21st Sunday Pentecost: Date: October 18, 2015
– THE SERMON: Isaiah 30:15-19
Theme: Placing Your Trust:
I. In the Resources of Man
II. In the Power of a Gracious God
( Pastor Theodore Barthels )
Bulletin: Read Bulletin
Sermon: Read Sermon
THE ORDER OF SERVICE: p. 15
HYMNS: 26; 425; 428; 313:1
THE EPISTLE LESSON: 2 Corinthians 8:1-12
Even when times were hard for the Christians of Macedonia they insisted on participating in the relief offering for fellow believers in Jerusalem. They not only gave according to their ability but beyond what they could afford. Why? Because they had first given themselves to the Lord. They expressed their love for the Lord by freely giving to help people they would not meet on this side of heaven. May the Spirit open our hearts to see our earthly treasures as tools with which we may so serve the Lord.
THE GOSPEL LESSON: Luke 12:15-21
Life does not consist of the abundance of things we own. Indeed Jesus reveals how earthly riches can instill a false sense of security, and may even be one’s undoing. Our focus in life needs to stay on the Lord, so that we are rich spiritually. Only through faith in Jesus nurtured by Word and sacrament do these spiritual riches become our own. May we be rich toward God all our days so that we may prepared to meet the Lord when He calls us to leave this life.
Sermon
St. Paul’s Lutheran Church
2100 16th Street SW
Austin, MN 55912-1749
Pastor Ted Barthels
Sermon preached on
October 18, 2015
21st Sunday after Pentecost
Scripture Lessons: 2 Corinthians 8:1-12, Luke 12:15-21
Hymns: 26; 425; 428; 313:1
Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Sermon Text: Isaiah 30:15-19
15 For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel:
“In returning and rest you shall be saved;
In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.”
But you would not,
16 And you said, “No, for we will flee on horses”—
Therefore you shall flee!
And, “We will ride on swift horses”—
Therefore those who pursue you shall be swift!
17 One thousand shall flee at the threat of one,
At the threat of five you shall flee,
Till you are left as a pole on top of a mountain
And as a banner on a hill.
18 Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you;
And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you.
For the Lord is a God of justice;
Blessed are all those who wait for Him.
19 For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem;
You shall weep no more.
He will be very gracious to you at the sound of your cry;
When He hears it, He will answer you. (NKJV)
This is the Word of God.
Sanctify us, oh Lord, through Your truth. Your Word is truth. Amen.
In Christ Jesus, dear fellow Redeemed:
INTRO: Finding Security in life.
This is what we are actually looking at in our text. When do you feel secure? Maybe it’s more revealing to turn the question around. When do you feel insecure? I know that for me there are times when feelings of insecurity take over my life. It could have been when bills piled up because of family or medical emergencies. And, oh yeah, those medical emergencies can do it too, can’t they? We know we should be fine because the Lord is at our side, but we find ourselves worried. Parents can worry about their children. Senior citizens might worry and feel rather insecure about retirement. They might worry about not having enough financial resources to retire and still have daily bread. They might feel insecure about what life will be like when they no longer have their work to give life meaning and purpose. Security is all about trust and —
THEME: Where You Place Your Trust.
I. Placing Your Trust in the Resources of Man —can be most disappointing.
The situation in our text had to do with Judah facing her enemies. The Lord had used the prophets to call the people to repentance. The prophets, including Isaiah, had already warned Judah for many years of judgment to come unless the people would repent. And that is how our text begins, with the Lord calling the people to repentance, pleading with the people to turn back to the Lord, promising the people that they would find peace and security by turning to the Lord.
Isaiah 30:15-17 For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: “In returning and rest you shall be saved; In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.” But you would not, 16 And you said, “No, for we will flee on horses”—Therefore you shall flee!
And, “We will ride on swift horses”—Therefore those who pursue you shall be swift! 17 One thousand shall flee at the threat of one,
At the threat of five you shall flee, Till you are left as a pole on top of a mountain And as a banner on a hill.
If they would simply put their trust in the Lord who had originally brought them up out of Egypt and delivered to them this good and prosperous land, if they would simply turn to the Lord in quietness with the confidence that the Lord is fully capable of delivering them from their enemies, they would be saved!
Their answer: they would not! It just didn’t seem to make sense to them to trust in the Lord against military forces that were greater than any others in the world, military powers that had simply ridden over far greater and more powerful countries than Judah. If their gods hadn’t saved them, why should they trust the Lord to deliver Judah? They needed swift horses and the best armies in the world to be safe and secure. God told them, specifically told them not to turn to Egypt for deliverance, but that is where they thought they had their best shot at deliverance and safety and peace. Human resources were easier to trust than God.
