1 Corinthians 2:1-2 “When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.”

Not every good missionary is an outstanding public speaker. Paul realized it wasn’t his mastery of rhetoric and grammar and vocabulary, it wasn’t his ability to move a crowd to tears or laughter, that changed hearts. In Paul’s day expert public speakers were highly thought of, especially in Greece and Rome. For many, they were one of the chief sources of entertainment. There was no television, of course, and even a book could cost as much as a house. A gifted speaker could draw an impressive audience and wield a powerful influence over his listeners, more so than today. Paul may have worked hard at it, but he wasn’t counting on superior speaking gifts to win the Corinthians to faith.

We want our message to be interesting and our worship to engage the people. But that is as much as entertainment and winning souls have to do each other. There are those who say we live in an entertainment age, and we need to put on a good show for those who walk through our doors. We certainly want to hold the attention of those who attend our churches, but the message can also disappear under the dazzle of clowns, balloons, and juggling acts. What works for people is a message that offers the straight stuff, not our ability to spiff it up for them.

Paul mentions another thing that appealed to the Greek residents of Corinth: wisdom.  The Greeks were thinkers. They thought about the meaning of life and the best way to live. They thought about the world in which they lived. They loved thinking so much that they actually looked down on those who worked hard for a living. They favored people who did nothing but sit around and think and talk.

Paul knew that in Jesus Christ he had much more to offer than all the solutions the thinkers of his day invented. The Corinthians had the Epicurean philosophers, whose motto was “eat, drink, and be merry.” So do we. This wisdom tells people that if you have problems, you can escape them in leisure, or perhaps a bottle of booze, a pipe, or syringe. These solve nothing, make problems worse, and drive practitioners further away from God and salvation.

Then there were the Stoics. Stoics were realists who believed people should accept the way things are and take responsibility for themselves. They resemble those who think science, education, or self-help books and counseling will solve all our problems. Those may be helpful. They aren’t bad. But they are not the ultimate solution.

You see, we know the difference between good and bad, right and wrong. The problem is that we still make the wrong choices anyway. The problem is sin. It doesn’t just make our lives miserable, it destroys them eternally. Paul’s solution was superior to “superior” worldly wisdom.

“For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” Jesus was the answer. Knowing him is everything people need to experience God’s power in their lives. Paul’s own appearance and life were in many ways rather ordinary. He admits, “I came to you in weakness and fear, with much trembling.” When he came to Corinth he was at a low point in his ministry. He had been chased out of Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea. They laughed him out of Athens. He suffered health problems that made him weak. Knowing Jesus Christ and him crucified didn’t REMOVE all the problems in Paul’s life.

Nor will it for us. It doesn’t mean our problems suddenly vanish. In some ways our problems may multiply. Remember Jesus words in the Sermon on the Mount?  “Blessed are you when men insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.”

But knowing Jesus equips us to deal with the one great problem: our sin. You and I haven’t stopped sinning. But when we do, we have someone to whom we can go with them. When we confess them to Jesus, he carries them to the cross and disposes them there. We experience God’s power as he replaces sin and guilt with peace and joy. Knowing Jesus Christ and him crucified means knowing he has taken my place, paid for my sin with his blood, reconciled me to God, and carried me to the very doors of heaven.

Jesus Christ and him crucified is power—not the kind that gives me control over other people or all the circumstances in my life; the kind that changes my heart and my eternity. It’s all we really need to know.

Psalm 127:1-2 “Unless the Lord builds the house, it’s builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain. In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat– for he grants sleep to those he loves.”

The world in which we live can give its favorites many things: power, wealth, distinction. The Lord gives sleep to those he loves. Does that sound like a chincy gift? Isn’t sleep free? Or have you lived long enough and experienced enough of life to know that the Lord’s gift of sleep is the real treasure here? If this were a Master Card commercial, “(The Lord) grants sleep to those he loves” would be the “priceless” part at the end. Why?

All of us experience some sleeplessness. A colicky baby, nerves before the big day, or an occasional case of indigestion can rob us of a night’s sleep.

Then there is the chronic sleeplessness that comes because we can find no peace. When we aren’t sure how we are going to make ends meet, sleep can be hard to find. The bills are piling up, job prospects are drying up, collection agencies are showing up, and our stress and anxiety is building up. The future’s uncertainties haunt our thoughts and plague our dreams. Sleep is elusive while we live in a constant state of tension.

