Therefore,
since we have a great high priest who has
gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of
God, let us hold firmly to the faith we
profess.For we do not have a high priest who
is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses,
but we have one who has been tempted in
every way, just as we are—yet was without
sin.Let
us then approach the throne of grace with
confidence, so that we may receive mercy and
find grace to help us in our time of need.
It’s
interesting to watch students approach a
teacher with a question. A number of
students go up to the teacher. But none is
bold enough to ask the question. So they
push each other forward and whisper – you
ask, no you ask. Finally the teacher asks
them what they need. The students bow their
heads and softly say - nothing. At times
people just don’t have the confidence to
make their request or ask their question.
Occasionally
that happens when we want to make a request
of God. We’re afraid to approach God. It
happened with the Israelites. They had Moses
talk to God for them.Maybe we’re hesitant to approach
God in prayer. Our
request is too trivial. Dare
we bother God again? Who
are we to approach God? So
we slink back and live with our problem
gnawing at us. That’s a shame. God reminds
us that we can approach Him with confidence
because the path is clear, He’s
sympathetic, and He’ll offer us blessings.
In
these verses we’re encouraged to approach
God with confidence, “Let us then approach
the throne of grace with confidence.”But how can I. The path between God
and us is closed due to the biggest drift of
sin anyone’s ever seen. That’s the
reality. We’re expert sinners; habitual
sinners; willful sinners. Sin has such a
damaging effect on our relationship with
God. Peter wrote, “The face of the Lord is
against all who do wrong.” Sin is a
barrier between us and God that makes it
impossible for us to ever approach God.
That’s
how we so often feel, right? What right do I
have to approach God. Why would God even
allow me to come into His presence. We feel
like the students who are hesitant to
approach a teacher they’ve recently
disrespected or disobeyed. The thought is
what – the teacher’s still mad. No way
they’ll listen to us or answer our
question. That’s how we feel about God.
How often have I disobeyed Him. How often
have I disrespected Him. I’m too ashamed
to approach Him. There’s no way He’ll
let me approach Him.
So
how can we, “approach the throne of grace
with confidence.” The writer tells us,
“We have a great high priest who has gone
through the heavens, Jesus the Son of
God.” Remember what Jesus has done for
you. He’s gone into heaven. That’s
pretty remarkable when you remember that the
Lord laid all our sins on Him, making Him an
outcast from God’s presence and heaven as
well. But remember what Jesus did with our
sins. He carried that ungodly stain to the
cross to set us eternally free from sins
curse.
What
Jesus did for us on the cross is remarkable.
His blood extracted by fists, thorns, whip
and nails, rinsed all of our sins off of
Him. He courageously endured the fires of
hell for us as He hung on the cross. He
willingly bowed His head and died on the
cross. The result of Jesus’ effort is
equally remarkable. God declares that all
our sins have been forgiven. He does not see
them nor does He remember them. That’s why
Jesus could go into heaven. Our sin that was
placed on Him and blocked His path to heaven
is gone.
Do
you realize what that has to do with us?
Remember the sin that was on Jesus, was our
sin. Our sin’s been erased, tossed aside,
forgotten. As a result the path to heaven,
which had been littered with sin, rendered
impassible due to our sin is clear. There
are no sin speed bumps to slow us down, no
sin IED’s to block the path, no gates of
sin closing our highway to heaven. That
means two things. First we who believe in
Jesus will go to heaven to live with Him
forever. Secondly, until we get to heaven,
we who believe in Jesus have access to God.
The path is clear of sin. We can approach
Him with confidence.
Even
though the path is clear some think why
bother. Why approach God with confidence. He
doesn’t understand what I face. I mean the
rich don’t really understand what it’s
like to be financially challenged. The
healthy don’t understand what it’s like
to suffer with migraines. The intelligent
don’t understand what its like to deal
with a learning disability. How can God
who’s perfect, all powerful, and owns
everything understand what I endure in my
life. Just like a child fails to approach a
parent because – you wouldn’t
understand, we hesitate to approach God
because – well He just doesn’t
understand.
Not
so fast. We’re reminded to approach God
with confidence because He is sympathetic to
our needs, “For we do not have a high
priest who is unable to sympathize with our
weaknesses, but we have one who has been
tempted in every way, just as we are yet was
without sin.” If anyone understands what
we face as individuals in our life and is
able to sympathize with us, it’s Jesus.
While He lived on this earth he faced one
temptation after another. The devil knew if
he could get Jesus to sin once, get Him to
falter on His journey to the cross, God’s
plan of salvation would be ruined and we’d
be spend eternity in hell.
Temptations
came at Jesus from all angles. The devil
lambasted Jesus with 40 days of non-stop
temptations in the wilderness. His enemies
tried to trap in His words. Jesus’
disciples told Him that He didn’t have to
go to the cross. While on the cross His
enemies challenged Him to abort God’s plan
of salvation by coming down from the cross.
From personal experience Jesus understands
what it’s like to face temptations. He is
able to sympathize with us. He’s able and
willing to help us deal with temptation.
Think
of what else Jesus faced while He lived on
this earth. He was teased, doubted and
hated. He dealt with the death of a friend
and faced His own death. He friends abandon
Him. He was arrested He was treated unfairly
and physically abused. His own Father turned
His back on Him. People tugged at Him from
all directions. He was worn out. He was
hungry. He was thirsty. He suffered pain.
From personal experience Jesus understands
what we face. He’s able to sympathize with
us.
Isn’t
that why so many people go to support
groups? You
meet with people who have or are
experiencing what you have. From their very
own personal experience they’re able to
offer words of hope and teach people how to
cope. We’d never dismiss support groups
and what they have to offer. So don’t
dismiss the help Jesus can offer you. He’s
been where you are in life. He’s faced
what you face. He understands. He’s able
to sympathize with you. As a result we can
approach God with confidence when we need
help.
And
that’s exactly what He, who understands
and really does sympathize with us, wants us
to do. With that barrier of sin torn down,
He invites us to “Call upon Him in the day
of trouble.” Jesus Himself said, “Come
to me all you who are weary and burdened.”
Don’t feel unworthy. Your sin is forgiven.
God’s eager to have you come to Him.
Don’t think He doesn’t understand.
He’s been there. He does understand. He
invites you to come to Him. His ear is open
to all of your prayers and He’s ready to
answer them all.
That’s
why we can be approach God with confidence.
We’re told, “Let us then approach the
throne of grace with confidence, so that we
may receive mercy and find grace to help us
in our time of need.” We can approach God
with confidence because he won’t just hear
what we have to say – He’ll react to
what we have to say. That’s His promise.
When He invites us to call upon Him, He
promised to deliver us. When He invites us
to come to Him when we’re weary He
promises to give us rest.
Don’t
we see that time and time again in the way
God dealt with His people. He delivered His
people from slavery in Egypt, Jonah from the
belly of the fish, Lazarus from the grave.
God provided His people with water from a
rock, miraculously stretched a meager supply
of flour and oil so that it lasted a long
time and fed three people, used five loaves
of bread and two fish to feed upwards of
15,000 people. The psalmist captures God’s
reaction to our cry for help when he said,
“When I was in great need, He saved me.”
But
it’s easy to doubt that the Almighty God
would care about mere humans. It’s easy to
doubt that our holy God would react to our
cry for help when many times our troubles
result due to our sins. When those doubts
invade our mind take a look at Jesus’
cross. There we see the fulfillment of the
psalmists words, “When I was in great
need, He saved me.” On the cross Jesus
solved my greatest problem. He met my
greatest need. Sin was yanking me away from
God, shutting me out of heaven, pulling me
down to hell.
But
God intervened. He sent Jesus to rescue us.
Jesus willingly served us. He didn’t bat
an eye when His Father pointed to the earth
and said that’s where your mission will
start. Obey me perfectly and then we’ll
transfer your perfection to all who believe
in you. Jesus didn’t hesitate when He
pointed to the cross and said that’s where
your mission will conclude. You’ll suffer
and die offering your life as the perfect
ransom for the sins of the world. Jesus
carried out that mission. Now God the Father
declares your sins forgiven and He’s ready
to receive you by faith into His eternal
family and the unfading glory of heaven.