So how would it go for them? God made it clear that it wouldn’t work out well at all. Egypt let them down. Egypt didn’t even show up to defend them. The Egyptians were powerless even to save themselves. They fell before the enemies forces. So then what did the Lord say would become of those who put their trust in human resources? They would be put to flight. If they had swift and powerful war horses their enemies would have faster and stronger horses. The horses of Judah would only be swift in retreat. They would be running for their lives. They would be in a panic. They would not only run in the face of superior forces; they would run in the face of inferior forces. A handful of enemies would cause an army of Judah to flee. Five enemy fighters would stir panic in the hearts of Judah’s soldiers, and they would fall before them. The defeat would be a rout. The remnant would be a few stragglers gathered around a single pennant.
Human resources fail. They should not be trusted for security and peace and life. But it is so easy for us to fall into the world’s way of thinking. Who wouldn’t feel more secure if they won the lottery? If you had all those millions of dollars life would have to be better, more secure, and happier, wouldn’t it? One would think so, wouldn’t you? Haven’t you? I mean really, can’t you identify with the rich man in Jesus’ parable we read in our gospel lesson? Aren’t we deceived by the world and our own flesh, by our own covetousness into believing that we can trust money, or the might of our own United States military or the American economy to keep us safe and secure? Of course we have to earn a living, to get money to buy the things we need, but all this happens for our good under the Lord’s blessing. Of course our country should have an adequate military to keep us safe form our enemies. But it is the Lord who preserves our lives.
And if we as a nation are full of pride, and our nation wallows in evil, as it does, isn’t it to us that the Lord also pleads when He calls for repentance, for a turning away from evil and a turning to Lord. True, eternal security is yours only by —
II. Placing Your Trust in the Power of a Gracious God.
Isaiah 30:18-19 Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you; And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; Blessed are all those who wait for Him. 19 For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem; You shall weep no more. He will be very gracious to you at the sound of your cry; When He hears it, He will answer you.
The Lord’s mercy endures forever! We know that word of the Lord by heart, and we repeat it in our table prayers again and again. It reminds us that thee Lord desires our salvation. He longs for the day when the sinner repents. He desires that all men should be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. This is not only His desire; this is the foundation of His gospel plan which caused Him to send His Son down to earth to be our Savior. The Lord is a God of justice. He must punish iniquity. He must maintain justice and establish righteousness. And so He sent us a Savior to deliver us from the curse of the law and fulfill all righteousness.
This is the foundation of true security, of true happiness, of life everlasting. Those who wait for the Lord will be blessed! This was the hope that the few faithful of Judah needed to hold onto. Many difficult days lay ahead in the years that lay ahead for the land of Judah, but the faithful had to know that God is faithful. He keeps and fulfills His Word. His truth and His love are everlasting. Those who would wait for the Lord would be blessed. Their tears would be dried. He would hear their cry for help and the Lord would deliver them from every evil.
The Lord is gracious, and He will be exalted in the earth. He will be exalted by the wonder of His salvation. He will be exalted in the peace which He alone can bring, the security which He alone provides.
That is the same hope of life that the Lord holds out to us yet today. In the face of the evil in our own lives we need to repent and wait upon the Lord, He desires our salvation. In the face of the evil of this world, we need to wait upon the Lord, knowing the justice of the Lord will prevail, and His peace shall win over the violence of the evil one. In the face of the problems of this life that tend to overwhelm us and undermine our confidence in the Lord, we need to wait upon the Lord, remembering His faithfulness to deliver us from sin is the same faithfulness that will deliver us from every evil, and also dry our tears. We need to wait for the Lord, knowing that He is gracious and powerful to save. Even as He is patient and enduring, so we wait for the time when the Lord shall deliver us from every evil.
That may be a difficult lesson for us to retain in our thinking, but that is what trust is all about, and our trust comes from the exercise of our faith. Faith that is untested does not truly know trust in the faithfulness of God. Faith that has been tested learns trust from the blessings God has brought into our lives through the trials of life that we have encountered with the Lord by our side. We learn the wonderful truth of the psalmist’s words:
Psalm 37:1-5 Do not fret because of evildoers,
Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity.
2 For they shall soon be cut down like the grass,
And wither as the green herb.
3 Trust in the Lord, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
4 Delight yourself also in the Lord,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass.
Don’t be fooled by the appearance of prosperity and security which the world flaunts. It is a mirage. It will evaporate just when security is needed the most, at that moment when the Lord calls for their souls. Know the security which the Lord provides. Commit your way unto the Lord. Trust in Him. He will give you the desires of your heart, which will be sanctified by the Spirit. Trust in the Lord and He will bring to pass all that is for your good and blessing, for it stands forever true, “Blessed are all those who wait for Him. … He will be very gracious to you at the sound of your cry; When He hears it, He will answer you” (v.18, 19).
AMEN.
And the peace of God which passes all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.