First Lutheran Church of Little Rock

Text: Genesis 30:22-24
Theme: The Genesis of Joseph

*In the Name of the Father…Amen.*

*Genesis 30:22-24 serves as our sermon text, which reads as follows:*

Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb.

(23) She conceived and bore a son and said, “God has taken away my
reproach.”

(24) And she called his name Joseph, saying, “May the LORD add to me
another son!”

*This is the Word of the Lord. *

*Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us pray:*

*Hear us, Father, when we pray, Through Your Son and in Your Spirit.*

*By Your Spirit’s Word convey All that we through Christ inherit,*

*That as baptized heirs we may Truly pray. *

*When we know not what to say And our wounded souls are pleading,*

*May Your Spirit, night and day, Groan within us interceding;*

*By His sighs, too deep for words, We are heard. Amen.*

*Text: © Chad L. Bird. Used by permission: LSB Hymn License no. 110000247*

*Grace, mercy, and peace be yours from God the Father through our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.*

*Ten weeks ago, we celebrated the birth of a baby:*

a Savior who is Christ the Lord.

Angels sang about his birth.

Shepherds scampered to his manger.

Wise Men sought and found him.

*Conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, Jesus came to
save his people from their sins. *

*And in response, we all sang, “Joy to the world!” *

*That’s how it’s supposed to be whenever a baby is born. *

*It’s a happy, joy-filled occasion—a cause for celebration.*

*3. Do you remember Rachel?*

*But tonight we begin a Lenten journey with Joseph. *

*And the beginning of this journey is utterly without joy.*

*Joseph’s mother, Rachel, wasn’t yet a mother, and it appeared that she
might never be a mother. *

*Babies were being born left and right, but not for Rachel.*

*You remember Rachel, don’t you? *

*It was love at first sight when Jacob first spied the beautiful young
shepherdess watering her father’s flock. *

*Jacob worked seven years for Rachel, only to be deceived by his
father-in-law, Laban, into marrying Rachel’s sister, Leah. *

*Jacob got to marry Rachel too, but at the cost of another seven years of
labor.*

*Jacob and Rachel were finally together as husband and wife. *

*First came love. *

*Then, came marriage. *

*But there were no babies born to Rachel. *

*Her sister, Leah, had babies, and lots of them—six sons and one daughter. *

*In addition, Rachel’s maidservant and Leah’s maidservant each gave birth
to two more sons for Jacob. *

*Eventually, eleven babies had been born to Jacob through three separate
women before even one was born to Rachel.*

*Needless to say, these births brought no joy to Rachel. *

*In fact, these births were a source of strife and jealousy for Rachel. *

*Each newborn’s first cry of life caused a toxic mix of anger and sorrow to
well up in Rachel. *

*Each and every baby not born to her was a bitter reminder to beautiful
Rachel of her barrenness:*

*a terrible token of what she didn’t have: *

*a baby of her own to have and to hold.*

*Rachel’s childlessness was more than just a procreation problem: *

*It was a spiritual problem, *

*a faith problem. *

*Children are a gift from the Lord, and Rachel hadn’t received that gift. *

*It was a source of shame and emotional distress. *

*Did it signal the Lord’s displeasure with her? *

*Was the Lord testing her faith? *

*Why did her most heartfelt prayers seem to go unanswered?*

*Why did she feel so forsaken by the Lord?*

*So Rachel tried to take matters into her own hands. *

*Rachel herself gave her maid to Jacob, thinking that her maid, Bilhah,
could have children whom Rachel could count as her own.*

*This is where our lives intersect with Rachel’s life.*

*Some may struggle with infertility and know the heartbreak that can bring.
*

*But we all struggle with faith. *

*You don’t have to be in the business of childbirth to share in the sin of
Rachel and Jacob. *

*We all know how painful it can be when our heartfelt prayers go
unanswered.*

*We all know how endless the wait can seem for those who wait for the Lord:*

*when the hoped-for healing doesn’t come. *

*When we go through the tragic progression of sadness to bitterness, and
from bitterness to anger, and from anger to despair. *

*In desperation, we might take matters into our own hands. *

*We stitch together our own sinful solutions, setting God’s will aside to
secure the relief we crave. *

*We’d rather ignore the Lord’s will than wait for the Lord. *

*And in the end, we are often left with a sin-filled situation like
Rachel’s—a dysfunctional debacle fueled by faithless desperation.*

* 2. God remembered Rachel.*

*But two words from tonight’s text changed everything: *

*God remembered.*

*“God remembered Rachel” (verse 22). *

*When all hope had dried up and faith was just dimly flickering, God
remembered.*

