest, Eli.

The Lord honored her prayer and she became pregnant and bore the prophet, Samuel.  When the baby was weaned, she brought him to the Temple at Shiloh and presented him to Eli, and prayed the prayer of thanksgiving that we read this morning.

            And Hannah prayed and said, “My heart exults in the LORD; my horn is exalted in the LORD. My mouth derides my enemies, because I rejoice in your salvation.”

            Notice first that Hannah gives thanks to God because He has lifted up her heart, He lifted up her strength, and He gave her salvation.

            Hannah recognized that the work which was done in her – in bearing Samuel the prophet – was the work of God – God opened her womb and caused her to bear, through the love of Elkanah, a son.  She recognized that God was her strength – not beating out Peninnah in bearing children, but in being the servant of God in His Time and according to His Will.  And she recognized that salvation is the Gift of God, as He wills to give it.  And because all these things are true, she spoke of her enemies with contempt and joy.

            And we might scrunch up our faces at that and wonder – she joyfully looked on her enemies with contempt because of these things?  Was she sinning?  No.

            Hannah submitted to the Sovereignty of God, acknowledging that everything that happened to her – and especially the answering of her prayer for a son – was in the Providence and Wisdom of God.  She humbly submitted herself to God’s Will and rejoiced in Him, looking on all those who oppose God and His Will with contempt.

            Hannah gives a living example of rejoicing in God’s Will and hating what God hates.  Likewise, as we rejoice in God and His Will – and all things about God – Who He is – His Attributes – we are to despise sin – all those things which are against God’s Will and all those things which neglect to follow God’s Will.

            We are called to rejoice in Who God is and what He has done and those who are obedient and faithful in following Him.  As we pray, “your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10b, ESV).  We are to rejoice and give thanks to God as we see His Will done – like the creatures of Heaven – who in perfect obedience – follow God.  We are to rejoice as we see God – in His Grace and Mercy – call the elect and cause them to believe and follow Him in faithful obedience – and we are to rejoice as we see God meet out justice and strike down all those things which oppose Him.

            And again, we may be scrunching up our faces at giving thanks for God’s Justice and crushing sin and evil and death and all those who oppose Him.  Yet, Jesus quoted David, “‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet”’?

(Matthew 22:44, ESV).  And Paul encouraged the Romans as he wrote:  “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you” (Romans 16:20, ESV).

            We can understand hating sin, but not hating the sinner.  We say, “Hate the sin and love the sinner.”  And that is true to the extent that we cannot see the heart – we have no idea who the elect of God are and what God has chosen to do with any individual person.  It is possible – for example – if Hitler repented and believed in Jesus Alone for salvation before he died – he will be in the Kingdom.  Only God knows the heart of the individual and a person’s state of belief and faith at death.  We know that only those who believe the Gospel will be saved – justified – made right with God.  We know what God has called sin, but we cannot – with surety – say any specific person is in Hell (except those God names in the Scripture).

            The point here is not that Hannah was rejoicing in the condemnation of any specific person – though we likely jump to Peninnah who had been so cruel to Hannah – but that – in the Kingdom, we will be able to rejoice in God’s Justice as He punishes those who die in a reprobate state.  Somehow, we will be able to know that myriads of people are suffering eternal Hell and rejoice because that suffering proves the Holy Justice of God.

            Second, Hannah gives thanks to God because God Alone is Holy:   “There is none holy like the LORD: for there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God.  Talk no more so very proudly, let not arrogance come from your mouth; for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.”

            The Name of the Lord Alone is to be hallowed.  We pray:  “hallowed be your name”

(Matthew 6:9b, ESV).

            The Heidelberg Catechism (cf. Q&A 122) explains that this means that we are to rightly recognize – understand – Who God is.  We are to look to the Scripture and understand the God Who is.  And as we rightly understand Who He is, we are to respond by glorifying God – by showing Who He is to the world – pointing out the Sovereign Beauty of the One Holy God.  We are to present Who He is – and especially the Gospel of Jesus Christ – that the world would hear and believe – according to the Providence of God – that His Power and Mercy and Goodness and Justice and Truth would be clearly displayed throughout the world – through history – and in individual lives.

            Secondly, it means that we are to change ourselves – that – in everything we do – we do not blaspheme the Name of God – we do not bring shame or dishonor or disrepute to the God Who has granted us salvation, but, instead, that we would do everything with the end that people would look at us and give praise to God for Who He is – because – ultimately – life and death and salvation are primarily about God and Who He is – not about us.  God has chosen us to present the Gospel to the world, because it can be seen clearly through us and in us, because its holiness and purity shines out distinctly from our partly sanctified selves.

            Hannah continues confessing in thanksgiving that her security is in this Holy God because He is strength personified and unchanging.  James reminds us:  “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change”  (James 1:17, ESV).  We can trust and hope in Him because He cannot change – there is no other God like Him – He is the strength and security of our salvation forever.

