LIFT UP HOLY HANDS IN PRAYER

The Old Testament Lesson: Psalm 61
The Epistle Lesson: II Corinthians 5:1-10
THE SERMON TEXT: 1 Timothy 2:1-8

Last night we received an E-Mail here at Holy Cross from the President of our Synod, President George Orvick, who many of you know used to be pastor here for many, many years- for 32 years. And he asked that this letter be read to our ELS Congregations.

"Dear Members and Friends of our ELS,

It is with sorrow of heart that we contemplate the terrible attack which took place on September 11th against our country. Perhaps some 5000 lives were lost as the terrorists flew planes directly into the buildings of New York City and Washington D.C.. Our hearts go out to the families of the victims and to those brave firefighters and policemen who have lost their lives in this destruction. I am sure that we are all praying for the men, women, and children who are suffering from pain and loss. And, for the rescue workers. We certainly should fervently pray for our president, and for all of our leaders, that the Lord would guide them as they seek to cope with this wicked attack. We should ask the Lord to bless our nation and to give us courage and strength to be united as we rise up against the terrorists. And we pray for ourselves that we may repent of our sins and live holy lives in service to our Lord. We learned from scripture that God is not the author of evil. The Bible says, the Lord is righteous in all His ways and holy in all His works. It is fallen, sinful and corrupt human beings, lead by the Evil Foe, the Devil, which are to blame for this terrible attack. Yes! As our explanation, the catechism says, "God allows men to sin, but in His gracious providence He sets limits to their sin, and turns all things into good for His believers. God has clearly demonstrated His great love for us by sending His only begotten Son to be our savior." As Luther says, "If you want to know how God cares about you, go and look in the manger. And, see his only begotten lying there, as a babe. Or go and look at the cross and see how he gave His Son, to die for the sins of the whole world. For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son. That whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life."

Yours in Christ,
George M. Orvick
President ELS

That letter is about two things. It is about our country and it’s about our church.

Today, as we contemplate our country and our church we remember that our president, also this week, turned us to those two things. He turned us to our country and he turned us to our faith.

Up in front of our church we have two flags. One is the flag of the United States of America and the other is the Christian Flag. It has a red cross, which represents the blood of Christ. That is on a blue field, which represents Heaven, that has been won for us. It is on a white background, representing that we are clean and righteous by the blood of Christ.

Those two flags remind us that we belong to two, separate kingdoms. As citizens of this world we belong to an earthly kingdom. And in our case, it’s the kingdom of the United States of America. And yet as citizens of the church we belong to another kingdom. And, that’s the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of Faith. And, scripture tells us that those two kingdoms are separate from one another. Jesus said about his kingdom, "My kingdom is not of this world." Jesus’ kingdom is not a political kingdom. Jesus said, "The kingdom of God is within you." The Kingdom of God is not some kingdom that we can see around us but it is within us, by faith. God rules in our hearts through His Word, and through His grace. Jesus talked about that distinction between those two kingdoms when he said, "Render unto Caesar (or unto the government) the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God’s." We owe allegiance to two separate kingdoms.

Those kingdoms are separate because they rule over two different things. The Kingdom of God rules over spiritual things. The Kingdom of God is there to keep us spiritually safe. The Kingdom of God is there to talk about sin. The Kingdom of God is there to talk about Christ, our Savior and how he has saved us from our sins. The Kingdom of God is there to turn us to faith. The Kingdom of God is there to direct us by God’s Word. And, the State, the Kingdom of the State has no right to intrude into the Kingdom of God. The state has no right to tell us how to worship God. Or, which god to worship. Or what to believe, or what to trust, when it comes to spiritual matters.

