​Reformation Sunday – 2024                                                                                  LSB #’s 656, 566:1-3 & 6, 744
Text – Romans 3:19
 
Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, & the whole world may be held accountable to God.
 
ACCOUNTABLE TO GOD
 
 
“…let us first consider our unworthiness   & confess before God & one another that we have sinned   in thought, word & deed,   & that we cannot free ourselves from our sinful condition.”  (LSB p. 203)    That line from our confession of sin describes the foundation upon which any human being   begins in their relationship with the holy & the almighty Creator. 
We are completely helpless & without a leg to stand on.   If that strikes you as wrong, or troublesome, even depressing, then try to calm a hurricane by saying the words, “Be still!”  Try using your “Jedi” mind powers to lift a mountain out of the sea.  Try to live just one day without making a single mistake in anything you do.   You & I are broken & we cannot heal ourselves. 
For that reason, as Lutherans who take seriously all the Word of God, we begin worship services by confessing our sins.   We enter into God’s presence in humility, admitting the depths of our depravity.    Our unworthiness is total & complete, such that you & I have absolutely nothing of value to offer to the Creator of heaven & earth. 
Yet, in our culture as a whole, it seems that the sense of guilt & sin is lost.  There is little fear or trembling at the prospect of standing before the Almighty Lord.   Many people of our nation no longer seem to believe in anyone’s authority but their own.   It’s a delusional version of “might makes right” based upon the group, or the cause, you identify with. 
And it’s not simply the unbelievers, because the disease has clearly infected Christians as well.  Skipping God’s house altogether is no longer a problem in the minds of most people who say they love Jesus.   If you never make the effort to visit someone what does that reveal about your love for them?    Of course, how much you or I love Jesus is not the measure of salvation.   How much God loves us is the only measure, & the cross of Golgotha is the sign.   Given that incredible sacrifice of love, why do the majority of Christians blow off being in God’s house each week?  Why is it that so many believers feel no sense of accountability before Jesus? 
Martin Luther had a serious problem with the church of his day.  One way of looking at it is to recognize that the Church no longer saw itself as accountable to God.   The Church was essentially teaching people that they were accountable to the Pope, the Cardinals & Bishops.  In many respects, the Word of God had been set aside & replaced with the word of man. 
Obviously, that’s only one side of the story.   If Pope Leo X were here today, he could give us his version.    Whichever side you come down on, Luther’s objections did spark a wholesale revolution in the Christian Church.   He’s especially known for restoring the Good News that Jesus died & rose from the dead in your place   & in mine. 
The reason Luther was so determined to restore the Good News is that he found an utter lack of it in the sermons being preached among the common people.   He wrote the Small Catechism in response.  Here are some words from his preface:
“The deplorable, miserable condition  that I discovered recently when I, too, was a visitor, has forced & urged me to prepare this catechism, or Christian doctrine, in this small, plain, simple form.  …unfortunately, many pastors are completely unable & unqualified to teach.  …Yet, everyone says that they are Christians… even though they cannot even recite the Lord’s Prayer or the Creed or the Ten Commandments.   They live like dumb brutes & irrational hogs.”  (An Explanation of the Small Catechism, CPH, St. Louis, MO, 2017, p. 363) 
 
