August 18, 2002
VBS Wrap-Up Sermon
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Late Friday night, I was in this room recording the opening for this morning’s radio broadcast.
We had just completed this years VBS and I think I can speak for all those that participated…at least all of those over…..and I’ll be kind….30….I was beat. I was exhausted.
I walked over to the Altar and retrieved the copies of last week’s bulletin that I had left in my hymnal and looked at the front cover. I don’t know if many of you remember last week’s sermon, let alone last weeks bulletin cover, so I had it blown up…..I couldn’t help but laugh. There were more than a few times this past week where I think those very words, Lord Save Me, were uttered by some of the adults helping at VBS.
I say that mostly in jest. However, there are perhaps some people sitting here this morning or listening to the radio broadcast that might think of VBS as a waste of time and energy and talent and funds.
A few common quips that you hear about VBS is that is primarily a baby-sitting chore that the church carries out during the summer months, or that the kids don’t really learn anything, or couldn’t we do something better in terms of evangelism.
I’m going to give you three quick answers to those statements.
Is it a baby-sitting function? Who cares! The children are in the House of the Lord!
The kids don’t learn anything. That’s wrong….just ask the kids.
Couldn’t we do something better? For this one, I think I’ll quote Jesus. From the Gospel of Matthew 19:14: Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."
For those of you here and those of you listening at home, I would like to share briefly what happened during the course of our week of VBS.
The “title” of this year’s program was Godzwerkus Circus. The theme was a “circus school”, if you will, where young people were taught the basics of circus performing. These circus acts all required certain skills such as weightlifting, to build up your strength. There was also tightrope walking, twirling fiery batons, clowns and their makeup, and of course, lion taming.
I can tell by the looks on your faces that you’re wondering what that has to do with the Bible. After all, it is Vacation BIBLE School.
Well, each one of these skills or traits was related to a Biblical story, a Biblical character.
I’m going to tell you a little about each one of these stories, but I want to do it in the light of phrase that Martin Luther used, "oratio, meditatio, tentatio", that’s Latin for prayer, study, testing. Prayer and study sound great, though we don’t nearly do enough of either one. But testing means suffering and humiliation and bearing the cross, and nobody wants that.
So I thought this morning we would look at the stories the young people heard this past week in relation to testing. How were these individuals tested in their relationship to God?
The first story is a well-known story about a well-known individual. At the time this story took place, however, this person wasn’t well known at all. In fact, he was just a young boy who tended his father’s sheep.
The boy, of course, was David. Strength was the “skill” of the day, however, it wasn’t so much outward strength; it was an inner strength and an invisible armor provided by God as David went out to do battle with Goliath.
All of us here know full well the outcome of that battle. David, with just one trusty shot from his sling fell the giant Goliath and went on to become the greatest King, the greatest leader that Israel has ever known.
But what was the test here? To be truthful, the test for me would be not turning and running at the sight of this giant. But David knew that he was not alone. He knew that he had been prepared by God for this very day. He was confident of the outcome.
His test came afterward. The people of Israel grew to love and respect David, but King Saul became jealous of him. Saul set out to kill David. David knew that the Lord had plans for him but he also knew that Saul had been anointed King by the Lord. So David’s test became very much like the test our Lord Jesus had to endure.
People wanted to make Jesus an earthly King, but Jesus knew that His Father had other plans.
David’s ultimate test was to not succumb to the wants and desires of the people, but to follow the will of God.
Our next Biblical character was a judge. A female judge. This woman ruled prior to the time of Saul and David. She was the leader of all the Israelites during the time between Joshua and Saul and her reign lasted for 40 years.
Her name was Deborah. Now, all that we know about Deborah is contained in the 4th and 5th Chapters of the book of Judges.
We are told of the two defining events of her life. One, she was lifted up by God to lead her people and secondly, she defeated in battle one of the most powerful of Israel’s enemies, a general by the name of Sisera.
The skill that we used to identify Deborah was that of the tightrope walker. As a judge, she had to carefully balance her decisions, using the Wisdom given to her by God.
But where was her test? Her test came, as a woman, and as a judge, not succumbing to the fear of her people and of the leader of her Army, Barak.
God told her that the time had come to end the suppression of her people from the Kingdom of Jabin and general Sisera.
All of her advisors said no. In fact, they said….don’t send us off to war unless you’re willing to go yourself.
Deborah trusted her God more than she listened to those around her.
She was tested and stood true to the Lord and the Lord brought her victory.
