The 2nd Sunday in Lent, (3-4-07)
Sir, we would see JESUS!
Emmanuel, Asheville, NC
Psalm 119: 105
In the Name of JESUS!

?¨A Lamp to Guide Our Way?Æ

?¨Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.?Æ Psalm 119: 115

Beloved in the Lord, please pray with me:

Gracious God and Father, in Your wondrous caring for us You have indeed given us Your holy Word to be a lamp unto our feet and a light for our path, so that we trust Your Son, Jesus Christ, as our one and only Savior. Yet there are times when we have not only neglected Your Word, but have failed to live by its guidance in accordance with Your holy will. Send us Your Spirit that by His power we are more faithful to Your Word and live according to it, above all looking to Jesus for His pardon, grace and help, as we also strive to reach others with the Gospel of Christ. Amen.

In the name of Jesus, the Light of the world and our only Savior, dear friends:

Today marks the beginning of National Lutheran Schools Week. Under the multiyear theme: LUTHERAN SCHOOLS ?± A GREAT PLACE TO GROW, this year??s special emphasis is, TRANSFORMING LIVES. And that precisely is their mission under the Lord??s blessing ?± to transform lives, by enabling children to know our Triune God and His saving grace in Jesus Christ. Our schools also strive to equip children in their teaching and caring ministries to be individuals throughout their lives that actively contribute to the building of Christ??s Church on earth and to make a positive difference in our fallen and needy world. 

This special week should go beyond our thanking the Lord of the Church for our Lutheran schools and renew our energies in supporting them. It should also be a vivid reminder to us of how essential Christian Education is for the life of every Christian ?± no matter what one??s age. Christian Education is not an option. In this fallen world all of us need to have our faith and life regularly nourished by the precious Word of God. It also is a mandate to all of us, given by our dear Savior. He charged all of us to make disciples of all nations, ?¨teaching them to observe all things I have commanded you.?Æ [Cf. Matthew 20: 28] 

Our Emmanuel congregation has taken our Lord??s mandate seriously. Almost 50 years ago the Holy Spirit led our forefathers, including a few of you still seated in these pews today, to establish our own Christian Day School. Through the years our Lord has blessed our modest beginnings to where we now offer childcare for infants and toddlers and early education classes, plus Kindergarten through 8th grade classes. Now enrolled are 208 children, who besides Bible studies have their other subjects taught from a Biblical perspective. An added gift of God to us through the years is all the talented and highly committed teachers and staff. What blessings! 

But some may wonder why invest all that money, time, and effort into a school where only a portion of the students are our own members. It??s because it is a major means of carrying out our dear Savior??s command to all of us to share the Gospel with every person and to bring children to our Savior. Think of the hundreds of lives our congregation by God??s grace has been able to touch through these years in our school. This year we have been privileged to baptize 3 of our school children who might not otherwise have been baptized in the name of our Triune God. Because from time-to-time I periodically wear a clerical collar, people around Asheville frequently will ask where I serve. Once I say, ?¨Emmanuel Lutheran Church and School,?Æ I fairly often meet non-members who formerly attended our school. Each time those former students express gratitude for the Christian education they received here. Each and every one of our students is being or has been better equipped to know and trust our gracious Lord in their own battle against the devil, the world, and our flesh and to serve our Triune God and others in the years ahead. 

Emmanuel trains well and by God??s grace transforms lives, but does that means that we can sit back and relax? NO! We all are in an on-going battle, dear people of Christ! Ever since Adam and Eve fell into sin, the world is a very difficult and unsettled place, because all mankind is in the midst of a raging spiritual war both without and within. Today we are exposed to non-Christian cults, philosophies, and faiths, including earth religions and witchcraft as never before. Worse yet, within Christ??s external Church there are false teachers who among other things even deny that Jesus Christ is Lord. The ?¨outside world?Æ with all its corrupting allurements gets brought into the sanctuary of our homes via modern media. The treadmill of running from one activity to another leaves little time for family or even oneself. Too often at the bottom of the heap in our busyness is time for God and His precious, edifying Word, and worship. Perhaps it is only when we fall into bed exhausted that we catch a brief glimpse of Satan??s, the world??s, and our sinful nature??s craftiness. 

Frankly because of all the evil forces both without and within trying to undermine not only the faith of individual Christians, but also that of the whole Christian Church on earth, I do not envy parents trying to raise their children to live close to our Savior and to walk on the paths of the Lord??s choosing. Just as all of us who are adults and teens face the onslaught of all the evil forces, it??s also a hard road for children to trust their Savior and to be imitators of Jesus in their daily lives. 

To any parent who has had or may have a child who has gone astray I say, ?¨Don??t give up hope!?Æ Do not stop praying for a wayward son or daughter. Witness by the example of your life! I can say that above all because of God??s faithful promises to us in the Bible. I also say that as a father of wayward sons who today walk by Christ??s grace and love as recovering addicts. We have been blessed to see this return in our lifetime. For others that restoration in Jesus may occur only after the parent??s death. Through our merciful God there??s always hope and the opportunity for a prodigal child to return.

What??s the point of all this and what does what I??ve said really involve in our day-to-day living? It points us solely to our merciful God, who provides what we need and the solutions to our problems, above all, to our sin and death. Our heavenly Father sent His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, as the Light of world to dispel the darkness of our sin and to transform death into the gateway to heaven. Christ has done everything necessary to set things right between us and our holy God when with the Spirit??s help we trust Him as our Savior. He also is the beacon to give meaning and direction in our daily lives. Jesus is the Light to guide us on our daily walk and on the path finally to heaven. To help us our Lord graciously gives us the tools to shine His light upon us and others through our Lutheran school, our congregation??s other Christian Education programs and worship, as well as our Christian homes. In all these efforts may our gracious God keep His Word, the lamp for our feet, as our source and guide. 

As a called servant of the Lord, I cannot encourage you then strongly enough to thank God for the beacon light of God??s holy Word which directs us to the true and only eternal Light for this sin-darkened world, JESUS CHRIST. So that even greater gifts and loyalty may be ours, pray for God??s blessing on our worship and all of our Christian Education programs including Emmanuel Lutheran School. In part, you already do so as you pray, ?¨Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done.?Æ But today I urge you to be more specific in remembering the Light of Christ??s grace and love coming through His Word here at Emmanuel Church and School. What treasures of His saving light our gracious God has given to us! For this we can certainly give thanks and praise to the Lord Jesus, our true and living Light, while daily turning to His Word to build our faith and direct our lives. Amen.

To GOD alone be the glory! 

©The Reverend Frederick A. Stiemke, DD
Vacancy Pastor