FIX THESE WORDS IN YOUR HEARTS
Rev. Bernt P. Tweit
Dear members of Holy Cross, family, friends, and relatives, and especially to you; Clayton, Emilie, Lacey, Amy, Jenna, Aaron, Shane, Joshua, Zachary, Muajyeej, Courtney, and Tyler, who have received salvation by the perfect life and innocent death of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Grace, mercy, and peace are yours, from God, our Heavenly Father, and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
The text for us to consider on this Confirmation Sunday is taken from selected verses of Deuteronomy, chapter 11.
Here the Holy Spirit speaks to us through the words of the prophet Moses.
Today I would like to do two things. First of all, to walk down memory’s lane, as we look at those events that happened prior to Moses speaking these words to the Children of Israel. And then, dear Confirmands, secondly I would like to take those words that Moses spoke thousands of years ago, and apply it to you.
Imagine, going back in your mind's eye, to the Children of Israel, as they were in Egypt. Imagine the awesome things that they saw with their own eyes, including the ten plagues, those things that came upon the nation of Egypt by the Word of the Lord and those things that were taken away by the Word of the Lord - awesome things that the Children of Israel saw. As the Children of Israel left their captivity in Egypt, they saw the awesome wonder of God, as He parted the waters of the Red Sea and the Israelites crossed through on dry ground. And when every last one of them was through, they saw those waters come crashing back down on the Egyptian army and everybody in the Egyptian army perished.
They were on the way to the land that God had promised to give them. They sent out 12 explorers, one from each tribe of Israel, to go and investigate the land. Two of those explorers, Joshua and Caleb came back with a positive report. They said, "It is a land flowing with milk and honey." But ten of those explorers came back with a negative report. They said, "We are like grasshoppers in the eyes of those giants. There is no way that we can take over this land that God has promised." The Children of Israel wanted to listen to the report of those ten explorers, and so this is what God said, "You as a nation (that is the Children of Israel) are going to wander around in the desert, for forty years, one for each day that the explorers were in the land." They were in the land for forty days, hence the forty years in the wilderness. And everybody who left Egypt would die in the desert.
As they continued in their wandering, they came to the desert of Zin. There was no water in the whole place, and the Children of Israel were thirsty. Moses, at the command of God, was to speak to a rock, and water was going to come out of that rock. But, instead of speaking to the rock, Moses took Aaron's staff, and he struck it two times. Water did come gushing out of that rock, but Moses did not listen to the command of God. And so, God told Moses, "You will not enter into the land yourself. You will see it with your eyes, but you won't enter it."
Those Children of Israel who left Egypt never stepped foot in the Promised Land. Moses never stepped foot in the Promised Land. And with the exception of Joshua and Caleb, it was only those Children of Israel who were born in the desert who entered into that land that God had promised. They had not seen the miracles of God with their own eyes. They had not seen the parting of the Red Sea. And so, God felt it imperative for Moses to share with that new generation who God is, and what it is that He had done for them, because the old generation was passing away and it was the new generation that was growing up.
My dear confirmands, you are that next generation. You range in the age from 14 to 16. Imagine for a moment that everyone who is 17 years old and older, in this building right now, passes away. It is only those who are 16 years and younger who remain. That would mean that the old generation has passed away and you are that up and coming generation.
Let's look at the words that Moses shared with the up and coming generation of his day, because those words also apply to you, today, (and they apply to all of us). What was it that Moses shared with that up coming generation? Well, he said, "Fix these words of mine in your hearts and in your minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads."
Dear confirmands, what is it that these words mean to you, today? Does it mean that we should take God's Word and we should bind it on our forehead, as Jesus said?
(At this point Pastor Tweit placed a box on his forehead.)
Is that what God's Word is telling us today? Did you know that is what the Pharisees did in Jesus' day? They had little boxes called phylacteries that they tied around their foreheads (the Hebrew word here is actually ‘between your eyes’). It had little Bible passages in there. And, they would walk around like that! It was an outward show; "I must be very religious, because I have God's Word tied to my forehead."
Did you know in scripture that Jesus spoke out against the Pharisees with the phylacteries that they had on their foreheads? He said, "Everything that they do is done for men to see. They love to be greeted in the market places and to have men call them Rabbi." (Matthew 23:7) No, it is not that God wants us to have little phylacteries, or boxes, that are on our forehead, but this is what God wants from every one of us. He wants us to take His Word and to fix it in our minds and in our hearts. The Hebrew word here for ‘fix’ is ‘to put, or place, or deposit.’ God wants you to take His Word. He wants you to hear it. He wants you to read it, and then, to take it from your mind and to put, or to place, or to deposit His Word in your heart.
And what is it that God's Word shares with you? God in His Word shares with us that we are sinners. By ourselves there is no way that we can win salvation for ourselves. But it is awesome to know that God has taken your sin. He has taken our sin. And, He has placed our sin on Jesus. Jesus took all of our sins. He brought them to the cross, where He died and paid for every single one of them.
God also has taken His Word and He has planted it into our heart. That is not even a work that we can do by ourselves. Through the work of the Holy Spirit, He has placed His Word, He has placed your faith in Jesus, as your Savior, and He has put that into your heart. So, really, God is asking us to continuously have His Word before us.
Moses shares with us today, that we are to teach God's Word to our children, to talk about it when you sit at home, when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. And so, God's Word is not just something for us to have on Sunday morning. His Word is not just Sunday morning words. Or, if you were in the Wednesday afternoon confirmation class, God's Word is not just for Wednesday afternoons. Or, if you were in the Tuesday and Thursday morning confirmation class, God's Word is not just for Tuesday and Thursday morning. But, it is for us to have around our kitchen tables, for us to use as we are driving in the car, as we are going to bed, and even as we are at the park.
My dear confirmands, last year's confirmation class, elders, and all us who are here today… God places His Word before us. And then He says that after these words have been placed before us, it will either be a blessing or a curse.
What does it mean when God says it will be a blessing or a curse? God's Word is a blessing, as Jesus says in Mark 16:16, "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved."
But it becomes a curse, as Jesus continues by saying, "Whoever does not believe will be condemned."
May that never be the case, for you. May that never be the case for any of us.
Lastly, dear confirmands, dear family and friends, I know your parents and your grandparents. It may be the case that a parent or a grandparent of yours is not able to be here today. But, I do know this. It was because of a parent or grandparent that you are here for today. You are here today, because they have taken this section of scripture to heart, when it says, "Teach these things (teach God's Word) to your children, your children's children."
In just a moment you are going to be walking up here to the front of the sanctuary, and look at what you are going to be walking past. You are going to be walking past the baptismal font, where you were baptized, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. You are going to be confessing and confirming for yourselves today something that your parents confessed for you, maybe days ago, maybe years ago.
May the blessings of your baptism, may the blessings of your study of God's Word, and may that blessing of the Lord's Supper, (which you will receive next week Sunday), be a blessing to you in your life. May it be a blessing to all of us in our lives. Through faith in Jesus, as our Savior, who died on the cross to pay for all of our sin, we may receive that blessing that our Savior Jesus has won for us. Hear those words that our Savior proclaimed,
"Whoever believes
and is baptized
will be saved."
God grant this to you, for Jesus our Savior's sake.
Amen.
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