The First Sunday in Lent
\nFebruary 14, 2016
\nDeuteronomy 26:5-10
\nHoly! Holy! Holy!
\nHoly Nation<\/p>\n
\u201cThen you shall declare before the LORD your God:\u00a0 \u2018My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down into Egypt with a few people and lived there and became a great nation, powerful and numerous.\u00a0 But the Egyptians mistreated us and made us suffer, putting us to hard labor.\u00a0 Then we cried out to the LORD, the God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our voice and saw our misery, toil and oppression.\u00a0 So the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror and with miraculous signs and wonders.\u00a0 He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey; and now I bring the firstfruits of the soil that you, O LORD, have given me.\u2019\u00a0 Place the basket before the LORD your God and bow down before him.\u201d\u00a0 (NIV1984)<\/p>\n
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,<\/p>\n
\u201cHoly, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 I don\u2019t know about you, but I love singing that hymn?\u00a0 Do you know why?\u00a0 I love singing that hymn because it reminds me of the songs that the angels and the saints sing before the throne of our holy God in heaven above!\u00a0 (See Isaiah 6:1-4; Revelation 4:6-11)\u00a0 But did you perhaps wonder why we sang that particular hymn on this particular Sunday?\u00a0 Hymn 15 is found in the \u201cInvocation\u201d section of the ELH.\u00a0 That very same hymn is found in the \u201cHoly Trinity\u201d section of Christian Worship<\/em> (#195).\u00a0 Today is the first Sunday in Lent.\u00a0 What\u2019s up with that?\u00a0 The reason we sang that hymn today, my friends, is because on each of the six Sundays in Lent our sermon theme is going to begin with the words:\u00a0 Holy! Holy! Holy!<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 The fact that we worship and adore a holy God\u2014 the Triune God of heaven and earth\u2014 has a powerful impact on who we are as the adopted children of God.\u00a0 Therefore, our goal for each of the Sundays in Lent is to stand in the presence of our holy God and study one aspect of how His holiness affects us.<\/p>\n Today we will see how our holy God makes us members of His Holy Nation.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 There are three points we want to examine this morning.\u00a0 First, we need to see that we are members of God\u2019s holy nation purely by the grace of God.\u00a0 Second, we want to remember that even though we are members of God\u2019s holy nation we may still be called upon to endure misery, toil and oppression in this world.\u00a0 And finally, we want to see how as members of God\u2019s holy nation we joyfully respond to God\u2019s grace.<\/p>\n Our text for this morning takes us back in time to just before God\u2019s people entered into the Promised Land of Canaan.\u00a0 The 40 years of wandering in the wilderness are over.\u00a0 Moses, who because of his own disobedience was not allowed to cross the Jordan into the Promised Land, was \u201creviewing\u201d the covenant which the LORD had established with the Israelites.\u00a0 Trusting in the Lord\u2019s promise to give this land to the descendants of Abraham, Moses instructs the people on what they were to do and how they were to respond once they had crossed the Jordan and taken possession of the land God had promised to their ancestors.<\/p>\n The very first thing Moses encourages God\u2019s people to remember is the amazing grace of the Lord their God.\u00a0 Moses says to God\u2019s people, \u201cThen you shall declare before the LORD your God:\u00a0 \u2018My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down into Egypt with a few people and lived there and became a great nation, powerful and numerous.\u2019\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cMy father was a wandering Aramean.\u201d\u00a0 <\/em>It\u2019s astounding how much history is contained in those simple words?\u00a0 You may recall that the Israelites were descended from a man named Israel\u2014 whose original name was Jacob.\u00a0 Jacob had deceived his father Isaac into giving him the right of the firstborn\u2014 a right which should have been given to Jacob\u2019s older brother Esau.\u00a0 Esau was so angry with his brother Jacob that Jacob had to flee for his life.\u00a0 He fled to Aram where for 20 years Jacob worked for his father-in-law Laban.\u00a0 Many years later Jacob\u2019s son Joseph was sold into slavery and brought to Egypt.\u00a0 God then saw to it that Joseph ended up being second in command of that powerful country.\u00a0 Soon thereafter, Joseph brought his father and his father\u2019s family down to Egypt.