            Therefore, she tells those who do not believe to watch what they say – literally, the text says “don’t let words fly out of your mouth like a swarm of locusts.”  Watch what you say – especially if you don’t believe, because God is coming as judge – the God of Knowledge – Who will judge our works – including everything we have said.  (For the believer – for the Christian – this judgment is not about salvation – our salvation is through Jesus Alone – through what He did – but there is a judgment of all yet to come – and those who do not believe will have not an excuse – no salvation – from what they have said – especially as they have blasphemed the Holy Spirit by not believing in Jesus Alone for salvation.)

            Third, Hannah gives thanks to God because He is the God Who does as He wills with all of Creation:  with kings and kingdoms – the God Who gives strength to those who are – literally – “stumbling to ruin.”

“The bows of the mighty are broken, but the feeble bind on strength.  Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread, but those who were hungry have ceased to hunger.  The barren has borne seven, but she who has many children is forlorn.  The LORD kills and brings to life; he brings down to Sheol and raises up.  The LORD makes poor and makes rich; he brings low and he exalts.  He raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor.  For the pillars of the earth are the LORD's, and on them he has set the world.”

We know this text is not merely about Hannah and her situation.  She did not bear seven children, but six.  She did not become wealthy.  And so forth.  This is a picture of how God moves the world and its people to accomplish His Will.

As Nebuchadnezzar – king of  the Babylonian Empire – confessed, “At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, ‘What have you done?’” (Daniel 4:34-35, ESV).

And Paul reminded the Romans:  “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment” (Romans 13:1-2, ESV).

Our God is not a god who created and walked away to allow whatever happens to happen.  Our God is the God Who is intimately involved in every aspect of our lives.  He set our leaders in place – no one has ever held a position of authority that God did not put there – for our good or our ill – according to His Providence.  The outcome of every election, every war, and every interpersonal relationship was planned out by God from the beginning.

God choses the life we will have – the life by which He has chosen to bring glory to Himself – and that we might see Him and give thanks to Him and rely on Him through our lives.  You and I are not where we are and what we are by accident – God – the Loving Father of all those who believe has put you were you are for a purpose. 

Last week we looked at the idea of stewardship – how are we using all that God has given to us to glorify Him?  Do you have joy in your life?  Notice I didn’t ask if you are happy – there are many reasons not to be happy every day – but are you joyful?  Does God and the knowledge of Him and the fact that He is intimately involved with every moment and every action in your life give you joy that leads to thanksgiving to God?

This same God is the God of life and death – no one can be born and no one can die and no one can raise from the dead except the Word come from the Mouth of God.  Two weeks ago we looked at the raising of Lazarus, and we saw that Martha believed in the resurrection that will come at the end of days before the restoration of the world.  But she missed the point of Who Jesus is:  and He told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,” (John 11:25, ESV).  Life and death and resurrection are not merely events – they are a Person.  God Incarnate, Jesus, is the Resurrection and the Life – by Him Alone does a person enter life, die, and will be raised.  Again, Paul writes, “I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:50-52, ESV).

This same God lifts up the broken, the repentant, the helpless, and gives them a seat of honor, because everything is God’s.  Abraham Kuyper once said, “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry: 'Mine!'"  If you are His son or daughter – that is a reason to give thanks, is it not?  That our Father and our Savior is Lord and Owner of all?

Fourth, Hannah gave thanks because God Alone is Savior:  “He will guard the feet of his faithful ones, but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness, for not by might shall a man prevail.  The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces; against them he will thunder in heaven.  The LORD will judge the ends of the earth; he will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed.”

We have a saying, “God is the Father of all humankind” – that’s not true.  God is the God and Creator of all humankind, but He is only Father and Savior to those Who believe in Him Alone for salvation – in the Savior that He sent to save us from the Wrath of God.

God guards the feet of His faithful ones – God will not allow one of those He has elected to be His be lost.  Jesus – praying to His Father and the Father of all those who believe in Him Alone for salvation prayed, “While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled” (John 17:12, ESV).  If God has saved you through faith in Jesus Alone, nothing you ever do can make Him lose you – He has paid the debt for all of your sins and credited you with His Righteousness, so you can come before the Father boldly – as a child.

Those who never believe – those who have fooled themselves about what they believe – God will cast them into outer darkness.  Jesus – referring to those who put their faith in their biological heritage as Jews – said, “I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 8:11-12, ESV).  Jesus used the expression “outer darkness” again and again – those who do not believe in Him Alone for salvation will be cast into a place of eternal suffering – there are a number of images used for it – but, in the end, it means a place where they will suffer in body and mind and heart and soul for all of eternity – because they blasphemed the Holy Spirit by not believing in the Savior God sent.