*God listened to her and opened her womb. *

*She conceived and bore a son—and not just any son. *

*That birth was the genesis of Joseph—the beginning of a journey that would
ultimately deliver God’s people and point all the way to Jesus.*

*God remembered Rachel.*

*But in the lexicon of the Bible, remembering is more than mere
recollection. *

*When God remembers:*

*he acts. *

*He intervenes. *

*And this is all by His grace. *

*For tonight we see how God acts and works not just for the well-behaved
who wait patiently in faith. *

*God remembered Rachel in her shameful striving. *

*God remembered Rachel in her sin and desperation. *

*God remembers those who feel forgotten and forsaken. *

*Why? Because “he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in
steadfast love” (Joel 2:13).*

*God remembered Rachel; and she gave birth to a son.*

*She joyfully named the boy Joseph. *

*That son signaled the end of Rachel’s shame and desperation. *

*He was a reminder of God’s remembrance (and Rachel’s deliverance).*

*The name Joseph means “may he add.” *

*Choosing that name was a confession of faith and a prayer of hope. *

*In joyful expectation, Rachel exclaimed, “May the Lord add to me another
son!” (verse 24).*

* 1. God has remembered you in Jesus, his Son.*

*“Another son” is why you have come here today. *

*God remembered Rachel with Joseph; but God has remembered you with another
Son—his only beloved Son, Jesus. *

*When God remembers, he takes action. *

*And God has acted definitively for you in the person of his Son. *

*In that Son:*

* is the end of your shame and desperation. *

*In that Son is your deliverance from sin and death. *

*In that Son, God remembers the forgotten. *

*That Son, Jesus, was forsaken on the cross so that God will never forsake
you. God has remembered you; God has acted on your behalf, for your eternal
good, in his Son, Jesus, the Christ.*

*These forty days of Lent are always a time of remembering for us.*

*We will remember our sins and confess them:*

*recounting all the ways that we have wandered from God’s will, *

*rejected his commandments, and refused to wait on him in faith. *

*We will also remember the people and places of our Lord’s Passion:*

*Judas’s betrayal, *

*Peter’s denial, *

*and Pilate’s pandering. *

*We will also remember Rachel’s son Joseph: *

*how his brothers betrayed him, *

*how his faith was challenged, *

*and all the ways he foreshadows God’s own Son, who was delivered up for
our trespasses and raised for our justification.*

*But the heart of this holy season is not our remembering, but God’s.*

*God remembered Rachel. *

*God remembered Joseph. *

*And in his beloved Son, God remembers you. *

*In Jesus, God is acting on your behalf. *

*He remembers you right here:*

*in the preaching of his promises, *

*in the cleansing words of Holy Absolution, *

*in the life-giving splash of Holy Baptism, *

*in the bread that is his body and the wine that is his blood. *

*Here God remembers you in his Son, in the power of his Holy Spirit. *

*Here the power of his Passion is applied to you personally: forgiveness
for your sin and deliverance from disaster, including those of our own
making.*

*“* *Yet even now,’ declares the Lord, ‘return to me with all your heart’* *
(Joel 2:12).*

*That invitation from the prophet Joel always goes out on Ash Wednesday. *

*Return to the Lord. *

*Look to him in faith because he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger
and abounding in steadfast love. *

*You can hear that love in those three little words: “Yet even now.” *

*Those three words deliver a whole mouthful of grace: “Yet even now,”
declares the Lord, “return to me.” *

*Even now—even after you’ve followed Rachel’s lead and made your life into
a dysfunctional debacle, even now that you’ve burned your bridges and
hardened your heart and hurt the people God has given you to love—God says,
“yet even now” it’s not too late.*

*Yet even now he wants you back. Now is the time of God’s favor. Now is the
day of salvation. Yet even now the Lord comes. He remembers you, delivers
you, rescues and saves you in his holy Son.*

*So tonight, you—and I—begin a Lenten journey with Joseph.*

*And our journey, like Joseph’s Journey Begins with God’s Remembering.
Amen.*

*Let us pray:*

*Jesus, advocate on high, Sacrificed on Calv’ry’s altar,*

*Through Your priestly blood we cry: Hear our prayers, though they may
falter;*

*Place them on Your Father’s throne As Your own. *

*By Your Spirit now attend To our prayers and supplications,*

*As like incense they ascend To Your heav’nly habitations.*

*May their fragrance waft above, God of love. *

Text: © Chad L. Bird. Used by permission: LSB Hymn License no. 110000247

*The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and
minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.*

