Peace VBS

Peace VBS

VBS for this year will be held from June 2, 2013 through June 6.  The week will begin at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday with activities and a church picnic to follow.  The students will meet from 5:30 to 7:35 on Monday through Thursday.  Supper will be at 5:30, class begins at 6.

This year we will be studying the life of Joseph and how it portrays God's will being done in the life of His people.  Please contact the church for more details or to register.  Children in preschool through 8th grade are encouraged to attend.  (573)496-3893

Meditation on the Conclusion of the Commandments

Conclusion: What does God say about these commandments?

I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me, and showing mercy to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

What does this mean?

God threatens to punish all who transgress these commandments.  Therefore we should fear his wrath and do nothing against these commandments.  But he promises grace and every blessing to all who keep these commandments.  Therefore we should also love and trust in Him and willingly do according to His commandments.

In the Ten Commandments we have the sum total of everything that God would have us say and do.  All of the commandments are a reflection of the First Commandment: You shall have no other gods.  When we serve the only true God, all of the other commandments will follow from the right spirit. Yet St. James wrote, “Whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.” (James 2:10)  The seriousness of transgressing God’s commands is severe.  Because of our sins we are guilty.  The primary purpose of the law is to accuse us of our failings and inability to do what God demands…and under no circumstances are we ever able to keep His law as we properly should.

Yet, as sinful human beings we are often tempted to invent other ways by which we can please God.  We make up other rules that are not quite so difficult, not quite so plain.  We desire elaborate works that truly show our devotion to God and we treat His Commandments as passé, out of date. We invent ways in which we can please God and unknowingly set aside the Holy Commands that He has given to us.

As sinful human beings we have a hard time stomaching the rigid requirements of God’s law and would like an alternative to serve Him.  For example, if we look at our sinful understanding of the 3^rd commandment, we say to ourselves “It is important that I worship regularly.”  But instead of treating God’s Word as though it is the most important thing in our lives we treat it as though it is just another requirement to fulfill.  Instead of whole heartedly loving and willingly submitting to all of His commands we look at them with fearful drudgery or indifference.  Instead of feasting on the Gospel of forgiveness, we subject ourselves to the divine service and the Word for the day and treat that act of obedience as good enough.

In the Ten Commandments we see how easily we fail to fulfill them.  When taken as a whole they form a complete unit.  Like a giant circle that begins with devotion towards God and ends with devotion towards God.  When we fail in just one area, our devotion towards God fails.  God wants us to love and serve him alone because He shares allegiance with no one.  This is an allegiance that belongs to Him and is only possible through the One who has completed the Commandments in our place.  God’s love for you was so great that He willingly sacrificed His Son, so that He would not have to punish as our sins deserved.  He extends His mercy on all those who rightly fear Him…a mercy that is alone found in Jesus Christ.

While we will never have the ability on this side of heaven to complete the Commandments, we by the grace of God are given the faith to trust in Jesus work in our place.  This is a faith that compels us to love and serve Him, not out of fear or compulsion, but out of devotion towards someone who has graciously rescued us and set us free.  In that freedom we use the Ten Commandments again and again to review the best ways in which we can fear, love and trust in God above all things, and love our neighbor as ourselves.

To us God gave these Ten Commands That you might learn, O child of man, Your sinfulness and also know To live for God, as you go. Have mercy, Lord!

Lord Jesus Christ, now help us all, Our Mediator from the Fall, Our works are all so full of sin, But You for us heav’n did win. Have mercy, Lord! Amen. (Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary 490)

Meditation on the 9th and 10th Commandments

The Ninth Commandment:

You shall not covet your neighbor’s house.

What does this mean?

We should fear and love God, so that we do not craftily seek to gain our neighbor’s inheritance or home, nor get it by a show of right, but help and serve him in keeping it.

The Tenth Commandment:

You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his cattle, nor anything that is his.

What does this mean?

We should fear and love God so that we do not tempt, force or coax away from our neighbor his wife or his workers, but urge them to stay and do their duty.

What is it above everything else that God wants from us?  He doesn’t need our things…they are His already.  If we outwardly keep all of the other commandments and show ourselves to be truly pious by what we say and do…all will fall short of the righteous requirements of God when it comes to the commandments against coveting.  Coveting is sinful desire that occurs in our hearts and our minds.  This commandment is not for the cheaters in the eyes of the world, rather it is for the most pious, who want to be praised and to be called honest and upright.

