Sermon for Pentecost 5, July 2, 2023
Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
Stand
with the Lord before all others.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
Our lesson
this morning from the book of Exodus serves as a tragic warning to all that the
Lord is deadly serious about being our one and only God. As we consider this text, we must first
understand that its content is descriptive and not prescriptive. In other words, we should not assume, in any
way, shape, or form, that God wants us to kill on His behalf. Christianity is never spread by violence, but
only by the subtle power of the Gospel in God’s Word. Yet, the message for us as we observe the
Lord’s dealing with rebellious Israel is to Stand with the Lord before all
others.
In our Gospel lesson a few moments ago, we
heard Jesus’ surprising words, “Whoever loves father or mother more than me
is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not
worthy of me.” Jesus was reiterating
what God has always demanded. The
Israelites had received God’s commandments, the first and most important of
which declares,
You shall have no other
gods beside me. You shall not make any
carved image for yourself or a likeness of anything in heaven above, or on the
earth below, or in the waters under the earth.
Do not bow down to them or be subservient to them, for I the Lord your
God am a jealous God. I follow up on the
guilt of the fathers with their children, their grandchildren, and their
great-grandchildren, if they also hate me. (Exodus 20:3-5)
The nation of Israel, to a man, had agreed that
God’s commands were good, and they swore to uphold their allegiance to God who
had rescued them from slavery in Egypt.
Yet, a few short weeks later, as Moses met with the Lord God on the
mountain, the people turned away.
Perhaps, they panicked. Maybe,
the Egyptian idolatry remained too strong a pull for them to resist. It could be that many never believed in God
to begin with. Regardless, when they
thought Moses had gone away too long, they asked Aaron to make an idol for
them, and Aaron foolishly, and incredibly, obliged.
The Lord’s anger burned against Israel, but
Moses interceded on their behalf. Still,
as Moses came down that mountain and observed the wickedness of his people, he
too burned in righteous indignation. His
own brother had formed this idol, and Aaron’s excuse was too flimsy to believe. Maybe, in a moment of weakness, he had feared
for his life before the rebels. Still,
what drove Moses wasn’t revenge but a need to restore order and
faithfulness. Therefore, he sent those
Levites out among the people bearing the sword against those who led the
uprising. Certain people were promoting
this wild celebration and encouraging sin against God. The Lord would have none of that among His
people. Thus, three thousand men died at
the hands of their brothers, neighbors, and friends.
As I said, this is a tragic event. The Levites received commendation from Moses
and the Lord, but it wasn’t because either enjoyed the killing, for God has
said, “I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked.” (Ezekiel 33:11) Rather, the killing had become necessary to
stop the revolt, and it serves as a graphic warning for all who would rebel
against God that there will be a day of judgment, and those who lead God’s
people astray will receive their due reward of eternal death.
Time and again, the Lord defends His name. Through Isaiah, He declares, “I am the
Lord; that is my name. I will not give
my glory to another, nor my praise to idols.” (Isaiah 42:8) The Lord is not jealous because He is
capricious, weak, vain, or unstable. Instead,
God defends His holy name, because only God can save, and only God is willing
to save sinful people from the condemnation they deserve. God defends the name of the Lord, “for
there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved.”
(Acts 4:12)
The message of our texts this morning is that
the first commandment must be obeyed if we are to enjoy salvation and eternal
life. Obedience to all the other
commandments flows out of the first. If
we do not love God as the only God and treasure in our lives, nothing else we
do will satisfy God’s demand for righteousness among His people. If anything, or anyone, becomes more
important to us than the Lord and His Word, we have fallen into idolatry. If God’s commands to us become too much to
live with, we also commit that sin of rebellion against God and deserve His
wrath.
Now, we know we are supposed to love our spouse
and children. We want to obey God’s
command to honor our parents and superiors.
At the same time, God must remain number One in our hearts. Then, if you truly and honestly consider
whether we have lived so faithfully, we will with humble hearts join with the
people who heard Jesus describe what it took to live according to God’s
commands, when they said, “Then who can be saved?” (Luke 18:26) To be saved according to Law requires perfect
obedience and trust in God from conception to death. It allows no option for desires of the flesh,
questioning, or even perplexity as to what God asks us to do.
We look back at the Israelite nation so easily
abandoning God so soon after He rescued them from slavery and torment, wondering
how they could be so weak and foolish. Yet,
God chose Israel because they make such a good picture of all of us. We too suffer our rebellious moments. We too often question God’s love and providence. No person on earth has ever lived exactly as
God’s Law demands—until Jesus. Jesus is
the reason God demands that we Stand with the Lord
before all others.
Because none of the Israelites, and no one else
either, could ever live up to the righteous demands of the law, God sent His
Son to do for us what we could never do.
From the moment of His conception in Mary, Jesus was serving His Father
in heaven, and trusting His Father in everything. From His birth until His death on the cross
for you and me, Jesus lived perfectly in line with all law and perfectly in
line with God’s will for mankind and for His own beloved Son. It is God’s will that His Son would suffer
for our sins. It is God’s will that
Jesus would redeem us from sin, death, and the power of the devil.
In this very graphic and violent picture of the
Levites slaughtering the rebellious among their friends, neighbors, and
relatives, God is teaching us to stand with Him alone. No, that doesn’t mean we kill those who
disobey the faith. It doesn’t mean we go
out to make believers by force. It
doesn’t mean that we bring harm to anyone.
God gives lots of instructions in the Bible for how we are to love our
neighbors as ourselves, and more so, how we are to love them as Jesus has loved
us.
At the same time, the Triune God—Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit—is to remain our number One.
He is the only God we are to trust, celebrate, obey, and follow. We find our comfort, joy, and hope in Him
alone. Then, and only then, does our
love flow to those around us.
It is not love to lead people away from the
salvation found in Jesus. It is not love
to encourage people to go their own way or to seek after their own
desires. That is the way of the world
and the way of the devil who so gleefully torments the world every day. Satan likes nothing better than when we turn
from God to take up the celebration of the flesh or to question God’s love and
care for us. The devil’s tricks are all
old hat. He has used the same few lies
since he led Adam and Eve to sin.
Yet, Satan couldn’t stop Jesus. Nothing the devil used to tempt Jesus made
any difference. Satan had no trick Jesus
couldn’t see through; no temptation Jesus couldn’t answer with what God has
given us in His Word. Our dear Savior
kept His eyes focused on His Father in heaven, trusting Him for every need,
seeking His guidance and blessing in every moment of His earthly life, trusting
our true God in perfect love, all so that Jesus could present His holy, perfect
life in exchange for ours. Then, in
accord with His Father’s loving plan, Jesus carried our guilt to the cross and
suffered the ignominious death we deserved, so that He could declare with authority,
“It is finished!” (John 19:30)
Dear friends, this is why God invites and
commands us to Stand with the Lord before all others. Jesus has accomplished everything needed to
reconnect us with our loving Creator.
Therefore, when God gave the command to have Him alone as our God, and
threatened judgment to generation after generation of those who hate Him, He
also holds open His hands promising, “But I show mercy to thousands who love
me and keep my commandments.” (Exodus 20:6)
This is why we come to God in repentance and worship, because our loving
God has rescued us from the darkness of death and condemnation. He has shown mercy to all through Jesus. “God was in Christ reconciling the world
to himself, not counting their trespasses against them. And he has entrusted to us the message of
reconciliation.” (2 Corinthians 5:19)
Today, we are God’s people, made His, and holy
in His sight, through faith in Jesus alone, a faith given to us by the power
and work of the Holy Spirit alone, only through the Gospel in Word and
Sacrament. Through faith in Jesus, we
are justified and declared righteous before God for Jesus’ sake. In Jesus, we have life and peace
everlasting. God’s greatest desire is,
as it has always been, that we are saved by faith in His Son, Jesus. Therefore, our Lord invites us to live in the
grace He has bestowed upon us; thus, to Stand with the Lord before all
others. Amen.
The peace of God, which surpasses all
understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life
everlasting. Amen.
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