A Wise and Understanding People | Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost
August 29, 2021 | 10:45 a.m.
The Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Communion will be celebrated during this service. If you plan to visit with us, please read our communion statement.
READINGS
Deuteronomy 4:1–2, 6–9
Psalm 119:129–136
Ephesians 6:10–20
Mark 7:14–23
Message presented by Rev. Frank C. Ruffatto
+Points to ponder
- What are the three realities that the sermon identifies concerning ‘a wise and understanding people.’
- How do you see Paul’s idea Philippians 2:13 working out in your life?
- How do you respond to the fact that nothing can separate you from God’s love in Christ? (cf. Romans 8:38-39)
+Sermon Transcript
Grace, mercy, and peace be unto each of you from God our Father and our Lord and King, Jesus the Christ. Amen.
Let us pray: Almighty God, who called Your Church to bear witness that You were in Christ reconciling the world to Yourself: help us to proclaim the good news of Your love, that all who hear it may be drawn to You; through Him who was lifted up on the cross, and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever, Amen.
The setting for the Book of Deuteronomy is Moses in the Land of Moab, east of the Jordan River. He knows that he will not lead Israel across the Jordan because his endurance and patience had come to an end. Dealing with some recalcitrant people bent on quarreling and squabbling. The rabble was constantly ill at ease and Moses may have felt the need to defend himself or at least show that he was still God’s chosen leader. He was told by God to strike the rock once and He would bless them with an abundance of water. But, Moses, instead of letting the Word of the Lord reveal its power, he looked to take at least some credit for the miracle as he said, “shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly …”
By striking the rock twice, Moses failed to believe God’s Word and thus failed to uphold God’s holiness in front of the people; and Moses’ actions had consequences.
And so, Deuteronomy basically consists of Moses’ final speeches with the Israelites. In Deuteronomy one through three, Moses recounts the history of the people, from the time they were at Mount Sinai after the exodus from Egypt to the present. This was a period of nearly forty years. There at Sinai, God had made a covenant with the nation Israel. They were His chosen people. God had decided that from these descendants of Abraham would come the Savior of the world, the Messiah.
Now, in Deuteronomy four, Moses, after recalling all that God had done for the Israelites these past almost forty years, looks into the future. In our text, Moses uses the phrase “a wise and understanding people.” That phrase, which Moses connected with the Israelites, also applies to us, right here at Redeemer, today. May the Lord bless our meditation this morning as
WE CONSIDER THREE REALITIES CONCERNING A WISE AND UNDERSTANDING PEOPLE
– the Israelites, and you and me.
The Israelites were, and we have been, brought to faith in the one true God through the Word of God. This is one reality concerning a wise and understanding people.
The Word the Israelites had was that passed down from previous generations, and that which came to them through the ministry of Moses. We have more of the Word of God – the writings of Moses (Genesis through Deuteronomy), the rest of the Old Testament, and the entirety of the New Testament.
This Word reveals the one true God – the triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This Word reveals the Savior, the Son of God, who became man, born of the nation Israel. He, Jesus Christ, sacrificed Himself in payment for the sins of the world and arose triumphant from the dead. He is the Savior, for all who believe in Him have forgiveness of their sins and everlasting life.
Knowing and having faith in the true God and the Savior is, as we have said before, the highest wisdom. This is far greater than any earthly wisdom. Understanding the way of salvation – by God’s grace through faith in Christ – is the greatest understanding.
We thank God that He made not only the Israelites addressed in our text but also us a wise and understanding people. Through faith in Christ, we have salvation. Let us Rejoice in that truth with lives of faith and the fruits of that faith!
Having the Word of God, the Israelites lived – and we live – according to it. This is another reality concerning a wise and understanding people.
In our text, statutes, rules, and commandments refer specifically to the covenant God made with Israel at Mount Sinai. These were guidelines as to how the Israelites were to live as God’s covenant people. Today, our guidelines are the Ten Commandments, which were a part of God’s covenant with Israel.
God’s Word, since it is His Word, contains the greatest wisdom. Also, because of His love, God gave the guidelines to the Israelites and to us. He knows what is best for His people and wants our highest good. And the highest good is for us to be wise and understanding - seeing that the ways of the Lord are ways of righteousness and blessedness regardless of the maelstrom, the chaos the world sets before us.
God, who through His Word brought the Israelites and us to saving faith, enables His people through the same Word to keep His commandments and live according to His Word. As St. Paul puts it in his letter to the Philippians: “For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”
The lives of a wise and understanding people demonstrate that they have been enlightened by God through his Word. These lives are an encouragement to fellow Christians and a witness to unbelievers of the holiness of God and His grace toward His people.
We pray that God would help us to keep on living as His people and to grow in Christian living. This means taking care of ourselves spiritually by continuing in the Word of God and holding to all the counsel of God without adding to or subtracting from Scripture. This also means seeing to it that our children and grandchildren are taught and that they learn God’s Word.
Beloved, God is near to His wise and understanding people. This is the third reality concerning such people.
This is a blessing of being in a faith relationship with the Lord and is possible because of the saving work of the Messiah. Again, God is near to His people, whom He has made wise and understanding because He loves them. This fellowship with God, which we will enjoy throughout our earthly life, will continue first in heaven and then forever in the new creation.
Because God was so near to the believing Israelites, whenever they prayed to the Lord, He would always hear and answer their petitions as was best for them according to His good and gracious will. This was a belief and reality unique to the Israelites, for the other peoples of the ancient Near East did not believe the same thing regarding their gods (who, of course, actually did not exist).
Because God is so near to us, He always hears and answers our petitions in the best way. He does so, again, because of Christ, by whom we can come before the Lord in prayer. Also, God is near us in the Lord’s Supper: Christ comes to us and gives us His very self; His body and blood for the forgiveness of our sins and to strengthen our faith – our trust in Him.
May we continually take comfort in the Gospel truth that God is always near to us, His people, and that He will provide physical and spiritual care for us. “For,” as St. Paul puts it, “I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Nothing can separate us from His love. Let us rejoice in that truth with lives of faith and the fruits of that faith!
How blessed we are that God has made us a wise and understanding people! Because of His love for us, we have the wisdom of saving faith, we display the wisdom of God’s Word in our lives, and we have blessed fellowship with the Lord, who is always near us. All of this is possible because of Jesus, our Savior. “Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I will say, rejoice!” Amen.
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”
Sermon Study helps – Concordia Pulpit Resources (Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, Missouri) [Vol 31 Pt 3 YrB – electronic version] Rev. Walter A. Maier III, PhD, professor, Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana