Worship

“During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
God saw the people of Israel — and God knew.”
Exodus 2:23-25

The book of Genesis ends with the conclusion of Joseph’s saga. Out of jealousy his brothers sell him into slavery in Egypt where he rises up the ranks in Potiphar’s house but then finds himself in jail after the run-in with Potiphar’s wife. In jail, Joseph rises up within the ranks, such as they are in prison, until someone put a good word in for him with    Pharaoh. With God’s help in interpreting dreams, Joseph has the foresight to prepare the entire country of Egypt for an extended famine. Because Joseph’s work during this famine works out very well for Pharaoh, Joseph is allowed to settle his extended family in one of the best parts of Egypt. This is where the book of Genesis ends.

The book of Exodus fills in the 400 some odd years after the end of Genesis. During this time we are told that the Egyptian leaders who remembered Joseph and his family fondly have passed away. New leaders have come to power and they do not recall how they were enriched and empowered by Joseph. All they see is that there is a large group of foreigners living in their land. This is a liability and so, to control them, they enact population control measures (killing the baby boys at birth) and slave labor. This is the context of Exodus 2:23–25 quoted above. This is why the people of Israel are crying out to God for rescue.

At first it might seem superfluous to say that, “God saw the people of Israel — and God knew.” We might think to ourselves, “Of course God saw the people of Israel. He sees everything. Of course God knew. God knows everything.” But from the perspective of the Israelites, this might seem like an open question. Where was God in their lives now? Why has God allowed all these bad things to happen to them? Had God forgotten about them? Did God remember they were still down there? Did God even know all this stuff was happening to them? In response to this, God allows the words we have here in Exodus to be written, “God saw the people of Israel — and God knew.”

You may get to feeling like the Israelites from time to time. Maybe you look around at the circumstances of your life and you see that they are not all that good. Perhaps, like the Israelites, you can look back and remember better times in the past. And like the Israelites, you might begin to wonder if God has forgotten about you. You might begin to wonder if God remembers that you are still down here. Does God even know about all of this stuff that is happening to you?

Yes, God hears your groaning and remembers the promises that He has made to you. God sees you. God knows you. God knows your troubles and concerns and anxieties. God did not forget Joseph when he was a slave of Potiphar or when he was in prison. God saved Joseph. God did not forget His people when they were slaves in Egypt and being  mistreated. God saved them. And God has not forgotten you in your troubles. God has sent His Son to save you from the slavery of your sins. God has sent His Son to save you from the slavery of relying on yourself and the burden of having to figure out how to turn your fortunes around. God has already sent Jesus here to give you eternal life. Is there more to be done? Yes, God knows that there is, and He promises to do that work when Christ returns.

Joseph didn’t know what God’s plan was when he was sold into slavery and worked for years as a slave. Joseph   didn’t know what God’s plan was when he was unjustly imprisoned for years. But during that time, Joseph was faithful. Joseph trusted God. Eventually, Joseph was able to look back and see that, even though he didn’t know it at the time, God had a plan that was good for him and for everyone around him. (Genesis 50:20) You can have the same trust in God. Things may not look good now. It may seem like God has forgotten you and does not know your plight. But God sees and God knows. God has come to save you through Jesus. There will be a time when you too will get to look back and see that even though it didn’t look like it at the time, God had a plan that was good for you and everyone around you.

Paster Mehl

Samuel Medley

I know that my Redeemer lives; what comfort this sweet sentence gives!
He lives, He lives, who once was dead; He lives, my ever-living head.

Samuel Medley was born in the United Kingdom in 1738. The culture into what he was born was fairly Christian but simply being born in a predominantly Christian culture does not make one a Christian. It seems that Samuel wandered from his faith in his early years and even wandered from home, joining the British Navy. The French and the British were at war during this time and Mr. Medley was injured in the Battle of Lagos. The Battle of Lagos was a resounding victory for the British but not so much for Mr. Medley as his leg was injured and he was told that it would need to be amputated if it did not improve. His leg did, in fact, improve the night before the operation was scheduled to begin. It seems that his relationship with his Redeemer also improved through this situation as well.

Upon returning to England after being discharged from the Navy, Samuel Medley went on to become a Baptist minister in and around London. He wrote some 230 hymns during his lifetime. As inspiration for the hymn “I Know That My Redeemer Lives,” Medley could have found inspiration in Paul Gerhart’s German hymn “Ich weiß, dass mein Erlöser lebt,” that repeats the phrase “Er libt” (He lives) several times. There were also other hymns at the time based on Job 19:25 that could have served as inspiration as well. In any case, in this hymn we have an Old Testament look at the resurrection set to a memorable and singable tune with bit-sized phrases.

With Job and Samuel Medley, we too can look beyond our current or past suffering and know that our Redeemer lives and that with Him our bodies and our souls will be kept safe.

Pastor Mehl

Our Lenten series this year will focus on Psalm 41. No Old Testament saint attests to God’s grace quite like King David. Raised from the sheepfold to the throne of the house of Israel; raised again (and again, and again) from sin: pride, murder, adultery, and despising of God; lifted clear of the snare of the wicked (Psalm 119:110), of the pit (Psalm 30:3), of the very gates of death (Psalm 9:13); with no merit or worthiness in    himself, David was continually raised up by God’s grace and favor.

How has God’s grace raised you? If you haven’t been set on a royal throne or made ruler over a great   people, maybe you’ve seen improvements in your finances or employment. Or perhaps family strife has been quieted. Or maybe a compassionate helper or valuable ally has entered the picture at just the right moment. Have you shaken off a bad illness, a bad habit, or a bad influence? If so, rejoice and thank God for His grace.