We are to preach the Gospel in thanks for our salvation – and everyone that God intended throughout time and space to believe will believe.  But the others will not – and those, God will take vengeance upon.  Hannah reminds us that God will take their bodies and smash them to pieces and thunder through them in eternal torment.

God will judge and welcome His sons and daughters into His Kingdom forever – not based on anything we did or did not do, but solely on the merits of Jesus.  But those who choose to go their own way, God will not recognize them – and He will cast them out.

Hannah’s thanksgiving for Samuel ends with the promise that God “will give strength to his king and exalt the power of his anointed.”  And certainly we can see God working through the people that God sets up in power to rule on the earth.  But Hannah is seeing even further than mere human leaders to God’s King – to God’s Anointed – to the Messiah – the Christ.

Hannah believed and looked forward in thanks to the day when the promised Savior – the Anointed King of God – would come to earth.  This King would come about a thousand years later and reveal His Glory and Power in a way that caused many to believe – and still causes many to believe.

But, as we acknowledge as we receive the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper – He is coming back with the veil fully pulled back and the rod of the King in His Hand to judge the world. “Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” (Matthew 24:30-31, ESV).

Hannah’s thanksgiving for the gift of her son reminds us of many reasons to be thankful:

Our salvation is from God Alone – we don’t – and can’t – earn salvation – it is the Gift of God.

God is the One Holy God – and we are called to point to His Holiness.

God is the Sovereign Ruler, Owner, and Creator of all – and if we are His, we can trust Him to provide for all of our needs, and we can trust Him enough to steward everything He gives us.

God’s Gift of salvation cannot be lost – because God earns it Himself and gives it to whomever He will.

God’s Justice will come to all of Creation – for the joy of some and the terror of others.

God is Jesus Christ, Who does not condemn us, but saves us by His Mighty Right Arm.

As Paul wrote, “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, ‘For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.’ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:31-39, ESV).

What are you thankful for?

Let us pray: 

To You, O Lord, we give thanks:  for life, for salvation, for being God, for all the ways in which You have revealed Yourself to us, and especially through You Son.  Make us truly thankful, and may our thanks be first and foremost to You and for You.  For it is in Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.

Community Lunch

This Saturday, D.V., from 12 to 1 PM is our next community lunch -- join us and give thanks to God for His provision of food!  See you then!

"Her Two Cents" Sermon: Mark 12:41-44

“Her Two Cents”

[Mark 12:41-44]

November 11, 2012 Second Reformed Church

            Today is Stewardship Sunday – the day each year in which we particularly think about the fact that God has given us all that we have and called us to be good stewards of it.  While we are specifically considering financial stewardship this morning, we ought to consider all that God has given us – time, skills, and other gifts – are all to be stewarded well and used – first and foremost – for the spreading of the Gospel and the good of the Church.

            Our Scripture begins with Jesus sitting in the doorway to the Temple watching the people enter and place their offering in the offering box – not unlike our offering plate.  There was a box that people could drop their financial gifts in that would be taken out later by the priests – and Jesus was watching and noting what people were giving.  Consider:  Jesus watches what we put in the offering plate…

            “And [Jesus] sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box.”

            What was He doing?  What gave Him the right to do it?  Would you have any problem with me – or one of the elders – looking to see what you put in the offering plate?  (Don’t worry; we are not going to start checking what each person puts in the offering plate as you do so, and only those who prepare the deposit have any idea of what you give.)

            Jesus had – and has – the right to know exactly what we give because He is God and calls us to account for our stewardship to Him.  “And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account” (Hebrews 4:13, ESV).  There will come a day when every human being has to account for everything he or she did before our God and Savior – including how we stewarded all that God has given us.  (This has nothing to do with our salvation – which is through Jesus Alone – but there will be a judgment of our works.)

            So Jesus sat down and watched what people were giving – and it was right for Him to do so because He is God in the flesh. 

“Many rich people put in large sums.”

Let us immediately note that there is nothing wrong with being rich.  God blesses people as He wills, and God allows people to have personal property of many sorts.  There is nothing wrong with that. 

As we see in the confrontation between Peter and Ananias and Sapphira – they had come to offer all of the proceeds of the sale of their land to the Temple, but they lied and kept back part of the proceeds.  Peter accused them:  “While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God” (Acts 5:4, ESV).  The Scripture is clear that people can rightfully receive blessings from God and enjoy them – the problem was their lying about their offering.  The issue is not about what wealth God blesses a person with, but with the honest stewardship of it – it is a matter of the heart.

So, Jesus noticed that many rich people put in large sums of money.  There is nothing wrong – in fact it is good – that rich people give large amounts of money for the work of the Church, because they have the ability to give large sums.  But there is still the matter of the heart to be considered:

“And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny.”