Our third story was that of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Three courageous men who were ordered by King Nebuchadnezzar to bow down to a giant idol he had made. Courageous? You bet. Anybody who did not bow down to this false god was ordered to be thrown into the fiery furnace.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego survived their test. They refused to bow down. You see, the test wasn’t surviving the fire. They knew that their God would protect them once they were in….it was keeping their focus on God. It was trusting in Him and not taking the easy way out. It was not bowing down for the sake of compromise or goodwill or because “everybody else was doing it.”
Their test was literally not turning their backs to the one true God and being willing to suffer the fate of their decision. They survived that test….and the fiery furnace.
On our 4th night, we learned about Bartimaeus. Bartimaeus was a blind beggar who sat outside the gates of the city of Jericho. This is a short story, recorded in all three of the Synoptic Gospels.
When something like this occurs, not to make light of the miracle of giving sight to the blind, but when a single incident is recorded in all the Gospels, one has to ask, “Why?” What was the significance of this one miracle? What made Bartimaeus special?
The answer is the test. In all three of the Gospels, what is significant is not the fact that “the blind receive their sight”, but what Bartimaeus did when he received this gift from Jesus.
As I told the kids, he didn’t immediately run home to watch a little TV. Our text says: “Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God”
Bartimaeus’ test was not so much believing that Jesus could heal, his test came after the fact. What was he going to do with the gift? How would others react? Bartimaeus led by example. He was overjoyed and became a follower of Christ.
Friday night was the story of Ananias. If one were producing a movie of the book of Acts and they were holding casting calls, Ananias would probably be listed as a “bit” player. He a little more than an extra, but his part is too small to have STAR billing.
This might be how we see it, or how a movie producer would see it, but from God’s point of view, Ananias was a chosen to deliver a message to one of the most, if not the most, prominent Evangelist the world has ever known.
Once again, Ananias test was not his faithfulness. He is described in the latter part of Acts as: “a devout observer of the law and highly respected by all the Jews living there.”
The test which Ananias faced was one that most of us face often during our lives. It was a test of fear.
Not the fear of going up against a giant like Goliath, not the fear of going into battle like Deborah. Not the fear of being thrown into a fiery furnace or even the fear of living our lives in blind darkness or with some other physical limitation.
Ananias feared witnessing. He knew Saul’s reputation and yet God had told him that he must go.
How often do we have an opportunity to tell someone the good news about salvation through Jesus Christ, but we make judgments about that person. They aren’t the same as us. They don’t speak the same language. They don’t look like us. They don’t wear the same clothes. We’ve heard they have a bad reputation…just like Saul.
Saul was a roaring Lion out to devour the followers of Christ. But Ananias was the lion tamer. The lion tamer appointed by God to use his voice to speak the words of truth to Saul and to baptize him in the grace of the one he previously persecuted.
Friends in Christ Jesus. A few weeks ago Rev. Stan Quebe preached from this pulpit and he spoke to you of prayer. He encouraged all of us to pray. To use this gift, this ability we have been given to speak to the creator of the universe. To seek his help, to acknowledge our blessings and to ask that His will be done in our lives.
Those of you who know me, can attest to the fact that I believe strongly in the study of God’s holy Word……not just for pastors, but for all of us. The Word strengthens and sustains. The Word chastises and humbles. The Word lifts us up from the depths of the depravity of our sin to be righteous in the eyes of God.
We are strong on prayer. We are strong on the study of God’s Word.
But far to seldom do we talk about tests. “Tentatio”
Are we willing to sacrifice? Are we willing to bear the cross? Are we humbled in the eyes of God?
Only then do we receive the wonderful gift of salvation, the gift of everlasting life that God has promised.
Only when we say, not my will, but your will O God.
Only when we come to the point where we say, “I can’t”, does God say, “You can.”
Not because of who you are. Not because your famous, or good looking, or rich or powerful. Not because of anything you have done.
Look at the individuals we just discussed: Young David, Deborah, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, Bartimaeus, and Ananias. None of them were special. None of them different than anyone else until they were chosen by God to be special. To carry out His will for His people.
And the same is true of you. It’s true of all of us. All of us are created by the same God. What makes us special is that He has chosen us. He has called us, gathered us, and enlightened us through His Word and Sacraments, not because of anything we have done, but because of what has already been done for you.
Jesus died to take your death away. Jesus suffered to take your suffering away. Jesus rose from the dead so that you too might rise on the last day and live with God forever.
When we find ourselves confronted, cornered, convicted, cowering. When we are looking for a way out.
We ask and trust the Holy Spirit will keep our hearts and our minds focused on Jesus.
We acknowledge and ask, “Lord, save me.”
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