*In the Name of the Father…Amen.*

*In the Name of the Father…Amen.*

*The Old Testament lesson serves as our sermon text for this morning.*

*Grace, mercy, and peace be yours from God the Father through our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.*

*Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us pray: *

*If thou but trust in God to guide thee *

*And hope in Him through all thy ways,*

*He’ll give thee strength, whate’er betide thee, *

*And bear thee through the evil days.*

*Who trusts in God’s unchanging love*

*Builds on the rock that naught can move. Amen.*

*Text: LSB 750:1 Public domain*

*Introduction*

*Think back to the time when you were confirmed into the faith. *

*Amidst all the excitement of this wonderful day in your life and all the
attention was going to be focused on you and your classmates, there is one
little detail that is just as important as anything else: the confirmation
verse from the Bible you chose for yourself.*

*Regardless as to whether you chose an Old Testament passage or one from
the New Testament, this Word of God is very near and dear to your heart. *

*The everse you chose was meant to be a reflection, in a way, of the
attitude, the mindset, you had at the time of your confirmation and that is
still the same today.*

*Imagine if you had chosen Genesis 45:4 as your confirmation verse:*

*So Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me, please.” And they came
near. And he said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. *

*There Joseph stands, in front of his brothers who’ve fled starvation back
home to journey to Egypt, where they’ve heard there was bread to be had, .
. . only to find the man holding the loaf to be the brother they had hated
and tossed aside like yesterday’s trash.*

*There they were standing, powerless; he, strong and dangerous as a storm.*

*Would he enact revenge, or would he be generous? *

*No one would question either decision—his word would be obeyed no matter
what he said—and his brothers, for a moment that felt like a lifetime,
thought their fate was hanging in the balance so delicately that maybe a
grain of flour could shift it.*

*They’d come in desperation to Egypt. *

*They’d hoped to find bread.*

*But what they found instead was guilt and the end of a story they didn’t
realize was still being written. *

*What would Joseph choose to dispense? *

*Life or death? Bread . . . or revenge?*

*3. Wouldn**’**t you want to stand where Joseph stands right
now**—**knowing
God**’**s plan for you?*

*Dear people of God, if only you could stand in the shoes of these biblical
figures. *

*That I could too. *

*That you could:*

*hear the sound of the silence that follows a stilled storm, *

*that you could see the joy on the face of a healed leper from up so close
that it would feel dangerous to be there, *

*that you could stand where the disciples stood that near to Jesus, *

*To place your feet in their shoes, and watch God work. *

*But here’s the thing:*

*You aren’t ready this day to stand in Joseph’s shoes. *

*Not yet anyway. *

*And if you try too soon—but standing in Joseph’s shoes if you aren’t ready
could lead you astray. *

*And all this might sound silly to you, but whether you know it or not,
you’ve longed to be in his place. This place.*

*And his place is this:*

*Joseph, the second in command ruler of Egypt to that of Pharaoh himself.*

*This Joseph, one of the most powerful men in the world, stands before his
brothers, holding their well-being in his hands, the power to give life or
the power to take it away. *

*Clothed in the finest that the world had to offer. *

*His hands are heavy, but not with work or tiredness. *

*Heavy with jewelry. *

*A gold signet ring wraps around a finger on his tanned hand, a signet
which means he can make decisions in Pharaoh’s name.*

*He could command his army, sign a treaty, give life and give death with
just a word. *

*That ring gives power.*

* And maybe you don’t covet Joseph’s power but those who would have nothing
to do with that might still be inclined to wish for his comfortable
circumstances. *

*Other rings on Joseph’s fingers say: *

*“I’m rich enough for this”; *

*my life is lavish enough for that.” *

* Joseph, he wants for nothing, and those shoes I mentioned earlier—that
you aren’t ready to stand in—they’re the best that money could buy.*

*And maybe none of this means anything to you.*

*You’re preferring just power enough over your own life and concerned with
only living simply and humbly. *

*But even if you covet none of those things, here’s something I think
you’ve wished before: *

Joseph sees clearly the plan of God for his life.

