SAINT LUKE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH OF WATERTOWN
Pentecost
23 Veterans’ Day November 8 and 11, 2001 Ezekiel 36:25-32
I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. You will live in the land I gave your forefathers; you will be my people, and I will be your God. I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will call for the grain and make it plentiful and will not bring famine upon you. I will increase the fruit of the trees and the crops of the field, so that you will no longer suffer disgrace among the nations because of famine. Then you will remember your evil ways and wicked deeds, and you will loathe yourselves for your sins and detestable practices. I want you to know that I am not doing this for your sake, declares the Sovereign LORD. Be ashamed and disgraced for your conduct, O house of Israel!
People of God—rescued from the flaming lake of fire in
hell by the innocent blood of the very Lamb of God:
Did you ever go out to eat—where they bring you a salad—I
mean a really crisp salad—with crunchy garlic and cheese croutons—and those
little purple onion rings—and salad dressing that is cold and creamy and sweet.
Then they bring you a bowl of soup—with this cheese all melted on the top and
it spills over the edge of this little crockery soup thing. And then they bring
you this platter with shrimps on it—all cooked in this batter—that’s almost
like little flakes on the shrimps. And they bring this barbecue sauce that’s
very dark and rich and sweet! And they bring you this really cold root beer and
a frosted mug—and there’s this half an inch of creamy foam on the top. And the
best part is the waitress who is so happy they are actually singing—singing out
loud to the background music—while they bring your food. Did you ever eat
out—where the workers are so happy they are singing? That’s pretty wonderful.
And if you stop and think about it—you have reason and I have reason to be
joyful—joyful and thankful and content. Joyful because Jesus loves us and
forgives us. Joyful because Jesus is always with us. Today as our nation pauses
to celebrate Veterans’ Day—as Thanksgiving is fast approaching—and soon after
that Christmas—the birth of the Christ child we have reason to be joyful and
thankful. Today God’s Word reminds us:
God blesses us!
1. Be ashamed of your sins
2. Trust in the LORD’s mercy
The part of God’s Word we are concentrating on today
is part of the scroll of the prophet Ezekiel. We dasn’t think that the
difficult and painful times in which we live are somehow unique. It was a
terrible and a painful time for ancient Israel. God’s people had been carried
off into captivity in Babylon—some 900 miles from home they were in exile. Oh,
some thought it would be for just a little time—and everything would be back to
normal—back to the way things used to be. That was wrong. This time of
discipline—this time of chastening—this time when the LORD would refine his
people the way precious metal is refined with fire—would last for a while! But
the LORD’s love would remain faithful for God’s people! The chapter we are
concentrating comes just before the familiar chapter of the dry bones—the
valley full of dry dead bones. The LORD would have Ezekiel preach to those bones—preach
law and gospel to those dry dead bones. And those bones would rattle—they would
rattle like the pounding of horses hooves—rattle like a swarm of bees
buzzing—rattle like swords and spears and shields crashing together in battle.
Those bones would come together—and be covered with tendons and muscles and
skin. But the real miracle would be when the breath, the wind, the Holy Spirit
would make these dead bleached bones to come alive again—by the life giving
power of the Gospel!
God’s Word says, “I will sprinkle clean water on
you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and
from all your idols.” A couple of weeks ago I
was by a mommy when her son said he had to go to the washroom. She told him go
ahead—and to be sure to wash his hands when he was finished. He said he would.
When he came back a few minutes later she asked him, “Did you wash your hands?”
He said no he hadn’t because there was a bee—a wasp in the bathroom by the
sink. I whispered to the mommy—wouldn’t it be easier to say, “Yes I did wash my
hands”, even if he didn’t. How would she know? She said, “If he said he washed
his hands—she would smell his hands—because if he washed them—they would smell
like soap!” I never would have thought of that! Wash your hands. You hear that
advice all the time. Wash your hands if you think you may have touched anthrax!
Wash your hands after shaking hands with 650 people on a Sunday morning. Wash
your hands. There are all sorts of anti-bacterial soaps—the kinds that you used
in the hospital if you were going to handle your own newborn baby. The kinds of
soaps that doctors and surgeons and nurses used to use are now in almost
everybody’s bathrooms and kitchens. There are soaps that kill germs on your
kitchen counters. There are soaps that smell as sweet as sliced peaches, spices
and cream. There are soaps like sun ripened raspberries and little green
apples. But all these soaps put together with filtered water cannot begin to
wash away a single sin. Only Jesus’ precious innocent blood spilled on the
cross can wash away sin—the sin—the rebellion of the whole wide world! God’s
people understood that hundreds of years before it happened. That the LORD—the
Great I AM—would wash them—cleanse them—clean them from the dirt of all their
sins!
