Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
For those of you who came this morning thinking you were going to hear a sermon about dear ol’ dad, well…..not quite.
I do want to wish all of those of you who are father’s a Happy Father’s Day and to those of you who are sons and daughters, my hope for you is that you have a father as loving as mine.
My dad would have been 99 years old on June 13th. I still think of him often and my fondest memories of him are of times on a baseball diamond, fishing in boat, and sitting in church.
When we attended church, as I was growing up, which was every Sunday, we attended as a family. Like most Lutherans, we had our own special pew, one that comfortably fit the four of us, mom, dad, my brother and me. Very seldom did my brother and I actually sit next to each other. Usually, for the sake of the pastor and those around us, my brother would be at one end, I at the other…..not that we were bad, it was just one of those “lead us not into temptation” things that my parents took very seriously.
My dad didn’t want to have to discipline us during church, because he was there for a reason. He was there to give thanks to God and to listen to the sermon, listen to the Word of God.
Now, can I admit something here that I don’t thing a lot of pastors admit?
A lot of times, I couldn’t understand why my dad wanted to listen so closely, so intently.
It was the same old story. Week after week, month after month, year after year.
Now, all I can say is, “Thank God!”
Thank God that the story never changes. Thank God that His love for us continues, even when we lose sight of Him. Thank God that His faith remains strong, even when we are faith weakens.
****************************
Today’s lessons, all of them, are wonderful resources for the telling of the love of God.
Paul, in his letter to the Romans sums up the depth of God’s love for us in theses words; “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
I could literally stand here for hours and talk about just this one sentence. These words take all of the mystery away. These words take all of the us having anything to do with our salvation away.
God didn’t look down at us and say, “once you’ve changed your ways, once you’ve made up your mind, once you’ve decided to follow me, then I’ll do something about it.”
No! What these wonderful words of the Apostle say to each of us is that:
· Even though we are mired in sin.
· Even though we were born in a sinful, disgusting state.
· Even though, because we live in a sinful world and we are human beings, more intent on running from God than to Him,
He loves us. He loved us enough that through His grace and mercy He was willing to have His Son die for us on the cross.
We should all think of that. We should think about it every day, every hour, every minute. But we don’t.
And that’s one of the reasons we gather together for worship. So we can hear that Word spoken to us and have it imbedded in our hearts and minds.
For the next few minutes, I would like us to look at the OT lesson and the Gospel appointed for this day.
These two stories are the same story, told to different people at different times, but with the same meaning.
Our OT lesson is from the Book of Exodus, and takes place at the foot of Mt. Sinai. The Israelites had been on the march for about 3 months since their deliverance from the Pharaoh.
Now they have gathered at the foot of the mountain of God. Moses ascends the mountain to speak with God and comes back with a wonderful message.
God tells Moses to remind the people that He brought them to where they are.
God is trying to tell the people to take a new look at themselves. To take a look at who they are.
They are no longer a lost wandering mass.
They are no longer slaves subject to the whims of the Pharaoh.
They are no longer subjected to the worship of false gods.
It’s as if the Israelites had been, for the past 400+ years, walking around in one of those fun houses that you go to …. or at least use to go to at amusement parks.
Remember, where you would walk in and there would be all different types of mirrors hanging in a darkened room. You would walk in front of the mirrors and in one you would look wide and short, and in the next one you would be skinny and tall. I use to love to put my face up close and see how it would distort my eyes and my mouth.
Well, that’s the image that the Israelites had been seeing for years and years. They had not seen the true picture of who they were.
They had not been seeing themselves as children, chosen people, of the Heavenly Father.
God wants them to have a new view of who they are.
He wants them to have a view of themselves through the eyes of God.
They are no longer distorted. They are no longer slaves. They are now free because of what God has done. He has brought them on “eagle’s wings” to be with Him.
Just so they don’t misunderstand, God also tells Moses to remind them of something else.
God wants them to remember that He is the creator of the world.