* While his brothers watch his face begging him for an answer, Joseph
thinks back over a life and sees God’s hand in every place, each crevice he
tripped on, each darkness he hid in. *

*In each and every place, he sees the hand and the guiding of God.*

*God has a plan for Joseph, and though we all know that’s true for him and
for us, Joseph sees it, the plan of God. *

*And wouldn’t you like to know what it is for you?*

*Do you covet that about him?*

*Wouldn’t you like to replace all that angst and all that stress and all
that wondering of “what if” and “maybe I coulda”? *

*Wouldn’t you rather sleep soundly, knowing that you stand today exactly
where God wanted you to be? *

*Wouldn’t you wish that you could look back on your life this moment and
see God’s hand, how he guided you to be the man or woman that you are and
how he brought you to this moment for a reason?*

*Maybe you think you do know, but if you’re being honest with yourself,
you’d have to admit that when you’re caught saying that something you’re
involved in is God’s plan, you really mean it’s your plan and you’re
praying it’s his too, because God’s plan can seem complicated and
maddeningly unclear at times—for you, for me, but not for Joseph. *

*For Joseph, it’s now clear.*

*2. But Joseph knew God**’**s plan for him now only after years of
slavery and prison.*

*The reason, of course, that Joseph’s brothers wondered about their fate,
standing there when Joseph reveals himself:*

*guilty and desperate as they were*

*is because many years ago they were so mad at Joseph, *

*and so frustrated that he was their father’s favorite, *

*that they decided to kill him. *

*They tossed him into an empty pit, *

* While they plotted how to murder him, they found what struck them as a
better option. *

*They sold him into slavery:*

*dragged behind a cart off to Egypt, *

*hands likely bound, *

*sand burning his feet.*

*Joseph then worked in the home of a rich Egyptian, as a servant.*

*Potiphar was his name. *

*Soon enough, Joseph caught the attention of Potiphar’s wife, but he didn’t
return her attention, choosing character and honor over comfort or desire. *

*She wasn’t fond of being turned down, of being told no. *

*In turn she lied and destroyed his name and any shred of reputation he
might have had left. *

*He who was once the favorite of the father had lost everything. *

*His family, his freedom, his reputation: all gone!*

*There he was, sitting in prison.*

*Maybe etching the days in the wall, who knows? *

*But he makes friends of any he can around him, and he guides them by means
of a God-given wisdom and ability to interpret their dreams and see the
future. *

*When, as he advised them, they move up and out of that dank dark place,
sadly the one who returns to Pharaoh’s service neglects any memory of him. *

*All it would’ve taken was a mention to the boss, and he might be free. *

*But he forgot him there:*

*Abandoned, *

*despised, *

*his character crucified, *

*forgotten in a prison that might as well have been a tomb. *

*But for some odd reason, even in the dark, Joseph always seemed to sense
the flicker of light and hope, so he didn’t give up the faith.*

*And one day he finds himself standing in front of Pharaoh himself, the
most powerful man in the world, and Joseph’s gift makes him indispensable.*

*He sees these times of goodness as moments when laurels shouldn’t be
rested upon but rather stored away because a downturn was coming. *

*He led an amazing food program in Egypt where the plenty of today was
stored for the coming days of none.*

*And soon enough, who should come a-knockin’ to Egypt?*

*With longing in their mouths and hunger in their stomachs?*

*None other than those brothers who began this whole course of pits and
prisons and false allegations of bad behavior.*

* “Joseph, remember us when you come into your kingdom! For the sake of our
father, pity us and help us!”*

*And Joseph, what will he do?*

*Well, he gives them life:*

*and the scales didn’t tip that way by just a grain or two; *

*they were fully tipped, by mercy. *

*And more than mercy.*

*It was the result of Joseph looking back on all the places he’d been and
realizing that all of it led to now. *

*“You needn’t fear me,” Joseph says. “I’ll take care of you. What you did,
you meant for evil, but God, he meant it for good. God sent me here to
preserve life,” Joseph says, “not to take life away.”*

*1. Only after such struggles by Christ will you be able to know
and live God**’**s plan for you.*

*And the reason why it’s important to remember all this, as Joseph
remembered all this, is because if you were to desire to stand in his shoes
too soon, you might not recall that hardship has first calloused his feet. *

*Beatings and imprisonments:*

*imagine that they’ve caused him to limp around. *

*Likely under those robes are the scars of slavery. *

*And that isn’t just the cost of knowing God’s plan; *

*it’s the steps taken to live God’s plan.*

*And the necessary hurts to take him from a bratty child who thought he
held the world in his hands to an instrument of life in God’s hands. *

*All of which is to say that if you wish to know as Joseph knows, to know
God’s plan for you, to stand with him in this moment:*

*when all things make sense, *

*you see God’s weird and complicated way of working on you to bring good, *

*you need to know that only years of struggle gave him the eyes to see, in
faith and with character, what God was doing.*

*Conclusion*

*In our eyes, so many times Joseph could have claimed victimhood. *

*Life and those who were supposed to care for him had beaten him down. *

*But instead, Joseph chose to wait patiently for the day when God’s victory
would be revealed to him. *

