To you who have been called, chosen by grace, to be numbered among God’s elect…beloved in Christ,

As we’ve been reading in the Book of Exodus, God’s chosen people Israel were a curious and strange bunch—so I think anyways, when I consider how “so righteous” I am.  I’m saying that facetiously, of course.  But I would have liked to question them myself when I consider all that God in His grace and love did for them.  He chose them out of all the people on earth to be His chosen people—His treasured-possession—to live with Him under His established covenant—according to His holy will and design, to be recipients of His many blessings. Out of them, God’s gracious promise would be fulfilled.  One of their future offspring would be the “Promised One”—the Messiah—the Savior of the world.  All that God prescribed for His people Israel under the old covenant was preparing them for Jesus’ coming.

The unfolding of God’s salvation plan from eternity is marked by such enormous and incredible events as, for example, the exodus out of Egypt.  God miraculously delivered His people from 430 years of bondage and set them on course to the land of Canaan—a fruitful and beautiful land that He had promised to give them. Once there, and after driving out the pagan Canaanites, He would establish Israel as a blessed nation—again living under God’s covenant law and as His people.

However, Israel was hardly out of Egypt, when all the complaints and fears began flying.  And I paraphrase: “We should never have left Egypt.  It was better there even as slaves. At least we had houses to sleep in and food to eat and water to drink.  But here we are out in this miserable wilderness.  And we just don’t like it!”  And the complaints continued and continued and continued, in spite of God’s covenant promise and in spite of God’s constant care and provision.  Gracious soul that he was, Moses pleaded with God to spare them–he interceded for them. God heard Moses’ plea and relented from wiping them off the map.

So, yes, if I could, I would love to approach Old Testament Israel and say to them, “You wicked and foolish people.  What’s wrong with you?  Where’s your trust in God?  Surely, you realize that you deserve NOTHING. Here is the one true God who loves you and rescued you from slavery, who has promised to not only give you all these gifts of His grace (land, nation, good food, a much better life, the blessing of right worship, faithful leaders and prophets, the promise of a coming Messiah-Savior to give you salvation, etc.), and you are so miserable and so unhappy with God!  What’s wrong with you?”  Oh, that’s what I would say to them.

But then the Scriptures reveal that God warns us and teaches us from Israel’s history. So, truly, God says, “If you are going to be like them—think like them—be like them—live like them—they who rejected Me and My covenant—My Word, see clearly how I dealt with them.” Stiff-necked people that they were!  Remember that only a few from the generation that was rescued from Egypt were granted to actually enter the promised land.

So, yes, God calls us to repentance.  He reveals the plank of sin in our own eye, and by the Holy Spirit and His Holy Word, He exposes our sinful thoughts and ways.  Speaking of myself as sinner, I too (more often than I would like to admit) fail to do the good that I should do and I keep on doing that which is evil in God’s sight.  I struggle with sin every single day and hour.  Based on God’s Law, I know that I too am a miserable sinner.  Can you identify yourself here with me?  That we are truly “wretched” sinners—as even the Apostle Paul confessed about himself in Romans 7 (see verses 7-24).

God exposes the wretchedness of our sin so that we see that we are utterly “deplorable”—unholy before God.  And therefore, we need His Chosen One to deliver us from our wretched state.  So, Paul says, “Who will deliver me from this body of death?  [And here is the precious Gospel!]  Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Rom. 7:25)  And I add here Romans 8:1: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”  By His cross and His empty tomb (His death and resurrection), Jesus has brought us deliverance from our sin, our guilt, and shame, and has given us life–eternal life. That’s why we need Jesus—His Word and His sacraments—even more than we know.

Our midweek Lenten worship services begin tomorrow evening (Ash Wednesday) at 7:00PM.  I encourage you to be with us.  What does it mean for us to live by faith?  That’s our focus for our midweek Lenten worship.