PENTECOST 5, A – June 15, 2008

SCRIPTURES – Ps. 67; Exodus 19:2-8; Romans 5:6-15; Matt. 9:35 – 10:8

Today is Father’s Day; although, that doesn’t necessarily change things much. Hallmark isn’t going to make nearly the amount of money as it did with Mother’s Day. There won’t be as much travel or as many phone calls as on Mother’s Day.

Even the Church seems to treat fathers and mothers differently. Do you recall what the Scripture readings were five weeks ago on Mother’s Day? They were all about how God gave His Holy Spirit as a free and generous gift to His people. An outpouring of love! What do we hear on Father’s Day? “Obey my voice and keep my covenant!” Gee, this sounds like, “Just wait till your father gets home!” Oh, we poor fathers. We’re the Rodney Dangerfield’s of the family. We get no respect!

How do you show love and respect for your father? There are many ways, but surely you do so by listening to and obeying him. It is the same with our heavenly Father. If we love God, if we will honor Him, then we will listen to and obey Him!

But, where to begin? When God calls His people to listen to and obey Him, He begins by fixing their attention on what He has done for them:

“You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore… obey my voice…”

It is so important to begin with God, that we might not get the wrong idea about our obedience. What wrong idea would that be? That by our obedience we gain something from God. It’s easy to have this idea, that if you do for God, God will respond and do for you. After all, so much of life in this world is based upon this idea.

q   In school we’re taught that if we do our homework and study hard we’ll be rewarded with good grades.

q   If we work hard at our jobs, our business will improve, or we’ll earn more money.

q   The athlete who works hard, staying in good shape and practicing, can expect to win more often.

You do in order to get; the one who gives, receives. That’s the way things work.

When did your father begin loving you? Was it after you first said, “Da-Da”? After you began picking up your toys like he told you to do? After you washed your hands before dinner without being told several times to do so? Of course not! A good father does not need to be persuaded to love, but out of love teaches and guides his children in order to  bring forth good things, for them and for others, through their obedience.

If this is so of earthly father’s, who are not all wise and, as sinners, do not always know or do what is good, then how much more true is this of our good and holy Father in heaven! “You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself,” God tells the people of Israel. He had sent them His servant, Moses, to lead them. By His own might, revealed in the ten plagues with which He smote Egypt and condemned their gods, He delivered the people of Israel from their bondage. And, all this He did to keep a promise He had made to their forefathers centuries before. And, we see Jesus going “throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction.” He did this because He had compassion on the people. His heart went out to them, and He wanted to help them.

God’s eyes were upon you with mercy and love even before you were born. We do not have persuade Him by our obedience to love us or help us. In fact, if God did not love us or want to help us, there is nothing we could do to make Him do so. Our obedience, then, our readiness and willingness to listen to Him and follow what he says, does not make us beautiful and precious to Him. Thank goodness, for how pure are our hearts and motives, how good and sincere and willing is our obedience? We are weak and sinful, impure even in our obedience! But, Scripture says,

“God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”

This is a mouthful, but such an important mouthful! While we were guilty sinners we were justified, pronounced innocent of sin. While we were enemies of the holy God because of our sin, our disobedience, we were reconciled, made His beloved friends. And all this, not by anything we have done, but because Christ died for us. He came down from heaven and bore our sins. He became the guilty one, the disobedient sinner. God punished Him for our sins, and we are freed of their condemnation. God is our loving Father because of Jesus and His death for us! Jesus makes us precious to God!

Isn’t this great love of our heavenly Father something to rejoice in and live in? Isn’t it something to proclaim and honor with how we live our lives? This is where our obedience comes in. By listening to God and obeying what He says – not grudgingly but because He is good and all He says and commands is good – we honor God and show forth His goodness, as well as our love for Him. Our obedience, then, is something good and precious. “If you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant,” God says, “you shall be my treasured possession.”

“my treasured possession.” This phrase is used in the Bible in two ways: of God’s people, or of precious gems or earthly wealth. Many of us have precious gems. Many of you wives were given a diamond by your husband. What do you do with it? Keep it under your pillow? Put it in a safety deposit box for safekeeping and never bring it out? Of course not! You proudly wear it, display it for all to see, thereby honoring your husband by proclaiming his love for you, and your love for him.

When we go to church and listen to God; when we read and study and learn His words, the Bible; and then, when we follow what they say and so:

q   Speak well of others and put the best construction on their actions, for God says: “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor”;

q   Live sexually pure lives, not using others for our own pleasure – neither actually nor by words or pictures in magazines – but respecting and honoring them, for God says: “You shall not commit adultery”;

q   Honor people’s lives and help especially the poor and weak and helpless, as Jesus did;

q   Not covet what we do not have but be content with what God has given us;

we then show forth the goodness and love of our God for all people. Our lives are like a wife’s diamond ring: we are precious gems through whom He proclaims His love.

God also says something else that is truly amazing. When we listen to His voice and obey Him we are for Him “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” You are all priests, God says! What is a priest? One who intercedes for others with God, one through whom God works and helps. You are God’s hands and mouths to help others as you listen to and do what He says! That, ultimately, is what our obedience, our good works, are all about: helping and serving others. For, God needs nothing. He does not need our works. But, the people of this world, so many of whom are “harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd,” need God, His love and His works. God will give them through you.

What great honor God has given to our works, our obedience! “If you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples,… and you shall be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” By His Holy Spirit may God our heavenly Father make and keep us this, through Christ, our Lord. Amen.