The kingdom of this earth has a different purpose. The kingdom of God is to keep us safe spiritually. The kingdom of this earth, is ordained by God. Scripture says, " The powers that be, are ordained by God." It is there to keep us safe, not spiritually, but physically. It is the duty of our government to keep its citizens safe. It is the duty of our government to protect us by laws that keep us safe from harm and from wrong doing, to us physically. It is the duty of the government to see to it that earthly justice is carried out for the physical protection of its citizens. The church has no right to tell the government how to go about its business of protecting the citizens of this country. We believe in what we call the separation of church and state. They rule over two totally different things. And, yet, as we heard this letter from Pastor Orvick, as we heard our President talk, this past week, while there is a separation between the church and the state, because they rule over two very different kingdoms, it is also very evident this week that those two kingdoms have a connection to one another. There is a very strong connection between those two kingdoms And here is what the connection is: The kingdom of God, the believers in Christ, serve a purpose for this earthly kingdom that we live in. And our purpose is to help keep this government safe. We’ll talk about that, in a little bit.

Our government serves a purpose. And, its purpose is to help keep the believers safe and protected. That is exactly what our text is talking about when it says, "I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercessions and thanksgiving be made for everyone - for kings and all those in authority." Now there it is speaking to those who belong to God’s Kingdom, to Christ’s Kingdom. And, there God urges you, in fact it goes on and says, "This is good, and pleases God". It pleases God, when we pray and hold prayers and give up petitions and thanksgiving for our earthly kingdom. He urges us to pray for kings and for those who are in authority. And, in our case it would be our president, and the leaders of our country. After all, we all need to understand and recognize that we live in a great country! There is no question about that and yet we all humbly get on our knees and admit that this country would not and could not be great unless God permitted it to be so. This country could not be strong unless God permitted it to be so. This country could not be prosperous, the way it is, unless God permitted it to be so. This country would not have wise rulers, they would be fools, unless God permitted it to be so. This country would not be safe and protected unless God permitted it to be so. And, Christians, those in the Kingdom of Christ recognize and understand that. And, so when we pray to God, and recognize that it is only by God’s grace that our country is strong, that our leaders are wise, that our citizens are safe, that our country is prosperous - when we get down on our knees and pray to God for those things, we are serving and helping our country by calling upon the help of God and we keep our country safe. We protect this country by our prayers. And how critical it is for us, as Christians to get down on our knees and pray for our leaders and especially for President Bush. We need to pray that God will give him wisdom. And what wisdom he needs, for the complexities of the issues, that he needs to deal with. He will not have wisdom, unless it is granted to him, from God. We need to pray.

We need to pray for our fellow citizens. Things could turn ugly. There could be violence in the streets. There could be hatred and prejudice and bigotry towards other peoples. And, it is only by the grace of God, that our citizens are kept God-fearing and peaceful people. And we need to get down on our knees and pray that God, by His grace would grant safety to the citizens of this country. It is only by God’s grace that we have been a prosperous people. We need to get down on our knees and pray that God would watch over us.

I had a mother stop by the office, this past week, during lunch hour. She walked into my office and she said, "Pastor Bartels, will you pray for my son? Because he just enlisted a couple of months ago. Will you pray for him?" We need to pray for those young service men and service women. We don’t know what they are going to face. But, we know that it is only by God’s grace and by God’s mighty hand that they will be kept safe and protected. And we need to get down on our knees and we need to pray for our service people.

We need to get down on our knees and we need to pray for justice. It is the duty of our government to carry out earthly justice. And without God’s grace there will not be justice. And, it will not be carried out properly, unless God sees to it. We need to pray that justice will be carried out. It is the duty of Christian citizens to pray for their earthly government, so that government can protect them.

But, on the other hand, it is the duty of our government to protect believers. That scripture passage goes right on and it says, "I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone - for kings and all those in authority." And, then it says why, "that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness." We pray for our government that it will be kept safe and protected so it can do its business, so that we can live peaceful, quiet lives in godliness and holiness. It is the duty of the government to protect its citizens and keep them safe. And, when the government protects its citizens it protects Christians. It protects God’s people. It protects those who are in the Kingdom of God. And we have to thank God that we have a president who understands that. We have a country that understands that. We have a president who has openly appealed and is there upholding the laws of the land, seeing to it, that we have religious liberty, seeing to it that we have the right to worship and pray to God in all openness and freedom. And, he has invited us to and urging us to do that because our president understands that the church can do things that the government cannot do. The church can raise its prayers to God. The church can talk to issues that the government cannot talk about. It can talk about sin. It can talk about forgiveness. It can talk about God’s safety. It can speak out to the deep issues of life and our government is there to protect the citizens in this land, including Christians. To see to it that we may live quiet and peaceful lives in all godliness and holiness as we go about spreading the Word of our Savior, and of God, and, what He has done for us, and how he will care for us.

