Our Sermons

Bible Passage: Various Readings
Pastor: Pastor Horton
Sermon Date:  September 8, 2024

“Do you remember, the 21^st night of September?”  Now those who are younger maybe thinking “well, what do you mean…we’re not there yet!”  Others of you might have the famous tune from Earth, Wind & Fire stuck in your head and are almost at the refrain of “ba-deya-deya-deya.”  I’m sorry about getting that into your head.  A deep dive into the song and the lyrical meaning might have us hitting the bottom sooner than we think: because there simply isn’t much depth or substance there.  Why the 21^st of September?  It fit the lyrical flow better than other dates the band tried at random.  Why the night?  Sounds more romantic than the day.  The meaning behind the “ba-de-ya” refrain?  They never figured out words to fit there so the band left it as is.  And yet a song without much substance still brings joy to a worldwide audience who tune in on the radio and who hear it regularly played in wedding dance halls.

As we sit outside today for worship, another song is being sung all around us by the created world.  And this one has substance.  The stars and universe above decorate our sky like a banner pointing to the power of the creator.  The color changing clouds at dawn and at dusk, declare his creative majesty.  The sun and moon arriving on time throughout the years pronounce his consistent wisdom.  The creatures who fill the sky, the land, and the deep given as our companions and entrusted to our care speak to his loving plans.  And we, the crown of his creation, with the intricacies of our human mind, body, emotions, and senses, we can’t help but marvel at how we have been fearfully and wonderfully made by God.

This morning, we have more substance from creation, as we look at various portions of Scripture which highlight the elements of planet earth.  But more than a scientific refresher, we will see in God’s Holy Word how these elements serve our Creator in his good plans and purposes to save us.  Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water.  These Elements Affirm the God of Salvation.  The first reading this morning points our eyes up into the evening sky and to the falling fire from the Lord…

Fire.  Every year it seems like there are news stories from California, Western Canada, and even Hawaii, where wildfires burn and destroy and tragically end human life.  Even our congregation is connected to those who fight fires and bring aid to those in harm’s way.  Some days we even see the haze of smoke billowing over us in the summer sky and, when particularly potent, even smell the smoke when outside – testifying to the harmful power of fire.  It can be overwhelming and an element we need not play around with.

Fire also serves as a warning for us in Scripture.  Dead branches not bearing fruit…those without saving faith…will be gathered up on the Last Day and thrown into the final fire.  The book of Revelation describes hell – a place created for the devil and his fallen angels – as a lake of burning fire.  As sinners by nature our road was leading there – until God acted to step in and to save you.  He did so by sending his one and only Son Jesus to go to the cross and and paid for each of our sins in full.  He suffered hell in our place.  Jesus was the perfect substitute that we needed for our salvation.

And as it turns out, not all Biblical illustrations for fire are bad.  This element is sometimes used by God to help us picture his unquenchable desire to save souls.  We may at times even adorn our altar or paraments in the front of church with red flames of fire on great gospel days like Pentecost, where the Holy Spirit was at work to share the saving gospel.  On that day, tongues of fire descended upon the heads of the disciples, they were gifted the ability to spread the truth about Jesus in multiple languages as the Holy Spirit sparked the start of the worldwide Christian church.  Fire can be used as a picture of God’s great zeal and God’s powerful love to save souls.

In our first reading, fire served as a clear statement.  Unlike the prophets of Baal who danced all day in desperation and who abused themselves by drawing their own blood in order to gain their nonexistent god’s attention, Elijah’s simple prayer was heard by the one true living God.  And before the eyes of the nation, we hear: “Fire from the Lord fell on the sacrifice and on the wood, the stones, and the dirt.  It even licked up the water in the trench.  When all the people saw this, they fell on their knees and said, “The Lord, he is God!  The Lord, he is God!’”