The difference between these two commandments may be subtle, yet they are given to protect very different things.  The ninth protects a neighbor’s inanimate (lifeless) possessions and the tenth protects animate (living) possessions.  Houses cannot be wooed away from their owner like a spouse or a servant can be, so it was important for God’s law to differentiate between the two.

All sin begins in the heart, and these commandments make that very clear.  The ninth commandment prohibits us from plotting to acquire with the intention of harming our neighbor.  It also teaches us to be content with what God has given us, and to be thankful for what I have by being generous with the things I have been given.  In the ninth commandment we should recognize that God has truly given everything that we need or that which is good for us.  Instead of finding ways to scheme against our neighbor we should find ways in helping our neighbor keep what is rightfully his.

In the tenth commandment God desires to protect especially those living gifts and assets which are beneficial and necessary for family life, providing services to others through laborers, and the benefits which one receives from raising livestock.  Our desire should be for our neighbor to keep those things that God has given him, we should encourage his wife and his workers to stay in their calling, instead of encouraging them to leave.  No amount of things will ever make us content until we understand that God has given us Himself.  He is our God and his will towards us is good and gracious at all times.  Only in Him will there be true contentment.

Our natural instinct is that no one wants to see someone else have as much as himself.  Each one acquires as much as he can.  Yet we pretend to be godly, know how to dress ourselves up most finely and conceal our base character.  There is no commandment that we are capable of keeping, least of all commandments that require perfection even in our thoughts.  It requires us to serve those who seem to us to have more than we do.  These commandments are especially directed against envy and miserable greed, but God wants to remove all causes and sources from which arises everything by which we harm our neighbor.

Almighty and everlasting God, You despise nothing You have made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent.  Create in us new and contrite hearts that lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness we may receive from You full pardon and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Meditation on the 8th Commandment

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

What does this mean?

We should fear and love God, so that we don not lie about, betray or slander our neighbor, but excuse him, speak well of him, and put the best construction on everything.

A story is told of a young man during the middle ages who went to a monk, saying, “I have sinned by telling slanderous statements about someone.  What should I do now?”  The monk replied, “Put a feather on every doorstep in town.”  The young man did as he was told.  Then he returned to the monk, wondering if there was anything else that he should do.  The monk said, “Now go back and pick up all the feathers.”  The young man replied, “That is impossible! By now the wind will have blown them all over the town.”  The monk replied, “So has your slanderous word become impossible to retrieve.”

Next to one’s own body, spouse, and temporal possessions, we still have another great treasure that God wishes to protect – honor and good reputation.  As Solomon says, “A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches.”  We cannot do without a good reputation, for it is intolerable to live among people in open shame and contempt.  Once someone’s name has been tarnished, it becomes almost impossible to restore it.  If we learn something juicy about someone close to us, it becomes almost impossible to forget, yet we have no right to share it, unless called to do so in court.

To bear false witness is nothing other than the work of the tongue.  It doesn’t only mean that one should not share false things about one’s neighbor, but not even sharing true statements about one’s neighbor.  For if we are unwilling to go before a judge with the same information then why should we be willing to share these unkind statements with others.  Unless our speaking results in the building up of his reputation, one should keep his mouth shut.  Yet we cannot handle this.  We would rather make ourselves look better than suffer the praise and adoration of one’s neighbor.

There are times when the Christian is called upon to admonish his neighbor, yet we would rather keep silent.  Jesus says that if your brother sins go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.  If he repents, you have gained a brother.  Unfortunately, I fear that we are all too comfortable either keeping our mouth shut or too busy sharing the faults of our neighbor with those who have no reason to know.  Instead we should only act when we have the reformation and love of our neighbor in mind.  The same still rings true as we were told when we were kids, “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.”

The law and its power have no means to rehabilitate.  It only condemns.  “Don’t lie.” it says, yet we lie anyway.  By the grace of God, there is forgiveness for liars like us.  Forgiveness does not come about by giving it our best shot, but only by the love that has been shown to us in Jesus Christ.  “Father forgive them” Jesus said, “for they know not what they do.”  Jesus yearns to give of Himself to you, so that you quit relying on your imperfect works and trust only in that which Jesus has already done.  Only then can you truly begin to love our neighbor without the fear of the law.

Almighty God, You have sent the Spirit of truth to us to guide us into all truth.  Rule in our hearts, we pray, by Your grace and power, that we may be truthful in our thoughts, words, and actions.  Keep us, merciful Lord, in Your fatherly care and protection, that no fear or sinful ambition may make us deceitful in our speech or behavior.  Cleans us, we ask, from everything false and wrong, and bring us into the freedom of Your Good News in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whose name we pray. Amen.

Meditation on the 7th Commandment

You shall not steal.

What does this mean?

We should fear and love God, so that we do not take our neighbor’s money or goods, nor get them in any dishonest way, but help him to improve and protect his goods and means of making a living.

Have you ever caught yourself thinking, “he doesn’t need that” or “he could do without that”?  Sometimes it’s hard not to think those thoughts when surrounded by people who have plenty.  It often turns into an argument with yourself about how you deserve those things much more than the other guy.  Besides, we know all of his faults and it’s just not fair.

I often have to remind myself that I’m not someone else.  I am who I am and there is nothing I can do to make me into someone else.  Each of our callings have their rewards, not all of which are monetary.  God demands that I work for my daily bread and beyond that it is up to Him to provide the increase.  If no man works, neither shall he eat.  Yet, everyone is guilty of stealing in thoughts, words, and actions.  Man has stolen from others by failing to provide for those in need, he has mismanaged time and left things undone that should be done, and he has stolen by treating his belongings as though they were solely for his own benefit.

The Psalmist wrote, “The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness. The world and those who dwell therein.”  It’s humbling to note that everything which man claims as his own all belongs to God.  It is not our own things or time that are being misused, rather it is God’s things and God’s time that is being misused.  Everything we have is on lease from Him.  He still owns it.  The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord.  Whether we eat or drink or whatever we do, do it all to the glory of God.

Unfortunately, our actions often only show how we would like to glorify ourselves.  Our actions place us in the role of the creator, not the created which we are.  We assume that we answer to no one but ourselves.  Ultimately, though, we all have to answer to God.  It is God who says, you shall not cheat your neighbor, your employee, or your employer.  It is God who says we should always have the best interest of everybody else’s belongings in mind…not the best interest of ourselves.  The psalmist says we are His people, it is He who made us and not we ourselves.

Has anyone always thought of his fellow’s property instead of himself?  Has anyone always used the goods entrusted to his care for the benefit of his neighbor?  No normal human ever has, nor can we.  We were steeped and covered in sin when we were born, and for each sin we are deserving of death.  A punishment which is far to painful for us to withstand.

Yet, we have a gracious Lord, who desired to love us, in spite of our sin.  He sent His Son to be perfect in our place, even going without in order to help others.  And not only did he do right on our behalf, but God inflicted upon Him the punishment which our sins deserve.  Jesus willingly paid a price greater than we can imagine so that God would not hold us accountable for our sins.  May the comfort of that gift encourage you to give to others as you have been generously given.

O Lord our God, You have commanded that we should receive Your may blessings with thankful and generous hearts.  Give us your grace, we pray, to use all of our talents and abilities for Your glory and for the good of others.  Help us to respect the gifts and possessions You have given to others, so that we might encourage all people to trust Your mercy and love in Jesus Christ our Lord, in whose name we pray.  Amen.

Meditation on the Sixth Commandment

You shall not commit adultery.

What does this mean?

We should fear and love God, so that we lead a chaste and decent life in word and deed, and that husband and wife each love and honor the other.

Marriage is the most beautiful earthly estate that God has established on the earth.  Marriage should be highly treasured and given its proper place.  Just envision the bride on her wedding day, adorned with a glorious wedding garment.  The spotless garment is a perfect picture of what wedded life should be like.  The bride walks into the sanctuary to say her vows to her soon-to-be husband and all eyes are on her.  The beauty of marriage is typified in the garment which the bride is wearing.

Yet it doesn't take long before the wedding garment is soiled.  By the time the festivities are over the garment looks used and dirty.  It no longer holds that glorious radiance which was present just hours before.  Usually the dress is then cleaned and boxed up, it is put out of sight and out of mind.  The glory which the garment displayed is usually forgotten and the cares of life begin eating away at the beautiful estate of marriage, like a mouse eating away at the beautiful garment that was once part of the highlight of a wedding.

Married couples soon forget that glorious day.  They become wrapped up in the cares of life and at times show bitterness and anger towards each other.  Slowly but surely they lose that physical attraction that brought them together in the first place and they find themselves just biding their time together, trying to keep their families together and doing their part to make ends meet.  If their love towards each other is not kindled, it will eventually go out.