Jesus’
cross tells us the depths of God’s love
and how far He’s willing to go to help us
in our time of need. Paul understood and
wrote, “If God did not spare His own son,
but gave Him up for us all, how will He not
along with Him, graciously give us all
things.” The cross of Jesus tells us that
we can approach God with confidence knowing
that He, who in love met our greatest need,
loves us enough to meet all our needs.
With
the path clear of sin, with a sympathetic
God, and with the promise of help in our
time of trouble, let us approach God at any
time for any reason with absolute
confidence.
29
When
Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the
two tablets of the Testimony in his hands,
he was not aware that his face was radiant
because he had spoken with the LORD. 30
When Aaron and all the Israelites saw
Moses, his face was radiant, and they were
afraid to come near him. 31
But Moses called to them; so Aaron and
all the leaders of the community came back
to him, and he spoke to them. 32
Afterward all the Israelites came near
him, and he gave them all the commands the
LORD had given him on Mount Sinai.
33
When
Moses finished speaking to them, he put a
veil over his face. 34 But
whenever he entered the LORD’s presence to
speak with him, he removed the veil until he
came out. And when he came out and told the
Israelites what he had been commanded, 35
they saw that his face was radiant.
Then Moses would put the veil back over his
face until he went in to speak with the
LORD.
You’re shining pretty brightly this
morning. One glorious child of God
would be enough, but a whole congregation
full of God’s glorious children.
It’s just a little too bright. We
don’t physically shine with God’s glory.
In fact, we don’t look very glorious on
earth because we’re sinful. But make
no mistake. You are a glorious child
of God in Christ. That’s the truth
the Lord of glory wants us to see. See
the Glory of the Lord. Glory he
reveals to us. Glory he shares with
us. Glory he guards for us.
That glory
was seen in the face of Moses. Moses
came down from Mount Sinai with the two
tablets of the Testimony in his hands.
This was the second time Moses came down
that mountain. The first time he came
down, he saw a sight that was not glorious.
He saw the people worshiping a golden calf.
In anger, he smashed the tablets on the
ground because they did not listen to
God’s commands. Now Moses comes down
a second time. When Moses came
down, he was not aware that his face was
radiant because he had spoken with the Lord.
His face was radiant, beaming with
glory. It was as if a little bit of
heaven was transported right before their
eyes. And why do you think God did
this? He wanted them to take him
seriously and listen to his commands.
Moses
didn’t realize that his face was radiant,
but everyone else did. When Aaron
and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face
was radiant, and they were afraid to come
near him. The glory of the Lord
that had descended on Mt. Sinai in a
thunderous cloud was right in front of them.
No person can stand before the glory of God
and expect to live. The revelation of
the glory of God makes sinners keenly aware
of their sinfulness. God is holy.
People are not. He is pure.
People are not.
And
as the Israelites faced the glory of God,
they remembered their complaining and
idolatry. God’s righteous anger was
fresh in their minds. They were
afraid. They wanted to shield
themselves from God’s glory like Elijah
who put a cloak over his face when God
passed by him and the disciples who buried
their faces in the dirt when they saw Jesus
glory. The glory of the Lord makes the
sinner want to shout like Peter when he
doubted the glory and power of Jesus to do
miracles: “Go away from me Lord, I am a
sinful man.”
We
don’t visibly see the glory of the Lord
with these eyes. So why would we be
afraid? Every time we enter into the
house of God, we experience the glory of the
Lord face to face in the pages of his Word.
And sadly we bring with us our grumbling,
complaining, doubts, and idolatry just like
the Israelites. And when we see his
glory in his Word, we become keenly aware
that God is pure and we are not. Then
we shout with Peter, “Go away from me
Lord, I am a sinful person.”