Notice, we are told that the person Jesus is watching is a widow and poor.  She had no support from others – as we see – and she puts two small coins in the offering – which made a penny (as our text calls it).  Actually, it was less than a penny in today’s money.  What the woman gave was about 1/64 of an average laborer’s daily pay.  In today’s money, we are talking about 1/8 of a cent – her two cents, so to speak, would be about 1/8 of a modern penny.

And we might be tempted to say, “Well, that was nothing.  Move along for more rich people to come.  What good is 1/8 of a cent going to do the for work of the Lord?”

But that is not how Jesus looks at it, is it?  No.

“And he called his disciples to him and said to them, ‘Truly, I say to you,’”

Jesus calls the disciples over to point out a distinction; He calls them over and begins by saying, “truly, I say to you,” – which is not language we usually use.  Jesus said, “I solemnly declare something of great significance – take note of what I am going to tell you – it is important.”

Notice:  “this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box.”

Had Jesus forgotten what all the rich people had given?  Had He looked away and not seen what a pittance she had given – how insignificant her financial offering was?  Of course not. 

So how could she have given more than all the others?

“For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

            What did Jesus mean?

            The rich people (at least some of them) were giving out of their abundance.  What they were giving was nothing to them.  It was as though a millionaire gave fifty dollars in the offering plate.  Fifty dollars would be nice – we don’t often see an offering like that in our offering plate, but fifty dollars is nothing – comparatively – to a millionaire. 

Understand, there is nothing wrong with a millionaire giving fifty dollars, but would that be good stewardship of his or her money?  Certainly Jesus – through His Divine Omniscience – knew that what they were giving was reallly nothing – it was not sacrificial – it was not given in trust – it was not given in faith – it was not given in thanksgiving for all of the blessings that they had received from God.

Please, let us be clear:  Jesus could be critical of their offering because He is the Omniscient God Who can see the heart of the giver.  You and I do not have the ability to unknowingly criticize someone’s giving.  There are exceptions – for example, when the annual report comes out, you know how much money I have received (in large part), so we could make some assumptions based on what the Scripture teaches about how much I should have given as my offering – at minimum.

The widow gave the most because she gave out of her poverty and gave everything she had.  She gave her last two cents to the Church – to the work of God in the Temple in Jerusalem.  Was that good stewardship?  If she truly had nothing else and no one to rely one – no other income to provide for her and her needs?  Jesus commends her, so – in this case – yes. 

That does not mean that everyone needs to give everything that they make to the Church.  It is also not an indication that God rewards based on the percentage of income that a person gives to the work of God.  It is possible to be rich and greedy, and it is possible to be poor and greedy.

How then do we judge?  Is there a line – a minimum that we can base our giving on?  There is – and Jesus affirms it in His condemnation of the Pharisees:  “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!” (Matthew 23:23-24, ESV).

The Pharisees understood that the minimum financial offering that God calls His people to give is ten percent of their gross income.  Ten percent of our gross salary.  Ten percent of our interest.  Ten percent of our Social Security.  Ten percent of our pension.  Etc.  Ten percent of every income that we receive.  The Pharisees we so exacting that they gave ten percent of the herbs of their gardens for use in the Temple and for the people of God.  And that Jesus affirms them for:  “These you ought to have done!”  Jesus commands us to give ten percent of our gross income – as the starting point of our giving – to the Church.  That does not include the giving of our time and gifts and financial gifts to others – that is over and above – as we are so pleased and able to do so.  And our giving to the Church above ten percent of our gross income is according to the joy that it gives us to do so.

The problem the Pharisees had – in this passage – is that they were keeping the letter of the Law about tithing – giving ten percent of their gross income – but they were not being just – they were not being merciful – they were not being faithful in other ways.

And we may notice that Jesus calls justice, mercy, and faithfulness the weightier matters of the Law and think, “Well, they are more important – if I am just and merciful and faithful, then it doesn’t matter so much if I actually give the tithe to the Church.”

            But what does Jesus say?  “These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.”  We do not have the option of being partially obedient.  It’s like being partially pregnant – you either are or you are not.

            The widow gave everything she had – and in this case we know it was the right thing for her to do, because Jesus praised her for it.  We are not all called to give everything we have, but we are called to be obedient – to be trusting – to give sacrificially for the sake of the work of God and in thanksgiving to Him.

            So, if it’s not wrong to be rich, and it’s not wrong to be poor, and it’s not wrong to keep and enjoy some of the blessings that God has given us, how do we determine what we should give?