\u00a0 Do you remember how many people that included?\u00a0 It included 70 people.\u00a0 (See Exodus 1:5)\u00a0 When the LORD God led the Children of Israel out of Egypt how many people were there?\u00a0 A census taken at the time of the Exodus revealed that there were 603,550 men over the age of 20.\u00a0 When you add in the Levites, the women and the children there were over two million people waiting to cross the Jordan and take possession of the Promised Land!<\/p>\n How did the Israelites become such a \u201cgreat and powerful nation\u201d<\/em>?\u00a0 Even more importantly how did the descendants of Jacob, that \u201cwandering Aramean,\u201d <\/em>\u00a0become a holy nation\u2014 a nation that is describe as God\u2019s \u201ctreasured possession\u201d<\/em>?\u00a0 That question is answered for us in Deuteronomy 7:6-8.\u00a0 There we read, \u201cThe LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.\u00a0 The LORD did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples.\u00a0 But it was because the LORD loved you and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 The only<\/strong> reason the descendants of Jacob were a \u201cgreat and powerful nation,\u201d<\/em> the only<\/strong> reason the descendants of Jacob were a holy nation and a \u201ctreasured possession\u201d <\/em>was because of the amazing grace of a holy God!\u00a0 (See also Exodus 19:6)<\/p>\n The way in which the descendants of Jacob became a holy nation very nicely reminds us of how we became a part of God\u2019s holy nation too, doesn\u2019t it.\u00a0 Do you deserve to be a part of God\u2019s holy nation?\u00a0 No?\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Surely I deserve to be a part of God\u2019s holy nation, right?\u00a0 No?\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 By nature none of us deserve to be part of God\u2019s holy nation because by nature we are all born sinful!\u00a0 Therefore, the only<\/strong> reason we are<\/strong> a part of God\u2019s holy nation is because of God\u2019s amazing grace<\/strong>!\u00a0 The apostle Paul reminds us of this when he writes, \u201cFor it is by grace you have been saved, through faith\u2014 and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God\u2014 not by works so that no one can boast\u201d<\/em> (Ephesians 2:8-9).\u00a0 The apostle Peter reminds us of this very same truth when he writes, \u201cBut you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation<\/strong>, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.\u00a0 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy\u201d<\/em> (I Peter 2:9-10).\u00a0\u00a0 (See also I Peter 1:15 & 18; Ephesians 1:4-6)<\/p>\n Does it automatically follow then that as a holy nation, as a treasured possession of a holy God, that you and I will never or should never have to endure misery, toil and oppression in this life?\u00a0 Hardly.\u00a0 In our text for this morning Moses reminded God\u2019s people, \u201cThe Egyptians mistreated us and made us suffer, putting us to hard labor.\u00a0 Then we cried out to the LORD, the God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our voice and saw our misery, toil and oppression.\u00a0 So the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror and with miraculous signs and wonders.\u00a0 He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n It is highly unlikely that you and I will ever be forced to experience the level of \u201cmisery, toil and oppression\u201d<\/em> that God\u2019s people endured as slaves in the land of Egypt.\u00a0 But if I were to tell you that the word translated here in our text as \u201coppression\u201d<\/em> very literally means, \u201cbeing squeezed,\u201d<\/em> and if I were to tell you that the word translated here in our text as \u201ctoil\u201d<\/em> relates to \u201cunpleasant factors of work\u201d\u2014<\/em> would you now be able to take what Moses said to God\u2019s people some 3,500 years ago and apply it to your life as a member of God\u2019s holy nation today?\u00a0 I think so!<\/p>\n As someone who has been saved purely by the grace of our holy God, as someone who has been made holy purely by the power of God Himself when you stand up for<\/strong> the Truth of Scripture and when you stand up against<\/strong> the sin that is so often being force-fed today\u2014 whether it be in our schools, on our televisions, by our courts or even by segments of our own government\u2014 you can easily begin to feel as though you are \u201cbeing squeezed\u201d<\/em> on all sides.