Dare I ask, “Can you recite the Creed or the Ten Commandments?”     I know, memory work isn’t as revered as it used to be.  It’s not the end all & be all of Christian faith, but knowing the basics of what you trust in is important.  
Any of us who follow sports know the basic rules of any game that we follow.  As a child, I collected baseball cards.   I remember being able to recite the statistics, listed on the back of those cards, for many of my favorite players.   I was into the game & my team.    Are you into Jesus?   How do you apply His teachings to your daily struggles if you don’t have a good command of the basic teachings of the faith? 
I’m not going out on a limb to say all of you are probably sick, right now, of all the election news & TV commercials.  Thank you, Lord, for the mute button on the TV remote.   So how does your faith in Jesus Christ help you to deal with those emotions?   How you feel does impact how you interact with other people.   How do you express or moderate those feelings? 
Take the Lord’s prayer: And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.  Part of Martin Luther’s explanation says, “We are neither worthy of the things for which we pray, nor have we deserved them, but we ask that [God] would give them all to us by grace, for we daily sin much & surely deserve nothing but punishment.” 
Do you pray for our nation?   Do you pray for honest & fair leaders?   Do you hope for peace, prosperity & justice in our land?   Do you wish the elections would just be over?   Why should God consider any of your thoughts & prayers?   Not a one of us earns His consideration. 
Take the 4th commandment: Honor your father & your mother.  Luther explained it this way, “We should fear & love God so that we do not despise or anger our parents & other authorities…”  I don’t have to finish his sentence for you to get the point.  I don’t know exactly what you’re thinking, but in my mind, “Lord, how on earth am I supposed to do that?” 
We haven’t even looked at the Creed, & not a one of us, Republican or Democrat, has a leg to stand on.  St. Paul explains it well, “Now we know that whatever the law says   it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, & the whole world may be held accountable to God.”  (Romans 3:19 ESV) 
You see, our problem is not politics.  It’s not evil or corrupt politicians.  Your problem &
mine is sin – our sin.    And when it comes to that, the only thing your mouth or mine should be doing is confessing it.   And by God’s grace He is not holding a gun to our head saying, “Confess your sins or die!”   That’s sort of what was going on in Luther’s day.   People then were constantly taught that they are accountable to God for their sins. 
What wasn’t happening then is the regular preaching of the Good News that in Jesus Christ all our sins have been washed away.  God’s plan of salvation has always had two parts, & He intends for them to be balanced against each other.  We don’t need to earn or pay for the forgiveness of our sins, yet, all of us are accountable to God. 
Throughout history followers of Jesus have struggled to keep the two main teachings of Christianity in balance.  There is the Law that teaches we are accountable to God, & there is the Good News that God’s Son has been held accountable in our place.  One teaching does not work without the other, & unbelievers don’t accept either one. 
Come Judgment Day, all people, politicians & murderers included, will be held accountable to God.   Since each of us is guilty of murder, it doesn’t matter if you’ve never run for office.  If you trust in Jesus as Lord & Savior, God will not see any of your sins.   If you do not trust in Jesus as Lord & Savior, every sin you’ve ever committed will be front & center. 
In Romans 3:23, where Paul writes, “…all have sinned & fall short of the glory of God,” he’s telling us the true reality of each human being since The Fall of Adam & Eve.  God does not excuse our sin, nor does He ignore it.  He certainly does not wink at it, as we often do.  He does not explain away our sin because of the way we were damaged in childhood. 
Instead, God the Father sent God the Son to bear the curse of all sins.  Those disgusting political ads & every time you have harbored hatred or bitterness – paid for by Jesus’ suffering & death on the cross.   If you admit & confess that you cannot free yourself from your sinful condition, & believe that Jesus has already set you free, you can thank the Reformation for bringing that balanced message back into the Church.  Satan is constantly working against it, & our own sinful nature constantly resists the balance of our Lord’s Good News. 
As discouraging as it can be, God has blessed you & me with the ability to vote for the sinners who govern us.  Sinners like us, forgiven if they believe it, rule over our lives.  God has even blessed us with the opportunity to run for office ourselves.  People who lived under Stalin & Hitler, people who live under Putin & Xi right now, have died trying to achieve our freedom. 
As Jesus said, “From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, & the violent take it by force.”  (Matthew 11:12 ESV)    He’s not simply talking about dictatorships there.   Even in nations where the people are free sin runs rampant in our lives.  Satan is trying to take us, our friends & family, by force, into his kingdom. 
One of the ways he’s doing that is through the teaching of evolution, which says there is no God.  If there is no God then we are not accountable to Him, is how the deception works.  However, we should be careful when trying to answer question like this, “Why is it that so many believers today feel no sense of accountability before Jesus?” 
When we try to measure faith in that way, we’re leaning into the Law too far.    How much God loves us is the only measure that matters, & the cross of Golgotha is the sign.   Once we believe that, then, everything about our lives does change.  That isn’t always visible to the human eye, but it is visible to God. 
That’s why it’s important, when we quote Romans 3:23, “…all have sinned & fall short of the glory of God,” to be sure & remember Romans 3:24-25 as well: “and are justified by His grace as a gift,  through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,  whom God put forward as a propitiation by His blood, to be received by faith…”  (ESV)   The Holy Spirit worked through Martin Luther & the Reformation to restore & reconnect Law & Gospel.  He did so that sinners might once again find refuge from sin in the Church & in Jesus Christ.  Amen. 
 
 
 
By grace!  None dare lay claim to merit, our works & conduct have no worth.   God in His love sent our Redeemer, Christ Jesus, to this sinful earth; His death did for our sins atone, & we are saved by grace alone.     By grace God’s Son, our only Savior, came down to earth to bear our sin.   Was it because of your own merit that Jesus died your soul to win?   No, it was grace, & grace alone, that brought Him from His heavenly throne.     By grace!   On this I’ll rest when dying;  in Jesus’ promise I rejoice;  for though I know my heart’s condition,  I also know my Savior’s voice.   My heart is glad, all grief has flown since I am saved by grace alone.  Amen.  LSB 566:2-3, 6.