*That’s faith and character at work there.*

*And if you squint when you watch Joseph limp victoriously through life,
you might be reminded of another who was despised by his brothers, the
favorite of the Father. *

*He who entered the pit willingly and proclaimed in prison:*

*who had his righteous character publicly crucified along with the rest of
him, *

*who chose to give life instead of death, *

*who chose to give his bread for your hunger, *

*who offers mercy rather than revenge, *

*and who tips the scales in your favor by his favor. *

*And, of course, he asks nothing of you who’ve been the recipients of that
grace other than the impossible, which is to forgive others as he forgives
you. (No one forgives as perfectly as he does!) *

*And as wounded as you’ll be from forgiving, from laying yourself and how
you feel down for another, in the end you’ll be able to hold your head up
high, because*

*Through the Agony of It All, like Joseph, in Christ, You’ll Be Living
God’s Real Plan for You.*

*Not one of climbing ladders toward the top:*

*but one of lying at the bottom of the pit, *

*with trust in your heart *

*and a patience born of faith, that God can work through whatever mess
today brings to you. Amen.*

*Let us pray:*

*Sing, pray, and keep His ways unswerving, *

*Perform thy duties faithfully,*

*And trust His Word; though undeserving, *

*Thou yet shalt find it true for thee.*

*God never yet forsook in need*

*The soul that trusted Him indeed. Amen.*

*Text: LSB 750:7 Public domain*

*The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and
minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.*

*In the Name of the Father…Amen.*

*In the Name of the Father…Amen.*

*The Old Testament lesson serves as our sermon text for this morning.*

*Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
*

*Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us pray:*

*Blessèd Jesus, at Your Word*

*We are gathered all to hear You.*

*Let our hearts and souls be stirred *

*Now to seek and love and fear You,*

*By Your teachings, sweet and holy,*

*Drawn from earth to love You solely. *

*All our knowledge, sense, and sight *

*Lie in deepest darkness shrouded*

*Till Your Spirit breaks our night *

*With the beams of truth unclouded.*

*You alone to God can win us;*

*You must work all good within us. Amen.*

*Introduction*

*Ancient Greek historian Herodotus once said of Egypt that it was the gift
of the Nile.*

*Without the Nile, there would be no pyramids, no tombs, no treasures, no
temples, no pharaohs like Ramses or Tutankhamen. *

*Egypt would be like any other place in the Sahara Desert of northern
Africa. *

*But since the Nile flows year round, and since Egypt was not dependent on
rain, droughts were not an issue in Egypt. *

*The Nile flooded every year from the snowmelts thousands of miles upstream
in the highlands of Ethiopia and Uganda, and those floods deposited silt to
enrich the soil of Egypt. *

*But go just a mile away from the Nile, beyond the reach of the floods or
irrigation, and the desert and brown sand are immediate. *

*Now where would you want to plant your crop? *

*In the desert or by the Nile? *

*The answer is apparent.*

*The spiritual parallel is obvious: should we trust in the desert of our
own strength or trust in the Lord, who waters us that we may prosper and
grow in his green pastures? (Jeremiah17:8)*

*These are difficult times we’re living in. *

Economic uncertainty,

political unrest,

financial hardships,

anxiety about health and safety can all magnify any personal turmoil we
might be facing.

When faced with these challenges, where do you go or what do you do to get
through them?

Whom can you trust to help you get through these difficult times in which
we’re living?

Yourself?

Others?

Or is it to the Lord you go for help in times of trouble?

*There really are only two ways: either trusting human abilities or
trusting the Lord. *

*And To Trust in the Lord Is Better Than to Trust in Human Strength.*

*The difference is either blessing or curse.*

*1. There really are only two ways: trusting in man or trusting in the
Lord.*

*There really are only those two ways: trusting in man or trusting in the
Lord. *

*The Lord said to his people, through the prophet Jeremiah:*

“You are cursed if you do not trust in the Lord, if you only trust in
humanity and in human strength and wisdom, and if you turn away from the
Lord. Rather, blessed are you when you trust in the Lord and commit your
life to him.”

*The one who trusts in himself is like a stubby shrub in a desert with no
water about, only salt flats as far as you can see.*

Nothing good is going to come from that.

Certainly no prospering nor full luxuriant growth.

That shrub will eventually wither and die.

*In contrast, one who trusts in the Lord, and commits his life to the Lord,
is like a strong, green tree that grows and prospers and bears fruit
because it has its deep roots in the life-giving waters.*

It doesn’t worry nor is it afraid if there’s a drought;

it can weather anything because it has a never-failing, ever-flowing stream
of life to support it and to see it through.