But
he doesn’t go away. He not only
reveals his glory to us to show us our
sinfulness. He shares his glory with
us. When Aaron and the leaders wanted
to run away, Moses called to them; so
Aaron and all the leaders of the community
came back to him, and he spoke to them.
He gave them all the commands the Lord.
God wanted them to come to his glory.
He wanted them to remember the glorious
things he had done and assure them of the
glorious things that he promised to do for
them.
So
Moses spoke the commands of the Lord.
Yes, many of the words Moses spoke had to do
with the law they couldn’t keep.
That shows that they had no glory in
themselves. The glory had to be given
to them. It could only come from God
– from the promised Savior. They had
nothing to fear because glory was theirs.
This was glory earned by a Savior thousands
of years later, but it was still theirs.
It was the glory that Jesus revealed on the
Mountain of Transfiguration proving he was
the perfect Son of God. There he
revealed his glory to fulfill the hopes of
the Israelites and assure the disciples that
he could carry out his mission to suffer and
die for them and all people.
The
revelation of glory in Moses prepared the
Israelites for the Savior. The
revelation of glory in Jesus prepared the
disciples for his suffering and death.
Jesus wanted all people to see his glory as
they prepare for passion, a time when his
glory is veiled as he suffered and died.
Glory becomes the possession of all those
who put their hope and trust in that Savior.
The glory on the face of Moses and the glory
in Jesus is the glory of every believer.
No, it cannot be seen in this life.
But those who trust in him are glorious now.
How
important that is for us, because we don’t
look so glorious in this life. We
struggle with sin, fall into temptations,
battle doubts and fears. If we were to
go out into the world and say, “We are the
glorious children of God!” The
people would scoff at us after they finished
laughing. Sometimes we might agree.
So often Satan dangles those glorious sins
of the world in front of us. He
doesn’t even have to offer me the whole
world. It’s amazing how little of
the world’s glory he has to offer to get
me to take the bait, to pursue earthly glory
at the expense of my faith. How about
you? Yes, we don’t look glorious.
Sometimes we look ashamed of Christ and what
we believe. Then Jesus would bring to
fulfillment his words: “Whoever is
ashamed of me, I will be ashamed of him when
the Son of Man comes in all his glory.”
But
that isn’t what our Lord of glory wants
for us. He wants to share his glory.
Our sins can make us afraid and ashamed.
But all those sins have been wiped away in
the glorious cross of Jesus. You are
glorious. You are wrapped in the
holiness of Jesus Christ and sparkling in
your Father’s eyes. Although you
can’t see it with these eyes, you are.
And you will see that glory forever in
heaven face to face with Jesus. You
will shine with glory like Moses, only
brighter. See the glory of the Lord.
It is glory he shares with us now. It
is also glory he guards for us.
God
gave the Israelites the tool to guard his
glory. When Moses finished speaking
to them, he put a veil over his face.
But whenever he entered the Lord’s
presence to speak with him, he removed the
veil until he came out. And when he
came out and told the Israelites what he had
been commanded, they saw that his face was
radiant. God knew the hardships
that the Israelites would endure through
life. At Mount Sinai they saw glory,
but away from that mountain was another
story. But God had a plan for them as
they struggled in a sinful world.
He
told the Israelites what he had been
commanded. That was God’s guard.
His Word. Yes, much of what Moses told
them was the law that convicted them of sin.
But it was also their guide for living.
He gave them the order, “Fix these
words of mine in your hearts and minds.”
But he also spoke the great gospel
message, “The Lord, the Lord, the
compassionate and gracious God, slow to
anger, abounding in love and faithfulness,
maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving
wickedness, rebellion and sin.” These
words helped to guard the glory God had
given them. The veil of sin had been
taken away, so they could see how glorious
they really were in their Savior.