But if you feel like you’re sinking instead of rising, what then? Is there any comfort for the saint of God who looks around to find that “the waters have come up to my neck” (Psalm 69:1)? David knows that saint’s fortunes because they are his as well:

In the day of trouble the Lord delivers him;
the Lord protects him and keeps him alive;
he is called blessed in the land;
You do not give him up to the will of his enemies. (Psalm 41:1–2)

In the Lord there is hope. Therefore, do not look for hope in your experiences or your emotions, which will portray for you the same bleak scene that David captures in Psalm 41: “My enemies say of me in malice, “When will he die, and his name perish?”” (v. 5) “When one comes to see me, he utters empty words, while His heart gathers iniquity.” (v. 6) “Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me.” (v. 9)

Faith offers a better vision: despite all that binds and bruises and bleeds you, God will raise you up. He has raised you already. In Holy Baptism, God has “raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:6). If you are in Christ, how can you sink? How can you fall?

Lent is a good time to meditate on David’s ordeals and your secure position in Christ. Psalm 41 provides a good guide to your meditation. If the laments of Psalm 41 call to mind your numerous difficulties and need for deliverance, they depict even more clearly the work by which your deliverance has been won.

David “prophesied about the grace that was to be yours” and “searched and inquired carefully” concerning your salvation (1 Peter 1:10). And that salvation is this: the Son of David, by grace, “might taste death for everyone” (Hebrews 2:9).

Because you are in Christ, you share in all things with Him, even the prophetic Word. David’s vision in Psalm 41 has become your reality in Christ. In the day of trouble, the Lord delivers you; the Lord protects you and keeps you alive; you are called blessed in the land (see Psalm 41:1–2). As surely as the Lenten journey ascends to the victory of Easter, you shall be raised up.

~ Paster Mehl

“And when in time to come your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you shall say to him…” Exodus 13:14a

The end of one year and the beginning of another is, in reality, just another day. But because we put away our old calendars and get out new ones, and because we measure things in years, it seems like a new start. Traditionally, perhaps infamously, people make grand plans and have grand ideas about how the future year is going to go. Often these plans have to do with establishing, or perhaps breaking, some kind of a habit. Some people want to get into the habit of exercising more. Some people want to break the habit of snacking when they aren’t really that hungry. It’s a good idea to evaluate one’s habits periodically and what better time than the beginning of the year?

God’s word addresses some habits of Christians. The writer to the Hebrews says in chapter 10, “Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another.” This verse recommends that habit of meeting with other Christians for encouragement and speaks against the habit neglecting to meet with other Christians regularly. Going to church on a regular basis is a habit. It’s not just some thing Christians do because of tradition. Meeting together for worship is a habit that lets us receive God’s gifts anew and lets us encourage other Christians and receive encouragement from them.

Speaking of traditions, they have their place too. I don’t know that you would call celebrating Christmas a habit. It’s more of a tradition. I don’t know where the line is between ‘tradition’ and ‘habit’ but ‘tradition’ seems less regular and more occasional than a habit. God’s word addresses occasions. Exodus 13:14 reads, “And when in time to come your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you shall say to him ‘By a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery.’” This verse comes in the context of redeeming the firstborn of man and animals. This is not a thing that would happen weekly. A first born child only comes once but I suppose a first born animal might depend on how much livestock you keep. In any case this would be an occasional event but would also be an opportunity to talk about why this is done. Indeed, God seems to have instituted this practice, in part, so that questions would be asked about it in the future and an opportunity would be given to explain and thereby remember God’s saving works and promises of the past.

Christmas affords us this opportunity every year. The same is true of all of the church’s holidays both major (Easter) and minor (St. Michael and All Angels). It seems like we often celebrate holidays because they’re fun or because ‘that’s what we have always done’. Now might be an interesting time to think about celebrating holidays as an opportunity to talk about God and what He has done or will do. Who knows, in time to come your son (or somebody else) may ask you, ‘What does this mean?’ and you will have an opportunity to tell them. Here are some suggestions for the upcoming season of the church year, Epiphany.

Chalking the Door – The Epiphany season is about Jesus being made known to the world beginning with the three magi/wise men/kings/sages. Epiphany starts after the 12 days of Christmas, that is, January 6. To bless their homes or to let the wise man know that they could stay there, many Christians write on their doors (or door frames) the year bracketing the initials of the wise men. The traditional (they are not included in the Bible) names of the wise men are Casper, Melchior and Balthazar. For this Epiphany then, the chalking would look like this, 20 + C + M + B + 24. Break out some chalk and scrawl it on your door for a good conversation starter.

King Cake – King cake also celebrates Epiphany with a nod to the three kings. King cake is a round pastry cake with a féve in it. A féve is a little prize hidden in the cake. Traditionally it was a bean but in order to prevent it from being knowingly or unknowingly eaten, most people use an inedible object such as a plastic baby. Finding the baby hidden in the cake can be likened to the three kings finding the baby Jesus who would be crucified for being the king of the Jews but was, in fact, the king of all. It can easily be another conversation starter, and hey, cake.

Whatever habits or traditions you decide to engage in this year try to put them into the context of your faith. How does what you plan to do or not do this year help strengthen your faith or the faith of those around you? What opportunities might you have to talk about the most important things in life such as a baby who lived and died and rose to be your king?

Pastor Mehl