​Stewardship 3                                                                                                LSB #’s 902, 851, 842
Text – Luke 16:13
 
Becoming Money Wise
 
 
This is the final sermon of the stewardship emphasis, Living Wisely in an Unwise World.  The text reads: “No servant can serve two masters,  for either he will hate the one & love the other, or he will be devoted to the one  & despise the other.  You cannot serve God & money.” 
The almighty God comes to us through His Word to give us wisdom.   In what area of life do you think we need the most wisdom?   What causes the most tension, anxiety, stress & problems within families, marriages, communities, churches & governments?  The answer quite often is  the love of money. 
Hundreds to thousands of time a day,  you & I are faced with making decisions,  many of which relate to money.  In this election season, I get at least three texts messages per day  asking for money.  You have to decide if you buy coffee at Starbucks or Tim Horton’s or  not at all.  Should we buy gas  or should we give an offering to God? 
So much of life revolves around money.  However, we are blessed that God’s Word gives insight & wisdom  so we can be money wise.  Some of that will be considered today.  The Bible has over 2,000 verses that relate in some way to money & possessions.  Scripture is full of warnings about the misuse of money.  Paul tells us:
“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils.”  (1 Timothy 6:10a ESV)    He adds, “As for the rich in this present age,  charge them not to be haughty,  nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.  They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous & ready to share.”  (6:17-18 ESV) 
Jesus said, “Take care, & be on your guard against all covetousness,  for one’s life does
not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”  (Luke 12:15 ESV)   A list of verses would not be complete without a couple from the book of Proverbs.  In verses 13-14, of chapter three  we read, “Blessed is the one who finds wisdom,  & the one who gets understanding,  for the gain from her is better than gain from silver  & her profit better than gold.” 
In Proverbs 8, “Take My instruction instead of silver,  & knowledge rather than choice gold,  for wisdom is better than jewels, & all that you desire cannot compare with her.”  (8:10-11 ESV)   Proverbs 22:9 reads, “Whoever has a bountiful eye will be blessed, for he shares his bread with the poor.”     That tells us  the Lord blesses the hands of the generous. 
In order for you & me to become money wise,  we need to acknowledge that God is the owner of everything  including  our money.   Our perspective on ownership does affect our attitude toward money.  If we view it all  as our own,  rather than belonging to God, we will use it very differently  than if we acknowledge that it all belongs  to Him. 
Psalm 24:1 clearly states that God is the sole  owner  of all things: “The earth is the Lord’s, & the fullness thereof,  the world & those who dwell therein.”  (ESV)   Spiritual life goes better if we remember that we are stewards, entrusted by God with the goods He  has given to us.  How you look at the ownership of money is pivotal,  because it is so desirable. 
Will you acknowledge God’s ownership & control?   Do you see yourself as a steward, not an owner?   Does your life give evidence  to what you say?     Because money & material things can become sources of pride & self-sufficiency, you can easily live with the attitude that you are in control, even while following the ways of the world & your own desires. 
In fact, having money & possessions can deceive you into believing that nothing is more important than owning things & enjoying the stuff that money can buy.   If the love of money controls your heart, God is pushed aside, & you will endanger your eternity with Him.  Like the Rich Young Ruler (Luke 18:18-30), you will walk away sadly, unable to part with your money  so that God may have first place in your life.  Only through faith in Christ as your Lord & Savior can you understand & take to heart the words of Deuteronomy 8:17-18:
“Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power  & the might of my hand  have gotten me this wealth.’  You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He Who gives you power to get wealth…”  (ESV)   God is not only the owner of everything,  He even gives you the desire & the ability to work & earn a living. 
Another key to becoming money wise  is to make plans for spending,  saving  & giving.  H. Stanley Judd wrote, “A good plan is like a road map: it shows the final destination &  usually marks the best way to get there.”   As we never go on a long trip without directions, we should not try to manage our money  without a plan. 
A common phrase puts it bluntly: “If you fail to plan,  you plan  to fail.”    Whether God gives you little or lots  of money, responsible planning is vital.   It enables you to accomplish more with the money God entrusts to you.  Proverbs 16:3 says: “Commit your work to the Lord, & your plans will be established.”  (ESV) 