            Well, it is clear that we are to give ten percent of our gross income.  It is also clear that if God calls everyone to give ten percent of their gross income to the Church that God has provided enough – through the other ninety percent – and helps as God wills to provide them – to provide for all of our needs.  Everyone has enough to give ten percent of their gross income to the Church in thanksgiving to God and for the work being done in the Church.  If we say we do not have enough money to give ten percent of our gross income to the Church, then we have not been good stewards – we have used money inappropriately – perhaps on things we don’t need, but just want and desire – or, God help us, we are calling God a liar.

            Consider what Paul writes:    

“The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. As it is written, ‘He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.’ He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. By their approval of this service, they will glorify God because of your submission that comes from your confession of the gospel of Christ, and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others, while they long for you and pray for you, because of the surpassing grace of God upon you. Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!” (2 Corinthians 9:6-15, ESV).

What is Paul telling us?

First, we steward our money rightly when we give thankfully and not under compulsion.  People have tried to use the “God loves a cheerful giver” as an excuse not to give, but Paul’s point to the Corinthians was to remind them that they had promised to give a certain amount, and he wanted them to be ready for when he came – that they would have their gift ready and not be taken by surprise – but be ready and cheerful about their giving, just as they were when they made their promise to give.  The widow certainly came of her own decision and gave all she had in thankfulness and not under compulsion.  So, we are to be ready to give and to give thankfully and cheerfully, because we desire to give in thanksgiving for what God has done and how God has blessed us.

Second, as we see with the poor widow, we steward our money rightly when we give sacrificially.  We start with God’s mandate of ten percent of our gross and then give as God makes us joyful to give.  However, let us not be confused when Paul says that the one who sows sparingly will reap sparingly and the one who sows bountifully will reap bountifully.  That is not a guarantee that if you give much to the Church, you will be rich, and if you don’t, you will be poor.  Just as a farmer does not eat everything that he grows, so the person who gives much (percentage wise) ought not to expect to get a big check back, but to see that “sowing” – that generous stewardship – flourish as God uses it for His Work.  For example, there have been people in this congregation who have given more than ten percent of their gross income to this church, and none of them have become wealthy because of their doing so.  However, I pray, that their giving has been useful in ways that would not have occurred otherwise in proclaiming the Gospel from Second Reformed.

Third, we steward our money rightly when we give trusting in God’s provision.  Where was the poor widow going to get the funds she needed to survive on?  We’re not told, but by her example, we see that she trusted in God for her provision by giving everything she had.  And Paul tells us in the Scripture I just quoted, God will provide for our every need – and as we are generous, God will give us more to be generous with that we might be even more thankful to God!  Again, don’t be confused by the false teaching that if you give to the Church God will give you more for you – that is not to be found in the Bible.  But God will give us more to steward well as we prove ourselves to be good stewards.  Paul even tells thieves:  “Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need” (Ephesians 4:28, ESV).  Part of the reason we work is so we will have enough to give – not just to God – but to others in need.

Fourth, we steward our money rightly when we give regularly and obediently.  We can assume that for the widow to act in the way she did, obedient worship and giving were a regular part of her life.  We have already noted that God calls us to give a minimum of ten percent of our gross income to the Church, but we also need to note that we are called to give regularly.  What does “regularly” mean?  It certainly means that whenever we gather for worship, we should give, because part of what the stewarding of our money means is worship – we are giving because we believe that God is Worthy – that Jesus is God the Savior and we want the Gospel to go out from the Church to the world.  Does that mean if we only worship once a month then we only have to give once a month – can we keep the ten percent of the other three weeks of earnings that we would have given if we had worshipped in the Church?  Of course not – we are to give ten percent of our total income and blessings and giftedness – period.  The primary issue here in the regularity of giving is that of obedience and worship, but there is also the very real fact that just as you have bills every week, so does the church.  Do not misunderstand me:  your offering ought never to be seen as merely paying your part of the bills – it is an act of worship and obedience and faith and trust – yet, part of the money that is given is used to pay the various bills that exist.

Some of us are saying, “I’m still not going to give ten percent of my gross income – and I’m certainly not going to give everything I have.  I can hardly get by on what I have now, and I need to save for my future and my children and grandchildren and pets.”

I urge you to consider the poor widow again who is praised by Jesus for giving thankfully, obediently, sacrificially, and regularly, trusting in God to the point of giving – on that occasion – her last two cents.

Are you concerned about where to cut?  Pray that God will increase your trust in Him.  Pray that God will help you to see where you can give more in thanksgiving for all the blessings you have.  Pray that you will be filled with joy as you see more opportunities to use what God has given through all of us to proclaim His Gospel to the world.

And remember the words of Paul, as he wrote to the Philippians, thanking them for the gift that they gave him:  “I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. 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. I can do all things through him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:10-13, ESV).

We are fond of quoting then end of that text, but notice that the context is in what Paul had – especially with regards to his finances.  Our problem – especially in America – is not so much that we do not have enough, but that we are not satisfied – we are not content with what God has given us.  We want more – we don’t even recognize our needs anymore – we just want more.  God calls us to be satisfied.