\u00a0 As you strive to think and to speak and to act the same way at work on Monday morning as you do here in church on Sunday morning you could easily begin to see and to hear and to experience the \u201cunpleasant factors\u201d<\/em> of your daily toil.\u00a0 Living as a member of God\u2019s holy nation amidst a world, a nation, a society that continues to sink ever deeper into the cesspool of sin will indeed cause us to experience \u201cmisery, toil and oppression\u201d<\/em> in this life.<\/p>\n That\u2019s why we can never lose sight of the fact that just as the Lord brought His Old Testament holy nation out of Egypt with \u201ca mighty hand and an outstretched arm,\u201d<\/em> and just as God brought His Old Testament \u201ctreasured possession\u201d <\/em>into the Promised Land, a land \u201cflowing with milk and honey,\u201d<\/em> so also one day our God will deliver us from the \u201cmisery, toil and oppression\u201d<\/em> of this world and graciously usher us into the heavenly Promised Land where the streets are made of gold and the gates are made of pearl, a land where there is no more death or pain or mourning or hunger or thirst but only joy and laughter and perfection for all of eternity!<\/p>\n The final point that Moses emphasizes here in our text focuses on our visible response to the grace of our holy God\u2014 the grace that has made us a member of His holy nation, the grace that has promised us a glorious eternity in heaven.\u00a0 Moses says to us in the closing verse of our text, \u201cNow I bring the firstfruits of the soil that you, O LORD, have given me.\u00a0 Place the basket before the LORD your God and bow down before him.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Each and every week we have an opportunity to openly and visibly respond to God\u2019s amazing grace.\u00a0 Each and every week we have an opportunity to bow before the God of heaven and place our offering on His altar.\u00a0 Does your offering accurately reflect your love and your thankfulness for all that the good Lord has done for you?\u00a0 Do you humbly give back to your Savior God an honorable portion of the material blessings that He has placed under your care?\u00a0 Can you honestly say that you come before the Lord with your firstfruits and not your leftovers?\u00a0 The holy season of Lent\u2014 that special time of the year when the cross of Jesus Christ is so clearly paced before us\u2014 is a very good time for us to prayerfully evaluate the offerings that we are placing on the altar of our holy God.<\/p>\n And let\u2019s not forget that our offerings to the Lord go far beyond what we place into the offering plate on Sunday mornings.\u00a0 Our offerings to our holy God also include the way that we use our time and our talent to serve our Lord by serving here in His Kingdom.\u00a0 Our offerings to our holy God also include making the time to gather together for worship, gathering together to study His holy Word both here at church and at home and sharing our precious Savior with others.\u00a0 All of this is included in the offerings that we humbly bring to our holy God.<\/p>\n Holy!\u00a0 Holy!\u00a0 Holy!\u00a0 Lord God Almighty!<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0 Like the angels of heaven we cannot help but lift up our hearts in songs of praise to the Living God of perfect holiness.\u00a0 My hope and my prayer is that for at least the next week you will be especially focused on the truth that purely by His grace the holy Lord God has made you a part of His holy nation of believers.\u00a0 Let that glorious truth keep you focused on the Promised Land of heaven as you journey though this world with all of its \u201cmisery, toil and oppression.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 Let that glorious reality motivate you as you faithfully respond to God\u2019s grace with the offerings that you place before Him on His altar and with the way that you use your time and your talent in service to Him.<\/p>\n To God be the glory!<\/p>\n Amen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The First Sunday in Lent February 14, 2016 Deuteronomy 26:5-10 Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy Nation \u201cThen you shall declare before the LORD your God:\u00a0 \u2018My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down into Egypt with a few people and lived there and became a great nation, powerful and numerous.\u00a0 But the Egyptians mistreated us and made us suffer, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lent","category-sermon"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=643"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":645,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643\/revisions\/645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}