Tag: Valley Lutheran

Valley Lutheran Chapel Sermon

Text: Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living. (Rom. 6:16 NLT)

Trouble in the World

Everyone has a god.

Sure, there are those who would say there is no god.  There are those who might not go so far as that, but they simply say there is no way that we can know god – if there is one. The Bible even tells a story of those who say to Jesus “Lord, Lord.”  They thought they had a god.  They continue, “we ate and drink in your presence and you taught in our street.” Or Matthew goes so far as to have them say, “did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ (Matt. 7:22 ESV)”  And Jesus responds, “Go away. I never knew you.”  You might even think you have the one true god.  But we often fool ourselves.

Because this is what it means to have a god. Whatever you fear, love and trust above all things.  That is your god.  This is one of Martin Luther’s deepest insights.  And it is right there is the small catechism. He expands on it the larger catechism.  You are a creature.  You are made.  You are made with a purpose.  The fancy greek word is telos – end. You are pointed somewhere. There are good works laid out in advance for you to walk in.  But unlike the grass or the lilies of the field whose purpose is simple and they will obey it – to come up in the morning, look beautiful and fade – God gave you a will.  And we often choose new gods.  We often choose something else – something lessor – to fear, love and trust above all things. We often choose to obey a different purpose than the one we were created for.

And everyone has such a God. But few actually understand what they worship.  Who they obey.

There are some default gods.  The world likes power. There are untold numbers of people and institutions that are dedicated solely to accruing power. They will promise you access.  You’ll be in the room where it happens. You’ll be in the inner ring. 

Some like a specific form of power – money.  Which is always funny. Because most of us think money is a life of ease and luxury.  But if you listen carefully to people like Elon Musk or Palmer Lucky they sound an awful lot like the teacher of Ecclesiastes. When goods increase, the ones who eat them increase. Riches and the ability to enjoy them are separate gifts.  And they rarely come together.  The one who is given the task of piling up, usually leaves it all to a bunch of idiots. If you want such a wry story go look up who Henry Ford served, and who the Ford Foundation – his money – now servers. This too is meaningless a chasing after the wind.

And then there are all kinds of minor deities: Pleasure…that one will eat you up fast.  As this generation’s greatest poet – Dana Gioia wrote – pity the beautiful.  Pity the looksmaxxers who are already withering.

Even things we would normally put on the good side of the ledger: knowledge, wisdom.  If you fear, love or trust any of these things above everything else, you have put a weight on them that they cannot bear. You’ve built your house on the sand…and the storm is coming.

Christology

But here is the good news.  Christ has set you free. Once we were all bound to one of those vicious gods. It didn’t really matter whether it was because of Satan, the World or our own Flesh.  We were bound.  The apostle Paul would call it bound to the elementary principles of the world.  You are going to serve someone. You are going to obey something’s law.  We all came into this world slaves of something.  And none of us had a choice.  In sin my mother conceived me the psalmist would say. We would go along to get along right up until the grave.  It is easier conforming yourself to the shape of the world.  Be water the Taoist would say.

But Christ has freed you. He exposed those gods for what they are – frauds. They will eat you alive and never give you what your heart truly desires. 

He exposed Satan’s lies.  You will not be like God.

He exposed the world’s lies. You do not get what you deserve. The world will crucify the innocent if it is the easiest path.  If they get in way of lunch.

He exposed our own hearts.  It is not what goes into you that makes you unclean.  It is what comes out of our natural hearts.

Christ exposed all those gods that we served for what they were – grasping and vain attempts at immortality. Desperate cries for love from things that would not love us back. What did it benefit Alexander or Caesar to rule the world?  They are still dead.  And we all sell out for much less than Caesar.

But Christ did not consider equality with god something to be held onto, but freely gave it away.  Taking on the form of a servant. So that he could be the slave of all.  The slave of all…who freed us all.  Freed us from our illusions of grandeur. Freed us from whatever fears of death drove us into the promises those petty gods.  Freed us from all the elementary principles of the world.  Freed us from all the laws that bound us.  He took that all to the cross.  Christ paid for it all.  The sins of cosmos.

And Christ gives us – gives you –  your first real choice. You have been freed. You are still not God.  You are never going to be God.  You are a creature. You are going to serve something. But Christ gave you a choice.  Who are your going to obey.  Who are you going to fear, love and trust above all things.

Moral

You can present yourself back to you favorite petty god.  They will certainly take you back.  And there are plenty of people who are more than glad to slip back into that comfortable servitude.

Or you can present yourselves to Christ. You can present yourselves to the God who calls you brother. You can present yourself to the God who loved you, when you were anything but lovely. You can present yourselves to Christ whose promise is to sanctify and keep you.  Unlike all those other gods who chew you up and leave you a shade.  Christ welcomes you into eternal dwellings. Christ gives you a house on the rock.

You have been freed in hope.  In the hope that you would use this freedom to freely serve.  That you would choose righteousness. That you would choose the hard obedience that leads to life.

Christ has freed you for this choice. Choose your prince carefully.

Eschatological

Because there is eternal weight behind this choice.

It is life or death.

You are going to serve something.  You are going to be obedient to someone, even if it is just your gut.

Everyone has a god.

Be sure you know who you are serving.  And what they are promising.

May you so pass through things temporal, that you do not lose the things eternal.