But nothing makes it harder to sleep than a guilty conscience. King David once described the misery this way: “I am worn out from groaning; all night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears.” When we can find no peace with God, we can find no peace at all.

What if we could be sure he loves us? What if we could be sure that he forgives our sins? Then our consciences could be quiet. Then our worries about the future would be answered. Then we could lay our heads down on our pillows at night and sleep like a baby, because we could be sure that we were resting in his loving hands.

We don’t have to wonder whether or not we are those the Lord loves, to whom he gives the gift of peace and sleep. He came here to tell us himself– actually became human flesh so that we could see his love in action and hear it from his own lips. Jesus then took the sins that disturb our consciences and let them disturb him instead. He made our guilt his very own and took it all the way to the cross, where he gave his life to rid us of the curse once and for all. Now he lives again to run the universe for our benefit and assure us that when our eyes close in the sleep of death, they will open to a new day of life that never ends.

And do you notice that he does not say, “He grants sleep to those who are really good.” “He grants sleep to those who try really hard.” “He grants sleep to those who are better than others.” No, he grants sleep, he makes it his gift, to those he loves. It is available to all. It is yours right now by virtue of the fact that you are his children by faith. You know your sins are forgiven. You know that God is going to provide. You know the peace that can give you sweet dreams tonight and every night.

So go ahead, and work hard. But know that God gives you peace, and sleep, as a gift of his love.

Romans 8:15b “For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship.”

Living a Christian life is more than doing the right things. The Lord is just as concerned with our motives as he is with our actual behavior. Sometimes my children sat at the table with us only because they feared the discipline they would get if they didn’t. Students do certain homework assignments only because they fear the trouble they would be in with parents or teachers if they didn’t. Fear of pregnancy, disease, or ruining a marriage is enough to convince some people to live sexually chaste lives (though fewer and fewer find even these consequences compelling reasons to control themselves). Driving the speed limit, being honest on your tax return–all of us do certain things only because we fear the consequences.

In each case, the behavior may be correct. But this is nothing like living a Christian life.  Paul says, “You did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear.” People who act out of fear haven’t changed. They are merely controlled. That’s a form of slavery.

Christian life is a life of freedom. It is the product of a new relationship. “But you received the Spirit of sonship.” The word sonship can also be translated adoption. Paul is leading us back to God’s grace. None of us were natural born members of God’s family.  Because he loved us he adopted us. He bought us with Jesus blood. He claimed us and made us his own by faith. He brought us into his family as his children.

Now, we don’t serve him because we are afraid of him. We love the one who so loved us. When we believe the grace, forgiveness, and love he has shown us, when we comprehend how good he has been to us, we can’t help ourselves. We relate to God as his children and serve him in love.

On the outside, living life led by the Spirit may not look much different than a life driven by fear. But these two things are not at all the same. God sees the difference. Our hearts know it, too. Set the slave aside. Be the sons and daughters you are.

Romans 8:14-15 “Those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.'”

Sometimes people see God only as Sovereign, a King. It’s certainly not wrong to think of him as our King. But what if that were the only relationship we had with him? Where would that leave us?  The King is the giver and enforcer of laws. We know God’s laws. He won’t stand to have even a single one broken. We also have to admit that all of us have broken them. If God were only our Sovereign, only our King, perhaps he would seem like the police to us. We would know that it’s good to have him around, but we would spend our entire lives looking over our shoulders, checking our rear view mirrors, hoping he wouldn’t catch us breaking the law. God as policeman is not a comfortable relationship.

Others envision God as some sort of unexplainable, impersonal, unapproachable power we can’t really know anything about. You can’t have a relationship at all with the cold, distant, unfeeling force they describe.

Paul assures us that God is our Father, and we are his sons or children. The word “Father” expresses much more than biological relationship. A REAL father, one who deserves the title, does all he can to provide for his children’s needs. There is nothing he would not sacrifice for the children he loves. Even when those children are ungrateful, or troublemakers who bring shame to the family reputation, a father does all he can for them.