That’s
how God guards his glory in us as we live
our lives. His Word. It is not
God’s plan for us to sit and bask in his
glory. God does not encourage us to
form a Lutheran Monastic movement where we
huddle together and build walls around
ourselves to protect us from the nasty world
out there. His goal is not to shelter
us from the struggles and troubles of the
world and then secretly zip us off to
heaven. No, we go out into our lives
where we live and work to let a little bit
of our glory shine. It will be
dangerous. There will be temptation
and trouble, pain and persecution. But
we need to be willing to give up the kind of
life this world calls glorious for the real
life in Jesus. But God does not send
us out alone. He gives his Word.
Take the advice of the Father as Jesus was
transfigured, “This is my Son whom I love,
listen to him.”
Listen
to him and he will guard the glory you
possess. Listen to him when Satan
comes in difficult days and whispers in your
ear that it’s not worth it to be a child
of God. It’s no use. And God
says, “Listen to my Word when Jesus says
that our present sufferings are not worth
comparing to the future glory that will be
revealed in us.” Listen when Satan
dangles in front of you the glories of sin
at the risk of our faith. Listen to
Jesus when he asks, “What would it profit
you to gain the whole world and forfeit your
soul?’ Listen when Satan comes to
plague you with your guilt, when you’ve
stumbled and fallen into sin, when you’ve
bloodied and bruised your soul. Listen
at the font when he promises that all your
sins are washed away. Listen at the
altar when he says, “This is my body and
blood, given for you for the forgiveness of
your sins.” Listen to him. He
will guard you. You have your Lord’s
power to live a glorious existence as his
children.
Wouldn’t
it have been wonderful to be there to see
the glimpses of God’s glory in Scripture?
We see one of those glimpses in the face of
Moses. Compared to that glory, we may
not look so glorious, but through the blood
and righteousness of Jesus we are children
of our heavenly Father. And one day,
like Moses, you will shine with glory in
God’s presence. See the glory of the
Lord. He reveals it to you in his
Word. He shares it with you. He
guards it for you until that day comes when
you get to see him face to face and thank
him personally for how greatly he has loved
you. Amen.
Then
the woman went to her husband and told him,
"A man of God came to me.He looked like an angel of God, very
awesome.I
didn't ask him where he came from, and he
didn't tell me his name.But he said to me, `You will conceive
and give birth to a son.Now then, drink no wine or other
fermented drink and do not eat anything
unclean, because the boy will be a Nazirite of
God from birth until the day of his
death.'"
Then
Manoah prayed to the LORD:
"O Lord, I beg you, let the man of God
you sent to us come again to teach us how to
bring up the boy who is to be born."
God
heard Manoah, and the angel of God came again
to the woman while she was out in the field;
but her husband Manoah was not with her.The woman hurried to tell her husband,
"He's here! The man who appeared to me
the other day!"
Manoah
got up and followed his wife.When he came to the man, he said,
"Are you the one who talked to my
wife?"
"I am," he said.
So
Manoah asked him, "When your words are
fulfilled, what is to be the rule for the
boy's life and work?"
The
angel of the LORD
answered, "Your wife must do all that I
have told her.She must not eat anything that comes
from the grapevine, nor drink any wine or
other fermented drink nor eat anything
unclean.She
must do everything I have commanded her."
Manoah
said to the angel of the LORD,
"We would like you to stay until we
prepare a young goat for you."
The
angel of the LORD
replied, "Even though you detain me, I
will not eat any of your food.But if you prepare a burnt offering,
offer it to the LORD."(Manoah did not realize that it was the
angel of the LORD.)
Then
Manoah inquired of the angel of the LORD,
"What is your name, so that we may honor
you when your word comes true?"
He
replied, "Why do you ask my name?It is beyond understanding."Then Manoah took a young goat, together
with the grain offering, and sacrificed it on
a rock to the LORD.And the LORD did an amazing thing while
Manoah and his wife watched: As the flame
blazed up from the altar toward heaven, the
angel of the LORD ascended in
the flame.Seeing this, Manoah and his wife fell
with their faces to the ground.
When the angel of the LORD did not show
himself again to Manoah and his wife, Manoah
realized that it was the angel of the LORD."We are doomed to die!" he
said to his wife. "We have seen
God!"
