Handle the Truth

I want to take just this opportunity to say a word of thanks. My job as District President is working with you and 214 other congregations in North Wisconsin District, which is Northern Wisconsin, Upper, Michigan. The Wisconsin, North Wisconsin district has been here since 1916, as part of Missouri Synod, and there's 35 districts, of which we're one of them. But over the years, I've known and come to know this congregation. In fact, I've had relatives that are members and still are members of this congregation. So I've known it a long time. In fact, I remember roller skating a long time ago, back in the gymnasium. But I want to thank you, because through your support, and especially it's through financial support that you've helped out the North Wisconsin District. And just to let you know, you know, when the money just started disappearing from here and goes away, it just doesn't go in a black hole. It does do some good. And some of the things that it's doing is especially when it comes to mission work, is that we're supporting work of a French-African ministry that is meeting a Good Shepherd in Appleton. And there's a man there by the name of Robert, who's been studying to become a future pastor to that congregation there. We also have campus ministry over at Stevens Point, at the UW campus. And Andy Wiedens is the campus pastor there. And we also support campus ministry up at Michigan Tech at Holton and also at Northern Michigan University in Marquette, Michigan. Along with that, we also have deaf ministry that's supported up in Rib Mountain Lutheran up at Rib Mountain, Wausau area. And Pastor Swanson is a pastor at Rib Mountain and does part-time help out, meeting with those that are deaf there and leading worship there. And the other unique one, I think that, is that at Kings Veterans Home at King. And there, we have a chaplain, Ben Schroeder. The good news is not only is he a chaplain to all the veterans over there, but he too, is also still connected with the military, which makes a good combination in talking to veterans that live there at the home. We also do work that we support down in Peru. On October 24th, is was my privilege to be down there, and we ordained, of all things, Elvis. Elvis Carrera. So he was in the building at the time of his ordination. And so, anyway, he's a native of Lima, and he's the first man from down there to be a Lutheran pastor, and so we rejoice that. And out of every dollar that you send, 40% helps do the work that we carry out throughout the Synod. So on behalf of all these ministries and everything else, I want to thank you for what you do. And oh, by the way, Brian Betts is also a member of the Board of Directors. So if you have more questions, just ask him. He's got all the answers.

Okay, this morning, we took a look at Jeremiah, and there is one verse at the end of that chapter which we didn't read, which said these words: they will fight against you, Jeremiah, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, declares the Lord, to deliver you. This morning, Tara asked the children, she said, what do you want to be when you grow up? It's a common question. We had some artists and pizza makers up here this morning. It's also sort of interesting when you get to the other end of the spectrum. It's sort of like, well, what are you going to do when you retire? The good news is a couple weeks ago, I finally figured out what I wanted to do. I want to be a butcher. Sounds really good to me. You know, a lot of protein. And so anyway, though, but we stop and think about these things. And so, as the children grow up, we stop and think about, you know, what are you going to become? What are you going to be? And so, through grade school, they have some ideas, and then in high school, it starts to get more real, because you have to stop and think about: do I want to go on to college or not. Mom and Dad said, "before we spend all that money, I hope you had a good idea what you're going to study and do." And then, you get there, and we find out that sometimes people change their major, because they find out what they are going into, may not - the job market may not be so good. They find out other things, and so they change the major, then they graduate, and then they still don't even get the job that they had studied to get. It happens. And so it is, though, that we come to a guy this morning who's about 20 years old. His name's Jeremiah. He was a preacher's kid, he was the son of a priest, and he was living in the area of Jerusalem. And so it was when he was there, the year was around 628 BC that he was there, and God comes to him. And regardless of whatever he was planning to be, God had a specific mission for him. And that was to be a prophet to the children of Israel. Now, sort of a quick, quick snapshot about Jeremiah, is that he's going to be doing this for about 40 years in which he's going to tell the children of Israel: you need to shape up or God's going to ship us out. You need to worship the Lord your God. And the reality was, was that 40 years later, they got shipped out. The Babylonians came along, and they destroyed Jerusalem. And so, Jeremiah, though, starts off with this call from God, in which God says to him these words, really, of consolation, in which he said: now the word of the Lord came to me - Jeremiah - saying, before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, and before you were born, I consecrated you. God knew Jeremiah before he was born. God knew Archer before he was born. God knew you before you were born. This isn't just a god of the masses. This is a God who comes to Jeremiah, and Jeremiah finds out from Him, is that: hey, I know you, and you are mine. And I've known you ever since the time you were conceived. You know, those had to be words of comfort to Jeremiah. He just wasn't something that God comes along and finds. And so it is, you see, we stop and take a look at those words, and we, too, take them to heart, in which God says to each and everyone of us, is: I knew you in the mother's womb. Because you're precious in the sight of God. And so it was that just as Jeremiah was, so we are, so is Archer, and so all of us, when we, too, entered the waters of baptism, who are God's special people. He watches out and cares for us, which we always need that assurance. But after his job, what he was supposed to do were these words,. He said, I appoint you as a prophet to the nations. So, he also is wise enough to know what a prophet's job was to be, and that is to speak God's words. And he also knew that many times, when prophets spoke, people didn't listen. There is the old guy named Howard Cosell, who said "telling it like it is." Well, that was the job of Jeremiah. He is supposed to say what it is that God had him to speak. And yet, he knew, on the other hand, there would be people who wouldn't be influenced by what he said. There had been a poll of Americans saying who influences society, or who has an influence on what you think, and it came back 63% that pro-athletes are more influential than faith leaders, which were only 20%. And so it is, there were people like Tebow and Kurt Warner and Steph Curry and Russell Wilson and Chris Paul and Albert Pujols, who are athletes that we know by name, but also find out that they're Christians and saying, wow, that's great to know that