Can you be satisfied with what God has given you?  Can you be thankful for what God has given you?  Do you believe that God has given you enough – enough to give ten percent of your gross income to the Church – and more, as God gives you joy?  Do you have the faith of a poor widow?

Let us pray:

Almighty God, we thank You for supplying all of our needs and for also overflowing us with thanksgiving in recognizing Your Provision.  We thank You for giving us the opportunity to give in joy and in worship.  We ask that You would increase our trust and faith and obedience such that the world will look at Your Church and give glory to You.  For all things are Yours.  Lord, make us faithful stewards like that poor widow, and make us ever thankful for Your Inexpressible Gift of Jesus.  For it is in His Name, we pray, Amen.

"The Glory of God" Sermon: John 11:1-44

Due to the power outage, I preached from notes, and there is no manuscript for this sermon.

I argued that the Glory of God is seen in revealing Who Jesus is -- the Resurrection.  And I encouraged us to look forward to the resurrection of our whole selves -- body and soul -- rising on the last day.

November Sermons

D.V., I will preach:

11/4/12 All Saints'

   John 11:1-44  "The Glory of God"                    

11/11/12 Stewardship

  Mark 12:41-44  “Her Two Cents”

11/18/12 Thanksgiving

  I Samuel 2:1-10  “Hannah’s Thanksgiving”

11/25/12 Christ the King 

 Daniel 7:9-14  “The Son of Man”

"Our Father" Sermon: Jeremiah 31:7-9

“Our Father”

[Jeremiah 31:7-9]

October 28, 2012 Second Reformed Church

            Today is Reformation Sunday – the first holiday of the season – the Sunday in which we remember what is considered the official separation of the Protestant Church from the Roman Catholic Church – the beginning of the Protestant Reformation, which is dated at October 31, 1517, when Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses on the church door of Wittenberg for debate on the subject of indulgences. The end result of that act was the declaration that salvation is by faith alone and that our doctrine is to be founded on the Word of God alone.

            This morning, we're looking at a passage from prophecy of Jeremiah. Jeremiah began prophesying during the reign of the good king, Josiah, in about 627 B.C. and preached until the fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. when the Babylonian armies destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple and carried off the last of the people of Judah – except for the very poorest of the poor – into captivity in Babylon.

            Our Scripture takes place close to the fall of Jerusalem, after Jeremiah had prophesied to the remnant of Israel, condemning them for their whoring with idols – being an unfaithful bride to God Almighty – and for having no shame in their sin. Not only did they claim to worship God while they fooled around with idols, but they did so proudly, openly, in the sunlight, before all nations – without shame and without repentance.

            The nation of Judah was not exempt: she followed the example of her sister – and despite the fact that the Assyrians had come and taken Israel into captivity – despite the fact that the Babylonians had already come once and taken the upper class of Judah into captivity – they still had the audacity to turn their backs on God and worship false gods.

            Jeremiah went through the land contradicting the hundreds of false prophets – giving terrible and dire prophecies of what God was going to do if they did not repent and turn back to God – and the result was that Jeremiah was persecuted for telling the truth. He was thrown in stocks, he was beaten, he was thrown in a cistern, he was threatened with death – and he cried out in anguish to God and asked not to be the one who would give these prophecies. Jeremiah was sick of the abuse, sick of the people of Judah turning their backs on God, sick of crying and weeping and mourning with no one caring – Jeremiah is called the weeping prophet for good reason – but God told Jeremiah to continue to prophesy, to continue to denounce Judah, to continue to warn Judah, and Jeremiah found himself compelled to tell the truth – to speak the Word of God in a hostile land.

            Shortly before this morning's text, Jeremiah told the people of Judah that Babylon was coming again, and they would conquer Judah and destroy Jerusalem and the Temple, and they would be in captivity for 70 years. Jeremiah even sent a letter to the captives who are already there in Babylon and told them not to think about coming home, but to buy houses and start businesses and have families and be faithful to God in the foreign land, because they were not going to come home.

            The false prophets responded by sending their own letters – and by telling the people that Jeremiah was lying, and that they would not be in Babylon for long but God would bring them back quickly. And Jeremiah responded by telling the false prophets that God would take His vengeance against them – that the Word of God stood – the captivity would be 70 years and Jerusalem and the Temple would fall.

            However, as we reach Chapter 31 of Jeremiah, God assures the people of Israel and Judah that although they had sinned and sinned proudly against God – breaking the Covenant – God had not forgotten the Covenant that He made with Abraham swearing by His Own Self – by His Own Existence – that God would make Abraham's seed – a blessing to all nations. God reminded them that God will never break His Promises and that God will always bring His Plan to the end for which He has intended it – and God intended to use descendent of Abraham to bless all nations of the world. So the day would come – some 70 years later – that God would rescue a remnant from Babylon and bring them back to the land and carry out the plan, just as He intended – Israel and Judah would suffer for their sin, but God in His Faithfulness, would bless the world and bring the Savior through Abraham.