How often do we forget who the actual owner of everything is?
We live in a “me, my, I” society. That’s mine! Give it to me! I want my…..money, my car, my food, my clothes, my house, my property, etc., etc.
God created and owns everything in this world. We have been placed here as stewards, caretakers of God’s possessions. But we should not be claiming ownership.
God then says something even more stunning. He says to the Israelites, “Even though I own everything. Even though I created the heavens and the earth and everything in them. I choose you.”
God wanted the people that He had established a covenant with to know that He was still their God and they were still His people.
The Hebrew word that is written to describe these people is SEG U LA.
Our NIV translation has “niced” it up to read “you will be my treasured possession.” The actual translation means “peculiar.”
Peculiar can have different meanings depending on the ear of the hearer. It’s kind of like beauty is in the eye of the beholder. What is beautiful to one person is nothing of the sort to others.
Peculiar to some people means strange or bizarre, curious, eccentric, odd, or maybe just a bit weird.
To others it means distinctive, unique, one of a kind.
I think God meant both.
God was identifying the Israelites as His one and only. His priceless possession. That doesn’t mean that they wouldn’t be looked at by some as bizarre and curious or odd or maybe just a little weird. (Just as we, as Christians are sometimes looked at as being a little peculiar.)
But to God, they were His priceless possession.
Let me put that in a little perspective.
One of my most priceless possessions is my dog, Stormy. He’s an English Springer Spaniel who is overweight, spoiled, sometimes cute, but not too often, and mean as a snake.
Nobody else would want my dog. But I love him.
The “pricelessness” of a possession is often times determined by its ownership.
God wanted the people of Israel to know that in His eyes, because He had chosen them, they were priceless. They were peculiar to Him.
So, God gives Moses all this Good News, reconveying, renewing, reiterating the covenant made between God and Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and Moses goes down to tell the people.
The people listen and they respond, “We will do everything the Lord has said.”
Here’s the problem. The people of Israel and many people to this day think they understood what God said. They think He said obey all of my commandments. They think God said, “Do this, don’t do that, do this.”
That is not what God said.
First of all, He hadn’t even given them the commandments yet, but most importantly, God wasn’t laying down the LAW, He was telling the Israelites to have faith in Him just like Abraham.
To put their trust in Him. To honor Him. To fear Him. To worship Him. To believe in Him. To let God be God. To trust in Him for salvation.
Now, fast forward to our Gospel text.
Jesus had been traveling throughout the region of Galilee, teaching in the Synagogues, healing the sick and curing the diseased.
Crowds had gathered and we are told that when Jesus saw these people he felt compassion for them.
My friends, Jesus saw in those crowds the same thing that God the Father had seen in the people of Israel in the Sinai desert. Lost wandering sheep with no Shepherd to lead them.
They are harassed and helpless and in Christ they find compassion.
Just as God had come down to the people on Mt. Sinai, Jesus has come down to dwell among them.
His message is that the kingdom of God is near.
His message is the same that his Father gave to Moses on the mountain top.
It is Sinai all over again. God is making for himself a new people in Jesus, His Son.
And now, the Good News for us.
Yes, it’s the same old story.
You see, today, we are the peculiar people. We have been chosen by God to be His children. We are His priceless possessions.
When God came down from heaven to be with the people of Israel at Mt. Sinai, He came down, but He did not go back up.
He “tabernaceled” with them there in the desert and went with them during their journey to the promised land.
When Jesus Christ was born to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.
Today, Christ is here. God is in our midst.
Today we share the body and blood of Christ Jesus and in the reception of that gift we receive the forgiveness of our sins and the continuing promise of everlasting life.
So today, as we celebrate Father’s Day and remember fondly our earthly fathers, we also remember and celebrate our Heavenly Father.
He has given to us a gift that cannot be taken away.
He asks nothing in return, no neckties, no after shave, no good works….
just faith in Him.
To this Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we give all thanks and praise, glory and honor, now and forever. Amen.