*2. Do you trust in the Lord (“Blessed!”) or in yourself (“Cursed!”)?*

In whom do you trust?

Is it yourself?

You wouldn’t be alone if you say you trusted in yourself first and foremost
to get yourself through difficult times, or any times in this day and age.

*People will say:*

“I’m smart enough;

I’m good enough.

People like me.

I’ve got enough money.

I’ve got friends;

I’ve got my networks.

I can do just fine.”

*You might say the same things and be proud of it.*

But what have you forgotten?

What’s left out of the equation?

If these are the things you trust in, God says,

“Cursed are you!”

For one thing, they will all fail you.

They won’t last forever; they’ll die with you, and then what?

Will they help you in the life of the world to come?

No!

Jesus said,

“Seek first the kingdom of God” (Matthew 6:33).

*Not as a last resort, but first! *

Cursed are you!

Not only will they fail you, but you also have not turned to the Lord, who
made heaven and earth.

Turning from the Lord means we have despised and neglected the Lord.

We have sought help only in ourselves.

Will that be enough on the Last Day?

When we stand before the Lord, who will our help be?

Ourselves?

“Cursed is the man who trusts in man” (verse 5).

*In contrast, “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord” (v 7), for the
Lord only is able to prosper and protect you.*

He is the one who will give you full life now and eternally.

Not only will all others disappoint and fail you, but your turning to
others is really a turning from the Lord.

Trusting in the Lord is like being planted by an ever-flowing river of
water, like a palm tree next to the Nile River in Egypt.

It doesn’t matter if it doesn’t rain; there’s always water.

But go just a mile from the Nile and there’s no vegetation at all because
there is no water.

So where would you want to be planted?

Or where would you plant your crop?

By the Nile or inland, in the desert?

So it is with trust in the Lord.

*Where would you rather be planted? *

That is, in whom do you trust?

You say, “the Lord,” but do you?

You might say, “Well, not at first, but if all else fails, I’ve got the
Lord to fall back on.”

You wouldn’t like to be anyone’s second or third or last choice, would you?

How do you think that attitude reflects on your trust in the Lord?

God rightly judges those who trust in themselves and is right to condemn
them.

*We deserve what we would get.*

We deserve to be parched,

to wither and to die,

because we have not trusted in God, who says,

“Come unto me, and I will give rest (cf Matthew 11:28);

I will give you life” (cf John 10:10).

*3. Jesus trusted in his Heavenly Father and suffered your curses so that
your trusting in yourself is forgiven and you are blessed.*

We have failed to trust in the Lord; we have failed to seek him first.

But there is one who did all things well (Mark 7:37), who trusted in the
Lord with all his heart, soul, and mind.

That is our Lord Jesus.

He trusted his heavenly Father with all his life.

In the temptation in the wilderness, Jesus trusted the Word of the Lord to
take care of him and his life.

And when he died on the cross, parched and thirsty, not because of any sin
in him but rather for us and for our salvation, Jesus still said even then,

“Father, into your hands I commit my spirit” (Lk 23:46).

*Jesus suffered on the cross all the curses we deserve and in their place
gives us all the blessings we have not earned.*

He poured out his life that we may have life from him, from his body and
from his blood.

When Jesus rose from the dead, he breathed the Holy Spirit on his
disciples, empowering them to preach the good news of forgiveness of sins
(John 20:19–23).

*Conclusion*

So repent of your sin of not trusting in the Lord and trusting in yourself.

Believe the incredibly wonderful good news that your sin of mistrust and
lack of trust, and trust in yourself, is forgiven and paid for on the cross
by Jesus.

Know that life, true life, life never failing, comes from God.

Stay connected to him, for he is your life and salvation (Psalm 27:1) and
will prosper your life and growth for his purposes.

He will lead you to streams of living water and green pastures in the house
of the Lord forever.

Blessed is the man, Jesus, who trusted in the Lord.

Blessed are you who trust in the Lord Jesus both now and forevermore. Amen.

*Gracious Savior, good and kind, *

*Light of Light, from God proceeding,*

*Open now our heart and mind; *

*Help us by Your Spirit’s pleading.*

*Hear the cry Your Church now raises;*

*Hear and bless our prayers and praises. *

*Father, Son, and Spirit, Lord, *

*Praise to You and adoration!*

*Grant that we may trust Your Word, *

*Confident of our salvation,*

*While we here below must wander,*

*Till we sing Your praises yonder. Amen. *

*Text: LSB 904 Public domain*

*The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and
minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.*

*In the Name of the Father…Amen.*

• *In the Name of the Father…Amen.*

• *The Old Testament lesson serves as our sermon text for this morning.
We focus especially on verse 3 which reads: And one called to another and
said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of
his glory!” Thus far the text.*

• *Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ. *

• *Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us pray:*

• *Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty! *

• *Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee;*

• *Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty! *

• *God in three persons, blessèd Trinity!*

• *Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee, *

• *Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;*

• *Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee, *

• *Which wert and art and evermore shalt be. Amen. *

• *Text: LSB 507 Public domain*

• *3. Isaiah confesses his sin before the Thrice Holy God.*

• Imagine the surprise of Prophet Isaiah when, entering the Jerusalem
temple to offer the daily sacrifice, he sees the Lord of heaven and earth,
highly exalted, with angels flying around and praising the Lord saying,
“Holy, Holy, Holy!”

• Surprise, yes, but much more than that, terror!

• Isaiah knew God’s promises that he would meet his people at the temple
and would dwell there.

• But this was always thought to be in terms of his invisible presence,
and, besides, the Holy Place was shrouded in darkness.

• *Nevertheless, God allowed Isaiah to see his glory, and the result of
this vision for Isaiah is terror.*

• Why?

• Isaiah knows himself to be a sinner, and he knows God is holy, holier
than anything on earth—in fact, the Holiest One.

• There is nothing Isaiah can do to change this relationship of sinner
before the Holy God.

• Something has to give, and God is not going to change.

• Isaiah knows he, a sinner, cannot stand in the presence of the Holy
God.

• Thus he says, “I am lost,” or “I am undone”—in effect, “I am a dead
man.”

• *Isaiah confesses his complete sin.*

• “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell
in the midst of a people of unclean lips” (verse 5).

• Isaiah is saying:

o “I am lost;

o I am a sinner;

o I have unclean lips;

o I sinned against the Lord in thought, word, and deed.

o I also live among a people who are sinners, and you, O Lord, would be
right in consigning me and all of us to temporal and eternal punishment,
for that is what we deserve.”

• *Isaiah has confessed his condition, and that it is like the condition
of all people. *

• *Sins of thought:*

o Lust

o Hatred

o Indifference/apathy

• *Sins of word:*

o Gossip

o Backbiting

o Meddling

• *Sins of deed:*

o Not willing to help others in need

o Bearing false witness

o Playing the blame game

• *We are not exceptionally holy people, but we, like all humanity, have
sinned, and the wages of sin is death.*

• *Illustration #1**: The One and Only and All Holy God: Superlative*

• *An adjective—like tall, short, big, little, high, low—can be used in
three ways:*

o positive (that is, you are “posit”-ing something),

o comparative (comparing it to other things),

o or superlative (it is above, “super” to, anything else).

• *For instance, we have tall, taller, and tallest, but there can also
be good, better, and best or bad, worse, worst. *

• *In Isaiah 6, you have God described as “holy, holy, holy” (6:3),
which is not just to say*

o that God is one holy among other gods (the positive),

o or that he is holier than any other god (comparative).

o Scripture is saying that God is the holiest (superlative) to the point of
saying he is all holy, and is only holy.

• *2. Isaiah’s sin is taken away so that he is declared holy.*

• *The Lord has appeared to Isaiah for a reason, however. *

• *Isaiah, though a sinner, is going to be sent by the Lord; he’s going
to be the Lord’s apostle. *

• *And he will be a prophet of Yahweh. *

• *He will speak God’s Word to his people. *

• *In order to change Isaiah from sinner to holy, from unworthy to
worthy, God must act. *

• *God loved the world from the foundation of the world. *

• *In his infinite foreknowledge, he planned for the salvation of the
whole world (John 3:16; Ephesians 1:4–6) through the Messiah, whom the Lord
promised to Israel and, in the fullness of time (Galatians 4:4), sent to
save the world from the curses the Law of God pronounce on us. *

• *Therefore, the Lord sent one of the seraphim, a fiery angel from
heaven, to purge Isaiah’s sinful lips. *

• *With a coal from the heavenly altar of incense, the angel touches
Isaiah’s lips, and rather than being burned up, Isaiah’s unclean lips are
cleansed. *

• *The angelic messenger announces to Isaiah,*

o * “Your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for” (verse 7).*

• *By whom has all this been done?*

• *Who has taken away Isaiah’s sin? *

• *Who has atoned for Isaiah’s sin? *

• *In verse 13, the Lord speaks of his “holy seed.” *

• *Not Isaiah, but the Lord himself, for the sake of that “holy seed,”
his anointed Messiah, has taken away, atoned for, the sin and guilt of the
world (John 1:29). *