Isn’t that what our heavenly Father has done for us?  Our sins put our souls in mortal danger. They dishonor our Creator’s name. But God our Father has taken those sins away, forgiven them completely. He sacrificed his dearest treasure to do it. He gave the life of his own Son Jesus Christ to pay for our sins. He continues to forgive us daily, freely. He gave us our very lives back again. He guarantees a better life to come. All of this is a heavenly Father’s love for you and me. It’s the most important relationship we have in our lives. It’s the only reason we have a life at all.

Paul makes clear what a useful thing this relationship is when he says, “And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.” The word Abba comes from the Aramaic language. It is not exactly the same thing as the word Father. It is a term of endearment, more like “dad” or “daddy.” The point is, our special relationship with God makes him someone we can approach. We can go to him with our problems and expect help. We can go to him with our sins and be sure of forgiveness.

The words of the catechism say it best: “God tenderly invites us to believe that he is our true Father and that we are his true children, so that we may pray to him as boldly and confidently as dear children ask their dear fathers.”

2 Timothy 4:17b-18 “I was delivered from the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom.”

“The lion’s mouth” is probably less a reference to the later Roman practice of feeding Christians to the lions, and more an allusion to the words of Psalm 22, “Rescue me from the mouths of the lions.” It was a colorful way of saying, “I am not dead yet. My execution has been delayed.”

But it was only a matter of time. Still, Paul understood that even in his death the Lord would rescue him from every evil attack and bring him safely to his heavenly kingdom.

Isn’t that the ultimate deliverance? On the one hand, Luther warns us not to lose our proper respect for death: “I am not pleased with examples which show how men die gladly. But I am pleased with those who tremble and quake and grow pale before death and yet suffer it. Great saints do not die gladly. Fear is natural because death is punishment. Therefore, it is sad.”

But the Savior who never leaves us alone went through death for us to absorb all of its punishment. Death’s stinger has been plucked. Jesus’ return to life means that when we go through death, he will be there with us, too. And now life is waiting for us on the other side. The death that looked like danger ends in heaven’s safety.

You see, Paul felt deserted at his first hearing, but the Lord stood by him. Soon, however, his case would not go so well, humanly speaking. The judge would condemn him. The officers of the court would lead him away. The executioner’s sword would swing. Then the Lord would open an escape hatch between his world and ours. And as Paul stepped through that door, he would see that he was not alone. The great cloud of witnesses that surround us would welcome him (Hebrews 12:1). He would see the face of the Lamb who sits on the throne, who would spread his tent over him (Revelation 22:4 and 7:15). And Paul would be truly safe.

Jesus never stops being the Savior who rescues us. In life he rescues us from sin and fear and guilt and dangers to our bodies we may not even realize. In death he rescues us from this world altogether. We will be truly safe when he brings us home.

2 Timothy 4:16-17 “At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them. But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it.”

Paul was no stranger to jail cells: Philippi, Jerusalem, Caesarea, Rome. This time was different. The Christian faith was no longer hiding under the protection of its Jewish roots. It was recognizably different, and it was illegal to spread it. This jail cell was the end of the line for Paul.

His Roman citizenship still afforded him a public hearing in a court of law. He tells Timothy they had already held his first defense. Paul used it as an opportunity to preach the gospel. That was his calling. But humanly speaking, it had left him all alone.

Paul wasn’t saying he had lost every friend in the world. Earlier he notes that Luke was still with him. He fully expects Timothy to come and bring Mark along. But not just anyone could speak in your support at a Roman defense hearing. Your defender needed to be a citizen, and he needed to be a certain kind of prominent citizen to do you any good. Apparently everyone who could have helped had deserted him.

I think we understand the temptations that being left all alone presented to Paul. They still confront us today. There is the temptation to cave in, to change our line, to sing a different tune.

Even the dread of being relatively alone, of becoming an unpopular little minority rejected by most, is a powerful motivator to rob us of the courage of our convictions. If it doesn’t get us to change our message, maybe we try to hide it. We play it safe by keeping our mouths shut. We don’t feel so much like telling others what we believe.

In the face of such temptations, Paul still counted on God’s presence. “But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength.” His experience of the Lord’s support was no different than ours. Paul’s eyes were not opened to see something no one else in the courtroom could see, as Elisha’s servant once saw the angel armies in the form of horses and chariots of fire surrounding Elisha’s house.