            “For thus says the LORD:”

            Again and again, Jeremiah and the true prophets of the Lord began speaking the Word of the Lord by saying, “thus says the Lord.” Jeremiah wanted to make it absolutely clear that he was speaking what God told him to speak – this was not wishful thinking on Jeremiah's part – this was not false prophecy – but this was the Word of the Almighty God – this was God's Intention – what God was going to do.  Jeremiah, put his life on the line in speaking this way – by directly asserting that this is the Word of the Lord – for the Law says that a person who prophesies falsely is to be put to death.

            Similarly, James warns those who are going into the Ordained Ministry of Word and Sacrament – he warns the preachers – it is a very serious thing to stand up before people and say, “thus says the Lord”– to preach. James wrote, “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness” (James 3:1, ESV). It is expected that the person who speaks in the Name of the Lord will only speak the Word of the Lord – it should not be an easy thing to speak in the Name of the Lord – and there are many people, and many pulpits, and many churches who will find themselves terrified at the return of our Lord, because they have spoken what He did not say and said, “thus says the Lord.”

            Jeremiah was a true prophet – and he spoke the Word of the Lord – and after some 70 years, a remnant of the people did return. And Jeremiah spoke about the time when those people would return – when they who truly believed in God and His Word would return:

 “Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob, and raise shouts for the chief of the nations; proclaim, give praise, and say, ‘O LORD, save your people, the remnant of Israel.’”

Jeremiah called on the people in captivity to sing with gladness and raise shouts of joy – giving praise to their God while they were in captivity and before Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed – calling out to God for salvation.

How could they do that?

There's only one way that you can be in captivity and know things are going to get worse and know that's it will be many years before your set free, and still hold on to the hope and the promise of salvation – and that is by recognizing this salvation is God's Work – salvation is by faith alone.

There was nothing that the people of Israel and Judah could do to get out of the Babylonian captivity. God had sent them word to stay there, to have families, to build houses, to start businesses, and to wait on the Faithfulness of God. Only a believer could go through such prolonged captivity – such prolonged waiting – and believe that God will save. Only a believer could get word that Jerusalem – the holy city – was destroyed, and the people have resorted to cannibalism, and the Temple had been profaned and torn down – and believe that God will save. Only a believer could mourn the loss of everything and still rejoice in hope and prayer, trusting that God will save.

That's not to say that trusting is easy – that rejoicing is easy – that prayer is easy – as you’re carried off from everything you’ve ever known and everything you’ve ever loved – all the places and people you put your hope in. It's not easy to suffer – it's not easy to reap what grows from sin. But surely, if we're honest with ourselves, we know that the answer isn't just to try harder – the answer is the answer that we see the captives in Babylon – the believers – doing: they tore their clothes, they repented of their sin, they cried and mourned and wailed – and then they said, “But God is faithful, and God doesn't change. And God doesn't lie, so I believe Him.”

That's exactly the difference we see between the unbelievers and the believers during the Reformation. The unbelievers were putting their faith in purely human rules – and they had minimized the horror and the affront that sin is to God. They thought that if they did enough good works, they bought enough indulgences, they thought that there was a way that they could earn forgiveness – and surely the preachers of the day were the most to blame for teaching these lies. Just as the ministers in our day are guilty of teaching lies – God wants everyone to be healthy and wealthy, but God doesn't care how we worship so long as we are “faithful,” or that we can pick and choose what we want to believe in the Bible because “it's not what we do, it's what we believe” – or some other such nonsense.

Martin Luther tried very hard to earn his way to heaven – to earn his way right with God, but s he looked at himself and realized his sin, he recognized that the greatness of his sin could never be covered through his works – that he could never do enough the right with God – and so as he searched the Scriptures, and taught in the University, he sought for some way of relief – and one day he found it:  “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith’” (Romans 1:17, ESV).

Martin Luther's eyes were opened: becoming righteous before God is not a matter of doing good works; becoming righteous before God is a matter of faith alone. Understand, salvation is God's Work – and then we respond. Martin Luther understood that he could never do enough to be right with God – God had to make Martin Luther right with God in order for Martin Luther to do anything good.

It is wrong to say that we are saved by praying a prayer or by having faith – salvation is not through doing anything. God changes people – God saves whom He wills – and then we respond – then we live as the people that God has called us to be.

Jeremiah wanted the people in captivity and the people who were going into captivity to understand that there was absolutely nothing that they could do to be right with God – and nothing has changed – God will save when God wills – because God made a promise to Abraham, and God cannot lie.