You can plan with confidence  because God will always be with you   to bless & watch over the plans you have committed to Him.  “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.”  (Proverbs 16:9 ESV) 
The Reverend John Wesley shared these wise & helpful words regarding money, “Earn as much as you can,  save as much as you can,  invest as much as you can,  & give as much as you can.”  Though Pastor Wesley served the church more than 250 years ago, those thoughts are as relevant today as they were then. 
We honor God when we put our abilities & talents to work in our vocation.   When we
spend less than what we make, we put ourselves in position to save money.  By God’s grace, we understand the importance of giving our time & our money to the Lord.   By giving, we express our gratitude to God for Who He is &  for what He has done for us through Jesus.   Whether or not our church needs our money,  God created you & me with a purpose & with a need  to give. 
St. Paul wrote, “On the first day of every week,  each of you is to put something aside & store it up…”  (1 Corinthians 16:2 ESV)   Jesus said, “…It is more blessed to give than to receive.”  (Acts 20:35 ESV)   We are to give on a regular basis as we are blessed   & it is God’s grace  that enables us to give our best  to Him.  When you feel you can’t give generously, Jesus responds:
“Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’   For the Gentiles seek after all these things, & your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.  But seek 1st the kingdom of God & His righteousness,  & all these things will be added to you.”  (Matthew 6:31-33 ESV) 
With God’s help, we can become money wise.  Seeking His wisdom, power & guidance, we can control our money before it controls us.  We’ve heard about our need to acknowledge God as the source & owner of money.  We highlighted the importance of planning.  A money- wise person saves diligently & invests wisely. 
As God’s people, we faithfully return to Him a proportionate amount of our income   to our church & to people in need.  To save regularly & give generously,  takes discipline in our spending.  It should be obvious that the key to being money wise is to spend less than we make. 
If we are disciplined in spending, & make sacrifices, we’re likely to meet our needs & the needs of those who depend on us.   If God blesses you with additional income,  do you remain disciplined & refrain from spending more  just because you have more to spend?   Understanding that our goal is giving to God first,  & saving second,  we seek to control our spending.   If it’s out of control, our goals won’t be met & our giving & saving will be minimal.  Lifestyle choices are a major factor in how much we spend. 
God does not list the specifics regarding what we should own,  & there is tremendous diversity among Christians on how they spend their money.   If we have comfortable homes & new cars, we can serve & love the Lord just as faithfully as someone who lives in poverty.  God does not condemn being rich, but He speaks against the self-centered attitude wealth can cause. 
However, if our lifestyles are wasteful or overly self-indulgent, we are violating God’s plan for our stewardship.  There is nothing wrong with being wealthy, but Jesus warns in Mark 8:36 NIV, “What good is it for a man to gain the world, yet forfeit his soul?” 
Because of sin,  all of us are unable to follow God’s wisdom regarding our money  as we should.  Bible study, prayer, using our spiritual gifts, serving & loving others – we don’t do any of that very well,  yet  God still loves us.   In spite of our wrong choices & sinful ways, God does not love us any less. 
Christ died for all of our sins, including poor money management & lack of generosity.  Each day we receive  a clean slate.    The Bible says, “But God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners,  Christ died for us.”  (Romans 5:8 ESV)   Jesus effected the redemption of all mankind in that act of sacrifice.  Therefore, we now count ourselves:
“…dead to sin & alive to God  in Christ Jesus” (Romans 6:11 ESV),  & the Holy Spirit working through God’s Word & Sacraments  continues His work of sanctifying us.   As we grow as disciples who seek to follow God’s wisdom, we understand more & more  what God has done for us in Jesus.  We see the infinite love of God that allows the death of His Son on the Cross. 
Through God’s love for us, we are prompted by the Holy Spirit to respond by sharing the resources that God has given us  in order to help meet the needs of others.  Because of Christ, we aim to control our sinful nature.  We are different & transformed people who,  by God’s grace,  strive to be money wise.  May our Lord give to us the joy of wanting to honor Him with how we view, spend, save, manage & give our money.  In the name of Jesus, Amen. 
 