If our children are fortunate, their parents stay together until death parts them, but most of them see a much less appealing side of marriage.  Two individuals come together to unite as one flesh, yet they have done things their own ways for so long that they are unable to adapt.  Stress begins to mount and the glorious wedding dress doesn't look very glorious anymore.  Children perceive our thoughts through how we act in our marriages.  The young look to us for guidance, but when we have given them a poor example to live by we destroy the sanctity and beauty of marriage that God had established it to be.

Sure it may keep the marriage bed pure for our generation, but when our own marriages lack the splendor and appeal God gave them we show nothing but a poor example for the next generation to follow.  It’s no wonder people are so willing to try other things that have been condemned by God (co-habitation, homosexuality, or experiential love, etc.).  They see people failing every day in the marriage that God designed, so they think to themselves, why not try something else.

Yet, Christ’s marriage to His Church has never failed.  Jesus united himself to mankind by taking on human flesh and living a perfect life under the law.  He sanctified our bodies by pouring out blood from His side to wash all sin away.  Then He rose from the dead to prove to us that God had approved of His sacrifice.  This is the marriage we are to look to when our own marriage is troubled.  This is the marriage we are to look to when our sins are weighing us down.  And this is the marriage we are to aspire to imitate.  Only Jesus’ marriage to His Church succeeds against all odds.  Every time our wedding garment becomes soiled, we return to Him to be washed and cleansed.  We return to Him so that we are not looking at our own imperfect human examples but aspiring to His willingness to love us, even when we did not deserve it. 

God grant us a willing heart and mind to be chaste in all our thoughts, words, and actions, so that we treasure marriage as we ought.  Help husbands and wives to love and honor each other, as Christ has so loved us, and to set an inspiring example of marriage; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Meditation on the Fifth Commandment

You shall not kill.

What does this mean?

We should fear and love God, so that we do no bodily harm to our neighbor, but help and befriend him in every need.

God has given us the fifth commandment so that all human life would be protected, built up and supported by others.  In this commandment we learn how we are to live life among our neighbors and learn how we are to conduct ourselves toward fellow human beings.

In the meaning to the commandment Luther points out that to kill means to do bodily harm.  Any infliction of pain that we purposely commit against our neighbor is considered murder.  Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer (1 John 3:15).  One cannot even claim that he is teaching his neighbor a lesson, because God has given the power to punish wrongdoers to the government.  It is not the prerogative of an individual to get back at his enemies.  Anger, reproof, and punishment are the prerogatives of God and His representatives, and they are to be exercised upon those who transgress.

All to often, the spirit of revenge clings to each one of us.  None of us willing suffers injury from another, which is why God would keep this commandment before us at all times.  Revenge is often easy to see in our children.  They fight back and retaliate when things do not go their way.  The longer we harbor hatred the harder it is to be rid of it.  Hatred clings to us.  But God reminds us that it should not be so.

This commandment also requires us to be proactive like a sports team on offense, so that we help those who are in need.  If we fail to do good to our neighbor when we have opportunity, or if we fail to prevent, protect, or save him from suffering bodily harm or injury.  “If you send the naked away without clothes, you have let him freeze to death.  If you see anyone suffer hunger and do not feed him, you have let him starve.”  Anytime we fail to befriend someone in need, we have contributed to his death whether we directly caused it or not.  God rightly calls all persons murderers who do not offer counsel and aid to those in need and in peril of body and life.

As we look into the mirror of the 5^th commandment, we lose heart because we have neglected those in need, harbored hatred against our enemies, and loved ourselves more than others.  For all of this we should be truly sorry and seek to amend our sinful ways, since the love of Christ compels us.

All of our sins have been punished in Christ.  He loved his enemies, even to the point of death.  We were his enemies and he willingly died for us.  “For while we were still sinners, Christ died for us; the righteous for the unrighteous.” No sin has been left for us to suffer punishment on our own, even our weakness and inability to protect our neighbor’s lives as we ought.  Christ has paid for all of them and has held nothing against us. 

Father, forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.  When we pray the Lord’s prayer we ask God to be gracious unto us and for Him to cause us to be gracious unto others so that even though neither we nor they are worthy of forgiveness we forgive as we have already been forgiven.

May God grant us His grace to live according to His Word, by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.