But
his wife answered, "If the LORD
had meant to kill us, he would not have
accepted a burnt offering and grain offering
from our hands, nor shown us all these things
or now told us this."
The
woman gave birth to a boy and named him
Samson.He
grew and the LORD
blessed him.
This
section of Scripture has so much stuff that
makes you go “wow”. An angel appears to a
lady who’s unable to have a child. He tells
her - she’ll have a child. The child would
be a Nazirite – one dedicated to the work of
the Lord. The angel came back to give the same
message to the woman’s husband. The angel
identifies himself with a name that leads us
to believe he’s God. This angel leaves by
ascending in a flame from the offering the
couple made. So much going on, but such a
simple message. The message: God’s call to
serve is extended to ordinary people and
it’s extended for an extraordinary purpose.
If
you cut through all the miraculous events
taking place in this section you realize the
message is very simple. God is simply
extending a call to serve. That call is
extended to ordinary people, “The woman went
to her husband and told him, ‘A man of God
came to me. He looked like an angel, very
awesome. I didn’t ask him where he came from
and he didn’t tell me his name. But he said
to me, “You will conceive and give birth to
a son. The boy will be a Nazairite of God from
birth until the day of his death.”
Let’s
understand a couple of facts about this child.
He name would be Samson, yes the Samson of
incredible strength. He’d be a Nazirite. The
word Nazirite means set apart. A Nazirite was
set apart to do special work for the Lord.
They set themselves apart in a number of ways.
They weren’t to drink alcoholic beverages.
They were to avoid contact with dead bodies
and they were to follow a strict diet. As long
as they served as a Nazirite they weren’t to
cut their hair. Samuel and John the Baptist
were also Nazirites.
Now
just imagine you’re this couple. An angel
– perhaps God Himself – appears to you. He
promises to bless you with a miracle baby who
would do some very special work for the Lord.
And you ask yourself who are we, that the Lord
would extend this call to serve to our family.
They weren’t from the royal family or in the
priestly line. There’s no indication they
were an influential family or wealthy. They
were ordinary people. But so many times
that’s who God calls to serve. He extends
the call to serve to ordinary people.
Paul
wrote, “Brothers, think of what you were
when you were called. Not many of you were
wise by human standards; not many were
influential; not many were of noble birth.”
Look who God calls into His family. It’s not
necessarily the rich and famous. God doesn’t
need those types of people clamoring to Him to
validate Himself. In His grace God is willing
to call ordinary people (as well as the rich
and famous) into His family. And He takes it
one step farther. He extends His call to serve
to those same ordinary people.
Think
of our Gospel reading for today. Whom did
Jesus call to be His first disciples. He
called common fisherman to follow and serve
Him. Later on He called a despised tax
collector a man who was labeled by the
religious leaders of that day as a sinner. The
people God calls to serve aren’t usually
listed under the label “Who’s Who”. More
likely people would ask of those Jesus called
to serve – who are those guys.
So
do you know who God calls to serve Him then? Oh
yes, He will call some brilliant people, some
influential people, some wealthy people. But
we have to realize many times He calls you and
me – ordinary people to serve Him. You
don’t have to have a master’s degree or
have specialized training or have a Lutheran
pedigree or grow up in the home of a pastor or
a teacher. God’s willing to call ordinary
people, like you and me and give us the
wonderful privilege and honor of using our
talents to serve Him.
Sadly
we don’t always look at it as a privilege
and honor to answer God’s call to serve.
It’s considered an intrusion in our life, an
inconvenience. Please don’t misunderstand.
There are times when it’s impossible to
answer God’s call to serve. But when we
repeatedly and selfishly say no? How do
parents react when children repeatedly fail to
help around the house? It’s not pretty.
God’s reaction when we refuse to answer His
call simply because we’re lazy, selfish, or
just don’t want to is even uglier. He reacts
to that sin just like He reacts to any other
sin. It will be death and finally it will be
suffering forever in hell.
What
a relief that Jesus didn’t refuse God’s
call to serve. His heavenly Father told Him
that it was time to put on human flesh, to
submit Himself to the Ten Commandments, to
allow Himselfto
be nailed to a cross, to suffer hell and
finally die. Jesus reaction? He said, “To do
your will is my desire.” Jesus obeyed. He
did it. That means He did it. He erased all
our sins. He secured a place for us in heaven.
He promises a place in that eternal glory to
those who simply believe that He perfectly
answered God’s call to serve.
And
that’s what motivates us to answer God’s
call to serve. Look at how willing Jesus was
to serve us. Realize what Jesus accomplished
for us with that service. All of our sins have
been erased. The door of death is standing
wide open. We’ll pass right through it. God
stands at heaven’s door eagerly waiting to
receive us into that eternal paradise. It’s
that service that motivates us to not look for
excuses but for opportunities to answer the
call God sends to ordinary people like us to
serve our extraordinary God.
The call to serve
was extended to an ordinary family. But the
call was to extraordinary service. The angel
of the Lord told the woman what her son would
be asked to do, “He will begin the
deliverance of Israel from the hands of the
Philistines.” The Philistines, a nation of
five cities located to the southwest of Israel
was harassing, even controlling southern
Israel for some time. At this time Israel
didn’t have a king. So God raised up
champions, also called judges, to deliver his
people. Samson would be one such judge.
For
24 years Samson led the Israelites. He engaged
in a number of battles against the
Philistines. Once, using the jawbone of a
donkey, he killed 1,000 men. His last act?
Samson had been captured by the Philistines
and was made to perform for them – probably
feats of strength. That last time he performed
he asked God for extra strength. Standing
between two pillars that supported the temple
of the Philistines, Samson prayed for
strength. Then he pushed on those pillars.
They gave way. The roof collapsed. The temple
collapsed. God used that feat of strength to
destroy many of Israel’s enemies. Samson may
have been from an ordinary family, but God
used Him to do extraordinary work.
God calls ordinary people like you and
me to do some extraordinary work as well. He
calls us to deliver people spiritually. How
many people aren’t held captive by their
unbelief? What
a danger. Jesus said, “Whoever does not
believe (in Jesus) will be condemned. Everyone
is held captive by sin. That’s so dangerous
because “the wages of sin is death.” How
many people aren’t held captive by their
pride? They
consider themselves to be so good. But the
Lord says, “All have sinned and fall short
of the glory of God.”
God calls
ordinary people to do extraordinary work –
to deliver people who are in spiritual
captivity and facing eternal hell. We know how
to do that extraordinary work. Speak God’s
Word. Speak the law. The law makes us
“conscience of sin”, knocking the
spiritual pride right out of people. Tell
people about Jesus. Explain how His death
erased all their sins. That message of love
sets people free from sins curse. It leads
them to embrace Jesus as their Savior. It is
as Paul wrote, “The power of God for
salvation.”
There’s
so many ways that we ordinary people can do
that extraordinary work. We actively do that
work as we volunteer to teach in our Sunday
School or Vacation Bible School, as we speak
about God’s love to our children, spouse,
parents or siblings, as we offer God’s
comfort to co-workers or classmates who are
struggling. We can support that work through
regular prayers and generous offerings. We can
remove obstacles by offering people rides to
church, shoveling the sidewalks. We can make
this a place where people want to be by
keeping our property in good repair, the lawn
mowed, by smiling and greeting everyone who
comes to worship.
That’s the extraordinary service God asks us
ordinary people to offer.
And
we’re happy to do that work because we’ve
experienced it in our own life. At some time
in our life someone lovingly used God’s law
to point out our sin and impress upon us the
eternal danger that results. Someone pointed
to Jesus and said to us – His blood has
erased your sins. His death has ransomed you
from sins curse. His resurrection provides you
with release from death. Someone told us that
believing in Jesus will spare us eternal hell
and secure for us eternal glory in heaven.
Someone did that for us.
The
extraordinary service that we’ve
experienced, probably from ordinary people,
leads us ordinary people to be willing and
eager to answer God’s call to do some
extraordinary service in our life that will
result in eternal blessings for others.