 
Lord of glory,  You have bought us  with Your lifeblood as the price,  never grudging for the lost ones that tremendous sacrifice;  & with that have freely given  blessings countless as the sand  to the unthankful & the evil  with Your own unsparing hand.    Grant us hearts, dear Lord, to give You gladly,  freely of Your own.   With the sunshine of Your goodness  melt our thankless hearts of stone  till our cold & selfish natures,  warmed by You,  at length believe  that happy & more blessed ’Tis to give  than to receive.  Amen.  LSB 851:1-2. 

​Stewardship 2                                                                                                             LSB #’s 901, 903, 411
Text – Psalms 31:15
 
Using Time Wisely
 
 
This is the second message in our stewardship emphasis, Living Wisely in an Unwise World.  Last week we heard about “Following God’s Wisdom,” & today we’ll hear about using our time wisely.  The text for today reads: “My times   are in Your hand…” 
Let’s pray:  Heavenly Father, we thank You for the gift of time.  Help us to use our time wisely.  Enable us to keep You first in all areas of our lives & to find our rest in You.   In the name of Jesus our Lord.  Amen. 
John & Tracey Taylor were a couple in their early-to mid-30s with children, Stephanie & Anthony, ages 7 & 3.  Both parents worked full time outside the home, & took turns driving the children to school & child care,  in addition to Stephanie’s piano lessons. 
It seemed that the Taylors were always in the car.  They felt they should’ve been born with wheels as they ran from one place to another.   When they had an evening at home, they had to take care of all the things necessary there – laundry, chores, shopping, the yard. 
Both wished they could spend more time with their children, but, if they have time when they came home in the evening, they’re too tired to enjoy it.   John teaches Sunday School, & Tracey is a Stephen’s Minister at the church they attend.  They both want to be more active in their church, but it’s more & more difficult to find time. 
Each of us has our own variation of that story.  Over a lifetime, we spend an average of one week sitting at traffic lights waiting for them to change.  Some days it seems like all of that all at once.   We will spend the equivalent of a few days of our lifetime opening junk mail.   We’ll spend weeks at meetings. 
And the busier we are, the more we’re tempted to imagine how important we are.   The
busier we are, the more important we think we are to other people.   It can be tempting to believe that if we’re so busy, we are unavailable, that is a sign of our success & our importance.  And there are many good things competing for our time. 
Of all the gifts God has given, time is one of the most valuable.   It’s an investment that our Creator makes in us, to use in loving Him & in serving others.  He created time in the very beginning, as we hear in Genesis, “…there was evening & there was morning – the first day.”  (1:5b ESV)   Yahweh still rules over time even now. 
We are given 24 hours or 1440 minutes every day.   Each moment that the heavenly Father gives to us is to be used to honor Him with our thoughts our words & our deeds.  When we recognize that Jesus has erased our debt to God, then we recognize the value of the time we’re given.  Then we use it to serve our Lord & to serve our fellow man. 
Choosing how to use time is not easy.  There are so many godly opportunities staring us in the face.  There are so many options, so many possibilities.   In this materialistic culture, it’s easy to spend our time on things & activities rather than on people. 
God gives us freedom to choose how we spend the time He gives.   We can abuse it, we can waste it, we can misuse it, or we can spend it accomplishing God’s purpose for us.  Every single day is a gift.  In fact, someone said, “That’s why it’s called the present; because it’s a gift.”  When someone gives you a present, it’s yours to enjoy, to appreciate & to use. 
St. Paul wrote in Ephesians 5:15, “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.”  Since the days are evil, we want our time to make this world a better place to live.   We want to give our time to God, to our fellowman, to our families, to our friends, & to ourselves. 
The Psalmist said that, as long as he had life & breath, he would use his time to praise
the Lord.  Solomon authored Ecclesiastes & reminds us in chapter three, “For everything there is a season, & a time for every matter under heaven.”  (3:1 ESV)    All of us have the gift of time, right now.  Along with that gift comes the responsibility to budget our time wisely. 
When children are young, parents commonly give them an allowance to help them learn responsibility.  If they see something they like, & it costs more than their allowance, they have to figure out how they’re going to get that item.  It’s called budgeting.  They learn to budget their money in the same way we learn to budget time to accomplish the greatest good. 
If I spend all my time on social media, then I have no time for family & friends or getting things done that really need to be.  If we’re not sure how to budget our time, we might start by making a list.  Make a list of the important people in your life.    Make a list of the important things that you need to do. 
Then list the optional things – the ones that aren’t quite as important – things you would “like” to do.   If we have no guidance we’ll be like a ship without a rudder, bouncing all over the place & not going in any particular direction.  Do you ever wonder where all the time goes?  Maybe you are that ship without a rudder, bouncing all over the reality we call time. 