Earth & Water.  Our second reading brings to our attention a stark contrast between the elements of earth and water.  Dust we are and to dust we shall return.  We hear those honest, if not ominous, words proclaimed at the graveside of a Christian funeral.  We hear them on Ash Wednesday as we begin the somber season of Lent.  According to Genesis, earth is what you and I were originally made from by God.  We were handcrafted and given the gift of life, but still dust none the less.  And because the wages of our sin is death, we know that one day our bodies will return to the earth.  This time of grace we each have is a time to hear our God speak salvation to us, for unless Jesus returns first, our bodies will all at some point enter into the waiting mouth of the grave in the ground.

But not forever.  The earth does not get to hold onto you indefinitely!  After paying for ours sins on the cross, and laying down his life into death, Jesus took his life back up again according to his good will to save us.  This Savior, the firstfruit of the resurrected, walked out of the grave alive again!  The ground could not contain him.  The earth could not hold him.  And now thanks to Jesus he promises to lead you through death into life forever with him in heaven.

This gospel message makes a splash in our hearts and souls.  For apart from God and his word and his work, we would be nothing more than a spiritual wasteland.  You find plenty of those wastelands in Israel, especially in the southern half of the country.  There, roads historically followed alongside streams.  There, pools and wells became hubs of human and animal activity because where there is water there is life.  We get that sense in our reading from Isaiah that into this world’s desert of death, Jesus, the water of life has burst forth and changed our spiritual landscape.  From Jesus we receive hydration and restoration for our souls through the forgiveness and the life he so freely gives.  With him is peace and rest for our spirits both now and eternally.  “Look!” says Isaiah, “your God will come and save you!”  For with Jesus, the burning sand is now a pool, the thirsty ground now turned into springs, and no more death for with Jesus comes life!

Look!  Look at how Jesus brought you into God’s own family.  Look and see with eyes of faith how he used the gospel words connected to the element of water to cleanse you from sin and to make you God’s own child in your holy baptism.  With eyes of faith, we get to step out of that baptismal water every day, with a new start – forgiven and cleansed, ready for a new day of God’s grace.

Wind.  And lastly, we arrive at the element of wind.  We find the disciples on the Sea of Galilee in a life-or-death panic.  A number of them had made their living on this very body of water.  And so, a number of them had seen it all before when it came to storms.  But not this one.  The Greek implies that there were hurricane-force winds and as a result of the wind: wicked waves.  The disciples were rattled.  They were fearful.  They thought they were going to die.

Jesus, so calm and confident in our heavenly Father is asleep.  And wakes to help and to save as only he can do.  We’re told in Mark, “Then he got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace!  Be still!”  The wind stopped, and there was a great calm.  He said to them, “Why are you so afraid?  Do you still lack faith?”  Our Savior has all of nature and all our lives kept safely in the palm of his hand.  Jesus looks straight into the storm and shuts it down instantly.  Down goes the wild winds.  Down go the waves of destruction.  If you’re like me, I can’t keep my coffee from spilling in the car on the way to school in the morning – let alone calm the entire Sea of Galilee in an instant.

What a reminder that when the storms of life – be they the winds of change in the world or a furious personal squall attempting to tip over our own boat – that Jesus has got this!  And he has your life under his control.  And he has good plans to be with you and see you safely home to heaven.

As we consider these elements in nature – fire, earth, water, and wind – we see they have substance when it comes to affirming the God of Salvation, but we also need to be reminded of the Holy Spirit’s work as the wind.  For it is he who works through the word.  We need the Holy Spirit to reveal to us through the Bible that we are not able to save ourselves.  And we need the Holy Spirit to reveal to us who Jesus is as our own Savior from sin.  This message is sometimes proclaimed loudly (with much wind) from a pulpit or in thunderous congregational songs of praise.  Other times the Holy Spirit speaks the gospel to our hearts with a quiet wind in our ear.  A father teaching his children to pray to Jesus at dinner time or in a mother singing to her children about the peace Jesus gives their souls at bedtime.  The Holy Spirit works through the wind of the gospel.

Therefore, go ahead and rejoice.  Rejoice with Earth, Wind, and Fire,..and the Water.  But rejoice in God’s work in how he saved us in Christ Jesus and in how he revealed his gospel of salvation to us.  Rejoice now and rejoice forever in the Lord Jesus in control of all this to save you and to bring you home to heaven!  Amen.