May you choose wisely who to serve.

The gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. The gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

Know who you are being obedient to.  It has eternal weight.

The Writing on the Wall

[This was a sermon delivered this morning at chapel at Valley Lutheran High School (vlhs.org)]

Then they brought in the golden vessels that had been taken out of the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines drank from them. 4 They drank wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone. 5 Immediately the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace, opposite the lampstand. And the king saw the hand as it wrote. 6 Then the king’s color changed, and his thoughts alarmed him; his limbs gave way, and his knees knocked together. 7 The king called loudly to bring in the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the astrologers. The king declared to the wise men of Babylon, “Whoever reads this writing, and shows me its interpretation, shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around his neck and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.” 8 Then all the king’s wise men came in, but they could not read the writing or make known to the king the interpretation.  – Dan. 5:3-8 ESV

Introduction

This is the way I usually describe the book of Daniel.  The first six chapters are a catechism for life as a faithful Jew in the midst of Babylon. The last six chapters are the ones that prove nobody understood the first six.  Those last six are apocalyptic, and so the natural question is always “What does this mean?” And the shelves are full of books that don’t get it. Written by enchanters, Chaldeans, astrologers and the wise men of Babylon.  

Text

Those first six chapters used to be staples of Sunday Schools everywhere. But those were the days when Sunday School was near universal and three out of four weeks. I’m old, so forgive me the nostalgia. Today I can’t assume that you’ve heard the story of “the writing on the wall”.  You might have heard the phrase.  And you might know that the writing means nothing good.  But unless you’ve seen the best Heath Ledger movie – A Knight’s Tale – you don’t know what it means. (Even my references are old, sorry.) That handwriting itself is an interesting puzzle. That’s a rabbit hole you could go down for a day. What exactly was the writing that so puzzled all the King’s advisors?

I’ll leave that to you, because my interest today is in the run up.  “They brought in the golden vessels that had been taken out of the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem…and drank from them.  They drank wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood and stone.”

I said that the first six chapters of Daniel are a catechism for faithful Jews in the midst of Babylon. As such they are also a catechism for Christians in the midst of this world.  There is an iron progression in everything the world does.  First the world blasphemes the real, the God who created. Belshazzar the Babylonian King – even though his great predecessor Nebuchadnezzar had proclaimed the wonders of Daniel’s God – Belshazzar thinks nothing more of that God’s sacred items than to get drunk and have an orgy. And why not, we conquered the Jews and took down their temple. Even if the man who did it would praise that God, ignore him, he’s old and dead.

So turned away from the creator to blasphemy, the World then worships the creation. “They praised the gods of gold and silver” and all the way down to humble stone. Idolatry takes many forms.  The human heart is an idol factory. Oh we think we are much better than the ancients.  We don’t build a temple or find a grotto and stick a statue in it and call it God.  No, if you are old like me, you install on you wall the largest image creator you can, and 24/7 play the stories of the gods – whether of politics, or money or fate or love. If you are your age, you carry that talking image in your pockets. And we are all addicted to the feed, to knowing what is happening with the gods.

And the final step of the world – from blasphemy, to worshipping the creation, the final step is ignorance. “Then all the king’s wise men came in, but they could not read the writing or make know the interpretation.” The most important thing to know is written on the wall, and nobody can read.  Nobody knows what it means. They can see the signs, but not understand them.  They had given up the eternal for the temporal.  And so their understanding was darkened.

Eventually the queen – who might be getting a dig in at her wastrel king – reminds him of Daniel and they call the faithful Jew in who is able to read the handwriting on the wall.

Application

What does this mean?  That’s a good Lutheran question that you might recognize if you have memorized the Small Catechism. A good exercise even if you can call it up on your pocket device. Luther asks that question over and over and gives a short answer.  What does this mean?

Let me offer up three things.

First, as Christian in the midst of this world, the opportunities to Blaspheme and Worship idols are ever present.  Now being the King’s enchanter, Chaldean, astrologer or wise man might seem like the best thing.  All your parents want you to succeed and success is usually defined in worldly terms.  We don’t call them those things anymore.  We might use words like the doctors, the economists, the technicians and the advisors. But the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.  If your success is based on technique, there is always a new technique that you will not be able to read. The idols always offer technique. But the way of the LORD is wisdom. And only wisdom can discern the correct technique. Only wisdom brings our things old and things new from the treasury.

Second, as a Christian in the midst of this world, you don’t have to fear anything you study. It was all made by God and it was made for you to understand. Daniel was never afraid to be a faithful Jew in the midst of Babylon. Now being that faithful person might mean having to dedicate yourself to excellence. Daniel was always better than the rest.  Excellence is always in short supply. It is always needed, even if it produces envy that might scheme to throw you into the lions den. But as much as the world might hate it, this world is God’s and he makes things work for his people. Study what you want. Dedicate yourself to excellence. Remember the LORD.

And last, but maybe most important. You are getting a chance here at Valley that Daniel never did. You are getting a chance to study under those who can help you answer “what does this mean?” You are studying with faithful teachers full of wisdom. Soak it up.  Apply yourself to learning and excellence. I think you will find in life this chance you have is rare and fleeting. So seize the day. Don’t find yourself later puzzling out the writing on the wall.  Because then it is too late.