We so easily become sidetracked by insignificant things.  We can always find a reason for putting off the phone call for later.  We have good intentions about sending a card or a note or messaging someone, but there are other things that seem to have greater urgency.  Doing so many insignificant things gives no time for God, for our families, for ourselves.  
We may be working too many hours, too many days, too many nights, too many weekends.   Then we’re busier than God intended us to be.  Remember the story of Mary & Martha?  Mary was the one who took the time to sit at Jesus’ feet.  She listened to His teaching.  Martha was preoccupied with all the things she thought she had to take care of, because she had such a short period of time in which to do them.  There are many occasions that Jesus would love to have us sit at His feet, just to learn from Him, to have His grace & His mercy exposed to us, but we’re so distracted by all the other things.  Maybe they’re even important things, but as important as Jesus? 
In a book called Margins, the first thing that Dr. Swensen mentions in managing our time is to expect the unexpected.   Do you expect the unexpected when you plan your days   or do you cram them so full that, if something pops up, nothing will work out right?   All of us have days when things don’t work the way we thought. 
If someone was late, the babysitter didn’t arrive on time, you forgot where the keys were or had a flat tire, or the check didn’t come in the mail, you felt more & more stressed.  Maybe we need to take a look at all the commitments that we’ve made.  Could there be too many?  
If God were your appointment secretary, what would He do with your schedule?  Would He book you from morning to night non-stop, or would He include some free time?   What would He take out of your schedule?  What are some of the things He might add?  Jesus knows that, because of sin, we have trouble establishing priorities. 
We know we should have priorities, even what they should be, but, somehow, we struggle to keep them straight.  In fact, we cannot make things happen as they should by ourselves.  That’s exactly why God sent His Son Jesus: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful & just to forgive us our sins & to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  (1 John 1:9 ESV) 
Having received God’s forgiveness, we have time to set our priorities straight.   Every new day is a gift from Him.  When we fail to use our gift, we repent of our failure, & we are covered with the blood of Christ.  Then we start all over again – the next hour or the next day – with His power & His strength, knowing that He’ll be there every step of the way.  He’ll be our companion, our guide, our friend each day along the way.   Of course, Satan tempts us to think Jesus doesn’t have anything to do with this, or He can’t relate to all that we struggle with.  However, that’s exactly why Jesus became a human being – to experience the same problems that we do.  His days were so crowded sometimes that there was no time for Himself. 
People even anticipated where He would go, & they’d get there ahead of Him.  When He got there, they’d want to know more things, they’d have more demands & more needs & more expectations to be met, so much so that He didn’t have time for Himself.  At times the disciples & Jesus were so bombarded with people they didn’t have time to eat. 
You know what those days are like.   Jesus said to His disciples, “Come with Me by yourselves to a quiet place to get some quiet rest.”  (Mark 6:31 NIV)   So, they went away in a boat by themselves, not just to get away from it all  but to get spiritual rest,  rest that comes from God Himself, rest that comes through prayer & from reflecting on Him & His mercy & grace for us. 
To the crowds who were also stretched & hassled & helpless Jesus said, “Come to Me, all who labor & are heavy laden & I will give you rest.”  (Matthew 11:28 ESV)   This is more than just a chance to get away from it all, but true rest, the kind that refreshes, rest that encourages, rest that comes from Christ Jesus Himself. 
In the 3rd commandment, God commands us to set aside time for rest – spiritual rest.  When we find that in His Word & Sacraments, then we are renewed & strengthened to serve Him & those around us.  He is the One who brings true rest to our lives from all the hectic times & all the hassles going on. 
Yahweh offers His grace & His mercy to every single time in our lives, so we are not so stretched, not so bent out of shape.  Even when we’re so busy we don’t have time for Him, He always has time for us.  He’s never too tired, never exhausted, never slumbers or sleeps.  In fact, He gives His very self as He gave Himself for us on the Cross.  He gives strength & courage for every single day.  He gives you & me hope to take on all the things ahead of us & energy for each task along the way.  Using our time wisely begins with God & finding our rest in Him. 
Sometimes we’re so busy doing good things, serving others, working in the church  that we neglect our families, wear ourselves out, become resentful, & find no rest, no peace.  We’ve forgotten about God’s design for the Sabbath Day.   He gives us not only permission, but the command to keep the Sabbath holy, to stop our busyness, to be renewed by the grace of God. 
Jesus died for all of our sins including the mismanagement of time.  It’s not our time, but His.  The Psalmist said, “My times are in Your hand...”  (31:5 ESV)    If they were in our own hands, we’d be in big trouble.  Yes, all of our times are in the hands of God.   Even when going through difficult times in life, we can say along with St. Paul:
“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 8:38-39 ESV) 
Knowing that our Savior is always there for us, that He loves us, cares for us, & guides us, that enables you & me to say that we trust in Him.  Yes, my times are in Your hands oh Lord.  May God keep us that way in Christ Jesus.  Amen. 
 