God’s Word says, “I will give you a new heart and
put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give
you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my
decrees and be careful to keep my laws.” Did
you see on the news the man who got the new heart—the artificial heart—the
heart made of plastic and shiny metal and Velcro. It is a most wondrous
thing—this machine about the size of a grapefruit—that has replaced the heart
of muscle that once beat in his chest. Today there is this whirring sound—this
high pitched whirring inside his chest. If you had a new heart—quite literally
and physically a new heart—what would you eat? Would you eat lots of fruits and
vegetables—and whole grain breads? Or would you go back to a fast food
restaurant for a Big Mac and French fries and catsup and a strawberry malt?
What would you do? Would you be so foolish as to eat the very kind of foods
that did lethal harm to your heart? Would you have so little self-control and
self-discipline that you would actually eat greasy burgers and fries—and then
go on TV and tell people? Only Jesus can give you a new heart and a new spirit—a new attitude! A new heart and a new attitude needs to color our
every thought and our every word and our every action. A new heart means Jesus
living in us and through us! “I will put my Spirit in you and move you
to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.” Many years ago there was a TV show—a police show that very often would
begin with roll call. The desk sergeant would read reports about the very
latest crimes—the bad things that the bad guys had done in their fair city—the
banks and minimarts that had been robbed—the grandmas that had been mugged—the
crippled people who had been assaulted. Watch out for this bad guy or that bad
guy—know to be armed and dangerous. The end of that report was always the same.
“Hey, hey, hey—let’s be careful out there!” Be careful out there—careful to
keep the LORD’s laws. If we don’t—we are only hurting ourselves. I could not
believe the news the other day—a pitcher for the Atlanta Braves—a professional
athlete—was burned—painfully burned on his chest. How could this happen? It was
reported he was burned on his chest when he tried to iron—to steam iron a shirt
that he was already wearing! How dumb is that? It’s awful dumb. And yet—how
dumb have I been lately? God’s Word says, “Be ashamed and disgraced for
your conduct, O house of Israel!” Be ashamed
if we have worried and been afraid when we know God’s Word says, “Don’t
be anxious about anything—but in everything by prayer and petition with
thanksgiving present your requests to God.” Be ashamed that the most dangerous place to
be in these United States is in your mother’s tummy. Abortion is so common in
this country—our country—that one out of every three babies that are conceived
are put to death by people who claim to be physicians—people who have taken a
vow—the Hippocratic Oath that begins with the promise, “Do no harm!” Be ashamed
that in our country children are so desperate for a warm feeling deep inside
that they are willing to take what is supposed to be medicine to help and
heal—and take such an overdose—they have convulsions—and could even die! Be
ashamed that there in the country there are at the same time people who are
malnourished and starving—and at the same time—so much food in the dumpsters of
fast food restaurants—that people eat out of the trash! Be ashamed that people
will watch ball games late into the night—but think public worship that lasts
longer than 59 minutes has gone into overtime! Be ashamed of our sins—then
trust in Jesus of Nazareth—who died on the cross one dark Friday afternoon and
was alive the dawn of that Sunday morning. And because he lives—we too will
live forever!
I was waiting out in front of the Oconomowoc Hospital the
other day—when I saw a man walking from the parking lot. He had these
briefcases—kind of like suitcases in his hands. And he had a bunch of books
under one arm, too. There was a look of grim—absolutely grim determination on
his face as he walked purposefully toward the hospital. He was looking
down—when he plowed into this tree branch. It wasn’t a very big branch—but it
whipped him right under his nose. It made you say, “Ouch!” And I was 20 yards
away! Ouch! That had to hurt. He stopped. He put his briefcases and his books
down. He grabbed a hold of that branch and pulled and twisted and whipped it
all around. But it was too green and too thick to be pulled off. So he picked
up his brief cases again and came walking toward the hospital. “Don’t you often
wish you had a chain saw?”, he asked me. Do you know that feeling? That feeling
of hurt and frustration and inability to get out that chain saw and knock that
whole tree down? In this world—in this life—painful frustrating things like
that are sure to happen. The good news is—we have reason to look up—not just at
the branches in our way. To look all the way up to the tree Jesus died on. Then
to look past the cross to the empty Easter grave. To look even beyond Jesus’ empty
grave to our own empty tomb and our perfect forever rest in Heaven. In the
meantime—we will be watchful. We will be strong. We will hope and pray that the
LORD would bless us. And that the LORD would bless US—the United States. That
he would bless us by grace alone—that we might live to glorify him. Amen!
To God alone all glory!