“Behold, I will bring them from the north country and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, among them the blind and the lame, the pregnant woman and she who is in labor, together; a great company, they shall return here.”

And Jeremiah tells the people that God will one day – after the captivity is over – bring back a remnant from all over the earth – and God will not merely bring back the wealthy and the smart, as some might have expected. God would bring back the people that God chose to bring back – according to His Will and for His Reasons.

And the people that God will bring back will be – in part – surprising: the blind, the lame, and the pregnant women. God chose to save people who would not normally be admitted to the Temple. God chose to bring people for whom the travel over those thousands of miles would be extremely difficult. God chose to bring people who might give birth along the way. God's choice of the remnant to bring back would be surprising. As Moses wrote:  “If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there the LORD your God will gather you, and from there he will take you” (Deuteronomy 30:4, ESV).

God was doing something new – something unexpected – God was not bringing back all of the “right” people. The fact of the matter is that God continues to work in the same way:  “For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord’” (1 Corinthians 1:26-31, ESV).

That's not to say that God doesn't save the wise and the noble – God does – God saves the people He always intended to save. The point is that we not be proud of why God saved us, because we don't know. We ought to be glad and rejoice and praise God and pray to Him in thanksgiving for His Salvation – for choosing us – certainly there are better people – more gifted people – prettier people – there are certainly better pastors.

“With weeping they shall come, and with pleas for mercy I will lead them back,”

And the remnant who returns will come with weeping – they will come in repentance and joy which causes weeping. One of the Psalms about God's restoration has these lines: “He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him” (Psalm 126:6, ESV). I wonder if many of us have not had that experience of weeping for our sin and then rejoicing in God calling us back in forgiveness? Have you ever truly wept before God for your sin and then known His forgiveness, such that you rejoice? God has shown mercy to all those who believe in Him and He will not turn His back on His people – even as we continue to send – that He calls us to repentance – to true sorrow – and He is there in mercy with His Arms open, ready to receive His back in joy.

“I will make them walk by brooks of water, in a straight path in which they shall not stumble,”

God now speaks of His Providence for those returning out of captivity: as the lame and the blind and the pregnant women, and all the others that God has chosen in His Mercy to receive back, God provides them with water so they will not drop away and thirst as they make the long journey home.

The sons of Korah wrote about God's provision in their Psalm:  “As they go through the Valley of Baca they make it a place of springs; the early rain also covers it with pools” (Psalm 84:6, ESV).

As they made their journey from the Euphrates River back to Israel through mountains and valleys, God gave them a straight path – almost as though there were a highway through the desert. And God's Character does not change:  we remember the prophecy of Isaiah:  “A voice cries:  ‘In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God’” (Isaiah 40:3, ESV).

God will bring us to Himself without stumbling. It may seem like we’re stumbling all over the place, but God's Way is straight and narrow – and God will not lose one of His Own.

“for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.”

            Jeremiah tells the captives that God is their Father – the believers of this remnant are not merely part of the people, but they are His sons and daughters. God does not choose us to be mere servants, but to be His sons and daughters.

            As Paul explained, “So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him”           

(Romans 8:12-17, ESV).

            God called the returning exiles Israel – Ephraim – the firstborn – symbolically referring to any believers who returned, not merely those of the tribe of Ephraim or the nation of Israel. God expressed His Fatherly Love toward the remnant that He would save from Babylon.

In the same way, God is our Father – God is Father to each person who believes in Him by faith alone. God has chosen a remnant from throughout the world and He changes our hearts and makes us believe. And then we have faith to believe in Him and follow after Him and know that He is our loving Father – the God Who provides for all of our needs, including our greatest need – that of salvation from God.

So, all those who believed during the exile had that hope in knowing that they were not in Babylon merely according to the Wrath of the Almighty God, but due to the discipline of their loving Father – the Father who would not leave them forever, but when the time was right would bring them home again.

Where does your hope life? Does it lie in your ability? Or your money? Or your family? Or the good things you do? Where is your hope?

Is it that while you are in exile in this fallen world, the Father Who loves you and has called you to be His son or daughter has changed you and saved you and made you right with Him forever and will one day bring you back to a perfect, restored Creation in His Kingdom forevermore?

Let us pray:

Almighty God, and our Father, we thank You for showing the exiles that sin is serious and must be punished, and for also showing them that You are a loving and faithful Father Who makes His sons and daughters right with Him – not through anything that they do – but through what You do. We thank You for the fulfillment of prophecy in the sending of Your Son, Jesus, that all we who believe by Your Mercy and through Your Grace, have now been adopted as sons and daughters. Help us to live in trust in such a way that others will know Who our Father is. For to You is the praise and the glory forever and ever, in Jesus’ Name, Amen.