And now we go on and see how this all ties together for an even greater purpose. Our text says, "I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone - for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness." And, then He shows the greater purpose...

"For God wants all men to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth."

God’s eternal purpose in the workings of this world is one. God’s will for all people, His universal will is that all men be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth. And we know that from scripture. God says that He has determined the exact place and time that you should live, so that you can reach out and find Him. God rules in might over the nations for the good of His Church, so that people reach out and find God. Listen to what it says in Ephesians about Jesus Christ. It says, "That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at the right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church." God rules with his mighty hand the affairs of this world, for the good of His Church. For the growth of His Church. And if God permits, (and certainly God is not the author of evil) but if God permits evil to happen to a nation, we know God’s promise! He is ruling over the nations, for the good of His Church. And he will foil the enemy. He will foil the devil. And, instead of that working out for harm to God’s Church and God’s people, even the evil that can be done, God with His mighty hand will turn it into the good for His Church. And don’t we see that happening this past week? There have been more people in church this past week, on their knees, in repentance, turning to God, praying to God, than in a long time, in the history of this nation. God is ruling the kings of this earth, for the good of His Church. And, ultimately what is His purpose? Our scripture goes on and says, "God wants all men to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus."

You know in Jesus’ day, something very similar to today happened. There was a tower that collapsed. And, it killed a number of people and Jesus addressed that. He said this, "Those 18 who died, when the tower of Salome fell on them, do you think that they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no. But unless you repent, you too will all perish." And there Jesus tells us that there is a purpose for earthly disasters. And that purpose is to bring every single one of us to repentance.

You know we have been talking a lot about justice this past week. And, we can’t forget God’s justice. You know that the symbol for justice is the lady holding the scales, those balance scales.

If, on the one hand, we had what God requires of us on one side of the scales...
holiness, perfection, righteous...
And, if, on the other hand, you and I were sitting on the other scale...
oh, how short we would be found.

In fact, scripture says, "You have been weighed on the scales and you have been found wanting." You have been weighed on the scales of God’s justice and you have been found wanting. We all come to our knees in repentance this week, admitting, "I have been found wanting. I have not lived for God the way I should. I haven’t prayed for my government the way I should. I have been wrapped up in materialism. I have been wrapped up in the things of this world. And, I have been found wanting."

It’s a call to repentance. A call to turn to God and say, "How can those scales be balanced?" And then God in His word gives us His gracious, comforting answer of peace. For He says, "There is one mediator (one go-between) between God and man, the man Christ Jesus." And, there scripture gives us the most comforting and blessed promise that Christ got into that scale with us. And by his mighty, perfect, holy life he sits on that scale with you and there his life, his perfect life, balances the scales of justice - God’s justice. And by his death on the cross he has wiped away every sin so that those sins do not sit on that scale of justice. They are forgiven. They have been paid for. And God’s justice has been met in Christ Jesus. And we are forgiven people. And we have a savior who is stronger, his little finger is stronger, his little finger is stronger than all the enemies of this world combined. And, all the enemies of this world, combined cannot take away the forgiveness of sins that Christ won for us. All the enemies in this world combined cannot take away the promise of Heaven that Christ has given us. All the enemies of this world cannot take away the promises that God has given has given His people. God is with us, and all things work together for our good. And, so in conclusion, what a wonderful message we have today. And, I would urge all of you, every single one of you, to look for opportunities today, tomorrow and into the future, to go out as a people, as Christian people, and talk about your savior. Because we know it is God’s will that all men be saved. Now, more than ever, people are ready to hear it! Invite them to church, where the Holy Spirit works through the word of God to work faith in their hearts. Now more than ever, people are ready to be invited. Talk about your savior!

And, pray!