Grace to you and
peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ. Amen
Remember from
whence you came and to where you are going.
And that it’s not about you.
Remember.
“A wandering Aramean was my ancestor; he
went down into Egypt and lived there as an alien, few in number, and there he
became a great nation, mighty and populous. When the Egyptians treated us
harshly and afflicted us, by imposing hard labor on us, we cried to the LORD,
the God of our ancestors; the LORD heard our voice and saw our affliction, our
toil, and our oppression. The LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand
and an outstretched arm, with a terrifying display of power, and with signs and
wonders; and he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing
with milk and honey. So now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground that
you, O LORD, have given me.” You shall set it down before the LORD your God and
bow down before the LORD your God. Then you, together with the Levites and the
aliens who reside among you, shall celebrate with all the bounty that the LORD
your God has given to you and to your house.
Remember.
When God gave the
commandment to honor the Sabbath, he had a particular reason in mind:
Observe the sabbath day and keep it holy, as
the Lord your God commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work.
But the seventh day is a sabbath to the
Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, or your son or your daughter, or
your male or female slave, or your ox or your donkey, or any of your livestock,
or the resident alien in your towns, so that your male and female slave may
rest as well as you. Remember that you
were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from
there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God
commanded you to keep the sabbath day.
Remember.
For Israel the
very act of worship was an act of remembering.
When you bring
your gifts to the altar remember that once you were aliens living in a foreign
country.
When you observe
the Sabbath day, remember that once you were slaves.
And remember that
once you had nothing, and everything you have now is from the Lord.
Remember.
Many of our
families have similar stories to the Israelites.
We came to this
country, often with little or nothing, except hope for a better life.
My own family
came and received a gift of land, just as the Israelites did.
The homestead.
My father’s
family homesteaded in northeastern South Dakota, near Pierpont.
My mother’s
family homesteaded in Minnesota around Dawson.
Karla’s family
journeyed first to Russia, and then to the United States where they homesteaded
in the Elgin/New Liepzig area of North Dakota.
Remember.
Remember that all
that you have goes back to this gift of land.
Remember this as
you observe the Sabbath and bring your first fruits forward as an offering to
the Lord.
Remember.
Remember from
whence you have come, and to where you are going.
For there is no distinction between Jew and
Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on
him. For, “Everyone who calls on the
name of the Lord shall be saved.”
For the
Israelites salvation was related to the Promised Land, and the Kingdom of
David.
For us today
salvation most often refers to the forgiveness of our sins and the inheritance
that is ours in Christ Jesus, an eternal place in the house of the Lord.
To be with the
Lord, is an experience we can only imagine at this point, yet it is our hope.
Remember where
you are going.
And remember that
this is not a privilege for you, and you alone.
It is a gift to all who call upon the name of the Lord. Grace.
One of the most
common temptations we experience as religious people is the belief that we have
in some way acquired salvation as a reward for our own labors.
Maybe we realize
that it is a gift, but that God gave us this ‘gift’, is an indication of our
privilege, our worth, and our good works.
One thing that
has struck me throughout the years is how important it has seemed to be for
very many people that some are saved and others are condemned.
It has left me
with a nagging question in my mind.
“Would heaven be
any less heaven if everyone was there?”
The Eastern
Orthodox do in fact believe that all people will be in the presence of God in
the afterlife, because there is no place that God is not.
The difference
though is that some will experience being in God’s presence as paradise, and
others will feel condemned.
But back to the
point.
A gift is a gift.
Grace is grace.
My ancestors
received a gift of land, the homestead.
It was no less of
a gift because other families also received that same gift.
160 acres of
prime farm land. A quarter section.
A place to call
home in a foreign land.
A gift.
Remember.
Salvation is like
that. It comes as a gift, a place to
call home in a foreign land.
Remember. And don’t fall prey to temptation.
Even Jesus was
tempted.
What was the
nature of Jesus’ temptation?
He was tempted by
Satan to make it all about him.
Turn these rocks
into bread, and eat, be satisfied.
“Worship me,”
Satan says, “and I will hand over all the nations of the world to you.”
“Throw yourself
off the top of the temple so that the angels can save you.”
Make it all about
you, Jesus, make it all about you.
That was the
test. Would Jesus turn inward and make
it all about him?
That’s the
temptation for us as well.
Remember from
whence you have come, and to where you are going.
If we make it all
about us, then what about grace?
I think that the
single most difficult statement in all of scripture to believe is also the most
grace filled.
For there is no distinction, since all have
sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace
as a gift. (Romans 3:22-24)
Oh, but we do
make distinctions.
There are some we
feel are worthy, and some that are unworthy.
There are some
sins that we think are forgivable, and other sins that we believe should be
punished.
There are some
people we welcome into the church, others we’d prefer not be here.
The temptation is
to make it about us.
And if we make
salvation about us, we turn our backs on the grace of God.
Remember.
You had nothing.
You were nothing.
But out of this ‘nothingness’
God called you forth to life.
Job put it this
way:
"Naked I came from my mother's womb,
and naked shall I return there; the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away;
blessed be the name of the Lord."
One of the
lessons I’ve learned over the course of my life as a pastor’s son, and
subsequently as a pastor myself, is about this grace.
As I grew up in a
pastor’s home,
And as I lived
out my own life in the ministry,
I have become
increasingly aware that every penny that I have ever had originated as a gift.
Literally.
Your offerings
will be brought forward and from them, I will be paid.
Your graciousness
and generosity literally put the bread on my table.
I won’t say that
this gives pastor some sort of spiritual advantage, but it is a valuable
lesson.
Remember from
whence you have come, and to where you are going.
Remember that
just as the Israelites once were aliens in a foreign land, and slaves to
Pharaoh, so also all of us, at one point, were nothing.
Remember that all
that we have is a gift from God.
Remember that
you, together will all people, have sinned, and that you are justified, not on
the basis of your own works, but by God’s grace as a gift.
Remember that it
is not about you.
It’s about God,
and the grace he has shown to all.
We gather here on
the Sabbath because God has freed us from slavery.
We bring our
first fruits because “a wandering Aramean
was our ancestor” without a land to call home, and God blessed him with his
grace.
We celebrate the
Gospel because we have all sinned, and are all saved by God’s grace.
Remember.
Remember from
whence you came and to where you are going.
Remember that it
is not about you.
But rather, it is
about God’s grace.
Amen
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