• *Isaiah is declared righteous by God because of Jesus’ death on the
cross, and he is now fit for the Lord’s service.*

• *Illustration #2**: The One and Only and All Holy God: Perfectly Holy*

• *The Scriptures often use numbers in a symbolic way: ten is a complete
number, as it derives from ten fingers on our hands. *

• *When you multiply ten times ten, you have a perfect square, and when
you multiply ten times ten times ten, you have a perfect cube. *

oThat is the complete, full totality of a shape.

oIt encompasses everything.

o *So in the Book of Revelation, one thousand is the number of total
completeness (see Revelation 7:5–8 of the sum of God’s Old Testament
people). *

o *Or if God describes the holy city of the heavenly Jerusalem as having
the same height and length and width, he’s saying it’s perfectly complete. *

o *So also, to describe God as “holy, holy, holy” (Isaiah 6:3) is to say
God is perfectly complete and holy and there is no holiness for any other
of the so-called gods. *

o *Thus you shall have no other gods, because only the holy, holy, holy
triune God is holy and worthy to be worshiped.*

• *1. Isaiah is called and sent to preach . . . so that we, too, are
made holy and called to God’s holy service.*

• *The Lord then formally calls Isaiah to his new ministry. *

• *Previously, Isaiah was a priest, interceding on behalf of the people
to God.*

• *Now Isaiah will work in the other direction, speaking from God to the
people, for that is the ministry of a prophet. *

• *The Lord asks a question to which he already knows the answer: *

• *“Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” (verse 8a). *

• *The Lord, the triune God who is both one (“I”) and three (“us”), is
really putting the question to Isaiah, who is now equipped to answer, not
in terror, but in a free and willing and joyful Spirit: “Here I am! Send
me” (verse 8b).*

• *Isaiah’s prophetic ministry would not be easy, preaching condemnation
to a people unwilling to hear the word of the Lord, as is shown in the
following verses (verses 9–13).*

• Yet the Lord, for the sake of the Holy Seed promised to Adam and
Abraham and David, will forgive his people who by the preaching of judgment
turn from their sin and by the preaching of faith in the Holy Seed will
return to the Lord their God (Joel 2:13).

• *The Lord continues to have mercy on his people.*

• *He has sent to us ministers who speak the Word of the Lord, calling
us to repentance for our sin and announcing the forgiveness of sin for the
sake of the Holy Seed, the Nazarene, Christ Jesus. *

• *For Jesus’ sake, the Lord has atoned for our sin and has sent his
ministers, pastors, to speak God’s Word of absolution. *

• *Those sins I mentioned earlier and every sin not spoken of:
forgiven!!*

• *Just as for Isaiah, so Our Holiness Comes not from our work, but from
the Work of the Most Holy One.*

• *Through the forgiveness of sin, we, like Isaiah, are cleansed and
prepared for the Lord’s service in the world.*

• *Through our vocation as baptized children of God:*

o purged of our sin,

o we are made to be that light in our dark world,

o and the salt on this decaying earth.

• *Illustration #3*: The One and Only and All Holy God: Thrice Holy

• *Say it once and you might mean it. *

• *Say it twice and you add weight to what you say. *

• *Say it three times, and you must really mean it. *

• *In the movie A Christmas Story, a boy named Schwartz first dares
another boy, Flick, to touch his tongue to the frozen iron flagpole on the
school playground.*

• *Unimpressed, Flick declines. *

• *Then Schwartz ups the ante by double-dog daring Flick to stick his
tongue to the frozen flagpole. *

• *Flick laughs off the challenge. *

• *Finally, Schwartz applies the “death blow” by triple-dog daring
Flick. *

• *Now Flick couldn’t laugh off the challenge without losing all
credibility.*

• *Nothing could be more serious than a triple dog dare! *

• *So what happens? *

• *I’m not telling!*

• *Watch the movie for yourself. I mean it! Watch the movie! No, really,
watch the movie! You’ll love it!*

• *“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts” (Isaiah 6:3).*

• *Amen!*

• Let us pray:

• Holy, holy, holy! Though the darkness hide Thee,

• Though the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see,

• Only Thou art holy; there is none beside Thee,

• Perfect in pow’r, in love, and purity.

• Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!

• All Thy works shall praise Thy name in earth and sky and sea.

• Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty!

• God in three persons, blessèd Trinity! Amen.

• Text: LSB 507 Public domain

• *The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts
and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.*

• *In the Name of the Father…Amen.*