August 29 Sermon

“How to live the life of a believer in a world of unbelievers.”
“Suiting up for battle in the full armor of God.”
“A locker room pep talk for the Christian who is getting ready to take the field.”
Pick your favorite metaphor, but this is the nature of our text. It is instruction for Christians who are attempting to live the Christian life in an unchristian world. There are challenges, temptations, false teachers with false teachings, a whole host of enemies, and we are out numbered & out gunned; but we need to be ready. We need to be prepared. Our text is intended to do just that, to prepare us, to get us ready for the testing and temptation we are certain to face and point us to the source of our faith and salvation. The goal is that we be ready and well prepared.
Our text begins with how we treat each other. 13:1 Let brotherly love continue. We are a family, brothers and sisters in Christ, and as a family we aught to love one another. There should be no outstanding arguments or issues. In the spirit of brotherly love we should confess our sins to each other and seek reconciliation, because this is what Jesus has done for us.
Our text goes on. It exhorts us to sexual purity. Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be un-defiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. That message was fitting then, it is fitting now. You and I are bombarded by sexual images and language everywhere we go. TV, magazines, the Internet. It is continually before us. And marriage itself is to be honored and revered as a good gift and creation of God..
5 Keep your life free from love of money, our text says and be content with what you have, for the Lord has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” 6 So we can confidently say,“The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?” The world has never seen such prosperity and wealth. The average person lives in greater comfort and luxury than the wealthiest of previous generations. Yet still we complain about what we have or what we do not have. Instead of coveting or worry our text reminds us that God is the one who provides for us and cares us for. There is nothing for us to fear.
Love one another, remain pure from sexual sins, be content with what God has given. Words written in the 1st century that could have just as easily been written in the 21st century. Timely, appropriate, culturally relevant, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Today is Christian education Sunday. Today we are officially recognizing the start of another school year. Our teachers are dedicating themselves to the task we have called them here to do for us. We are pledging our support to them as they are teaching and training our children. And today is a wonderful day to stop and remember the importance of the work that we are asking them to do, the importance of our Lutheran School.
The world our children will inherit is far and away different from the world the you and I grew up in. The world has become in many ways much smaller. It is possible to travel all around the world and get anywhere or see anything. In addition communication is constant and instantaneous. Those of you with twitter accounts and facebook pages can keep tabs on the random activities of your high school friends who are now spread out around the country or even around the world. We have cell phones and pocket computers. We have 24/7 access to a world of information. We have 24/7 access to one another's most intimate thought and plans and emotions. Truly the world has become smaller.
In some ways this is a blessing. Faithfully Lutheran and Christian information is available to you at a moments notice. If you missed a part of the sermon this morning you can read what you missed on line by the time you get home this afternoon. If you leave town on vacation, you can access our worship, sermon texts, and bible verses from any where in the world. You can carry the Bible on your smart phone in multiple translations and even languages .
But also we must admit, in many ways this is a curse. While Christian have used this technology for the spread of the gospel, the devil has moved evil men to use the same technology for evil and sin. There is Cyber sex, cyber bullying, cyber stalking – modern advancements and technology have in many ways provided an unhealthy and destructive outlet for human sinfulness. It has become easier, more prolific. These days, the average age of the first exposure to sexually explicit materials is getting younger and younger. Meanwhile the “kids will be kids” teasing that used to stay in the playground now follows them home. It winds up on facebook pages and cell phone text messages. Peddlers of pornography deliberately establish websites to be attractive and accessible to kids hoping to lure in future customers. It is an evil world out there.
Its not just the Internet. The challenge of being a Christian is just as real in our flesh and blood world as well as our cyber world. While our text tells us to keep the marriage bed pure, people these days have become uncertain as to what marriage even is. Is it true love? Is it a piece of paper? Is it two people of undefined gender and preference? Or is it a commitment between a man and a woman at the command of God for the nurture and growth of children. We seem to have forgotten.
Or what about faith and religion. Our text tells us of a God who loved us so that he died for us to save us, a god who called each of us to faith and keeps us in that faith by feeding us with his body and blood. But we live in a world where people will say, “I like Jesus but cant stand the church.” “I'm a Christian but I don't believe in God.” or “I am spiritual, but not religious.” these statements don't even make sense but still even Christian bookstores and publishers stock materials that cater to these people.
The world has lost its way and if we are not careful we will get lost right along with it.
Again, the words of our text, Don't be lead astray by strange and diverse teachings. “Strange and diverse” sums it up. More than anything people these days need a good solid dose, a steady diet of truth. In a world filled with false ideas and false identities not to mention false prophets and false religions, we need the truth. To that end, we need the Word of God.
Christians need to constantly and continually be fed with the Word of God. We need to know it inside and out. We need to study it, hear it preached, read mark learn and inwardly digest it. It needs to be in our hearts and on our minds. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
In Psalms 119:105 we are taught to pray to the Lord, Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Verse 105 is one of the more familiar verses from the Psalms, especially chapter 119. But all of Chapter 119 teaches us about the value and the importance of this Word of God.
For example, verse 60 says, The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever.
Verse 89 says Forever, O Lord, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens.
As we struggle with coveting and greed, the psalm teaches us to rejoice at your word like one who finds great spoil. (162)
As We desire to be made wise and to avoid the pitfalls of sin and the worlds destruction. Verse 67 says, Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word. Verse 101 says I hold back my feet from every evil way, in order to keep your word.
We need help and desire God's comfort, the psalm says (114) You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in your word.
We desire to be taught and to be made wise to tricks and the lies of Satan, Verse 169 Let my cry come before you, O Lord; give me understanding according to your word! Verse 130 says The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple.
Clearly there is nothing more valuable for the Christian than to tie himself to God's promises that He has given in His Word. Clearly there is nothing more valuable for the Christian than to be immersed in this Word. Clearly there is not greater weapon against the Devil and this evil world than the truth, the understanding, the hope, the comfort, the wealth, that is found in God's Word.
On this Christian education Sunday, on the Sunday that we begin another year of Lutheran Education at St Paul Chuckery, let us take note that the foundation of our education is that Word of God. It is a daily part of each child's routine, whether that be through memory work, chapel services, devotions, or class time, our students are daily receiving instruction in the truth of God's Word.
Psalm 119:81 says My soul longs for your salvation; I hope in your word. This word of truth and hope and comfort and wealth is above all a Word of Salvation. It is a word that teaches us of the love of God revealed in Jesus, the Word made flesh, who came for the salvation of all people.
Let's face it, our children are sinners. Just as much as we are, our children are sinners. And this world is going to test them and try them, it is going to do its best to destroy them and through it all they are going to get dirty. Our own St Paul Chuckery kids will find themselves in all kinds of predicaments as they attempt to find their way through this evil world. More than anything, they need to know where to find salvation. They need to know that they can find redemption for their sins in the blood of Jesus that has been shed for them.
Our text gives to us the instruction that we need as believers in Christi to find our way in this unbelieving world. We need this instruction and we need to go back to this and be reminded of this each and every day because the wisdom and the truth of this word will keep us from the errors and the lies that are a part of this world. But more than that we need the word of God that is the power of God to salvation for those who believe.
Amen.