they are Christian, and that in a sense, they have more influence than those of us who maybe proclaim God's word from a pulpit. And so, it is that into that kind of situation is what Jeremiah finds himself, is that he's basically thinking, you know, if I speak, will anyone listen? And so, he has this idea. He says, Jeremiah says, "Ah, Lord, behold, I do not know how to speak for I am only a youth." Sort of sounds like someone else we know. Moses. Moses, remember, God appeared to him in the burning bush. And God says, "I want you to go to Egypt now and get them out of there." And Moses says, "You know, I'm 80 years old. I don't speak very well. I think you need to find someone else." And God said, "You're the man." He also said, "I'll give you Aaron, your brother. He's going to be a mouthpiece for you." In this situation, there was no one else besides what God wanted. He wanted Jeremiah to take on this job to speak. And so it was that just as Jeremiah knew there were probably going to be people that weren't going to like him, it's not the first time. Moses was concerned that the people would say, who are you? For that matter, just stop and think about the Gospel lesson last week. Last week, Jesus shows up in His hometown in Nazareth, and He goes to the synagogue, and He opens up and He reads from the prophet, Isaiah. And in there, it says, I will proclaim good news to the poor. And it says Jesus sits down. And He says, today, as a messenger of God, I am the One to fulfill these words. And how did they respond? By the end of the story, they took him out, it said, to the hill, to throw Him over the brow of the hill, and He passed through their midst, because that was not His time. Jesus was rejected. And so it was that Jeremiah was going to be rejected. And so, he needed words of assurance. He had said, "Hey, I'm only a youth." And so what does God say? "Do not say, 'I'm only a youth' for to all to whom I sent you, you shall go. And whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you," declares the Lord. God was giving him words of assurance. And I mean, he had God's word speaking to him, directly. A lot of times, when what we do, we're not sure. Is this what God wants us to do, or not? But here, God is speaking directly to Jeremiah and said, "Don't worry. I'm going to be with you. You've got a job to do." Last weekend, I had the opportunity to be in Washington, DC for the March for Life. And afterward, there is a banquet. And the MC at the banquet was a guy by the name of Ben Watson. If you think, "I've heard that name before," it's because then you followed the NFL, and he's been a tight end for the Patriots and the Saints for like 19 years. And anyway, he said before a big game they were to have, he said there was one of the coaches that I had, before the big game says: hey, you know I'm not a rah-rah guy. He said, but we've been going through training camp. We prepared every week to get you ready for the ball games. We worked over what you're supposed to do. And so, he said my words to you are pretty simple: do your job. And then, this Ben Watson went over to say, we need to do our job. And so it was for Jeremiah - he was to do what God asked him to do. And that was to be the one that would give the the news to the people. And, so then, it goes on to say these words: Then the Lord put out His hand and He touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me, "Behold, I put my words in your mouth. See, I have sent you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and overthrow, to build, and to plant. So, if you stop and take a look at the verbs there, there's four negative and there's two positives, in which he said: you're going to pluck up and break down, to destroy and overthrow. No one wants to hear that kind of negativity to their job and say, "Man, I'm going to have to bring bad news to these people." Well, we find out that Jeremiah was - his nickname is sort of the Bible prophets, he's a sorrowful prophet. He's going to end up getting thrown into a well and mud. He's going to be put in stocks. And this is all done by the children of Israel. His fellow citizens, because he speaking God's truth, and they don't like it. And so it is that he is going to have to say, "this is what it is." We would call it: this is God's law. God shows us our sin. The wages of sin is death. We're going to die because of our sins. And so, you know, it's not good news to hear that we have a broken relationship with our God, and yet on the other hand, so there's that part that says to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and overthrow. He also, then, said to build and plant. So Jeremiah still is also supposed to bring them good news. They were still God's people. You see, that's what we hear, too, when we gather here: we're baptized children of God. We're His people. He walked with us, and He will walk by our side. And so it is, it's more than just merely hearing God's words. It's taking them and being a part of our heart. There is a man by the name of Reed Lessing, a professor who wrote these words. He said, it doesn't matter how many times we've been through God's word. What matters is how many times God's word has been through us. And so it is, we receive that good news. We receive the good news, is that God did more than just say, "you're a good person." But, you see, God in his mercy sent His Son to die for us, so that we could have a relationship between our heavenly Father and ourselves that Christ paid to His death there on the cross. It means we don't have to fear death, regardless of what COVID does or takes, that we've lost people, is that we still have a God that we can walk and see as we move forward in our lives, because when it comes to the ultimate - and that is, to give us eternal life - God did His best by giving His best in His Son, Jesus Christ. And so it is that Jeremiah went forward to do what God asked him to do. To bring the news to say, hey it's time to wake up. Be he also brought them good news that they're children of God, redeemed children of God. And so, at the end of that chapter, he put it this way. He said, they will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you. For I am with you, declares the Lord, to deliver you. And so, he delivered the truth. And so, how do we handle the truth? Better than Jack Nicholson. If you remember "A Few Good Men," he had said there, when Tom Cruise had talked to him, finally, Nicholson says to Tom Cruise, he said up there, if you remember that jury, that room scene, he says "You can't handle the truth." You see, we can. We can handle the truth, because we're God's redeemed people. Jesus said "I am the way, the truth and the life." And so He will be with us. And our faith gives us that. So, it's just like God said to Jeremiah, how they will fight against you, but they shall not prevail, for I am with you, declares the Lord, to deliver you. And that's what God did. Whether through the washing of baptism, like Archer received this morning, or us, through our faith, God continues to deliver and to walk with us. And that's the good news that we leave here with. Is that we can handle the truth. The truth is ours through faith in Christ. Amen. And now, may the peace of God, which surpasses all our human understanding, keep our hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting. Amen.