Text: Ex 23:14-33
In the name of + Jesus. Amen.
Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
God tells the Israelites to keep various feasts. Of course, we don’t keep these specific feasts under the New Covenant, because they are fulfilled in Jesus. We keep the Eucharist feast as the fulfillment of all of the shadows and types of the Old Testament. Our Lord Jesus Christ said, “Do this in memory of Me.”
It is sad to see some Lutherans – even pastors – downplaying the Sacrament of the Altar during these trying times, as if being deprived of Holy Communion is just no big deal. But it is the Medicine of Immortality. It is the greatest vaccine of all, one that outlasts even death.
The Lord promised to “blot out” the enemies of His people, but issues a warning: “You shall not bow down to their gods nor serve them nor do as they do, but you shall utterly overthrow them and break their pillars in pieces.” And if the people of God are faithful, the Lord says, “I will take sickness away from you.”
Of course, we cannot see into the mind of God, whose ways are not our ways. But we do know from the Holy Scriptures that when the Israelites were unfaithful, God often allowed them to be afflicted with various plagues, and He relented when they cried out to Him in repentance. We Christians would do well to ponder this, and repent. For how do we treat the gods of the heathen? We know that the divorce rate among Christians is the same as that of the unbelievers. We watch the same movies and TV shows. We attend the same schools. Our worldview is increasingly shaped by secular forces. Statism, pornography, secularism, and indifference to sexual immorality is increasingly the norm among Christians. The “border” that God promises to fortify, that which separates His people from the heathen, is increasingly non-existent today. We Christians look, talk, act, and order our lives like everyone else. Often our homes look no different than that of unbelievers. The same goes with our patterns of life, public and private, and our speech and conversations.
“If you serve their gods,” our Lord warns, “it will surely be a snare for you.”
So let us repent, dear friends. Let us humbly call upon the name of the Lord for relief from this worldwide pandemic and from the restrictions placed upon us – even restrictions upon our ability to hear the Word of God and participate in the feast of our Lord’s body and blood. Let us repent of our unholiness, our indifference, and of our taking the Lord’s grace for granted. Let us once again depend upon Him – rather than ourselves – to defend us against the forces of Satan, disease, and even death. And in repentance, let us prayerfully remind God of the promises He has made to us: “I will take sickness away from you… I will fulfill the number of your days.” Let us give Him thanks and praise, in good times and bad, even unto eternity!
Amen.
Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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