 
Hosanna to the anointed King, to David’s holy Son!  Help us, O Lord; descend & bring salvation from Your throne.    Blessed is He who comes to us with messages of grace; He, in the Lord’s name, comes to us to save our fallen race.   This is the day the Lord has made; He calls the hours His own.   Let heaven rejoice, let earth be glad & praise surround the throne.  Amen.  LSB 903:3-4, 1. 

​Stewardship 1                                                                                           LSB #’s 733, 869, 754 tune 606
Text – 2 Chronicles 1:7-8a, 10
 
Following God’s Wisdom
 
 
Today is the first week in the stewardship emphasis, Living Wisely  in an Unwise World.  Next week, we’ll focus on “Using Time Wisely,” & the last week is titled “Becoming Money Wise.”  The text for today tells us:
“In that night God appeared to Solomon, & said to him, ‘Ask what I shall give you.’  And Solomon said to God… ‘Give me now  wisdom & knowledge  to go out & come in before this people, for who can govern this people of Yours, which is so great?’”  
“God answered Solomon, ‘Because this was in your heart, & you have not asked for possessions, wealth, honor, or the life of those who hate you, & have not even asked for long life, but have asked for wisdom & knowledge for yourself that you may govern My people over whom I have made you king,  wisdom & knowledge are granted to you.  I will also give you riches, possessions & honor, such as none of the kings had who were before you, & none after you shall have the like.’”  (2 Chronicles 1:11-12 ESV)
 
What if God came to you & said you could ask for one thing?     What do you want?     Is that what you would ask for? 
•     Some of you  would ask for help with your children.  Parents want their children to lead faithful, happy & successful lives.  
•     Some would ask for money  to improve your standard of living  & to do good for others. 
•     Some of you would ask for health.  Life without it  is challenging to say the least. 
•     Some of you might want power & influence. 
In the reading for today, Solomon was invited by God to ask for anything he wanted.  He chose wisdom.  With that, he could be the leader that God wanted him to be.   For several years, Solomon followed God’s wisdom, & Israel prospered under his reign.  As king, he built the world’s largest temple,  but unfortunately, as time passed, he began to abandon God’s wisdom & foolishly followed the wisdom of the world.  The root of Solomon’s downfall is that he married many pagan women who led his heart astray from God.  Solomon began worshipping false gods.  We can say that Solomon transitioned from the world’s wisest man  to just a fool. 
Jesus twice used the word fool to describe man’s thoughts & actions.  If we examine why Jesus referred to man’s foolishness  this question may arise: “Is God calling me wise or foolish?” 
Jesus said there are two kinds of people.  There are those who hear what Jesus says & respond to His ways & wisdom.   There are others who hear His words but,  like the foolish man, fail to put them into practice.  The people who reject His words  are like people who built their houses on sand.  (Matthew 7:24-27) 
When our homes are built on solid footings of rock or concrete, they far better withstand the wind & the rain.  In the same way that concrete supports houses, God’s Word, when received & applied in our lives, supports & strengthens us.  With God’s presence, we can withstand the storms of life. 
In contrast, the foolish man relies on himself & does not put God’s Words into practice.  His life  is like the house built on sand.  There’s no strength or support for life’s challenges & he gets washed away. 
The 2nd reference to Jesus’ calling man  foolish  is the Parable of the Rich Fool in Luke 12.  Because of a large crop, the wealthy farmer tore down his existing barns to build larger ones.  Jesus did not call him foolish because he built larger barns.  He called him a fool because he was so attached to his worldly possessions.  His riches were the most important thing to him. 
Since the rich man saw his wealth as his own, Jesus said, “Fool!  This night your soul is required of you, & the things you have prepared, whose will they be?”  (12:20 ESV)   The wealth the man possessed did not make him a fool.  It was because his whole life was focused on being able to “relax,  eat, drink & be merry.”  For earthly gain, he forfeited his soul.  In both cases of foolishness, Jesus called the men fools because they ignored God & did things their own way.  If we don’t put God’s Words into practice & if we fail to acknowledge Him as the source of all things, we will live self-centered, foolish, & selfish lives  rather than God-centered faithful lives. 
If we follow & serve Jesus, we won’t hear Him call us foolish,  but will hear Him say, “Well done, good & faithful servant!”  (Matthew 25:23a ESV) 
Unfortunately,  in our thoughts & emotions,  our sinful nature is eager to follow the world’s wisdom.  Though we are wayward & evil people, God loves you & me & wants the best for us.  He continually invites us into a relationship with Him.  By the Holy Spirit’s power, our hearts are drawn to following His ways & wisdom. 
Through His Word, we learn that God’s way & wisdom are vastly more trustworthy than the world’s wisdom.  God tells us through the Apostle Paul that “the wisdom of this world is folly with God.”  (1 Corinthians 3:19a ESV)    The book of James gives us a wonderful comparison between God’s wisdom  & the wisdom of the world:
Who is wise & understanding among you?  By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom.  But if you have bitter jealousy & selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast & be false to the truth.  This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.  For where jealousy & selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder & every vile practice.  But the wisdom from above is first pure,  then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy & good fruits, impartial & sincere.  And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.  (3:13-18) 
 