Paul found the Lord standing by his side and giving him strength where every Christian does: in the words and promises of God. Do you remember the little autobiographical testimony Paul had given toward the beginning of his first letter to Timothy? “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners–of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy, so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.” The Grand Canyon sized contrast between Paul’s sin and Christ’s forgiving grace left no doubt in Paul’s mind that the Lord was on his side, and by his side.

Isn’t this a theme, a connection, that runs all through Paul’s life and work? His thoughts are never far from God’s grace at the cross when it comes to the way he lived his life. To the Corinthians: “Christ’s love compels us, for we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again” (5:14). To the Galatians: “I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.” Again and again it is Christ’s love, his cross, his death, his sacrifice, his grace that occupies Paul’s thoughts and captivates Paul’s heart, so that he lives and serves and endures as though God himself were working through him–which, of course, he was.

It works no differently for us. If we want to know that the Lord is standing by our side, if we want to find his strength, if we want to be sure we are never alone, run to the gospel. Run to God’s grace. Run to the promises. Don’t stand and wait to be hit by a bolt of spiritual lightning out of nowhere. Don’t shrink and shrivel in the face of a world majority that thinks the Gospel is stupid at best and evil at worst. Christ Jesus loves you so much that he died to save you. Christ Jesus loves you so much that he has driven world history to make sure that, out of all the citizens of this planet, you would have parents or friends or pastors or teachers who brought you the gospel and led you to faith. You don’t think he stands by you, then? No, you are never alone as you carry out Christ’s calling.

Judges 13:21-23 “When the angel of the Lord did not show himself again to Manoah and his wife, Manoah realized that it was the angel of the Lord. ‘We are doomed to die!’ he said to his wife. ‘We have seen God.’ But his wife answered, ‘If the Lord had meant to kill us, he would not have accepted a burnt offering and grain offering from our hands, nor shown us all these things or now told us this.’”

Manoah and his wife experienced special evidence of God’s presence and blessing in their lives, even though they weren’t aware of it at first. When the Old Testament speaks of the angel of the Lord, many times it is not referring to a created angel. It is referring to the Lord himself, more specifically the Son of God before he became a man. That is who was talking to this couple here. The Son of God was present in their lives, bringing them God’s promises, providing special blessings in the gift of a child, and one who would be a leader and deliverer for God’s people. They received all this before they even understood the identity of their mystery guest.

Then they experienced a rare and powerful demonstration of God’s presence in their lives. They both witnessed the Lord ascend into heaven in the flames of the sacrifice they were offering. It was an experience that literally brought Manoah and wife to their knees in awe and worship.

As the couple considered what they had just experienced, each of them had special insights into what had happened. Manoah thinks that they are doomed to die. Maybe we are tempted to say that Manoah is over-reacting. He is being melodramatic. But Manoah understood something far too many people fail to get. This was not merely an overreaction.

Remember what God said to Moses after the golden calf incident, when Moses wanted to see God face to face? God told Moses that he would make all of his glory pass by, and Moses could see his backside. But Moses could not see God’s face, “For no man may see me and live.” Remember how Isaiah reacted when God appeared to him in a vision to call him to his service? The Lord was seated high on his throne, and the train of his robe filled the temple, and smoke filled the temple, and angels were crying out “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God of Hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory.” What was Isaiah’s response? “Woe to me–I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty!”

These men all understood that it is a dreadful, terrifying thing for sinners to stand in the presence of the Holy God. Our world is all too free and easy about where we stand with God. We could stand to take God more seriously. We can use a healthy dose of awe, reverence, and dread, especially when we consider the damning nature of our sins.

But that’s only half the story. Manoah’s wife had a special insight, too. She not only looked at the great power and considered that they had been standing in the presence of the Holy God. She had listened. She heard God’s promises and the blessing they were being given. God said he was sending his people a deliverer, a savior, and he was using this family to do so. Far from meaning to kill them, God had promised to save them.

God still wants you to listen to what he says, especially when he tells you that he has sent you a Deliverer, a Savior, who has come to spare your life. God wants you to hear the promise that he has taken your sins away and filled the void with Jesus’ love and his Spirit’s power. God wants you to be sure that his plans for you don’t end soon, because they don’t end here. Because of his grace and promise, his plans for you will mean life that never ends in heaven.