James tells us that, as believers who follow God’s wisdom, we will avoid the selfishness & bitterness associated with false wisdom.  Earth-bound wisdom is from Satan & leads to an unhappy, unfulfilling life.  With God’s wisdom, we seek to live lives filled with good works for others.  God’s wisdom enables us to apply His truth to the situations that we face in life. 
With God’s wisdom, we know what God wants & then,  through the power of the Holy
Spirit, we do it.  Let me repeat verse 17 again: “But the wisdom from above is first pure,  then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy & good fruits, impartial & sincere.”   Through faith, we know that true wisdom & understanding come only from God.  In the book of Proverbs, Solomon wrote, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”  (9:10) 
God comes to you & me through His Word to give us wisdom.  A common characteristic of people who follow God’s wisdom is that they finish well in life.  Finishing well doesn’t mean winning in the sense of beating everyone else.  Rather, it means crossing the finish line of life while not losing sight of the goal of salvation with Jesus. 
Finishing well also applies to non-spiritual aspects of life.  It could mean not letting down as you finish a job with one company, having taken a better offer with another.   It can be taking notes even on the last day of school.  It’s as simple as cleaning up after you finish a project.  There are many individual matters in life  in which we can demonstrate our desire to finish well. 
As we finish well, we demonstrate God’s wisdom.  In the NT, St. Paul was intent on finishing well: “Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it.  But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind & straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”  (Philippians 3:13-14) 
Paul saw clearly what was ahead & had determined in his heart that he wanted to finish well.  His desire to finish well produced an alertness while he was alive.  He would not let up until he crossed the finish line.  God had taught him how to live wisely  in an unwise world. 
Earlier, we heard of King Solomon who finished life poorly in spite of everything that he had: “All King Solomon’s drinking goblets were of gold,  & all the vessels of the house of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold.  None were of silver; silver was not considered anything in the days of Solomon.  Thus King Solomon excelled all the kings of the earth in riches & in wisdom.”  (1 Kings 10:21, 23)  Yet he did not finish well because Solomon lost his perspective & became lukewarm about God’s wisdom.  How many of us know how long we have left on this planet?  Will all of us finish well?  Are you determined to finish well in life   or will you allow your spiritual life to slide  as did Solomon? 
Through faith, we know God sent His Son to save us from our sins,  & from our very natural fear of death.  Because Christ rose from the dead,  & Baptism includes us in that resurrection,  we can live our lives now  without fear.  What we do with our lives today  is important to God.   
In Christ, God has instilled in us an eternal perspective  which allows His Children to patiently wait for His will to be done.  In Christ, our perspective is different from the one we had  without our Savior.  Even when we cannot see the effect of God’s wisdom,  faith allows us to trust that He is working  & mightily at that. 
Because Jesus saved us from hell, our saintly nature desires to  finish well  all the tasks that God plans to accomplish through us.  The forgiveness of our sins gives us assurance that the Holy Spirit will empower us to follow God’s wisdom.  We live in the grace of Christ Who has forgiven our sins.  God loves us & will never leave us nor forsake us.  (Hebrews 13:15)   
Yahweh’s presence creates a longing within  for wise living!   When we think of how we want our lives to turn out, we start to see each day, week & year as building blocks to use in that direction.  Not caring how our lives turn out will lead to foolish, careless living. 
In Christ, we have a new, eternal perspective on what life is meant to be.  We can be excited about the plans God has for us.  Let us turn our hearts back to our Lord  each new day.  Let the Good News of salvation in Jesus Christ prompt us to follow God’s wisdom.  
Dear Father, You are the source of all good things.  We especially thank You  for Your
desire to give us Your wisdom.   May we accept Your wisdom,  embrace it,  & seek to live by it.  In the name of Jesus.  Amen. 
 
 
With the Lord begin your task;  Jesus will direct it.  For His aid & counsel ask;  Jesus will perfect it.  Every morn with Jesus rise,  & when day is ended,  in His name then close your eyes;  be to Him commended.      If your task be thus begun  with the Savior’s blessing,  safely then your course will run,  toward the promise pressing.   Good will follow everywhere  while you here must wander;  you at last the joy will share  in the mansions yonder.  Amen.  LSB 869:2, 4.