Then our evidence of God’s blessing will encompass far more than brief encounters. Our vision of God will be constant, and so will our life in his presence.

Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you, I knew you, before you were born I set you apart;”

The Lord specially formed Jeremiah…and each one of us. This word “formed” is the same word God used of “forming” Adam out of the dust of the ground at creation. It is also the word the Bible uses for a potter working at the pottery wheel, forming his bowls and pitchers, cups and plates, and other kitchen ware. Today the raw material comes from our parents instead of the dirt, but our Lord is still intimately involved in the process, carefully, purposefully, artistically forming and shaping us to fit his plans for us.

Even more impressive, he knew us before he made us. Once a child is conceived today, a sonogram may be able to tell you the gender before its birth. It can let you know whether the child is developing normally. But even with this ability to see into the womb, the child we get is still a stranger to us, and there may be some surprises when it is born.

God knew us before our birth. God knew us before our conception. He knew us personally, as his own. He knew that we would need Jesus to save us from sin, just like everyone else. But he also knew our gifts. He knew our strengths and weaknesses. He knew how we were going to fit into his plans, and he knew that we would be just right for the purpose for which he made us.

He more than knew us: “Before you were born I set you apart.” Before we existed he determined that he would save us from our sins. He gave us parents who brought us to church and baptism. Or he sent a friend to tell us about Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. He sent his Spirit into our hearts to make us his own by faith. He set us apart to serve him with our lives.

Even more than this–before we even existed, he so loved us that he had decided to do so. He gave us our special purpose already then. Have you seen the movie The Incredibles? The superhero parents won’t let their superhero children make use of their incredible superhero powers. They are trying to remain anonymous and blend in. Superhero son Dash wonders why he has to hide the fact that he is special. “Everyone is special,” his mother chides him. “Which is just another way of saying no one is special,” Dash complains.

But for those who belong to God by faith, every one of them truly is special. He set us apart for his unique purposes even before he formed our bodies to meet those purposes. From these promises we can be certain that God has made each of us a special–and will display it in ways consistent with our purpose.

2 Corinthians 5:6-8 “Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. We live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.”

When Paul speaks of being “at home” in this verse, he is not thinking of a place. The Greek word speaks about being “with our people.” And that is really home, isn’t it? I grew up on southern Minnesota. I will admit that there are things about the geography, the culture, and sometimes even the climate of that place that fill me with a sentimental longing. It still feels very comfortable when I go back there. There is something about it that just fits.

But home is not a place as much as it is the people. My own family is with me in Oklahoma, and that makes this place home. And if my parents or relatives visit, or if we meet up with them at some other place around the country for vacation, there is a great sense of being home then, too.

That’s where we are right now, Paul says. We are at home, with our people, in the body. And it is right for us to cherish those relationships and appreciate the time we spend with our dear ones here. Those people themselves are a great gift from God.

But those people themselves don’t stay with us forever. They move all over the country. As they age, they eventually move on to our home above. Even now they often bring pain into our lives with the way they treat us. And so long as we are here with them, we are away from the Lord.

That is why we are longing to take the last step to our home above, where we will find ourselves in better company. “We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.” It is better to be at home, “with our people,” with the Lord. My grandparents are already there, and some of my uncles. Many years ago my wife and I thought we might be sending a child on ahead of us. Some of you may have. These people are already there in all the perfection heaven promises.

But better still is the company we will keep with the Lord himself, finally face to face. Sometimes it is hard to appreciate what that will mean for us before we get there. It’s supposed to be the greatest thing about heaven, yet sometimes we may feel a little like the child whose parents excitedly tell him he is going to meet a great aunt he never met. And the child thinks, “Woo-hoo. Another old person with whom I have little in common.” We may not be convinced that seeing God holds that much appeal.

Or maybe it’s all we ever really wanted. Although we can’t fully realize it now, it is the answer to a host of inexpressible longings we can never seem to satisfy while we are here. We try to fill the emptiness with people or things or experiences, but none of them will do, because like Paul, we are longing to take the last step to a better home. There we will find ourselves in better company–in the presence of God himself.